"Okay then, Ben." Chandler said; changing to another flashcard as he now looked at the cheetah. "Which is the top-selling Halloween candy?"
"D' Cheese's peanut butter cups!" Ben said without hesitation.
"That's it!" Chandler said, "A surprisingly accurate answer!"
"As if he could get that one wrong." Charles grumbled under his breath. They currently were playing the sixth game: a quiz with questions related to Halloween trivia. They formed a circle while Chandler would go around the circle asking Halloween questions. It would be three rounds, and in order to have access to the next clue, you had to get at least two questions right. They currently were on the final round, and Ben just answered his final question correctly.
"Now, Mr. Horne." Chandler said, passing to the next flashcard as he looked at the hybrid. "What do people in Mew England call the informal holyday celebrated on the night before Halloween?"
Melon looked at him and shrugged.
"Fright Night?"
"No, that would be Mischief Night."
Once more Melon shrugged. "Nyeh, whatever. I already got the previous two right anyway."
Now it was Legoshi's turn, as he was sitting right by Melon's side in the circle, and the wolf was ready. He needed to get the next one right if he wanted to win. He had already missed one...
"Okay, Ogami." Josh said, looking at the wolf, who looked intently back at him. "Where did Halloween originated?"
Legoshi nearly stood up. He knew that one.
"It originated in Ireland!" Legoshi blurted out. "It originated as a reminiscence of the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, a Gaelic tradition that celebrates the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter!"
"Correct." Chandler said, and passed to the next one in line, which was Hannah.
"Now here is your last question, darling." Chandler said, as he pulled another flashcard, reading from it. "How many 'witches' were burned in at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials?"
Hannah took a moment to think. She really didn't knew the answer for that, still, she needed to think and give the answer, she only had one minute to answer. Man, she wished that she had paid more attention to the history classes.
"Would it be... thirty?"
"Thirteen, actually. Sorry honey." Chandler said. Hannha sighed, and soon Chandler was already proceeding to the last two mammals of the circle: Nick and Judy.
"Officer Wilde, your turn." Chandler said, changing to yet another flashcard. Nick looked as if he was ready. "Which day of the year has the highest candy sales?"
"Oh, that would be the day before Halloween, right?" Nick asked, looking back at him. "Right on October 30th."
"Sorry, but you are wrong." Chandler said, "The correct answer it October 28th, Officer Wilde. No clue for you, I'm afraid."
"Oh, well." Nick said, shrugging. Now the horse moved to the next one in line.
"Alright, final question of the game. Officer Hopps, you have one correct answer and one wrong answer. To have access to the clue, you need to get it right. You ready?"
Judy breathed deeply, and then said:
"Ready."
With this, Chandler pulled the final flashcard, and he read from it:
"In which state of the United States of Animerica it is illegal to dress as a nun or priest for Halloween?"
Judy stopped, her eyes widening.
She knew that one! She had read it in her research about laws for the academy. It was... it was...
"Fifty seconds to answer, Officer Hopps." Chandler said, and Judy kept trying to remember. Oh, she knew that she knew that. It was a state of the South. It was at the tip of her tongue.
"Forty seconds." Chandler said.
She remembered that. She knew that she did. She saw it on one of the books of laws. She knew that it was...
"Thirty seconds now, Officer Hopps." Chandler reminded her, and everyone around looked at her, waiting to see if she would answer or not.
Gah! It was so hard to remember!
No. She could not lose her cool. She needed to put her mind at ease. She needed to focus. So, Judy did what she usually did when she wanted to focus or remember something. She focused on a glass of water. An empty glass, sitting still right before her. Then, she imagined water being poured into the glass, it didn't mattered from where, she just poured the water. It was filling the glass, and filling, and filling, until it filled it all and it overflowed, spilling all around the cup.
In that moment, she opened her eyes. She had remembered.
"It is Alallama!" Judy said, looking at the horse. "Section 13A-14-4 states that impersonating a nun, priest, or any other religious agent through the use of clothing, even if a costume, is a felony, punished with a five hundred zoollars fine and/or incarceration for no more than one year."
"That's correct! Impressively accurately, even! Very well done, Officer Hopps!" Chandler said, putting down the flashcards, while Judy made a small celebration of her victory by pumping her fists.
"So, this concludes this round of the game." Chandler concluded. "The winners are Hopps, Horne, Ogami, Ben, Josh and Effie. Congratulations guys, you get to know what the clue is. For the losers, I'll have to please ask you all to wait on the other room."
With this, the mammals who didn't got the needed amount of correct questions to win left the room. Charles grumbled something as he left the room. That horse seemed like he grumbled a lot. Nick said that he should not worry, once his wife would surely be kind enough to share the clue with him. Charles ignored the fox and continued to grumble.
Soon, only Chandler and the winners were left on the room. Of course, Gabe also remained in the room. He had been silently cheering for Ben as he watched the game in silence, as it had been ask of him before the quiz began, and he was currently congratulating Ben by hugging him.
"Once more, congratulations to all for winning this round." Chandler said, looking at all of them. "You have attained the right to see this clue. Make of it what you will."
A Chandler said that, he pulled something from inside of his clothes and showed it to the winners.
It was a picture.
A picture of Chandler himself.
A picture that had a red circle drawn around the horse.
"I see..." Euphemia said, looking at the picture with a neutral expression. Judy also looked at it, and she said:
"I knew it! It goes well with my theories."
The others also looked at the picture, including Legoshi, who looked at it with a tilted head. It seemed that the wolf didn't got what it meant. The hybrid, however, got it, and he said to the wolf:
"It means Chandler is someone's target." He spoke to the wolf, and Legoshi seemed to understand.
"Wait, does it means that it will be another murder? Like in the mystery books when the killer suddenly kills someone else?" Gabe asked as he saw the picture, and Chandler simply shrugged.
"You are saying it, not me." Chandler said, looking at the wolf, "I just gave you guys the clue, you must take your own conclusions and determine how it fits in the mystery."
Everyone took in what the horse said, and then Judy asked if now they were going to join the others and play another game. The horse, however, shook his head.
"It's gotten late." Chandler said, "The next game would probably take a while, so we better play it tomorrow. Now, what about we just join with the rest of the guests and spend some time chatting before going back to our rooms?"
"Excuse me." Said someone, it was a donkey butler, and everyone turned to look at him. "I am sorry for interrupting, Master Chandler, but there is a car with four mammals on the outside of the gates that is asking for entrance to the Vole Gardens. They claim to have been invited into the mansion by Mister Clawhauser."
"Oh, they are my guests!" Josh said happily. "You can tell them to come in!"
"Josh, you invited someone?" Ben asked.
"Oh, just some friends who were free tonight."
"You arrived in the city recently. How do you know anyone?" Euphemia asked.
"I am very sociable and likeable." Josh answered to her, "I am good at making friends. So, I called them, they were free, I invited them to come. That is okay, right Chandler?"
Everyone looked at the horse, the butler included, as they waited for his answer.
"Well... if they are your friends, then I assume they are welcome." Chandler said, "They will not stay for long, will they?"
"Nah, they will just stay the night and will be gone by the morning." Josh said, "Don't worry, you won't even notice that they are here."
