October 15th, 2018 – The Morning Report
THE MAGES WHO LIVE AMONG US
Yesterday, during the take of the New Den Plaza, a many mammals were made hostages by a group of criminal mages making use of stone beings described as "golems". Luckily, these mammals were rescue by the combined efforts of the ZPD with the enforcers sent by the Mage's Association. However, these mammals also counted with the help of mages who happened to be present during the event, and who helped in fighting the criminal mages and rescuing all of the hostages.
Among these, were know mages, like Dawn Bellwether, who became stranded in the mall during the attack, and Zillah Ferron, who decided to help after seeing news of the taking of the mall. However, among them were also other individuals who were mages, and who lived among the non-mage population unknowingly. Between them were Sophie Wilde, Bonnie Hopps, Chloe Fanghanel and ZPD Officer Benjamin Clawhauser.
Sophie Wilde is a widower, mother of the ZPD Officer Nicholas Wilde. She has entered the mall after the attack had started, according to sources, to help her son. She is said to be an ex-mage who has renounced magecraft shortly before her son was born.
Bonnie Hopps is the mother of 382 children, including ZPD Officer Judith Hopps. She was with her family during a visit to the mall, and she, along with them, was stranded in the building as it was taken. In order to defend her family, she made use of a special magic shotgun that she was carrying with her for unknown reasons. Sources claim that Bonnie Hopps is a necromancer, a mage who uses the remains of the dead to make magecraft, and that during the attack she used the corpses of mammals killed by the golems to create zombies. Sources have also revealed that her baptism name is Helga Höhle and that, despite living in BunnyBurrow with her husband and children, she was born in the city of Zootopia.
Chloe Fanghanel, maiden name Chloe Dapperclaw, is the wife of ZPD officer Eliot Fanghanel. She moved to Zootopia with her husband shortly after her marriage. According to the presents, she played an important role in aiding their escape, as she, according to witnesses, "summoned ghosts to serve as their scouts on their way out".
Officer Benjamin Clawhauser is a twenty-six year old officer of the Precinct one. He was not born on the city of Zootopia, but moved to the city five years ago, entering the Police Academy shortly after. He joined the ZPD with excellent grades at the academy, and as the top of his class in shooting practice. According to sources, Benjamin Clawhauser is an ex-mage who abandoned his home and moved to Zootopia after having renounced magecraft. The cheetah has been injure during the event and was take to the hospital to receive a blood transfusion.
Other mages who were present at the local were Tyson, Tyrone, Tyrell and Tyler Tigereye. The three brothers are better known as the dancers of the famous singer Gazelle, two of them had been stranded with her on the mall while the other two invaded the mall later, along with Sophie Wilde, in order to succor the popstar and the other two tigers. There are rumors that one of the criminal mages who has taken the mall was a relative of the four brothers, such information, however, has not receive confirmation.
These mages have been living as common mammals, while the population was unaware of their past and their nature as mages and ex-mages. It is currently unknown if such information were known previously by those immediately close to them, for the ZPD has remained silent on the matter and the popstar Gazelle has been unavailable to speak.
There is also a rumor about an unknown antelope mage in the local. His identity has not yet been confirm, although those who were in the local described him as "a crazy guy who screamed a lot."
"Damn." Nick said, as he finished reading the reportage that was in there. Along with it, there were pictures of the mammals they spoke about. There was his mother standing next to him and Mrs. Hopps surrounded by her family, both of them still on the clothes they used to fight the mammals on the mall. They also had a picture of the four tigers next to the singer, and a shot of Benjamin, pale and being take to the ambulance with Chief Bogo's help.
"I just don't believe how fast these guys are." He said, as he dropped the newspaper on the front desk, where he was sitting, with Judy, Eliot and Ben all around him. Benjamin was a lot better than he was on the previous day, much to everyone's relief, as they all were happy for having their favorite bubbly cheetah back on the front desk, where they all were used to see him. "The guys practically published everything that they could find, and they even mentioned our names."
"They didn't took a picture of Pumpkin, though." The wolf said, "She would have look nice on the newspaper."
Judy looked up at the wolf, while Nick only sighed and shook his head. The wolf talked as if that was a nice thing; however, the two cops knew that it was not really nice for people to end up on the newspaper for being part of something like that. Including Benjamin, who seemed that practically had his life researched as they wanted to find as much about him a possible in order to publish on the paper.
"They even got a hold of my grades at the academy." The cheetah said, taking the newspaper and looking at it. "Those were supposed to be confidential... wow, I looked pale!" The big cat said as he looked at the picture they had of him. He looked worryingly pale there, due to blood loss, by the way, much of it blood seemed to have leaked and stayed his fur and the shirt he was wearing.
No wonder everyone looked so worried back then.
"Yeah, you truly looked terrible." Nick said, looking at his cheetah friend. "Hard to believe that you are back into the donut office already."
"Yeah, the medics said that I was alright, that I had no contusions and no wounds, and I just needed the blood transfusion to be fine again." The cheetah said, "One of them said that, with the amount of blood I seemed to have lost, I could very well have died. So... lucky me, huh?"
"Yeah, lucky." Nick said to him, "Our favorite lucky ex-mage."
He had a smile as he said that, but Ben looked a bit down at this. Yeah, now everyone knew that he used to be a mage.
Benjamin kind of expected this day to come ever since the day that magecraft was revealed. On some occasions, he even thought about revealing this to them himself, however, he never had the nerve to do it. Now, all of them knew, and they actually found out through a dire situation.
Benjamin did expected things to change after this. He totally expected some to avoid him, or even someone to come and demand from him why he kept it a secret from his brothers in blue. However, no one really came to demand anything from him, and no one was really avoiding him currently.
As a matter of fact, most of them still treated him pretty much the same way they always did. Although, he did had the impression that some of them were giving him weird looks, among them was McChill...
"Hey, dude." Nick said, getting Ben to look up, "No need to be so blue about it. We are not mad at you for having been a mage."
Ben looked at him, and at the other two, and saw that they indeed didn't looked mad.
"Really? I mean... I did kept it a secret from everyone."
"You had your reasons." Eliot said to him, "Pumpkin kept it a secret from me because she wanted to protect me from problems, and also because she was afraid that I wouldn't like anymore." He said, and he seemed a bit sad at this, but then he looked up.
"But I still love!" He said firmly, with a serious expression on his face. "I love with all of my heart, and I always will, and nothing will make me give up on her! I accept her as she is, with her magecraft and everything! And so I accept you, my dear friend!"
Eliot was deadly serious as he said that, and he talked directly at Ben as he spoke that. This made Ben look at him a bit weird, and so did the other cops. All of sudden, the wolf seemed like a character from one of these Japanese cartoons that the cubs of nowadays saw...
"Yeah. Our dear White Fang is right." Nick said to his cheetah friend, "You are still the same big and happy cheetah that we have always known, and the fact that you have magecraft doesn't changes that. Although, you can't really blame us for being a little surprised."
