Something in Nick broke as he heard that. "What?" He asked quietly. He walked towards the wolf that just answered. He repeated himself slightly louder. "What? What did you say?" Everyone looked at the fox slightly worried, especially since he had a head of a rhino on his shoulder. It did disturb a few individuals.
Fenrir repeated himself as well. "She's back the-". As he was about to finish his sentence, he felt a fist in his jaw, forcing him to the groaned. He whimpered in response.
"You fucking idiot, why would you leave her? You saw what she was like and you left her? Holy fucking shit." Fenrir stood up and swung at the fox. Nick caught the fist and kicked the wolf's leg, causing the wolf to fall. With the wolf now crouching, they looked at each other eye to eye. "I really want to kill you, you know?" The wolf reactively pulled out a knife and swung it towards the fox. Nick twisted the arm of his opponent and forced the knife away from him. He then twisted the arm and pulled the knife out. "Here's your penance." He then stabbed the left eye of the giant wolf. "I expected better from you. If you don't get your act together, I don't see a bright future for you." Nick commented. There was poison in his voice and he was visibly shaken. "I trusted you, sort of, and you broke it."
Nick left, going in the direction that Fenrir and what remained from his team came from. He was about to sprint, until he heard another set of feet. He turned and saw the ninja follow. "No, you stay here. I need to know what happened here. Tell me when we're in the car. I want as many details as possible." Then the two turned in opposite directions and headed in their respective directions.
"So what's up with him?" Waller asked.
Isamu answered, "The rabbit is his student. By what I can tell so far, the only one he trusts to a higher degree." He then turned to the larger wolf in the room, who was currently seated. "You may have gotten her killed."
"Non-sense. She was plenty capable to protect herself. And she was clearly strong-willed. She will be alive."
"This was her first live experience by what I've gathered. Sensei hoped she was ready psychologically but she clearly wasn't if she stayed back." Everyone looked between each other. There was a bit of shock on everyone's face. "What?"
"That was her first mission?" Silver finally asked. "Why didn't he say?"
"Because you would've accommodated too hard and ruined the mission."
"Her hesitance ruined the mission."
"We are all here thus we can still finish the task that we were provided." Fenrir cut in proudly. "Sir, allow me to lead." Finnick nodded and threw a paw forwards. Fenrir smiled and walked to the two tied up otters. "Hello, could you please assist me with the door?"
The female otter stared angrily, "Nah, I like sitting here. So could you please fuck off."
"Please refrain from using such language, I am a friend, you can trust me." The scientist was still shaking. "Sir, could you please assist me then." The scientist nodded slowly. "Doctor, I am extremely grateful of your service." He then looked at the name badge. "Doctor Otterton." The otter walked towards the door, beside the towering wolf. He opened the door and Isamu walked up beside them.
"This can be dangerous. Step back." He pulled out his two swords and prepared for combat. The doors swung open and everyone stood ready behind them. What they saw were heavily armoured individuals standing on the other side.
Then a loud voice spoke. "Finnick, did you really think you would be able to get rid of me? I outproduce you in how many guns you make or even buy. I'm concentrated on the arms market. And you plan to attack me? How silly are you?" A Boar walked to a position in the middle of his armed units. "You really are a kit" That was when Finnick snapped. He hated being called that. He gave a signal to attack and started to charge in. Everyone fired their guns, if they had one. Finnick struggled to run, but did his best to reach the armoured boar.
"Dozer, come here you coward."
"Coward? I'm giving you a mercy. I'm giving you the option to surrender. To continue this foolish charade that should've ended decades ago. Leave while you still have the chance." Finnick ignored the warning and swung his bat at Dozer. The armour absorbed most of the hit and the boar barely flinched. "I gave you your final warning, now you will suffer the consequences of your choice." He swung his hoof into the gut of the fennec, causing him to stumble to the ground.
Finnick laid on the ground and in addition to his injured leg, he was unwilling to get up. Silver saw this and started to sprint towards them. He fired his sidearm wildly into that general direction, landing a few shots but the armour stopped whatever damage it could've caused. The boar raised his hoof in front of his face instinctually to block the bullets and when he lowered it, he saw the bottom of Silver's rear paw landing into the protective glass. "Sir, you need to go, I will handle this fight." Finnick groaned but slowly crawled away. Silver looked back to the leader of the other faction. "You want someone to fight, you fight me." The Boardozer smiled at that.