Well, that was enough for Chandler. He told the butler that he could authorize their entrance, to which the butler bowed and said that he would. Chandler felt that he could talk to his father later if he had any problem with it. After all, if they were Josh's friends, there was no harm having them for one night, right?
Soon, everyone was gather in one of the waiting rooms. They were chatting and interacting. Judy had immediately rushed to Nick to share the clue with him. The fox nodded, as it indeed confirmed the theory that Blackson was not the original target. It seemed that Chandler was the original mark of the killer. Now the question was, who wanted to kill Chandler and why?
Meanwhile, Josh was once more talking to Legoshi and Melon. Well, he was talking with Melon, as Legoshi had moved away as soon as the cheetah went to them. He went to sit near Marcy, who was talking with Ben and with Gabe, as the deer seemed reluctant to get parted from the plump cheetah, while Josh continued to chat with Melon. The hybrid was very receptive to the muscular cheetah, and it actually seemed that they were having a good conversation in there. Someone who looked could even see some flirting going on.
Everything was proceeding normally, when...
"Excuse me." The butler said, causing everyone to stop and look at him.
"Mister Clawhauser. Your... friends are here." He announced, and stepped aside, allowing Josh's friends to come to the room. They immediately provoked reactions from the guests.
There were four animals coming into the room, a lion, a moose, a panther and a buffalo. The buffalo was the tallest, and he was wearing jacket and long pants. Meanwhile, the other three were all wearing tank tops, miniskirts, one of them was wearing a long dress, and makeup. And they were all males!
"Oh, boy..." Nick said as he looked at the newcomers, and so did all of the others. Meanwhile, Josh got up, smiling as he walked to them with open arms.
"Hey there." He said, greeting them. "Angel. Amber. Tiffany." He said, giving each one of the three crossdressers a kiss to the cheek. He then gave a fist bump to the buffalo. "Mark."
Everyone continued to stare. Josh turned to the others, and made the introductions. The Lion was "Angel", the moose was "Amber" and the panther was "Tiffany." This left the buffalo to, obviously, be Mark.
"I've met them during my stay in Zootopia." Josh said to all of them. "They all have been really nice to me. They are all pretty sweet."
"Oh, we sure are." Said the crossdressing panther. "And Josh here have been really sweet to all of us. He is so tender and caring. It is so hard to find guys like that."
Everyone continued to stare. Including Legoshi, who looked at Josh and the newcomers with a tilted head and a confused look on his face.
"Guys, those two over there are my brother and sister, I told you all about them, didn't I?" Josh said, pointing at his siblings. "And the deer is Ben's ex, but they are really in good terms."
"Nice the meet you." Angel said, looking at them with a wave. Ben and Marcy greeted them back.
"Are you serious!?" Charles suddenly said, standing up from his seat and looking at Josh and the ones he invited.
"Excuse me?"
"Did you seriously called... this kind of company to this house!?" Charles demanded. "Are you fricking kidding me!?"
"What's wrong with their company?" Josh asked, looking at Charles with a raised eyebrow.
"This is a respectable house!" Charles demanded. "If you are looking for this kind of company there are places in town where you can find it! For crying out loud! This is a family house! There are cops here! You know that there are cops here!?"
Josh and his guests continued to look at the horse, and Charles then turned to the said cops on the room.
"What are you waiting for? Shouldn't you arrest those mammals?" Charles asked, and now it was Amber's turn to speak.
"Wait, why would they arrest us?"
"Why?" Charles said, looking at the crossdresser. "Because, last time I checked, prostitution was illegal!"
Okay, now that didn't bode well with the group.
"I'm sorry." Tiffany said, looking at him. "What makes you think that we are prostitutes?"
"Are you kidding me?" Charles said, looking at the panther. "You all looks just like prostitutes! You even have prostitute names!"
"Hey!" Mark said, stepping forward. "Watch how you talk to my girl!"
"They are not prostitutes, Charles." Josh said, "You might think you can recognize prostitutes, but I assure you that they are not."
"Yeah, we are not." Angel said, looking at him. "It is quite rude of you to assume we are. This is discrimination."
"You know, the lion is right." Nick said, and Judy had to agree with him. Charles didn't liked it. However, he said nothing, and then Amber was the one talking:
"Yeah, it is rude of you to assume that we charge for going to bed with someone." The moose said, "We only go to bed with someone if they deserve our time. Like Josh here does. He is very caring and comprehensive, and he is a true freak under the sheets!"
Some (Charles) looked scandalized by this, while most simply blushed.
"Yeah, and he actually calls on the next morning." Angel said, "You know how many actually do it?"
"Calls?" Charles said, looking at him. "What, he has a phone?"
"Of course." Mark said, "He got our numbers so he could call us in the following day. Well, he got my number. I don't let just anyone get Tiffany's number, even after a threesome." He said, and Tiffany chuckled, saying something about Mark being jealous and protective.
"A... threesome?" Legoshi asked, a tilted head as he looked at the buffalo and his "girl".
"Yeah, we are pretty open." Mark said, and he added:
"And we were in for something when Josh called us and asked if we wanted to check on a real mansion."
"Yeah, I've never been inside one before." Angel said.
"Oh, you are more familiar with motels and slummy clubs?" Charles said, and this granted him dirty looks.
"You got a problem with my friends, horsey?" Josh asked, giving Charles a glare. "For your information, Chandler said that it was okay for me to have them over, ain't that right?"
Charles turned to look at him. Chandler looked at Charles, then at Josh, and then back at Charles.
"Well, if they really are Josh's friends, then they are all welcome to stay the night." Chandler said, "They seem really nice people."
"Oh, we are." Amber said.
"But, I would still have liked if Josh had asked me before inviting you guys over." Chandler added, and Josh rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yeah, sorry about that." The muscular cheetah said. "I was missing their company, and decided to call them to pass here. I am glad they all accepted."
"Well, we wouldn't refuse." Mark said, looking at the cheetah. "Not after you asked us if we wanted to have sex inside of a mansion's bedroom."
"What!?" Charles said.
"What?" Chandler said.
"Josh!" Ben said, looking at his twin, who just shrugged.
"Hey, I have the right to have fun with my friends, don't I?" he said, putting his arms around Angel and Amber. "So, what about we take this upstairs and get our little private party started right away? If anyone wants to join us, just have to knock on the door. Oh, by the way, Chandler, can you please tell the servants to take two bottles of champagne to my bedroom? And some whipped cream, chocolate sauce and strawberries? Thanks, you're great!"
With that said, Josh walked away with one arm around Angel and the other around Amber, and they were already chatting. Mark followed right behind, with an arm around Tiffany's shoulders.
They walked out of the room, leaving many stunned mammals behind.
"Josh really haven't changed, has he?" Ben asked, and Marcy chuckled.
"He sure haven't."
Judy woke up in the middle of the night.
She turned on her bed and looked at the clock by the nightstand. It were nearly three in the morning. Judy groaned as she got up from her bed.
She was still sleepy, and quite groggy, but she had woken up for a reason.
She should not have drank so much water before bed.
Getting up and hopping out of her bed, still on the nightgown she received to spend the night (part of the hospitality kit of the Manechester Mansion), the bunny walked one of her room and down the hallway, passing the rooms of others on her way, including Josh's.
The room was currently silent, and Judy was glad for this. It seemed that Josh and the friends he invited had finally gotten tired of their little party.