Yeah, that much was truth.
They were still surprised for finding out that Ben used to be a mage. Just like they were surprised for finding out that some close to them used to be mages as well. I mean, how would you feel if you suddenly found out that your mother used to be a wizard?
It was a whole lot to process, and everyone could agree with that.
"Yeah... one of the points of being an ex-mage was to live as if you were never a mage in first place." Ben said, trying to justify himself. "They kind of practiced this while magecraft was still a secret."
"We understand, Ben." Judy said, making the cheetah look down to her, "You don't need to explain, it is okay."
She was really sincere as she said that, and this warmed Ben's heart, to know that his friends all still cared about him. It was something really nice.
"Well, being an ex-mage was also not the only secret you kept." Nick said, causing the three mammals to look at him, and he had his eyes on the cheetah.
"I mean, when did you planned to tell us that you were BFFs with a Manechester?"
"O-oh!" Ben said, "Well, that... W-well, this is something that I didn't really kept a secret. I-its just that I never really came out during a conversation."
"Yeah, I can imagine." Nick said, and he was smiling at his cheetah friend, "Still, it is a Manechester, and it is Chandler Confectioner himself! The guy is kind of a big deal in the candy world, you know?"
"Yeah." Ben said, "I actually met him before he started doing confections. He rented an apartment that was just next to my own first apartment when I moved to Zootopia. One night, we started to talk and after that we started to hang out together. Before I knew it, we were great friends. He still give me some gifts on Christmas and on my birthday."
"Oh." Nick said, looking at him, "Well, next time you talk to him, maybe you could let it slip that Precinct 1 could use some donations."
"Oh, I couldn't do that!" Ben said quickly, "I mean, I already feel guilty when he spends money on the expensive gifts that he gives me, I couldn't bring myself to ask him money for the ZPD!"
"Hey, it's okay, buddy, I was just kidding." Nick said, cursing himself in silence for forgetting how Benjamin could take things seriously sometimes. The look that Judy was giving him was also not helping, as she too thought that he could have chosen something better to say.
However, she had to admit that he managed to break tension a bit. It seemed that this was just what was needed to diverge Ben from the matter and to make him relax, even if juts a bit.
"Hey, guys!" Someone called, and the mammals turned their head to look at McHorn.
"Everyone is waiting at the briefing room! You guys might want to come now!" The rhino said to them, still at the door. "The Chief and the enforcers both want to talk about what happened yesterday, and it seems that this is really important!"
"Right!" Eliot said, as Judy and Nick both jumped off the front desk and were waving bye to Ben as they walked in direction to the Bullpen, leaving the cheetah behind in his duty.
The cheetah waved bye to them, and he opened another pack of donuts, as he got ready to wait, when suddenly...
"Oh boy..." He said, and pressed the button on the intercom that he had, and soon, there was a voice answering.
"Deermond here. Is that you, Ben?" The voice on the other end said, and the cheetah was soon answering.
"Hey, Lewis. How you doing?" The cheetah said, and he was shifting a bit on his seat. "So, I know that you already stayed in my place in the front desk yesterday, but any chance you could take my place in here just for a few minutes. Is that... well, nature is calling, you know?"
"Sure, I'll be there in two minutes." The stag on the other end said, and Ben continued to shift on his seat.
"Could it be in one? I think that hospital food did something to me..." He spoke, and his stomach grumbled in a weird way as a bad shiver went up his spine. "Oh, sweet goodness..."
The three officers soon were making their way into the Bullpen and to their respective seats. Meanwhile, they passed by many of their fellow officers, and they could notice that the main topic was still what happened yesterday.
The enforcers were already in there, leaning against the wall as they waited, along with everyone else. Jackalson was in there as well, with his trusted computer. However, it seemed that this time he was in there only to watch, as he didn't seemed to be getting anything ready for any presentation. He simply stood there close to his mage bosses.
Soon, Bogo was coming in, and once ready, he looked at all of his officers.
"Okay, I think it is safe to assume that all of you have a lot of questions to ask, and I know that we have a lot of work to do, but before it all, there are a few things that I want to say." There was a silence after he said these words, and everyone looked at him. "First of all, I'd like to compliment all of you for the bravery and determination that you showed yesterday. We were never trained to deal with mages or anything of supernatural, which I think that we will need to work into, but all things considered, I have to say that all of you showed that you were worth your badges. You might not hear me say that again, but you made me proud."
"Oh, Chief, you make me blush." Nick said, as he could not avoid being the joker, even in a situation like that.
"Save that for your partner, Wilde", Bogo said, before he continued, "Also, I'd like to let you know that our officers who have gotten stranded on the mall and injured are all safe and doing okay." The buffalo said to them, "None of them suffered anything worse than dislocated shoulder, and yes, I'm talking about Fangmeyer. She will remain with her arm immobilized for now and will be back on duty in a week. Until then, I'll be pairing Wolfard with Officer Andersen." The wolf and bear both made a salute at that, and everyone nodded. "Also, Meerkovitz is also fine, but he will have to stay in the hospital for a few more days as they see to that leg injury, but the doctors are sure that the wound is only superficial, and he will only need a couple staples and he will soon be on desk duty for a while as his leg heals." Many nodded at this. It was good to know that their fellow officers had not gotten seriously hurt in all of that.
However, some of them still remembered that there had been at least a few fatal victims to that whole chaos...
"Now, back on the topic..." Bogo said, placing his glasses, and looking at the files that he had brought. He was now looking at it. "The events of yesterday. Yes, there is some information on that."
He looked into the files, and spoke to his officers.
"We have at least two hundred mammals who went from there straight into the hospital, and we already have at least twenty five confirmed casualties." He said, and he could feel the tension that was forming on the room, as he looked around. "We have many mammals who were said to have done things while under the effects of hypnosis, and the remains of many of these golems."
He stopped for a moment, and he looked back at the enforcers.
"Now, I was told yesterday that you two had an idea of who was the one who fabricated these golems." The buffalo said, looking at both of the foxes. "You mentioned something about some 'MTC' that actually sold these things, right?"
The two vulpine shared a look, and Marceli was the one who took the front, and he spoke:
"Yes... there is no doubt about that." The black tod said, looking at Bogo, "These golems definitely belong to the MTC."
He looked around, "We have been brought to attention that the MTC was acting in Zootopia, when officers Wilde and Hopps brought us the remains of two of their golems." He spoke, and his gaze landed on the two officers that he spoke about. "Thanks to them we knew that the MTC was here, however, we were focused on our mission, and we decided to investigate it in a more convenient time."
"Well, not your smartest decision, was it?" McChill asked, as he looked at the fox. His tone was rather aggressive, as some could notice, including the two foxes.
Marceli locked eyes with the polar bear for a moment, and some even thought that he was going to say something at the big ursine. However, the fox simply continued to speak to the room in general.