"So you are the infamous Silver. The Right Paw Mammal of Finnick. You are the one that keeps that entire empire afloat. You should join me, I can offer you much better opportunities that he cannot even dream of himself." The boar smiled. Silver looked at the boar confused. He didn't know if this was a trap or not. On one paw, it was a great choice, a no-brainer. Silver would normally choose this option since it was the logical option but there was a part of him screaming, 'it was a trap. Finnick needs you, You are a member of Finnick's team.' He finally decided to do something he never thought he would, he chose to act on his emotions.
"Nah, I'm happy with what I have so far." Silver finally responded, raising his fists in a defensive stance. The two then started to run at each other. The boar was much slower but would definitely be able to take whatever hit was sent his way. Silver, however, was clearly much more nimble. He would be able to avoid most attacks for a while. He just hoped it would be long enough to win.
The boar threw a punch, which was swiftly avoided by the grey fox, who in return sent a kick, staggering the boar. Then, the two punched again, hitting each other in the fist and pushing against it as hard as they could. Silver felt a sense of pride and pressure in this fight but especially at this point. If he won, he would be venerated by his team. If he lost however, it could be the end for all of them. He had to win this. This fact gave a new found sense of power and strength that lead to him pushing through further and harder. The boar was astounded by the strength that was presented as he was pushed back inch by inch. The boar was then washed over by confusion, he didn't expect such raw strength to be presented.
Dozer started to push harder now, realising he was losing ground, fast. He slammed his right foot into the ground and stopped himself from moving. He then smiled at the fox who was pushing him. "That is enough." He pulled his right hoof down then sent it into the grey fox's stomach. Silver flinched heavily from the attack and leaned over. Dozer the sent his left hoof into Silver's muzzle but Silver raised his head and reacted in time. He blocked the punch with his right arm then punched with his left arm. The fist crashed into the Boardozer's stomach, causing a slight bit of pain to the armoured mammal.
The boar retaliated by throwing a left jab, which Silver caught and pulled, throwing the boar to the ground. He was about to then kick the boar but he was too slow and then pulled down to the ground. The boar then sat on the stomach of the fox and was about to start pummelling the fox but didn't notice the fox throwing a swing at him. The punch was strong enough to damage but not shatter the glass protection. This dazed the boar for a second, which Silver utilized by throwing the boar off of him. Silver and Dozer looked at each other for a second, before Dozer spoke. "Impressive. Very impressive. I didn't expect such skill from the bottom of the barrel."
"You fight well yourself for someone who sits around and just counts his money."
"Well, then we are both surprised." They both resumed their fight. They charged at each other, not caring about the result but hoping they would win. Dozer swung his arms but Silver decided to slide, causing the boar to fall over and crash into the ground. As the boar hit the ground, Silver picked himself up rapidly. Now it was his turn to attack the boar. He sat on top of the boar and grabbed the helmet. He pulled the head up and then slammed it onto the ground. He repeated the action twice more before being knocked off. The helmet slightly obscured the vision of the Boardozer. He was now visibly pissed.
He charged at the fox and pushed the fox to the ground. He grabbed the scruff of the neck and then headbutted the fox. This caused a slight concussion in the fox. Dozer then gripped the fox's throat and smiled. "This is your end." He was about to throw a punch but then his right hoof had a sharp stinging sensation. He looked at it and saw an arrow going through it. He then looked away to see who shot it. He saw a red fox in a full sized kimono holding a long bow. He snapped the arrow in half and then pulled the half, that was embedded, out. This caused Silver to be let go and drop to the ground.
"So, a new play toy. Another fox as well. What a coincidence." Dozer stood up and walked towards the new fox. Bullets whizzed past dropping more mammals. "Just give up, you can't defeat me." The two faced each other as Isamu drew his sword. "I don't know who you are but you don't scare me."
Isamu swung his sword down into the boar, who blocked it with his arm, using his durable armour. "Nice knife." The sword was stuck in the arm of the armour. Due to this, Dozer dragged his arm away, pulling the sword away as well and then threw it away from the fox. "So what will you do now?" As he asked that, he felt a fist in his face, finally shattering the damaged glass. "Son of a bitch." He spat out, alongside some glass. "You have some nerve." He charged at the fox, who elegantly dodged the charging boar and attempted to punch the back of the boar. He missed, dropping his guard and letting the Dozer grab his paw and drag the poor red fox towards him. As he did that, He the let his other hoof strike at the muzzle of the fox.