Judy was glad, for it was only then when she could stop pressing the pillow against her own head.
Once more, the bunny girl cursed her own sensitive hearing. As if hearing that from Bucky and Pronk was not enough, she now had to hear it from a group of five mammals, a few of which could be particularly loud and explicit on what they were saying.
Judy passed by the door, and she resumed on her quest for a bathroom. She didn't really knew if there were any in the second floor (if there were, they would be inside someone's bedroom, and Judy didn't felt like intruding in the middle of the night, as it would not be polite), so she went downstairs to look for one that she had already used.
Judy walked across the hallways until she found the stairs, and she was going down. She was already on the last row of stairs, when she picked up something.
Her ears went up, turning to her side, and her head followed soon after.
The shuffling of paws against the carpet caught her attention.
"Hello?" Judy asked, looking at the direction from which the sound came. She finished going down the stairs, and she was just walking around to have a better look, when she heard it again. She definitely heard it this time.
Steps. Rushed steps. Accompanied by a heavy breathing.
They moved away from her. The bunny rushed. She didn't saw who or what it was, but she knew that they had gone through the open door that led to the hallway.
"Hey. Hey!" Judy said, rushing through the door. "Wait!"
However, that mysterious mammal didn't waited. They continued to run away from her. Judy cold her their footsteps. They didn't sounded like hooves. Those were definitely paws. Paws against the floor, and moving away from her. At a great speed, it was to be add.
"Wait!" Judy said, as she rushed after the other mammal, who escaped her as they continued to run ahead. "Stop! I am a cop!"
She chased the other mammal across the house, passing by rooms and hallways. She never could actually reach the other mammal. In fact, she was so behind that it nearly felt like that mammal was toying with her. Letting her get close only so they could once more start running and leave her behind once more. This was starting to become annoying for Judy.
"Stop right now!" The bunny cried out, as she continued to follow the mammal. That was when she heard the sound of doors being open and then slammed shut.
She made the curve on a hallway and looked at the direction that the sound came from. It was from the end of the hallway, at a wide double door.
Judy didn't hesitated, as she ran to the door, jumped, and aimed her feet right at it. The door slammed open as her feet made contact, and as Judy landed, she was crying out:
"ZPD! Don't move!"
There was no answer.
No one answered to her words.
Judy looked around, her eyes scanning the room, which was illuminate only by the light that came from the windows. The room was empty, that is save for the works of art that filled it, like the other rooms. There were statuettes and vases on pedestals, there were real statues near the corners. There was a huge vase near the wall, which was not decorate like the ones in the pedestals but certainly had the value of a work of art.
But, aside from the art, there was nothing else into the room. Not a single living soul in there.
Or, at least, that was what Judy initially thought.
"Rough night, Officer?"
Judy immediately to see who it was. Melon was shirtless, wearing only a pair of long pajama pants. He was leaning over the open window, his head turned as he looked at the cop. He had a calm expression on his face as he looked at her.
Judy blinked, looking at the hybrid.
"Hey... Mr. Horne." She said, looking at him, was he the one that had been running from her? No, it didn't looked like it. If that were the case, he wouldn't be in there talking to her. Besides, he was not panting, as she would expect from someone who was running. He seemed actually pretty calm as he looked at her.
"Did you... did you see anyone in here, by any chance?" Judy asked. Melon turned to look at her, revealing that he had a lighted up cigarette on his hoof.
"Why?" He asked, and Judy said:
"I heard something. There was someone coming this direction. I was sure that he had entered here."
"The only living mammals in this room are you and me, Officer Hopps." Melon said to her. "That much I can assure you."
Judy looked at him, and she nodded. Had she mistaken the direction to which the culprit had gone? Were they still into the house? If that was the case, then it could be dangerous.
"You look tense." Melon said to her. "Maybe you should relax a little bit."
"There is someone into the house." Judy said, looking at him. "We have to wake up the others and search the entire place."
"There is no need for that."
"But the invader might be hostile!"
"There is no invader, little buns." Melon said, looking at him. "There is no danger to anyone inside, at least not right now. You can have my word on that."
Judy looked at him.
"Did you just called me 'little buns'?"
"Man, you do look tense." Melon said, looking at her. "Say, why don't you and I talk for a while? Just talk, right here." He pulled a chair from near the wall, and put it right by his side. He tapped into it.
Judy looked at him for a long moment, before she started to move on his direction. She hopped into the chair, and standing in it, she was in the right position to look outside the window. Melon turned back and leaned over, resting his elbows on the window.
Judy looked at him, and followed his example. She was looking outside, and after a while, she asked:
"So... you still awake?"
"Just like you, I assume." Melon said, "Couldn't sleep, so decided to come out here and tap one." He placed the cigarette on his lips and sucked in, before he exhaled the smoke with a sigh. "Of course, Legoshi was sound asleep, so I had to be careful not to wake him up. Seriously, that wolf is one hell of a light sleeper."
"Oh, yeah." Judy said, looking at the hybrid. "You sleep on the same bedroom, right?"
"Yeah." Melon said, looking at the bunny, "On separate beds, mind you. We are close, but not that close."
He looked out once more, and so did Judy.
For a while, the silence reigned. You couldn't even hear bugs on the outside.
"So... Ogami has a way with bugs, right?" Judy asked, trying to make conversation. "I mean, after all, his magecraft revolves around bugs."
"Yeah, he has a lot of ways with those creepy crawlies. He is pretty good with them, and knows a lot about bugs." Melon said casually.
"And, do you help him with them?" Judy asked.
"Only if I have no other choice." Melon said, "Bugs creep me out."
More silence followed those words, and Melon once more took a drag on the cigarette, before letting it out on a sigh. He then looked at the bunny.
"Say, would you like some? I have more." He said, offering her the cigarette, which Judy readily refused.
"No, I don't smoke. And you shouldn't either, it is really bad for..." Judy stopped in the middle of the sentence, as she looked at the cigarette. It didn't looked like the cigarettes that came into packages that you could buy on the market or in journal stands on the street. In fact, this cigarette was actually quite crude. It looked like someone had made it by improvising some paper, and now was using it as a cigarette.
Judy looked at that cigarette, and she then remembered that she had seen cigarettes like that before. During the introductory courses on how to deal with drug dealers and users.
As she remembered that, another memory came to her mind. A memory of the first time she met Horne and Ogami.
"Wait. Is that catnip?" Judy asked, looking at the cigarette, and then at the hybrid, who smirked at her.
"Aren't you smart?" He said, moving the catnip cigarette close to his face and putting it on his mouth, dragging on with gusto.
Judy looked at him with a scandalized expression.
Was he really using drugs like that, in front of a police officer?
"You shouldn't have that!" Judy said immediately. Melon blew out the smoke, and he looked back at her.
"Why? Because as a hybrid I cannot fully enjoy catnip?"
"What? No!" Judy said, looking at him. "Because it is illegal! Catnip is a controlled substance!"
"I know." Melon said, looking at her. "You won't believe how hard it is to get some here in this country."
"You shouldn't have catnip!" Judy said, looking at him. "Buying and possessing catnip is a felony! It is in Zootopia's Controlled Substances Act! It can land you in prison!"
Melon laughed.
He actually laughed at her!