"Indeed, leaving it to be looked at later might have been a mistake from our part." He said, admitting it without any hint of shame or embarrassment. "Perhaps is we have given it more attention on the moment that it was brought up to us, the events of yesterday could have been avoided. However, we never truly imagined that the MTC would ever come as far as doing something like that. Especially not in this city."
He seemed in thought as he said the last part, as if he was truly surprised that something like that had happened. This, of course, caught the interest of some of the cops present on that room.
"It sounds like you have some experience with these MTC guys." Wolfard said, what caused the black tod to look up, and look at the wolf.
"...indeed, we have." The fox said, and looked around, "We have crossed paths with them often, and they are often at odds with the Enforcer and the Association. These golems we saw yesterday, they are truly of their making. Mass-producing and selling them is one of their most known and profitable businesses."
"So, they have other businesses?" Delgato asked, looking at the fox, "What kind?"
Some other questions followed, and most of them seemed to be asking the same kind of questions. It were so many that Bogo was force to call for order, for someone to be able to be heard properly in that room again.
"Mr. Mieczyslaw." Judy said, looking at the fox, who looked back at her purple eyes. "Just what is the MTC?"
That was it. The bunny just asked the question that everyone in that room wanted to know.
Marceli knew, as all of their eyes were on him, that they would not accept anything less than an answer to that question. After all, they were practically terrorists now, as they have seemingly taken a great deal of hostages and caused the deaths of innocent civilians.
There was no dodging this and no going around, and Marceli knew that. He knew that he needed to be completely honest now (within the possible) in order for the cops to have any trust on him.
Looking around, he saw all of these eyes on him, asking (or, in McChill's case, demanding) answers.
He let out a sigh, and then, he started to explain:
"The New Mage Codex." The fox began, looking at the mammals in that room, "Was written three hundred years ago, being a collection of rules and regulations that would bring moral and ethics to the works of mages. It was accepted by the Council of the time, as well as by enough of the important mage families of the Association to actually be accepted as a law, and enforced over all of the territories under the jurisdiction of the Mages' Association."
"Yeah, we know that." McChill said, looking at the fox, "The ferret said that when she gave that interview."
"Yes, indeed." Marceli said, looking at McChill, "However, what she didn't told, at the time, was that a pawful of families didn't accepted the Codex."
Everyone looked at the fox as he explained that, and he continued:
"There were some mages who were not willing to accept a set of laws that would impose restrictions to their works and to their progress only because it would be the more moral thing to do." Marceli explained to the cops on the room, "These mages thought it made no sense to put restrains on their progress only because of moral notions."
"You mean, like Zane Tigereye?" McHorn asked, as he, along with the cops who were on the rescue mission the day before, still remembered vividly that tiger, and his speech on how the Codex held back mages from achieving more.
"Yes. Like him." Marceli confirmed, and he then continued:
"Mages like that have been around ever since the codex was first written, and they were not as few as would have liked." He admitted, looking around, "However, they were still few enough and small enough in importance so they would not be able to cause the Codex to be rejected. The Codex still became a law, and they would be forced to abide to these laws, unless they wanted to have to deal with punishments."
"However, as you can imagine, simply prohibition and threat of punishment is not always enough to keep others from breaking laws." The black tod said, and he knew that the cops understood it, as the looks on their faces said it all.
"These mages could not oppose the Association directly, but they would not accept the regulations of the Codex." Marceli continued, looking around, "These mages gathered in the darkest corner of our community. They organized themselves on the backstage of the world of magecraft, and in there, they were able to form a group of their own."
"Like a mob, huh?" Nick asked, and Marceli looked at him, nodding.
"Yes. Like a mob."
There was a brief silence following this, before the fox would continue with his explanation:
"Now, we first were unaware of the existence of such a group when it first appeared. In fact, the first time we heard of it was roughly one hundred years after the Codex was stablished, but some say that they actually appeared just a few years later." He said, looking around, "Back then, they had a different name, but they were pretty much what they still are today, a group that opposes the Codex and all that it represents."
"Time has passed, and they have had different names with time, as their organization grew and became more powerful." Marceli explained, "Nowadays, we know them as the MTC, an international organization that has grown so much that they are classified as a serious threat by the Association."
Everyone took in the information that the fox was giving to them. Some of them talked among themselves as they were taking in everything, while some of them stood in silence as they absorbed and processed this information.
"So, these guys sell golems as a way of making money?" Bogo asked, causing the fox to look at him.
"Yes. This is one of the ways that they make money." Marceli said, and this caused others to look at him.
"What others they have?" Judy asked, and Marceli looked back at her, with smart eyes. He then proceed to say:
"Necromancy is a branch of magecraft that was widespread and popular enough that it could not be deemed illegal. However, it was possible to put a lot of regulations on it. For instance, defining a law that determines laws to the corpses that the necromancers would use." The fox said, "Due to these regulations, the necromancers could only use corpses obtained under certain conditions, like the unclaimed bodies, in laws that actually are pretty similar to the obtaining of corpses for medicine universities and corpses donated to science. It is a bureaucracy that, according to some, would make it harder for necromancers to obtain the material to work."
"The MTC offers to necromancers corpses for them to work. Corpses obtained through illegal means, like stolen from morgues and hospitals, or even stolen straight from their graves." The fox said, and this produced a few shocked expressions. However, the fox knew that there was still more to reveal:
"Another of their business is to offer researches taken from other mages." Marceli continued, "They take these researches and secrets from other mage by stealing from their workshops by invading their homes, or they force them to give it to them through coercion of various types." He said as he looked around, "And they also manage to put their paws on rituals and spells that were forbidden by the Association, sharing them with other mages in return for payment."
"However, the more known for they make money is connected to mammals." The fox said, and he got ready, for he knew that this kind of information would produce the most reactions.
"You see, in the old days, some of the ingredients for rituals were taken from mammals, like the oil from the liver of bats or the eyes of felines". He spoke, and this caused a bat on the chair of small animals to choke on air and Delgato to take a hand to his face. "Not only that, but on that time it was considered common to use innocent mammals as subjects to test our new spells, or even to use them as sacrifices in blood rituals."
A sense of dread filled the room, as many of the cops present already knew just where the fox was going with this.
"One of the things that the MTC is famous for doing is kidnapping innocent mammals." The fox concluded, "Either to take ingredients from their bodies and sell them to mages, or to sell the mammals themselves to be used as sacrifices or test subjects."
This produced a wave of murmurs, as the cops talked among themselves, taking in what the fox had just told them. Some of them, like Judy, had horrified expressions on their faces in reaction to what they had just heard.
"As you can see, the guys are first-class creeps." Emilia said, talking for the first time since she was in there. Marceli said nothing, as he continued:
"The MTC opposes the Codex and all that it represents." The black tod said, "So, it is no surprise that they involve in all kinds of things that the Codex forbids. Stolen knowledge, forbidden magecraft, illegally obtained corpses, living mammals to be killed in name of magecraft."
