Here is the 48th installment. Hope you enjoy.

Notes now live at the end of the chapter, so here is the obligatory, on with the show.

Sadly, I do not own and thus can claim no rights to Zootopia or its characters. They belong to Disney.

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Leaving their table, the group left the restaurant and headed towards their cars. As they stepped out of the building that housed Greetha's and into the evening of Zootopia, six of them tensed up. Judy and Nick's paws both, almost casually, reaching for a weapon. Lizz and Mike shifted in front of Mike's parents, and Maria and Jarvis stepped back and against opposite walls.

N: You picking up on that?

J: Very much. Something is way off. We need to retreat and evaluate.

N: Agreed.

L: What the hell am I feeling?

J: We're not sure, but it's saved both our asses a few times, so recognize this feeling and respond to it.

M: Guys, I'm picking up explosives coming from the cars.

N: Same. Lizz, call it in. Judy, are you hearing anything?

J: Nothing. Mike, pull your parents back and into the building. Lizz you go with him.

M: We're not leaving you out here.

N: Yes you are. While you are both armed, neither are wearing armor cloth the way Judy and I are. I'd send her back if she'd listen.

J: I'm pregnant, Nick. I'm staying behind you. Besides, I don't want to be close to an exploding car.

N: Good. Smells like sheep and maybe a Goat. Mike?

M: That's what I'm smelling.

Mike and Lizz grabbed Mike's parents and quickly shoved them back into the building, silencing their protests, with Judy and Nick producing their lethal. Lizz pulled her phone out and dialed the officer emergency number. Judy covered the left with her weapon leveled out of the doorway she was behind using it as cover, while Nick covered the right from just outside.

J: Nick, just the other side of the near columns.

N: Yep, I hear them too.

Raising his voice. "Both of you. This is Sergeant Nick WildeHopps of the ZPD. Step out from behind the columns, slowly, and with your paws where we can see them. If you have a weapon, you'd best drop it or we will drop you."

From the left. "Rut you, pelt! I don't take orders from a fox, or a rabbit. You two perverts need to be put down so the rest of them know to keep themselves hidden, or better yet stop it at all."

L: I've got dispatch. There will be units here in sixty.

N: Keep them talking then. Got it.

"You two geniuses do know that There are four cops here, not just Judy and I, right? Besides, what's it to you who we love? Why does it matter to you? How does it affect you?"

From the right. "Because it is unnatural, just like you, fox. Your kind, foxes, should simply be exterminated. You're nothing but thieving scum. We'll be doing the city a favor by killing you. I still don't understand how you managed to scam your way onto the force."

M: I know the smell of one of them. Officer from Precinct 5. Don't know the other one.

N: Got a name?

M: Greg Woolter. He's a cousin of the Night Howler, Woolter. Did a lot of work to distance himself from his cousin.

N: Clearly that was at least partially an act.

L: Clearly.

Nick smirked, his weapon trained on the right column, Judy covering him on the left column, and Lizz making sure the rest of the street was covered directly through the door. "So. Officer Woolter. Yeah, we know who you are. Your captain know you are here doing this?"

From the right. "What? You can't know that!"

Nick's smirk grew. "Well, actually I can. You see. The wolf with me. That is Sergeant Wolford, one of the best noses in the ZPD. And he pegged you, though we couldn't be sure. Yet, you just went and confirmed it for us. The tiger with us is Lizz Fangmeyer, and she is currently calling said captain. You just made yourself a fugitive. Why don't you go easy on yourselves and step out." Nick could see the ZPD cruiser turn the corner down the street, lights off, including headlights. "There really is no scenario that you come out of this without jail time. You're an officer, you know this. Do yourselves a favor and give up. It is the only way you don't get the max, and you know it."

From the left. "Rut you, pelt. Even if that is true, we're still going to take you down first.

Nick registered two reports of Judy's weapon behind him and the scream of a goat in agony. Woolter spun out from behind the column, gun in hoof, though not pointing at Nick. Nick put all his authority into his voice. "Drop it and step away, slowly, into the parking space."