He then looked at the bunny, seeing how serious (and angry) she was. He adopted a more respectful pose.
"Seriously, are you going to make a big deal because of it?"
"Shouldn't I?" Judy asked, looking at him, and Melon shrugged.
"Well, I assume it is part of your job." He said, before turning to the window and looking outside. "But you shouldn't. Believe me, it would be a lot less problem for both of us, and it wouldn't do you any good either."
She looked at her, and she was still looking at him with a serious expression.
"Come on, it is not like I am going to go around giving it." He said, looking at her, "It is for personal use."
"It is still illegal." Judy said, looking at him. "Do you even know what it can do to you in the long run? What it can do with your life? Do you know how many mammals have had their lives destroyed because of drugs?"
"I am well aware of it." Melon said, seeming unamused. "So you can spare me the speech, I hear enough of it from Legoshi whenever he sees me with catnip."
Melon took another drag of catnip. Judy continued to look, wondering why she wasn't jumping forward and snatching that from the hybrid's hoof. After all, as a cop, she had the plain authority to take away that cigarette and any more catnip that he had and confiscate it.
Melon sighed once more as his body relaxed, and he let out another puff of smoke on the outside.
He leaned over the counter.
"It doesn't affects me on the way it affects felines." Melon said, as Judy looked at him. "It doesn't make me get all hyped like it would do to a puma or a cheetah, or even a purebred leopard. It is because of my mixed blood. Still, it affects me just on the way to make me enjoy it. It changes the way I perceive things. It makes it all more intense, you know? The colors and lights get brighter, sounds get deeper, smells become more intense... It is as if I can feel and sense the world around me better. I enjoy better what it has to offer. It makes me feel more alive... I like that feeling."
A few moments of silence, as Judy looked at him.
"Do you know what is it like to be a hybrid, Officer Hopps?" Melon asked, still looking outside. "Do you know what is like to be born while being in between two different species? To be two things at once, at the same time that you are none of them? Can you even imagine what it feels like to be like that? To live like that?"
Judy didn't answered. The way that the hybrid spoke, it really sounded like something that she couldn't really understand.
"That not to mention the way that others treat you." Melon continued. "Do you have any idea how hybrids are treated?"
Judy took a moment to answer.
"Well, I heard that hybrids can be target of discrimination." Judy said, "On the old days, hybrids suffered a lot. As much as predators did, maybe even more. But it has improved over the years."
Melon scoffed at this.
"What?" Judy said, looking at him, "It did. There are many more laws that prevent discrimination from species that also apply to hybrids. Just a few years ago we had a hybrid president!"
"Oh, yeah." Melon said, looking at her, "The guy who was half-deer and half-antelope. He didn't get reelected, did he?"
Judy continued to look at Melon, and the hybrid looked back at her.
"Do you actually think that these small things mean the world is different?" Melon asked, looking at her. "Do you really think it means that mammals are any less unreasonable now than they were eighty, fifty, even twenty years ago?"
They locked eyes, staring at each other for a few moments. Melon looked away, and he rested his elbows on the window once more, looking outside. He dragged his catnip cigarette once more, and then he spoke, letting out smoke as the words came out:
"Mammals like when things have logic." His words felt distant, as if he was speaking of something that he didn't really cared about. "They like when things follow a logic. They like it because it means that things are in order, that they follow a pattern and they are predictable. It might be boring, but it is comforting to know that things follow a coherent routine, that they have rules to happen. That they follow a specific order."
He then turned to look at the bunny.
"That is the origin of prejudice. Anything that breaks the routine, anything that breaks the order, makes mammals nervous. It makes them uncomfortable and anxious, because it means that the routine has been broken, and they cannot know what is going to happen next. There is no pattern, there is no order, they don't know if they will get hurt or if things will no longer be the way they want to be."
"Speciesism has its origin in it." Melon said, looking at her. "Mammals want parameters to guide how things go, and what parameter can be greater and more meaningful than the division generated by species? After all, few things can be clearer than species. If you are a deer, than you know that you cannot be an antelope, a horse, a jaguar or a mouse. If you are a deer, you will behave in a certain way, have a certain diet, and have certain specific instincts. The same goes for lions, rats, foxes, elephants. All of them have qualities and instincts given by their species. It is clear, it is determined; it has a coherence and a logic. It is order."
Judy remained silent as she heard what the hybrid was saying, and he then sighed, looking away.
"That is why hybrids freak people out. Especially hybrids like me, of prey and predator." Melon said, looking outside once more. "If you tell some mammals that the divisions between species don't exist, or even that they aren't as clear as they want to believe, they get scared. Angry even. Some even want to make war over it. They don't want to accept that the greatest dividing line can be defied."
"Hybrids are a statement of nature against such divisions." Melon continued, taking a last drag on his cigarette, reducing it to a small burning nub. "We are a living proof that the line that divides species is not as clear-cut and immovable as some want to believe. That is why some get nervous by our existence. Why they see us as freaks, as monsters, even as mistakes made by the gods that should be erase from the world. As if we are committing a crime just by being born. Of course, not all think like that, but I have lived long enough and gone through enough things to know that many do, and that they are firm on their position."
Silence followed those words, as Judy only looked at the hybrid, who played with the incandescent nub of a cigarette on his hooved fingers.
"For many, catnip is a way of making yourself alert. A way of giving yourself an advantage. Maybe even a way of escaping a harsh reality that you rather not face." He said, "For me, it is a way of making the world seem more alive. A way of making me able to enjoy better what it has to offer, so I can convince myself that life in it is not completely worthless, despite others constantly trying to tell me that my own life is worthless."
More silence followed those words, and the hybrid then yawned and tossed the nub out of the window.
"Yeah, guess it's time to go back to bed now. Good night, Officer Hopps. You can go back to running around the mansion screaming and banging at doors. Maybe this time you'll manage to wake someone up."
With this, the hybrid left. Judy looked at him as he went away.
As the hybrid left, closing the door behind himself and leaving the bunny alone on the room with the works of art, Judy reflected on all she just heard. On all Melon had said. It did sounded like hybrids didn't had it easy, and the way that he spoke was as if he had personal experience on what he was talking about. It really seemed that he had felt on his own pelt what it was like to suffer prejudice for being born a hybrid.
As she reflected on that, a thought occurred to her:
"I still need to pee..."
Cape buffalos were not nocturnal by definition. Even though some of Bogo's relatives were truly night owls, considering their sleep schedules, Bogo himself operated far better on the day. However, this didn't stopped him of working at night when a case was truly worth of his attention, or when he had a lot of paperwork to work with.
This week, he had a combination of both, now that he'd partnered up with the Enforcers. He was officially acting as both boss and officer. This meant the extra job of investigating the case himself combined with the work of having to deal with all of the legal paperwork that came from reviewing the reports of his officers and having to deal with other legal procedures.
Once more Bogo was thankful for highly caffeinated coffee.
As Bogo took another sip from his mug, he looked over the file he was currently working at. It was, basically, a transcription of the interview with Rotun. Bogo was currently taking a time to review it, as he took a break from looking into possible new leads regarding Black Vipers and a possible connection they could have with the MTC. This all made Bogo remember a lot of the time when he was still a newbie and had to make many investigations by himself when he worked on some new big case. Bogo was a lot younger back then, and he had no problems staying up 'til late.