Isamu now had his nose bleeding from the previous strike. It caused many issues for the vulpine, including orientation and direction. He was amazed at how much he relied on his smell but that was no more. Not until the bleeding stops. Isamu tried to get up but was swiftly struck down again, throwing the confused body to the floor.
The firing stopped. Few remained now. "As you can see, there are very few mammals remaining to help you. Give up now and I shall spare you." Isamu looked around. He saw Finnick, Silver and Fenrir tied up to prevent them from fighting, even though the fennec and wolf were unconscious. Silver was barely conscious, struggling to keep himself awake, while not saying anything. However, some shouting remained. Isamu realised who it was, Waller.
Waller fired off a few rounds from his assault rifle, hitting a bunch of his enemies. This worked well until his rifle was out of ammo and he needed to reload. He was quickly surrounded and thus dropped his rifle. "You won't win."
"Why? Because you will kill me?" Dozer responded, half-mocking the poor lupine. Waller quickly glanced at the mammals approaching him. Lucky for him, a wolf was to tie him up as well. As the wolf dropped his gun, Waller gripped the wrists and then pulled out the wolf's pistol. He then swirled the wolf around and held him as a mammal shield. He fired into the group that were meant to take him down. They all hesitated as it was a friend who would've been shot. However, then the Dozer got fed up with the incompetence he was witnessing and so he pulled out a Taurus Raging Bull and fired into the two wolves. The bullet was strong enough to go through the first wolf and then wind Waller. He was lucky to be wearing what little armour he did.
He dropped to the ground struggling to breathe. "Impressive display. All three of you. Why don't you leave that joke and join me, someone who could actually utilize and compensate such potential. It would of course be a fair payment?"
"I'll take my chances." Waller replied confidently.
The boar then grabbed the throat of the wolf and raised him to eye level. "You will reconsider that choice when I'm done with you." He then let go and threw the wolf to the ground. He turned to the fennec, who lied sleeping from his wounds. "But first we will need to teach him a lesson."
"There is someone left." Silver blurted out. He quickly regretted it.
"Really? Then give me the ability to contact him." Three mammals then came. One gave the Dozer a new helmet, which he quickly put on. Two mammals grabbed the grey fox. One untied him while the other pointed their rifle at the vulpine. Silver pulled out his phone and selected the number of what was written as Expensive GOOJF. He clicked on it and handed the phone. His scowl shown that he was clearly angry.
20 minutes earlier. Spectre.
When no-one was there to see him, he started to try wipe the blood off of his body and he threw the skull onto the floor. He knew she was currently ruined from her actions. "I swear to fuck, did he not think that she was not in a safe place?" 'Why do you care?' "What do you mean why do I care? She was meant to be protected by us and we do this." 'She should be able to fend for herself though.' He turned another corner and pushed through a closed door, ripping the hinges off of the frame. "That's not the poi-" He then ran into a different fox.
"Hey, oh god." The fox that was bumped into responded, realising who bumped into him. He lowered his gun fully and placed it on the ground. "Hhe-ey, friend, we don't need to be hostile, do we?" Nick looked at the fox, who was now kneeling. "Please don't kill me." His words were spat out rapidly.
Nick picked the fox up. "What happened here?"
"A team of I don't know who came here and forced their way through. One of them was a pyromaniac and there is a massive raging fire, that's all I know."
"WHAT?" A threw the fox to the ground and started sprinting in that direction. 'Really? Is it that important? She can get out herself.' Nick heard that 'thought' in his head and replied "Did you really forget that most mammals aren't like you. That they aren't insane and they feel bad for killing other mammals? She's probably curled up in a corner." He charged through another door that was in his way. He looked around and saw a massive flame raging. He dashed into the fire and every fibre of his being was screaming to get out but he ignored it. He ran through and pulled out his phone. He dialled a number and waited for an answer. When the phone was picked up, he instantly started to talk. "Honey, I need the sprinkler system to be activated, should put out the flames."
"So what happened that you need it?"