Woolter looked at the gun in his hoof, then at the fox, then let out an enraged bleet before swinging the weapon towards Nick. Nick pulled his trigger three times and Woolter staggered, his weapon dropping to the ground with a clatter.

Nick barked his orders again. "On your knees, Woolter. Last chance."

N: Lizz, he's going to charge. I just put a round in both arms and one is his chest which knocked him back, so he can't use his arms, and he's clearly got his vest on. If not, my chest shot would have put him down. With a vest, I can stop him, but I would need to empty the full mag, and there is no way he's going to give me time to reload. Two from you will put him down, vest or not.

L: As soon as he starts, I'll put him down.

N:Thanks.

Woolter looked at Nick with nothing but contempt and rage, letting out another enraged bleet dropping his head and moving to charge. The much louder report from Lizz's weapon sounded twice. Woolter was knocked back several feet and collapsed.

The other ZPD officers, eight in total, stood outside their cruisers watching with their weapons drawn. Nick speaking up to be heard. "Call in the bomb squad and keep away from the cars." Indicating them with his free paw. "Both Mike and I have picked up the scent of explosives. Strongly. Also, we don't know if these two were the only ones. There may be a getaway driver nearby, or others. Sweep the area. I also need two of you here to watch over civilians until things are secure."

Two officers quickly approached to take charge of the Wolford Alphas along with Maria and Jarvis who hadn't made it out of the door when Arron and Victoria were shoved back inside. Two others began to sweep to the left, two others to the right. The final pair stood there for several moments looking on.

Nick looked up and saw them. "Great. Can you take a look at the goat." Pointing. "While I check on Woolter?"

The officers looked at each other, the driver speaking. "Oh, hell no. I am not taking orders from a fox, I don't care what rank you are. Don't know how you managed to get Sergeant. Besides, you've gotten some good cops fired. Fucking inter scum." Lifting his weapon he took aim at Nick. "Would be so easy to drop you. Fucking pelt."

The other officer leveled his weapons towards the doors as well. "You deal with the fox, I'll swiss cheese the rabbit and whoever else is in there. You turned the recorder off, right?"

"Of course I did. Don't be a moron."

N: Says the moron who has forgotten about the cameras and mics in the other three cruisers. Judy...

J: Do what you have to, but try not to kill them.

N: Only if I have to.

Nick took a deep, low crouch, putting his weapon on the ground. "There, gun is down. Now, can we talk about this?"

Pulling the hammer back on his lethal, the driver laughed. "No, pelt. I don't think we will. I wonder how much the coroner will charge me for your pelt. It will be worth it."

While he was talking, Nick's paws were retrieving a pair of knives which he released with as much force as he could muster. The first one lodged into the wrist holding the weapon of the wolf who had suggested he'd kill Judy and anyone else inside the building. The second one buried itself into the knuckle of the drivers paw, severing his trigger finger from his paw. Two more blades seemed to appear in his paws, both of which he released. One into each wolf, their placement severing a nerve cluster in their arm and rendering it permanently useless without micro-surgery to repair the cluster.

Both wolves started screaming as a fifth cruiser arrived. The officers in that cruiser quickly approached. The driver wolf screamed at them. "The fox has gone crazy. You need to shoot him before he kills someone!"

The lion looked down at the wolf. "Yeah. Not happening. You may have turned off the recorder on your cruiser, but the other officers you seem to have forgotten about radioed in what you said. Not that they needed to. You left your mic open, because that is procedure when responding to a situation like this. Both of you morons are under arrest."

There were two other sheep located waiting around the corner waiting. The bomb squad removed what was described by the lead bomber as complete overkill. They put enough explosives on both cars to destroy twenty cars. They were set up with a detonator on the ignition, and a remote cell phone detonator linked to another goat who was not on scene but was picked up shortly thereafter in his apartment slash bomb making factory. The materials linking him to a dozen other bombs.

While they waited for the bomb squad to work, Bogo arrived, and looked possibly even angrier than usual. Walking up to the group. "WildeHopps! What utter mess have you two created this time?" Then seeing Lizz and Mike, as well as the Wolford Alphas, his scowl deepened. "You putting civilians at risk?"