Now, even with his strongest coffee, he still would fight to keep his mind on the subject and avoid thinking on a bed.
However, right now, there was something else keeping him form fully focusing on his work.
There were lot of things that were on his mind at the moment.
First, there was the worry about having something on his city that could possibly cause destruction on a large scale, apparently a piece of the same thing that had caused the Darkest Hour. The enforcers said to him that he didn't needed to worry about that, but Bogo still thought of the thing, and caught himself worrying that Zootopia could be the next Fangtropolis, the kind of thought that would scare anyone.
There was also the worry for the subject regarding his brother. Bogo still didn't had the chance to get alone with Mieczyslaw (the uncle) enough to question him in detail about that event. Of course, that should be a secondary worry with all that was happening, but Bogo just felt that he needed to ask the enforcer that as soon as he had a real opportunity. He felt like he owned his brother that somehow, after all those years thinking he was crazy...
Also, there was the worry with Ben. The plump cheetah was currently on the Manechester mansion, the same house were Adrian and Yahya Manechester lived. Honestly, Yahya was not the one who worried Bogo. The elder Manechester could be quite strange and hard to read at times, but Bogo had to admit that he was very reasonable. The real problem was Adrian, who still hated Benjamin for what happened five years ago, as well as Carolyn. Not to mention the fact that there could be some real danger in there, as an example of what happened on that green maze. Knowing that Ben could be attacked at any moment by someone was really setting off Bogo, as well as the fact that those horses preferred to cover everything up than to allow the ZPD to be involved. If Ben was safe on the front desk then Bogo wouldn't be worried at all, but instead the cheetah was in that house, where lived at least two mammals who hated him, and which was being stalked by some crazy and potentially dangerous mammal.
And where now his ex-fiancé was housed.
The same ex-fiancé who kissed Ben. And was hugging him. And could very well use all the time he had on that mansion to stay close to Ben, saying sweet things on his ear and holding his paws and...
"Chief!"
Bogo nearly cursed as he stood on attention on his chair, startled by the sudden voice. The buffalo blinked as he looked around, before his eyes focused on the one who had called him, standing right in the middle of his office.
"McChill!" Bogo bellowed, looking back at the polar bear. "What do you want!? And why are you sneaking on me like that!?"
"Sneaking?" The polar bear asked, looking at the buffalo. "I knocked on the door three times while I called you before I entered. And I still called you two other times before I screamed to get your attention."
Bogo blinked, looking at the polar bear, who looked back at him. Bogo was the first to look away.
"I... I was distracted." Bogo said, gathering the papers and putting them on a pile. "This case is taking a lot on me right now."
"Yeah, I imagine." McChill said, "Still trying to investigate the lead of the little freak?"
"Yes, I am." Bogo said, before he looked up at the polar bear. "And for the shake of any possible accusation of speciest behavior, I advise you to not call him that."
"It's just you and me here." McChill said, to which Bogo replied:
"It is still speciest behavior."
McChill looked at him for a few moments, before he spoke:
"So, the enforcers left you to take care of this, huh?"
"They went on to deal with things on their end." Bogo said, "I gave a call and Jackalson answered. He agreed to pass on the message to them once they've woke up in the morning."
"They do that a lot, don't they?" McChill asked, making Bogo look at him with a raised eyebrow. "They leave you to do things while they go off to do others."
"They are investigating the case as well." Bogo said to him.
"How do you know?" McChill asked the chief. "Because they told you that they would do that?"
"Yes." Was Bogo's simple answer.
McChill scoffed.
"Three years ago you wouldn't have believed two pelts so readily." He said, and Bogo looked at him, getting up from his desk.
"McChill, why have you come to my office?" Bogo asked, and his voice carried the silent threat for McChill not to say the wrong thing. The polar bear seemed to take it, but still, he said what was on his mind:
"Why do we follow the instructions of those two so readily?" McChill said. "First when they asked us to handle over Bellwether, and then whey they told us to allow them to investigate this their way. And you are doing all that they want right now!"
Bogo looked at McChill, as he continued:
"First you gave them Hopps and Wilde because they asked. And now you are following them along."
"I am helping them with the investigation." Bogo said.
"But why you?"
"Because I am the chief."
"Is that enough reason?"
"You can bet it is." Bogo said, and that last statement nearly sounded like a threat.
"Did those foxes asked that of you?" McChill asked Bogo. "Did they asked you to tag along with them?"
"I told them that I would be doing so." Bogo said, "They accepted."
"Oh, so you would not have gone with them if they had refused?"
"Be careful with your words, McChill." Bogo said, and the two mammals locked eyes, nearly as if they were having a staring contest.
"You have changed a lot since the Night Howler Case." McChill said. Bogo said nothing in return, so he continued:
"When they first told us to take Hopps, I was not happy, and neither were you, and neither most of the guys. I mean, a bunny doing the same jobs as the big guys? Of course it would never work. But you had to suck it up, because it was orders from Lionheart. I could understand that, and at least you put her in a place where she would be out of our way." McChill said, and Bogo remained silent at this. "But then, after she and Wilde busted Bellwether, you took him in without any question. A fox! And no one was forcing you to do it! Not to mention all of the other little guys that you started receiving."
"Not only that, but you started treating them as if they were stars around here!"
"They busted the case all by themselves." Bogo said to him. "If it wasn't for that bunny and fox you and your entire family would be wearing shock collars. You do remember that we confirmed that Bellwether planned to have one made for every predator of the age of five and on, right? This means your daughters would be wearing them as well."
McChill looked at Bogo. There were a few moments of silence, before he spoke again:
"You are different ever since that case. Before it, you knew that it was better not to trust certain mammals, and you knew that some were not qualified for other jobs." McChill looked Bogo dead in the eyes as he said that, "But now it seems that you went along with all that 'inclusion and acceptance' thing. I mean, come on! You know that a mouse would not be able to capture a lion! And that a fox shouldn't be trusted to have a badge! Or at least you knew once!"
Bogo looked at him. He was ashamed to admit that McChill was right.
There was a time, not so long ago, when he was nearly as speciest as McChill. No one could actually tell, but Bogo was speciest. He would never have had small officers on his unity if he had the choice, and he would never had hired a fox if he could avoid it, and he would do all he could to avoid it. The worst part was that Bogo thought that none of it was bigotry, but facts learned from experience. He didn't recognized his own speciesism, except when Hopps and Wilde proved him wrong on the most spectacular way.
Bogo measured his words as he spoke to the polar bear.
"McChill, do you remember the videos that I passed on the briefing room just a week after Bellwether was put behind bars?"
"Chief..."
"Do you!?" Bogo demanded, and McChill flinched.
"Do you remember the video I showed you that showed Hopps knocking out a rhino during her training at the academy? I am sure that most do. As well as they remember the video of the traffic cameras that show exactly how Hopps and Wilde escaped from being maul by a savage jaguar. Do you remember how Hopps valiantly risked her life to save Wilde? And how Wilde came back to help her when he could have just ran and left her on her own?"
McChill said nothing, and now Bogo looked down.
"And after that, they still had to hear me calling her a coward and saying that his testimony meant nothing for him being a fox..."
McChill looked at Bogo, and the buffalo rose his eyes to look at him once more.