"Well a pyro walked through here." He retorted, his voice lightly layered with pain.
"I hope that issue is solved then." Just then water started spraying down from the ceiling.
"Thanks." He then disconnected the line, seeing a group of mammals there. Some were laying on the floor, completely charred and burned, others were trying to get out and were coughing and wheezing.
Nick pulled out his two pistols and questioned immediately, "What happened? Where did the attacking force come from?"
The living mammals responded by pulling out a pistol of their own and aiming it at the fox. "Who are you?" A muskrat asked.
"I guess you made your choice." Spectre pulled the trigger and killed 3 of the four of them. "But I'm feeling generous so I'll give you another chance." He shot at the paw of the mammal to get rid of his pawgun.
"That way." The weasel pointed. Nick nodded and ran off in that direction. He charged through the door again and now saw a larger group of mammals. Something was here.
He then heard questions be asked in between coughs. "Who are you? What are you doing here? I won't ask again." He then saw in the middle of them a small fuzzy ball of grey with pink scrawling down her back. That was her.
When he heard that, he shouted, "Hey, want to know who she is? Then all you have to do is beat me and I shall reveal every detail about her." Everyone turned around and looked at the fox.
"Is that...?" Some of the mammals stepped back, they didn't want to fight. But most of them didn't know and stepped forwards. Nick cracked his knuckles and stepped forwards as well. He then raised his paw and gestured for them to come closer. They all did, now equipping the weapons they were going to use. Clearly they were the clean up crew and not meant to fight. They had short knives and only a few had a bat.
"This isn't going to be fair now is it?" He then rushed into the group of 8. His first action was to break two wrists essentially making them unable to fight. He then swung the body around and threw the mammal into a small gaggle of three, knocking them all down. "Strike." He commented. He then turned the other way, where the other four stood. One of them had a bat and he was the one that charged towards the fox. Nick grabbed the bat as it was about to be swung, pushed it towards the stomach of the mammal and then ripped it out of the poor mammals paws. With the newly acquired bat, he then swung it upwards, knocking out the mammals, who was foolish enough to charge in. "Anyone else?" Everyone else just slowly backed away until they turned around and started sprinting away.
He turned back towards the reason he came here. "Judy! Are you okay?" He crouched down and put his paw on the lagomorph's shoulder. She looked up. "How?" She asked, and that was all she asked. Nick looked back at her. He then answered, knowing what the question truly was. "I had no choice and it got easier the more I did it."
"How? How do you cope?"
"I'll tell you honestly, I..." He then paused, how did he cope? 'Tell her the truth' "I don't, I just bury it deep within me. And then I..." He sighed, realising what he really does. "I ignore my actions. I shift the blame, self-defence, it wasn't me, I had to do that to survive, to have money. You name it I probably used that excuse. Now, I just learned to let go of that pain." He looked the rabbit in the eyes. "I accepted my actions and didn't let them hold me back." He raised the head of the rabbit. "I don't expect you to understand but I want you to hear this from me, I still don't enjoy some of the actions you see me doing."
Judy looked back into his eyes, "But do you care that you take other lives?"
Nick sighed, "I stopped a while ago, otherwise I would probably be dead." He then wrapped the bunny in his arms. "It's okay, just let go. It will all be fine, trust me."
The rabbit pushed away. "But what if I don't want to do this. What if I want a different career."
"Then... I'll try get you it. I know everyone after all. Could call in a few favours. I have a few ideas already. But what about until then?"
"I-I don't know." Her voice went quieter and quieter as she spoke on. "I jut don't want to continue doing this."
"But you wanted to be a police officer right? An officer of the law. You do know that they kill as well."
Judy sighed lightly, "Yes I know that they kill just, it's all so sudden you know. I mean I-I just killed how many mammals?"
"Compared to me, you killed no-one. Besides, many officers genuinely killed more than you. I'm serious."
"I just want to go home." She stated finally, hoping that the fox beside her would agree.
"We will, but first I need to finish something here. I'm sorry."
"No, Nick, please, don't go." Water trickled down his back now.
"Okay, I'll stay for a bit." The water slowly doused the flames that were around them, leaving only a smoking charred mess around them and a cosy warmth from where the flames came from. They were both at peace in this moment and didn't want to do anything. Nick considered just leaving with the rabbit, for a second. Then he decided. "You know what. Let's go home." Judy looked up to the fox confused.