The tod looked around, and he concluded:
"If a mage is looking to buy, sell, negotiate or trade anything among those lines, no questions asked, they go to the MTC."
Everyone took in what the fox had just said, and not a few of them were completely horrified by what they had heard.
"How can mammals like that be let on the loose?" Judy said; it was more to herself than to others. Nick looked at her, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She was still new to the whole horrors that were on the world. Nick, however, saw the ugly part of the world a few times on his life, so much that knowing that there was something like that was not so surprising to him.
It was no surprise that there could be some mammals like that among mages, just like they were among normal mammals.
It was actually not that different from meat trafficking or even the trafficking of mammals to become slaves or God knows what else.
"It is not easy to bring down the MTC." The fox said, as he had heard the question that the bunny had made. "Ever since the beginning, they have used secrecy to keep themselves out of the sight of the Association and of the authority, so they could do as they wanted."
"They were sure to conduct all of their business away of the eyes of the Association, as they still do today." He spoke to the ones present in the room, "Until today we don't know who exactly is or is not a member of this group, as they don't usually tell that they are members, and actually hold ties to other groups. Even members of the Association had already been suspected of being members of the MTC as well."
The cops took in all that the fox was saying, and the tod continued:
"Not only that, but it is rumored that the 'services' that the MTC offers are used by some important mages, including a few lords. Of course, none of that is confirmed, but if it was truth, it would explain how we never manage to actually reach them." Marceli said, and it seemed that this bothered him, in the opinion of some.
"So... these guys in the mall, they were members of the MTC?" Judy asked, as she had absorbed the information, and was now able to form words properly. She looked at the black tod as she asked that, and the fox looked back at her.
"I don't think so." The fox said to her, "Remember what Percy Colter said? They had been hired to be in there."
"How much you wanna bet that it was the MTC that hired them?" Emilia asked, and her uncle nodded.
"Yes, it seems pretty likely." He said, and he then added:
"Also, I have been talking with someone after that situation was solved, and I think that she can give a bit more of information on this." With that said, the fox turned to the lateral door, and he said:
"Miss Bellwether, would you come here please?"
Some of them perked on their seats, and all of them looked over. All of them expected Dawn Bellwether to come walking. However, the ewe that came from that door was taller than the ex-mayor, and she looked different overall.
"That ain't Bellwether."
"That's her sister. She was there last night, remember?"
Everyone looked as Lana Bellwether walked forward, and she seemed like she barely minded all of the eyes on her as she walked, and she stood in front of the room full of mammals.
"Sup?" She said to them, very casually, and all of the mammals in there just looked back at her, some of them with raised eyebrows or with tilted heads.
"Lana Bellwether, of the Bellwether clan." Marceli said, introducing her to the ones that still didn't knew her. "She has some information that can be quite meaningful to the direction that the investigations are going to take."
"Yeah, I sure have." The ewe said, and she looked at the fox, "By the way, I think you should know that I don't have ties with the Bellwether clan anymore. The Orphans are my family now."
The fox nodded, and some looked at the ewe.
"Wait, 'the orphans'?" Eliot Fanghanel asked, "You mean, that they abandoned you in an orphanage and you grew up alone?"
The ewe looked at him, and so did some of the mammals present in the room.
"Yeah, that's not really what she meant, wolf boy." Emilia said to the wolf, and Marceli spoke:
"The Orphans are a minor organization separated from the Association, and formed by mages who abandoned the Association and their clans." The fox said, "They have been monitored for a while due to the potential for becoming a threat, but were never truly classified as one."
Lana scoffed at what the fox said, and Marceli looked back at her.
"Well, I'm sorry, but this is what I have been told in official reports." The fox said, and his tone was almost apologetic. It was as if he was really sorry for saying something that offended her. "I assume you would like to speak for yourself, as a member of the Orphans, what is their true nature?"
"Yeah... I would like that." The ewe said, and she looked at the mammals on the room. She looked at them as she spoke:
"Mages can be quite prideful, either they are from the Association or not." She spoke, looking around, "I fact, some mage families are so prideful that they shun away any one of their members that fails to live to their expectations."
"Now, it can be because they chose to pursue a particular interest, or because they acted in a way that the family considered disgraceful, or because they simply decided that they didn't wanted to let their families decide their future. The reasons don't really matter, their families turned their backs on them, and so, these mages turned their backs on their families as well."
She spoke as she looked around, and everyone kept a silence that seemed to be respectful as she said that.
Of course, most of the silence was because they saw the expression on her face as she spoke that, and they thought it would be a good idea not interrupting her when she was talking over something that seemed to be sensitive to her.
She stopped for a moment, and she seemed to be considering something.
"Still, some actually had nice families." She said, as if she was admitting something.
"Some of them actually have good families back home, but they had these families taken from them, and the Association wasn't willing to help them." The ewe said, and everyone looked at her, some of them even sharing looks among themselves.
The ewe, as if realizing that she was divagating, went back to the subject.
"You see, mages like that have been around for a long time." The ewe said, "But only around a hundred years ago these mages started to gather and form their own group."
"At first, it was just a bunch of mages, alone and rejected by the world, gathering to help each other survive and grow. But, as more of them gathered, the group grew and became stronger." The ewe said, "Now, we are a faction of our own."
"Like, a little club for the rejected?" McChill asked, and some looked at him, including the ewe.
"Yeah, I guess you could call us that." The ewe said, and she sounded as if she didn't really liked admitting it, "We are all rejected and abandoned. Neglected by the Association and by the mage community for not fitting in their ideals. So, we called ourselves The Orphans."
The cops continued to look at her as she explained that, and some of them couldn't help but think:
"So, what does this have to do with what happened yesterday?" McChill asked, as he was a straightforward type of mammal, and he wanted to get right into the business if possible. The mages all looked at him, as Marceli was the one who spoke next:
"Zane Tigereye is known to the Association for breaking the laws of the Codex, so he has been kept under watch for a while." The black tod said, "He came particularly into our attention after we learned that he had joined the Orphans."
"Oh!" Someone among the cops said, and they all looked at the fox and at the ewe that was in there.
"Yeah, we talked to the Association." Emilia said, "Zane Tigereye, Percy Colter, Butch Lupo, all of these guys abandoned their clans and joined the Orphans."
"So, they are your pals?" Nick asked Lana.
"They were." Lana said, looking around the cops, and with a serious expression on her face. "Not anymore."
"What, did you guys kicked your fellow Orphans out?" McChill asked her, "The rejected rejecting the rejected?"
"They left on their own." Lana said, looking at the bear with a glare that made the bear look away. Nick was actually able to feel a bit of sympathy for the ewe as she had managed to make that bigoted jerk do that. Nick wished that he could learn how to do that...