"I let my own preconceived notions blind me." Bogo said, "If I had listened to Hopps, or at least gave her a chance, then maybe we could have busted that case far sooner. But no, I let my personal feelings get on the way and I, like most in the Precinct, treated her like just someone to tolerate instead of one of us. And in the end, it was she, not any of us, who busted that case and saved the city from a grim future, with the help of a fox, no less."
"She proved to me that she could do it, and that I shouldn't have assumed that she couldn't only because of her species." Bogo said, "And Wilde proved that he could be loyal and brave, despite what many say about foxes. And you know what? Ever since they became partners, they have solved in their one year together more cases than some other officers had solved in nearly ten."
McChill couldn't deny that. It was truth that, as partners, Wilde and Hopps really were amazing cops.
"You say I have changed after the Night Howler Case?" Bogo asked, to which the polar bear didn't answered, "Well, maybe I just decided that I wouldn't let personal feelings blind me or get in the way of doing my job. Not anymore."
McChill really couldn't answer that, and he and Bogo only stood there in silence for a while, before the polar bear spoke:
"I still don't trust those two. The enforcers, I mean."
Bogo looked at him.
"I am sure that they are hiding something. Maybe even a lot of things." McChill said, "I mean, they didn't told us about the MTC when that could have been useful."
Bogo looked at McChill, and he wanted to dismiss it as saying that he was being paranoid or speciest once more. However, this time Bogo couldn't. He had to admit, that was something that the enforcers could have shared, at least with Hopps and Wilde. Of course, it was easy for them to justify it as a lapse of judgement, but it doesn't change the fact that they didn't shared information with the ZPD after they ensured that they wanted to cooperate.
There was also the fact that Bogo found out that they didn't shared what they knew about the "package" that the MTC wanted since the beginning. However, he was not going to tell mcChill that...
At that moment, Bogo suddenly got distract from it as a chill ran through his body.
It was a weird feeling. As if something really cold had passed through him, like a cold shower. It made every fur on his body stand.
"Did you felt that?" Bogo asked to McChill before he even realized it.
McChill, however, either didn't heard the question or chose not to acknowledge it.
"Come on, Bogo, you have been around nearly as much time as I have." McChill said, "You know that you cannot really believe everything certain mammals say. I am not even talking about them being foxes. This is not about species, is about knowing when someone is playing you, and I have the feeling that those two are playing us."
"I know that they are hiding something. That there is just something that they are either lying or just not saying. It is not speciesism; it is... i-it is..." McChill stopped talking for a moment, and he swayed.
"It is what?" Bogo asked, but got worried as he saw the polar bear swaying, and giving a few steps back. "McChill?"
"I-I was... I mean, just now I..." The polar bear said, suddenly he was feeling woozy. "I... I think I need a... a glass of... cold water..."
He gave a few steps forward, before stumbling. He was able to support himself on Bogo's desk so he didn't landed with his face on it. However, his arms and legs gave out on him, and he slid to the floor.
"McChill!" Bogo said, immediately rushing after the other officer. "McChill, what is happening? Are you alright?"
The polar bear was breathing a bit heavily. He blinked a lot, as if he was trying to focus his eyes on Bogo, but soon his eyes rolled and closed, as he went limp. The buffalo didn't knew much about first aid (not more than he needed as a cop, to be honest), but he knew that McChill surely didn't looked to be okay. With hooved fingers on the polar bear's neck, Bogo noticed that the pulse was still there, but it was weak.
"Dammit!" Bogo said, as he rushed to his intercom and pressed a button.
"Deermond! Send someone to my office now! There is something wrong with Officer McChill! I think he is having a stroke!"
Silence. No one answered.
"Deermond?" Bogo asked, pressing the button of the intercom once more.
Silence.
"Deermond, did you heard me!?"
More silence.
"Deermond!"
No answer.
Bogo let out a curse, as he walked around the table and walked out of his office, slamming the door as he opened it.
"DEERMOND! HAVEN'T YOU LISTENED TO-" Bogo was bellowing as he looked down on the lower floor in anger, but that anger vanished as soon as he looked in direction to the front desk.
Deermond was in there. However, he was not sitting on the chair as he was supposed to. Instead, he was laying on the floor inside of the booth of the front desk, looking as if he had just fell.
And he was not the only one who was down.
All around the first floor, it was possible to see mammals on the floor. Officers were still on the ZPD at the graveyard shift. Most of them were out on their assignment, but there were some on the precinct at the time. And currently, all of them were down on the ground, as if all of them had suddenly fell asleep.
There was a leopard police officer who had face-planted on the ground and was not moving. Pennington, the elephant officer, was fallen to the ground, with a spilled giant cup of coffee fallen right by his side. A pair of officers were fallen near the front desk, with them was a hyena in handcuffs, probably a perk who they had caught, and who had fallen unconscious along with them.
What the heck!? Was all that went to Bogo's mind, before he rushed down the stairs, and soon, he was running from officer to officer, checking on them.
They all still had pulse, but it was weak. Like McChill.
What the heck was going on!?
As Bogo thought about it, all of sudden someone else's voice came to his ears, just as he was getting up from behind the counter of the front desk after checking on Deermond.
"Chief? Chief!"
Bogo immediately turned around to see who it was. It was Officer Fanghanel. Officer Clawrence was by his side, and he had a serious expression, while Fanghanel looked nearly relieved.
"Oh, Chief! You are not unconscious! I am so glad! Everyone else is!"
"Chief Bogo, what is happening?" Clawrence asked, to which Bogo said that he didn't knew.
"Deermond was not answering the intercom, so I came out and found them like this."
"But what happened to them?" Eliot said, looking around, "Was it the same thing that happened to the guys at the offices?"
"What happened at the offices?" Bogo asked, to which Clawrence answered:
"They started to act as if inflicted by a sudden weakness." The panther said, "They all started to fall to the ground."
Bogo looked at him.
"The same thing happened to McChill in my office! That was why I was calling Deermond!"
"But what happened to them?" Eliot said, "They were okay just a few minutes ago! Just before I got that weird shiver."
"Wait, weird shiver?" Bogo asked, looking at the wolf, and so was the panther.
"Yeah, it was a weird shiver that I got all of sudden." Eliot explained, "Kind of like when you walk into a cold shower, but I was still dry. It made my entire fur stand."
Bogo looked at him with wide eyes.
"I had the same feeling right before McChill collapsed!"
"Me too." Clawrence said, looking at them. "I assumed it was a wind draft."
"What the heck is going on?" Bogo said, as he looked at his two officers. That was when something else called his attention. Eliot and Clawrence too noticed something, mostly because they saw Bogo's gaze going somewhere, and so, they looked in that direction as well.
Someone was walking into the ZPD through the front. The horse and Doberman were looking around at the fallen officers on their way. The Doberman was carrying long chains wrapped around his body, with a three solid metal balls on the end of one of the chains.
Bogo's eyes widened, as soon as he saw those two, for he recognized both of them.
"Hey!" The buffalo said, and the two mages immediately looked up, seeing the buffalo and the two officers with them. "What are you doing here!?" Bogo demanded, and the two looked at them with surprise.
"What the- how are you standing!?" The dog shouted back, and they all looked at each other. Bogo didn't had to think a lot to come to a conclusion after hearing that.