"But I thought..."
"To hell with them, they'll be fine. I technically already finished my contract. We can leave."
Then she hugged the fox back a bit tighter. "Thank you."
Nick scooped the rabbit up and walked to the exit. The his phone started to ring. He put the rabbit onto his left arm and answered with his right. "Hello, whoever this is. Everyone is captured, all your friends. You have 10 minutes to come. Every door that could be used to escape is locked. Every door you would need to come to me is open. Come, I implore you." Nick stared blankly forward.
"And if I say no?"
"Then everyone here will be killed and we will hunt you down and kill you."
"I'm not scared, kill them all, see if I care." Judy instantly looked up and stared at the fox as he said that. She shook her head. Nick felt the motion and looked down to her. "I'll be there." He then disconnected the phone. "Shit. Phone's compromised." He dropped his phone and crushed it under his foot. "They know my phone number, could be used to be traced."
Judy jumped out of the vulpine's grip. "We need to save them. We can't let them die."
"You would be a great officer. Valuing others above yourself." He then paused. "I want to warn you, there will be a lot of dead bodies there. Very few will still be alive. Hell, most will be burned, shot into swi-." Nick stopped speaking as he realised what he was saying. "Basically, it will look like shit."
"I know. But I can't sit around and do nothing." She then thought for a second. "They called you. So they might not know about me. I could sneak all the way to the panic room entrance and do a surprise attack, while you distract him with your eloquent vocabulary."
"Someone swallowed a dictionary today."
Judy rolled her eyes. "Time to move." Spectre shrugged and followed behind.
After a few minutes, they reached the room they were aiming for. Judy crawled in through a small side-vent while Spectre walked in through the door. "So nice to put the face to the honestly terrible voice." He stared at the Boardozer for a second, before looking around the room. There were piles of dead bodies of all species. The piles were separated to the faction they belonged to. He then saw all the canids tied around a pile. Isamu, Waller and Silver all stared at the final remaining fox.
"Give him hell, fuck him up." Waller shouted, until his muzzle was clamped shut and his mouth was taped together. Spectre smiled at that. He then looked around the room, only 5 mammals remained here, they done most of the heavy lifting with the cannon-fodder.
"Wanna fight? I have one condition."
"Name it."
"They leave."
"No."
"Well then, because we are still fighting and I don't want them here, I guess I need to deal with this, huh?"
"Yeah, just suck it up."
Spectre quickly drawn his two pistols and killed the 5 additional mammals that supported the Dozer. "I know you have more so don't act upset. Besides, now we can fight." As he said that, Judy snuck out of the vent and quietly tiptoed to the boar. As she ventured further and further, the more hesitant she became. There was a nagging fear that washed over her, more and more as she continued. In the end, she hesitated and led a half formed strike. It was weak and barely did anything. She then threw another hit, but this one was countered and then she was picked up and flung across the room. This caused her to groan, as she wasn't expecting such an attack. She laid on the floor beside the suit wearing vulpine. Nick looked at the pained expression on the rabbit and remembered the contract he had.
"You, my friend, have crossed a line. Time to teach you a lesson."
"What lesson can you teach me?"
"Not to fuck with the show." The boar stared confused for a second then realised something. This was the Spectral Showman he was about to face.
"Bring it on, pelt." Nick smiled as he heard those fateful words.
A/N: So the conclusion of the learning the ropes arc will occur very soon. And yeah, The two titans are about to duel, I wonder who will come out on top. No really, I don't like plot armour, anyone can die at any moment. Make sure to remember that. I even considered killing off Waller here but decided against it, for now.
Otherwise, I would like to thank that one guy who was consistently writing reviews for me: . Really, thanks for the reviews and messages you left. And as you would say, 'May your sword stay sharp'.
I really don't have much to say, the next chapter shouldn't be too long since it is a fight between only two mammals but who knows. But after that I won't write for about two weeks since I will be going on holiday.
Now that that all is covered, I would once again like to thank you all for reading this genuinely. It feels good knowing that people enjoy your story, no matter how poor you THINK it is. It is quite reassuring that people come back.
And with that, I'm going to be going now. So, catch you all next time and until then have a good one guys.