"Ms. Bellwether explained this to us last night." Marceli said to her, "According to what she told us, a few of the mages who composed the Orphans was dissatisfied with how the group operated, as they wanted a more radical approach on their actions."
"Radical?" Bogo said, looking at the mages, "Radical how?"
"Radical as performing blood rituals, stealing from other clans, trying to overthrow the government and the Association." Emilia said, "You know, the thing that anarchists usually want to do."
"They thought we were 'too tame'." Lana said, and she looked as the other animals on the room, "They wanted our behavior to change, but your leader was very incisive when dealing with them. He told them that we would not behave like that, and that if they were truly dissatisfied, they were free to leave."
"So, they actually did leave." Nick said, getting the gist of everything, "And they made their own club."
"We were unaware of this scission within the Orphans until Ms. Bellwether informed us." Marceli said, "It has happened two years ago, and it was something that had not come to our knowledge until now."
"Oh." Judy said, now looking at the ewe.
"Curious that she told them that just when they found out that ex-members of her little group did that." McChill said, and he was once more shut up as the ewe glared at him.
"I knew that the Association had their eyes on us, and that they would soon know that these guys used to be our members." Lana said, looking at McChill, before shifting her gaze to Marceli. "That is why I looked for them on that same night, to let them know that they had left and were no longer tied to us. No way that we could let our name be tied to what happened, we won't have our reputation stained."
Many mammals remained in a respectful silence, as they looked at the ewe.
"So, these mammals who have taken the mall using the golems used to be associated to your own group." Bogo said, looking at the ewe, "So, any chance that you can give us information about them?"
"I can give you their names." Lana said, "And I can already tell you that they are made by the more violent and cruel guys who once made part of the Orphans and now are pretty much a gang."
Bogo looked at her as she spoke that, "They call themselves Black Vipers."
Bogo nodded at her, and Marceli took forward, explaining that they would use the information that Lana would supply them with and that it would be valuable in the case the Black Vipers would try something else in the future.
"The Black Vipers will be a subject of a lot of attention to the Association from now on." Marceli said, looking around, "As much as the MTC, they violated nearly all of our regulations with what they have done yesterday."
"Yeah, the guys totally went over the line." Emilia said, looking around everyone, "I mean, taking everyone hostage? Using golems? With everyone watching it through television? Man! That was really crazy by all standards. Even the clans said that they would be helping us with all that we need for this mission! The same clans who had a problem with we coming to here in first place! Can you guys believe it?"
Some of them looked at the vixen, and they talked among themselves.
"I'm sorry... what clans?" Judy asked, looking at them, and it was Lana Bellwether who answered:
"Bellwether, Wilde and Höhle." She said, looking at the bunny, "The same clans whose heads you guys met yesterday, among them, my dear father."
The way she spoke that made it clear that she considered her father anything but "dear". However, some of them were less worried about her apparent problems with her own father and more on what she told.
Yes, they could still remember the three mammals who walked into the place as if they owned it and demanded to know what happened. They also remembered how Marceli himself explained to them what happened, as if they guys actually were his bosses.
"Yeah, I kind of wanted to know who were these guys." Delgato said, and some of the cops agreed with him.
"Mr. Mieczyslaw, yesterday, you said that they were 'second owners'." Judy said, looking right at the black tod, "What does that means? It is some short of title?"
Marceli looked at her, and he then shared a look with the other two mages on the room.
"Yeah, that is kind of complicated." Emilia said, looking at the bunny.
"Well, you can explain, right?" Judy asked, and the mages had to agree that she was being completely reasonable with her arguments. There was no reason why they could not explain it to the ones present in that room, and so, they should actually do it, even to have the trust them more.
Marceli was soon speaking:
"Zillah Ferron revealed a great deal of information during her interview." Marceli said, looking at the cops around, and they looked to him in return. The fox continued.
"One of the things that she revealed was about the mechanics of magical energy, magic circuits, and ley lines." He looked around as he spoke that, "Ley lines are said to be the magic circuits of the world, being paths through which mana runs. Ley lines are useful to mages, as they are hotspots from which they can extract a great deal of magical energy for rituals with the right means. There is a great number of know ley lines, and they are always on the same specific pathways, which often go through areas of historical and cultural importance, hence increasing the belief that ley lines tend to attract success and good luck to the buildings that are built over them."
The cops all looked at the fox as he explained this, and they remained in silence as he explained that.
"As there are the ley lines, where the mana runs freely, there are areas in which the mana pools and even leaks out, generating great areas that have a much greater quantity of mana than others." The fox said, looking around, "Such areas are called sacred lands, and they are greatly treasured by mages as places where they can have access to a great quantity of mana and use it for their own designs."
"Okay, where he is going with this?" Someone whispered, only to be shushed by the others. They were finding the explanation to be quite interesting.
"There are a number of known sacred lands, and nearly all of them are under the control of the Association. That is, all of the ones that are in Roarope and Afurika, as well as the ones in Britain." Marceli spoke, "However, it is impractical for the Association to use their resources to have watch over the area all of the time. So, instead, there is a system in which a specific mage lineage is tasked with protecting the area, making sure it won't be explored by the wrong mammals, in return, this family receives full control over the area, and can make use of it as they see better. Such individuals are known as Second Owners, and they have full authority over the lands entrusted to them, so much that any mage who wants to use the mana of the land can only do so with their permission, and the enforcers on the area have to answer to them."
Some mammals nodded, and some of them were already making the connections on what the fox was saying.
"So... these three from yesterday... they are second owners of sacred lands near Zootopia?"
"No." Emilia said, looking at the bunny, "These three mages together are the second owners of Zootopia itself."
"Say what now!?" Someone said, and many cops followed suit in expressing their surprise, and the room soon was filled with many of the cops talking and asking questions, Bogo needed to silence them with a bellow of his own. All mammals were capable of making such primal noises, usually when they wanted to make a point or when they were really mad, but it was very rare to see the Chief make such noises.
Once it was all calm again, Marceli was once more explain:
"I see that you are surprised, and maybe a bit confused." The fox said, looking around, "Let me explain a little. It started during the time of colonization, when England started to explore the land of Animerica. Now, I know all of you know this from history books and lessons, however, these books, obviously, don't tell about the developments on the world of magecraft during the same time."
"As the English forces explored the land, representatives of the Association were among them, as they wanted to make sure that anything of supernatural nature would be seen and reported back to the Association." Marceli continued to explain. "It was during these explorations that they came across something that was never seen before, an area where a staggering amount of ley lines passing over a single area."
"It is actually not that uncommon for ley lines to pass through cities." Lana said, and everyone looked at her, "Many of the most important and famous cities of the world have two or three ley lines passing through them, the Vatican has six."
"Yes." Marceli said, and soon he was saying, "Zootopia has fifteen ley lines passing through it, and it surely is the greatest sacred land ever found. There is so much mana in here that a skilled mage can take a substantial amount of magical energy from the very air."