"You did this!" Bogo demanded, looking at them, and so were the other two.
"Growlan, I thought you said that the bounded field would knock down anyone who was not a mage." Percy said.
"I should have! I have no idea how they are still standing!" Growlan, the Doberman, said to the horse, while the cops still were looking at them
"Well, good thing that we came prepared then, right?" Percy said, looking at Growlan. "So, since the enforcers are not in here, think you can take care of them?"
"Of course I can." Growlan said, immediately unfurling the chain from around his shoulders, causing the iron balls at the end to hit the ground with a metallic thud, and now he was holding the chain, which was starting to glow. "You go get Des, I got this."
"Fanghanel! Clawrence! Be careful!" Bogo said, reaching out for his holster in reflex, only to remember that he didn't had his holster with him. He forgot it over his desk, with his dart gun still in it. The buffalo mentally cursed to himself, before remembering that the dart gun could actually make little difference with those two, based on previous experiences.
"ZPD, paws in the air!" Clawrence immediately said, pulling his own dart gun from the holster and pointing it at the dog, and Eliot did the same. Immediately the dog reacted. He immediately rushed forward. The chains now were glowing in a greenish shade, with the balls lightning in an intense greenish-white glow as he swung the chain around.
Clawrence and Eliot fired, only for the other chain around the dog's body to move on its own, intercepting their darts and flinging them away from the dog. With a wide movement, he swung the chains at the cops. They all immediately dove out of the way, avoiding the impact of the iron balls by very little. Then, with another movement, the dog made another swing with the chains, this time bringing them down vertically. Elion and Clawrence dove to the sides, while Bogo quickly stepped back.
The balls connected with the place where the cops had just been with a booming sound. That entire segment of the floor nearly exploded with the raw force of the blow. Chunks of marble and concrete flew around, leaving behind a small crater. The cops barely had time to recover, when the dog was pulling the chains back and once more swinging them, forcing the cops to dive out of the way to avoid being hit.
As Growlan attacked the cops, Percy was walking away, leaving the dog to deal with them as he did what they came to do.
"Hey, you!" Bogo said, seeing the horse leaving, but he could not go after him, for the iron balls passed dangerously close to his head, forcing him to stumble back to avoid being hit. The dog was looking at him with a smirk, and he was once more swinging his chains, not only at Bogo, but at the other two as well, forcing the cops to focus all of their attention into dodging the blows of the iron balls while they tried to fire their darts at the dog.
The dog moved around, one set of chains blocking the darts fired at him as he swung the other ones. The iron balls continued to swing towards the cops. Bogo had to duck to avoid a blow to the head. Eliot jumped back to avoid being smashed by the balls, which cracked another small crater into marble and concrete ground. Clawrence dodged the swing and ran, jumping over the counter of the front desk, where Deermond still lay unconscious, with the radio on the ground near him.
Clawrence soon was picking the radio, and he was radioing.
"Attention, all unities. This is Officer Gerald Clawrence requesting for immediate backup. There is an invasion at Precinct 1. Multiple unconscious officers are at the scene. Two hostiles are in the place, one of which is engaging in combat with three officers including myself. Subject is armed and hostile, approach with caution."
Just as he finished said this, there was a blasting sound behind him, and Clawrence was forced forwards and nearly landed with his face in the ground, as three balls protruded through the front desk in a violent manner, sending splinters forward. Then, the balls retreat as the chain to which they were attach was pull back.
"Why are you hiding in there?" Growlan said, looking at the front desk, a smirk on his face. "Come on, officer! Come out and play with me!" He said, and Eliot said:
"Leave him alone!" as the fired darts into the dog. However, this proved to be ineffective, as the dog, upon turning towards him, immediately had his chains move around him, blocking the darts coming his way, before he once more swung the chains at his direction. Eliot ran towards him, ready to tackle the dog. However, as he got close, the same chains that blocked his darts lashed at him, hitting his shoulder and his leg. Immediately later, the dog kicked him on the side of the torso, sending him reeling into the ground.
Growlan looked at the fallen wolf, and then turned his attention back to the front desk, just in time to see the panther now pointing a dart gun at him. Clawrence pulled the trigger and the darts flew.
Growlan actually flinched as his chains moved to deflect the darts. Once the darts hit the ground uselessly, the dog smiled at the panther.
"Wew, you got really close just now." He said, before swinging the balls once more. Clawrence ducked and ran, while Bogo was helping Eliot to get up and run as well. As they passed, Bogo stopped by one of the fellow officers, and took his dart gun, which he immediately fired at the dog, only for his chains to stop the darts again.
The dog smirked, as he said "This is almost too easy", as he once more swung his chains at the cops.
Percy walked across the place, turning corners and going down a long hallway. Eventually, he found the one hallway that led to the holding cells.
He passed by each one of them, looking inside. Most of them were empty. One of them had two llamas who were looking at the horse and asking him to help them, Percy ignored the two. One of them had a passed out bear, Percy passed by him without worrying.
Finally, he stopped in front of one that, at first sight, seemed empty, but that had a small cage inside. The kind where a small rodent would fit.
Percy stopped in front of the cell, and he immediately put himself to look around it. Soon he found what he was looking for. Runes had been draw on complex circles on the entrance of the cell, with another set of runes drawn on the last and second-to-las bars on the left of the cell.
Not hidden. Well, they probably assumed that no one would have come in there to try and free the little guy.
Oh, where they wrong.
Percy rose his hoof, creating a flaming card on his fingers. With sharp, fast and precise movements, he sliced the sections of the bars that held the runes, which fell to the ground with a metallic sound. With another movement, he threw the same card into the rune circle at the wall, and it sliced through the circle, ruining it, before it disappeared into the air.
As he did that, someone who was inside of the small cage got up, and looked over. Desmond Rotun ran for the bars of his cage and looked out, seeing Percy standing on the other side of the bigger bars. The horse and the small hybrid locked eyes, and the horse smirked.
"Hey, Des." Percy said, and the hybrid looked back at him.
"Percy!" he said, looking at the bigger mammal, "What took you so long!?"
Percy chuckled at him, and said:
"So, now that I just took down the bounded field, can you escape on your own, or you prefer me to do it for you?"
Rotun looked at him, and he realized that the horse was right. He was able to use his magic circuits now. He could feel it.
So, taking a step back, Rotun looked at the door of his cage. More specifically, he looked at the lock.
Then, taking a deep breath, the hybrid let out a high-pitched screech. So high-pitched that it was out of the hearing range of most species. It seemed that he just had his mouth open emitting no sound, but the sound was still in there. It was in there, and it made the whole cage vibrate. It made the lock vibrate. It made the pins inside of the lock vibrate, slowly clicking into place until...
*clinck*
The door of the cage unlocked. Rotun rushed out, opening the door of his cage effortlessly and scurrying out. He didn't needed to unlock the door of the cell, as his small body could easily pass between the bars. Percy was already waiting for him, offering a hand for the small mammal to climb onto his arm.
"Hope they haven't been too rough on you, little buddy." Percy said as the hybrid scurried up his arm, until perking on his shoulder.
"Let's get the fuck out of here!" was all that Rotun had to say, and Percy agreed with him, as he soon they were on their way.
The cops had taken refuge behind a concrete divider. Growlan was on the other side of it, swinging his iron balls around, and lashing at the divider if he saw any of the cops trying to peek out. Each blow of the glowing balls broke away chunks of the concrete, leaving the cops less space to shield themselves.
"Crap." Bogo groaned as he once more tried to peek through the other side of the divider, only for the iron balls to come and break away more of the concrete, forcing him to scoot closer to the two kneeling officers.
"This way we will all be sitting ducks." Bogo said, "We need a plan."
The two officers could agree with that, and so, they started to whisper on a possible plan and curse of action.
"I noticed that I nearly caught him back then." Clawrence said, "When he got distracted by Fanghanel. I think those chains are not able to defend him properly if he cannot see the danger coming."
"So, we dart him when he is not looking?" Eliot asked.
"Okay, but how do we catch him by surprise?" Bogo asked, and then, the group continued to whisper, and they slowly formed a plan.
Meanwhile, Growlan continued to swing his iron balls around himself, just waiting for the next time a head would pop out from behind the divider so he could strike. Maybe one of them would try making a break for it? Well, it would be nice to be able to hit one of them before Percy would come back. He would be able to say that he actually gave a cop a beating. That would certainly make him gain some street credits.
"Hey!" Someone suddenly said, causing the dog to look away to see who it was. He saw two cops coming his direction from the entrance. The hiding cops noticed it as well, and they peeked to see the two incoming cops, who already had their dart guns pointed at the dog.
"ZPD, don't move." One of them, a bear, said as he pointed at the dog. The Germanein shepherd by his side pointed the darts at him as well. "Drop the chain, put your paws in... in your head and... get on your... knees..."
The two cops started to show signs of being woozy. Soon, they were both going on their knees, and then falling flat on the ground.
Bogo cursed as he saw that, while Growlan chuckled.
Whatever these mages had did that affected the others who were already in the building, seemed that still affected anyone who came in! This meant that any reinforcement that came would just drop to the ground as well!
They were on their own.
However, as they looked at him.
"It is our chance." Clawrence whispered to them, "Now!"
They looked at him, and they nodded.
Bogo got up and pointed a dart at the dog. However, the dog caught it from the corner of his eye. As Bogo fired, the chains on him moved on their own, blocking the darts. At this moment, Bogo sprint into running (as well as a buffalo could sprint), and Clawrence came out from behind the divider and started firing darts at the dog as well. Now they were dividing the attention of the dog between them two, as Bogo ran around the dog and Clawrence remained not very far from the divider, in case he had to jump behind it again.
That was their plan, and it seemed that it worked. The dog now had to focus on attacks coming from two different directions. This meant dividing his attention in two different directions at the same time. As a result, he was not able to swing properly, for that would mean focusing his attention in a single direction, what would open his guard to the other to shot him with darts.
He had to keep switching his attention between the two as they fired darts at him. Now they were in different directions, and they forced the dog to remain on his toes, looking from one to the other, in order for his chains to be able to react properly. This was starting to make the dog unease.
However, things worked on his favor, when Clawrence ran out of darts, and had to stop to recharge.
That was when the dog had the chance to focus his entire attention to the buffalo. With a swing of his chains, he sent the iron balls flying straight into Bogo. The buffalo barely had time to react, as he moved his body diving out of the way and going with the flow at the same time. This allowed him to avoid the most of the blow, but it still hit him much harder than he anticipated.
Bogo felt the wind being knock out of him as the impact made him spin. His dart gun flew out of his hand, the buffalo reeled into the ground, and as he stopped, Bogo was coughing, trying to recover his breath through the stabbing pain on his chest.
Dammit, it felt like that blow broke a few of his ribs!
As the buffalo was down, the dog turned his attention back to the panther. Clawrence had just finished reloading his gun, but the dog saw him, and slammed the iron balls very close to his feet. This caused Clawrence to step back and look at the dog.
"Drop it." Was all that Growlan said, and Clawrence took a moment to follow the instruction, but he did what the dog said, and dropped the dart gun.
"Kick it away."
Clawrence did that, and Growlan smirked.
"I gotta admit; you actually made me worry a bit just now." Growlan said, looking at them. "But, in the end, you never actually had a chance against me. Now, if you don't want to get hurt, I suggest you to cooperate and not do anything stupid."
Growlan started to walk around, keeping the panther on his line of sight as he walked around the divider.
"The same goes for you wol-" He was saying, but trailed when he saw that there was no one in there.
Where was the wolf!?
Eliot had ran when the dog turned his attention focused on the other two. Eliot would have darted him if he had his dart gun, but he lost it in the previous confront. So, when he had the chance, he dashed from behind the divider without being seen, and rushed to one of the fallen officers. He picked up their dart gun, and now that he had it, he sneaked behind the dog.
Nighty night, pal. Eliot thought as he pulled the trigger, firing a dart in direction to the dog.
The dart flew through the air, and was intercept by a flaming card when it was just a few inches from hitting the dog.
This surprised everyone, including Eliot. However, the wolf didn't had time to think of it, as suddenly, an ear-splitting screech reached his ears, causing him to howl in pain as he fell to his knees, holding his head, covering his ears to try and block the sound, but it was as if it was passing through his paws and going straight into his eardrums.
Bogo saw Eliot going down to his knees. He too could hear a screech, but it was not deafening as it was to the wolf, being more of a background noise. It was as if the sound was being all focus on the wolf somehow. Looking over, Bogo saw the source of that.
Rotun was standing on Percy's shoulder, screeching as he looked directly at the wolf. His mouth was wide open as he screeched as loud as he could, using his magecraft to amplify the sound and send it as a beam straight to that wolf.
Clawrence saw it, and he immediately reacted by trying to dash to his dart gun. However, Growlan saw him, and he immediately reacted by swinging his chains up, sending them to the sidewalk of the floor just above the panther. The impact completely crushed that ceiling area, causing debris to fall over Clawrence. The panther was now stuck under pieces of rubble.
"Clawrence!" Bogo said, trying to get up only for the pain from the blow kept him from getting up. It was hard even to breathe.
After a few more moments, Rotun stopped screeching, at Percy's request. The work was done, as the wolf still held his head in pain. Meanwhile, Growlan checked on the panther. He seemed to be still alive, but he had a bleeding gash on his head and looked like he was out cold. The dog then turned his attention to the wolf holding his head in pain. The one who had tried to dart him.
He was about to attack him, when Percy's voice said:
"Leave him, Growlan." The voice was calm. "We made enough damage for one night. Now let's get going."
The dog looked at him, and he then looked at the wolf for a few moments, before he finally put down his chains. They stopped glowing and the dog was tying them around his body again to carry them more easily. Meanwhile Percy calmly walked on his direction. As he passed by Bogo, Rotun scurried down his body in a way that gave pride to his squirrel half, and he now looked at Bogo, who looked back at him.
"The Black Vipers look out for each other." Rotun said to him, a smug grim on his face. "Always."
With this, the hybrid started scurrying after the two departing animals. They were not even trying to rush away. They were simply walking to the exit as if they had nothing to worry about. They left behind Clawrence under a pile of rumble, Eliot holding his head while whining in pain, and Bogo on the ground struggling to breathe through the throbbing pain on his ribs.
As Bogo watched them depart, unable to get up to stop them, all he could say was:
"Dammit."