Some of them still talked among themselves as they take in the information that the fox was giving, and they continued to listen as the fox was once again speaking:
"As soon as the land was found, the Association was quick to take control over it. But, as it usually was the problem with such places, the physical distance made it hard to keep control over such a place."
"But of course that the guys of the Association would not give up of the chance of having this land for themselves." Emilia chimed in, and this caused her uncle to look at her, before he continued.
"Indeed, the importance of such a land being found made sure that the Association would be determined to make sure that this sacred land would be under their jurisdiction." He said, and everyone had their eyes on him, "That was when three of the present mages stepped up. These three mages were representatives of three of the oldest and most influent clans of the Association: Bellwether, a clan of sheep alchemists; Wilde, a family of Kabbalistic foxes..." at this point, some actually looked at Nick, who noticed the looks on him, "... and Höhle, a clan of bunny necromancers."
"These three representatives stepped forward, and attested that the clans could be classified to be in charge of that sacred land." Marceli said, looking around, "However, the Association didn't immediately accepted such arrangement."
"They were afraid that the guys could become too powerful." Lana said, "The three clans were already powerful back at the time, and if any of them had such a powerful resource up their sleeve this could make them too powerful for the rest of the Association. They were afraid that they could prove to be hard to control. That was when the heads of the clans at the time came to the Council themselves and presented their case."
"They united their efforts to be able to make the Council do what they wanted." Emilia said, "It was already rare for mages to work together like that, but the prospect of having a land like that at their disposal was too tempting for them to let it pass. The three clans united their influence and said to the council that they wanted to land and would not take no for answer. They actually managed to force the Council to bend to their will!"
The vixen said that as if it was something impressive, and the cops around shared looks among themselves, as they were taking in how the clans were important back at the time, and soon, they attention was being call back to the situation as Marceli coughed to call attention, and soon, the black tod was speaking again:
"So, after insistence of the three clans, the arrangement was made." He spoke, looking at the room full of mammals, "The three clans would share the authority over this new sacred land discovered in Animerica. Now, normally in these situations, a single mage of the family is send to the place to keep watch over the land, however, in that occasion, the three heads of the clan, along with their entire families, moved into the new sacred land and based themselves there."
"It is very rare for clans to abandon their homelands." Lana asked, "It's due to the fear that they might lose their roots and end up losing their legacy. Even if the head of the clan heads out of the homeland, the rest of the family will often remain in there. But back then, all of the three clans moved to the new land and made their home there."
"Once in there, they made the land as their private property." Emilia said, "They basically controlled everything that happened in there, and they were sure to know everything that happened."
"Back on that time, there were already non-mages living in that land." Marceli spoke, "Due to the amount of mammals living in there, as well as the amount of attention that the land received, it was not possible to close the area from the non-mages coming its way."
"Some say that it was due to the great amount of mana." Lana spoke, looking around, "They say that the concentration of magical energy acted as a beacon for non-mages, making them feel a pull in direction to that land, even the ones who were native to different climates felt like they should live in there, independent of their natural ecological needs."
"Closing the area completely to non-mages proved not to be an option." Marceli spoke once more, "So, the clans adopted a new strategy: to leave the area open to any non-mage that came. After all, they knew that there was little chance that those not directly connected to the world of magecraft could actually use the power of the sacred land without their consent."
"They opened it as a new place that welcomed mammals of all species and walks in life." Lana spoke, and she was looking at all mammals present in the room, "It was a place that welcomed prey and predator, big and small, feeble and mighty. The three clans were the ones who built the foundations of what would become Zootopia. They stood in this land and declared, loud and clear, that this was a land for all mammals, where a mouse could rival an elephant, and where a wolf could walk among the sheep without being feared." She made a pause, before she concluded:
"That this was a land where anyone could be anything."
There was a tone of mockery in her voice, that some thought to be strange. However, few actually noticed it, as they were too busy processing what was just reveal to them. Many of them were very surprised for finding out that these families of mages had been the founders of the city where they all lived.
Among them was McChill, who found it hard to believe that a family of pelts could have had their paw on the foundation of the city. He looked at Nick as he thought about that.
Judy herself was thinking, and she couldn't help but reflect on what the ewe had just said, as well as something that she herself said years ago...
"But, just 211 miles away stands the great city of Zootopia! Where our ancestors first joined together in peace and declared that anyone can be anything!"
She had said these words back in the show of the Carrot Days Festival. She had no way of knowing that the ones who spoke it were actually three families of mages. It was surprising to her. Especially for it seemed that one of these families actually were her ancestors...
"So... basically these guys founded the city and they now have some authority on the land?" Eliot asked, as he was doing his best to follow along with the reasoning that was being present to him.
"Some authority?" Emilia said, looking at the wolf. "The guys OWN the city! Any mage who wants to base in here needs their permission! Not only that, but they also keep an eye on any mage or relative of a mage that comes to visit the city, and anyone who tries to use the ley lines without their permission has to answer to them."
"'Answer to them'?" Bogo said, and Lana was the one who spoke:
"Usually this means paying a fee for having done things without their permission, that when they are in a good mood. Because if they are in a bad one, they will call the Association to send their enforcers after you, or they will even leave the Association out of it and deal with you themselves." Lana Bellwether said, causing the ones in there to look at her.
"As a matter of fact, the clan has full authority in what it comes to the matters involving mages within this city and the neighbor areas, like Meadowlands and Outback Island." Marceli said, "Any mage or even ex-mage who wants to live in the area needs their permission."
"Wait, any ex-mage?" Nick said, and the others looked at him, "You mean, including Clawhauser and Fanghanel's wife?"
"Sure." Lana said, and she turned to the wolf, "Your wife didn't immediately moved with you into your new house, did she?"
Eliot thought about it, and he soon was saying:
"Actually, she had to go to a place before." The wolf admitted, "She said that it was a place where she needed to go before we moved into Rainforest District. She never told me where she went..."
"She went to see the clans." Emilia said, "To ask them permission to live in their land. Just as Benjamin Clawhauser had to do before he could get an apartment in the city. They asked for permission and were allowed to stay in Zootopia. If the clans had not gave them permission, they wouldn't have been allowed to even set foot on the city."
Everyone considered that, especially Eliot, who was now wondering what would have happened if these guys wanted to forbid his Pumpkin from living in Zootopia with him. He would have not hesitated to leave the city to be with her, he was pretty sure of that...
"Now, since they live in the city, they have to respect the clans." Lana said, "Any mage who is in there is under the jurisdiction of the three clans, and they have to abide to their will. Even the Enforcers cannot come here without the permission of the clans."
"Wait, for real?" Someone asked, and everyone looked at the two enforcers, and it was Marceli who spoke now:
"Yes, the three clans hold a great deal of authority and influence over this land, in a way that it would be hard even for us to act in here without their cooperation."
"As you probably noticed", Lana Bellwether said, looking at the cops around the room, "On your world, they are only your average discrete rich families, but on the world of magecraft, the Bellwether, Wilde and Höhle clans own Zootopia."
"They agreed to let us come in here to do our thing." Emilia said, "Amazing, considering that all of them have a problem or another with us."
"What? These families have problems with the authorities?" Judy asked, and Marceli soon answered to her:
"Well, there are some tensions between the clans and us, but that is not as important now. What is important is that the clans have agreed to give their full support on our mission, and they are ready to help with all that we need. Within what is convenient to them."
Some of the cops looked among themselves, and Bogo, in particular, didn't liked the "within what is convenient to them" part.
"So, with this explained, I guess that Chief Bogo now has assignments for you, ain't it right?" The fox said, looking at the buffalo. They both locked eyes for a few moments, before the buffalo nodded.
"Yeah, that's right."
With this, the Chief was fixing his glasses on his face, and he was soon starting to read the papers that he had, with the assignments for his officers.
"Snarlov, Rhinowitz, Higgins and Fanghanel, you will be going to see the mammals rescued from the mall, we will need their testimonies for the records." Bogo said, and he was soon handing a sum of files to the rhino, and soon, the four mammals were heading out of the briefing room as they looked at the many files that described the rescued hostages of the mall, they already knew that they would be busy for a while with that...
"Trunkaby, Pennington, McHorn, Delgato, Grizzoly, Jackson, McChill, Wolfard and Anderson." He said, "You will be scouting forensics to the mall, and will help them with anything that they might need." The cops nodded, and they all already knew that they were in for a long day, for they all had seen just how big the mall actually was. They were talking about twelve floors, each one with ten blocks in area. They could pretty much kiss their free time goodbye.
"Finally, Wilde and Hopps." The buffalo spoke, and the two cops stood on their seat (literally), as the buffalo looked at them, and said:
"You two will be going with the enforcers to help in their investigation." He spoke, and this surprised the two cops, as well as some of the other officers.
"Really?" Judy asked, looking a bit surprised, and so did Nick, "Sir, why are we going to go with the enforcers?"
"Because we asked Bogo to put you with us." Marceli said rather bluntly, prompting the two officers to look at the black fox.
"What can we say? We really like you two." Emilia said rather innocently, and the gaze shifted to her, before Bogo cleared his throat and soon the buffalo was the one speaking:
"Yeah, for some reason the enforcers were pretty insistent in having you two tagging along with them." The buffalo said, and he looked at the two small officers, "I do hope that you two do well with this."
"You can count on us, Chief!" Judy was quick to say, and Nick saluted to say that he understood. Soon, the two officers were going to talk with the enforcers, as to discuss details of what they were going to do. Bogo looked at them for a while, and he was about to turn and leave, when:
"Hey guys!" Someone said at the door, and this caused the ones still on the room to look. They saw Delgato in there, and he looked worried about something.
"Well, we were on our way out to go to the mall with forensics but..." The lion said, and he was looking back, "There is a woman in the front desk that is making quite a scene."
"And you came back here to tell us this?" Bogo said, "Can't you deal with this yourself?"
"Well, actually I came to ask for the enforcers to help." The long admitted, "Because, you see, the woman is actually a mage."
"Seriously?" Nick said, looking at the lion.
"How do you know she is a mage?" Bogo asked, and the lion opened his mouth, to speak, hesitating a bit before talking:
"Put me down now!" McChill said as he struggled on the bounds that were holding him. They both were two long pieces of cloth, that had came to him and wrapped around his body like two tentacles, and were proving to be too strong for the polar bear to break through them.
Said cloths were coming from a female cheetah, who stood in there as she looked at the struggling polar bear with her hard emerald-colored eyes, and her arms crossed over her chest. This cheetah was around 6 feet tall, with a slender and attractive figure, as it was possible to see hence most of her upper body was exposed, save for a cloth tied around her breast area to preserve her modesty. The fur of her body was of a pure golden-yellow coloration with black spots all over, and a softer yellow on her muzzle, down her neck and chest. She had three black lines that ran from the top of her head down the center of her back, ending on the base of her tail. She was wearing a long skirt, of a sea-green coloration, just like the two cloths that which bases were tie around her waist and that now were tie around McChill, hoisting him from the ground.
"Put me down!" The polar bear cried out in rage, but the cheetah only continued to look at him with indifference. All around, both cops and civilians were looking at the cheetah. Most of the civilians were hiding behind the cops. The cops, in general were around the cheetah, some of them pointing dart guns at her, but nearly all of them were urging her to put the polar bear down. Meanwhile, Lewis Deermond was in the front desk, hiding just out of sight and with only his antlers appearing from the other side.
"Put me down, you crazy feline!"
"I will, as soon as you apologize for grabbing my writs without my permission." The female cheetah said with indifference, and she looked back at the front desk, where Deermond was still hiding. "And where is Benjamin Clawhauser? I need to see that stupid fatso at once!"
"Will you stop talking about Ben like that!?" Someone near said. Chandler Manechester had switched clothes since last night, and now he was wearing red shirt and long jeans pants. He was also wearing a blue jeans jacket, and he was also carrying something on his hoof. It was a gift that he brought to Ben. He had intended to give it to the cheetah at the front desk, but the plump feline was not there. He had decided to wait, and that was when that crazy woman appeared, demanding to see Benjamin and then she started to badmouth him. The two mammals started to discuss, and in this, they called the attention of the ones around. They called so much attention that the polar bear cop came forward, and he was a bit rough with her after she insulted him, roughly grabbing her wrists, and that was when she used these cloths to subdue him.
And the woman still was talking bad about Benjamin!
The female cheetah looked at the horse as he said that to her, and she seemed like she was evaluating him,
"What? Are you saying that he is not fat?"
"I'm saying that you have no right to speak about him like that!"
"Why not?" The cheetah said to him, "He is fat for a cheetah, and you have to admit that this is truth."
"Maybe, but he is not stupid! I cannot accept that you speak this way about a friend of mine!" The horse said, "I don't care if you are some crazy mage! Ben is my friend and if you are gonna insult him like that, I'm gonna have a problem with you!"
She looked at him, and everyone around was still looking at the scene developing, and some of the cops looked like they were expecting the right chance to fire their darts at her.
"Hey, you!"
The eyes turned to the approaching bunny and fox, both of them with their own dart guns ready.
"Hey, McChill!" Nick said, with a smirk on his face, "A bit tangled up in there?"
"Oh, shut up and just dart her, Wilde!" The polar bear said, and the cheetah turned to look at the two newcomers.
"Oh, yes, the two small cops." The cheetah said, looking at them.
"Miss! Let Officer McChill go!" The bunny said, to which the cheetah answered:
"This brute tried to manhandle me!"
"Because you were resisting prison!" The polar bear said, "And you said that I was fat and ugly!"
"Oh, sorry, did I hurt the wittle cub's fragile feelings?" The cheetah said to him, causing the polar bear to grunt and try harder to get free, but having absolutely no success against these cloths holding him.
"Miss..." Judy said once more, "Let him go. Now."
The cheetah looked at the bunny for a few moments. Immediately after, the cloths unwrapped from around the polar bear, making him drop to the ground, holding himself up and pawing for his own dart gun.
Meanwhile, the cloths now were tying around the cheetah's torso. She had uncrossed her arms, letting the cloths wrap freely around her body, making loops around her shoulders and to the sides of her body, covering more and more of her. By the time they were securely tied, the two cloths had formed a shirt that was covering over her body and combined perfectly with the skirt that she was wearing.
"Okay..." Judy said, looking at the cheetah, "Now, if you just-"
"Do you know Benjamin Clawhauser?" The cheetah suddenly asked, and this surprised Judy.
"I... what?"
"Are you friends with Benjamin Clawhauser?" The cheetah asked again, and Judy looked at her for a moment, before she answered that she was.
"I see..." The cheetah said, "And can you really be friends with him, as he is so unsightly?"
"Excuse me?" Judy said, looking at the woman.
"You know what I mean." The cheetah said, "Have you seen his fat he is? Big felines are suppose to be slender and graceful, but instead that cat is corpulent and clunky, it is almost painful to see him."
"Okay, I don't know who you are, but I appreciate if you don't talk about my friend like that!" Judy said, really not liking that this woman was talking about someone as nice as Ben like that.
"Oh, so you really like that big fool?" The cheetah asked, and now, Judy was not the only one that was not looking at her nice.
"Hey, don't you say that!" Eliot Fanghanel said, looking at that woman as he spoke that, "I can tell that Ben is surely not a fool!"
"Now listen here!" Judy said, causing he female to look at her, "Benjamin is one of the kindest and most helpful mammals that I've ever met, and I won't accept you to say such things about him!"
The cheetah looked at her, and she knew that the bunny was serious, and the look at the fox said that he was of the same opinion.
"Is that so?" The cheetah said, and then someone else came into the scene.
"Now, normally I don't lose my composure with ladies who don't work for me." Bogo said, walking forward, "But I really don't like it when someone attacks one of my subordinates and blatantly insults the other."
"And who are you?" The cheetah asked.
"I'm Mansa Bogo, Chief of Precinct 1, and who are you?" The buffalo asked, and that was when Marceli came near, followed close by Emilia.
"I know her!" The black fox said, "She is-"
"I'll introduce myself to them if I feel like doing so, thank you very much!" The cheetah cut the fox out, and looked at the big mammal that was before her. "So, you are the famous Chief Bogo, huh?"
"Yes, why?" Bogo asked, evaluating that woman up and down, just like she seemed to be evaluating him.
"So, you are that fatso's boss." She said, looking at the buffalo, "Tell me, is he efficient on his work?"
Bogo looked at her, and he evaluated her a bit more before answering.
"Well, he always takes the right calls and passes the information correctly." Bogo said, "He is a very efficient dispatcher, and he is a very good mammal to have in the front desk."
The cheetah looked at him, and then she cast a glance at the front desk, where Deermond was, and he was still shrunk behind the desk, his head peeking out to see what was going around.
"I see..." The cheetah said, and she then asked, "And what about his other work positions?"
"Other... work positions?" Bogo said, blinking at the woman.
"You know, on his knees beneath your desk." The woman said, sounding very casual as she said, that "Or leaning over it with his pants down, unless you prefer a different kind of position."
Needless to say, many around looked shocked and flustered with what the woman was suggesting. Judy herself took a few moments to understand what she meant by that, but when she did, she looked scandalized.
Bogo, on his end, looked at her in shock.
"W-what? You... You!" The buffalo said, now beginning to properly react to the insinuations that the woman was making.
"Yes, after all, I must only assume that the big fool must satisfy these needs of yours." The woman said, looking at Bogo as this was a subject for a casual conversation, "That is the only explanation I see why anyone would keep around with such an unsightly, clumsy, incompetent..."
"NOW LISTEN HERE, WOMAN!" Bogo nearly bellowed, surprising many of the mammals who were around. "I don't know who you are, and neither what business do you actually have in here! But I'll NOT accept you to go speaking such things about one of my subordinates! Benjamin is one of the few sources of joy that this place actually has!"
Some were surprised to hear the big Chief say something like that. Of course, it was surely expected for him to defend his subordinates, but saying such a nice thing about someone was something that most other officers were not used to.
The female cheetah, however, only looked at him.
"So, do you care about him?"
"Yes!"
"Would you do your best to protect him if the need came?"
"Yes!"
"Would you fight for his happiness if given the chance?"
"Yes!"
The woman was coming closer to Bogo with each question, and now, they noses were almost touching as she looked at him dead in the eyes.
"Would you sacrifice your life to save his'?"
Bogo looked at her dead in the eyes, before he said:
"Yes."
For a long moment, they both just looked into each other's eyes, while the ones around seemed to only be waiting to see who was going to punch the other first.
However, everyone in general got surprised when the female cheetah opened as smile.
"I am so glad to hear that!"
Bogo blinked, looking at the smiling feline.
"What."
"Come here you." She said, putting her arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug. The buffalo was too shocked to actually resist.
"You are just like Ben described you." The woman whispered in the buffalo's ear, "Now, I don't know how things will go in the future, but I want you to know that, as of right now, you already have my blessing."
Her… blessing?
As she pulled out from the hug, she looked around, at the confuse mammals around.
"I'm so glad for knowing that Benji has made such nice friends." The cheetah said looking at the horse, at the wolf, and at the bunny and fox. "It is really nice that he has friends that will stick up to him and defend him, even against a mage. This is very important for me."
Now the ones around were trading looks among themselves, and some of them looked really confused.
"Okay?" Nick said, looking at the female cheetah, and it was McChill who spoke next:
"Okay, what is going on!?" He said, looking at the woman as if she was a dangerous lunatic. "Just who the heck are you, Miss?"
"It's Misses." The cheetah said, looking at the polar bear, "Misses Caitlyn Clawhauser, of the Clawhauser clan."
Everyone around blinked.
Clawhauser?
"I'm back!" Said a familiar voice that approached. Benjamin was soon coming back in fast steps.
"Sorry taking long, Lewis, that hospital food really did a number on me. Oh, and we need more toilet paper on the bathroom." The cheetah said as he arrived, and he was about to go back into the front desk, when he noticed that there was a something going on.
"What did I miss?" The cheetah asked, and that was when the woman spoke:
"Just me getting to finally know the friends you always talk about." She said, causing the plump male cheetah to look at her, "Also, I hope that you've washed your paws."
Ben blinked as he looked at the female cheetah, surprised for seeing her.
"Mom!?"