Judy stood at attention, or as much as she could. "No Sir. Well, not intentionally."

Nick stepped up. "Chief! So lovely to see you this evening. No. We were having dinner with friends, and family in the case of Lizz and Mike. We had just stepped out when all our instincts went off and Mike and I both picked up explosives coming from the cars. We backed into the entrance, pushing the civilians farther back, and Lizz called it in. Mike and Lizz held back to look after said civilians while Judy and I covered both directions and Lizz covered out the door. Mike and I also picked up the scent of several ungulates, then Judy pegged them as hiding behind the pillars." Pointing to his ears. "Mike then identified one of them as an Officer Woolter from precinct five, I confirmed that by challenging him.

When the goat came out, Judy dropped him, I was not watching exactly why. Woolter then stepped out, but did not have his weapon pointed at me. I shifted my aim for his shoulder. I tried to talk him down, but he attempted to bring the weapon to bear, so I disabled him. He then made an attempt to charge, at which point Lizz put two in his chest."

Groaning. "Great. Another sheep officer. I note that he did not survive."

Nick frowned. "Unfortunately not, sir. He was wearing his vest after all, so he stood no chance against Lizz's larger caliber weapon. I had put one round in his chest, but I must have not hit anything vital, or his rage overrode that so I initially assumed he was wearing. The results of Lizz's shots however said otherwise."

Bogo sighed and nodded. "So I got the report for that part of things... Now, what about the officers that showed up as backup and you attacked... with throwing knives, I might add. I need to understand that one, Nick. Not exactly a standard weapon for an officer, on or off duty. I don't need to know why you attacked them, that part was broadcast by those morons over the radio due to an open mic. No. I need to understand the whole throwing knives thing."

Nick shrugged with a slightly embarrassed grin. "Well, Judy and I have come to the realization that we will not always be able to reach for our lethal, taser, or tranq, or may be out of ammunition."

J: Lets invite him inside to discuss this. He can meet Maria and maybe that will distract him.

N: Nice idea, but we both know he won't let it go. I'm going to have to admit to being the last survivor... To Bogo. (The terror in Nick's mental voice was clear.)

J: It'll be fine.

N: I hope so, Fluff. Of any officer, other than those in the OCD, Bogo is going to recognize the name.

Judy spoke up. "Sir. Perhaps we can take this inside. The restaurant has cameras out here that you will want to access and get copies of the tapes anyway. As well, us pregnant ladies could really use a chair. I can't speak for Lizz, but my back is killing me."

Bogo nodded. "That's fair. I had to leave dinner, so I could use something."

Nick grinned. "Oh, I think we can arrange that." Turning, he led the group back into the building and into Greetha's. A new mammal was at the podium. "Good evening. So sorry for the ugliness out there, so your previous meal has been covered. If you would like a small bite, we would be happy to provide it.. Unfortunately your chef has left for the day. We can call him back if needed."

Nick shook his head. "No, that won't be necessary. Whoever is available will be more than fine. We just need an appetizer or two. However, Chief Bogo here was forced to leave his dinner behind at home, so please hook him up with a full meal."

The stoat smiled and nodded. "Certainly. We will be honored to provide him with a proper meal." Looking up at Bogo. "Welcome to Greetha's Chief Bogo. Please follow me." Glancing and Nick. "Maria suggested that you all might be back after all that unpleasantness and we will have the video and audio ready shortly."

Bogo sat down at the large table before he looked over the mammals joining them. His eyes locking on Maria and going wide. "You're... You're..."

Judy laughed. "Maria, my college roommate, and super star celebrity. Though I wouldn't say anything about meeting her to Ben or he might just go savage on you."

Maria laughed as well. "Not to worry COPFAN1. You, CheetaFan100, and AlphaFan500, will all be getting an invite to spend the afternoon at my house for dinner in the next few weeks."

Victoria almost choked on her water. "We will be?"

Bogo turned to look at Victoria. "Lady Wolford... You're AlphaFan500?"

Nodding, Victoria grinned. "I am. COPFAN1. We were here this evening for dinner and a surprise, getting to meet with Maria, Jarvis, and Carlos, while they discussed some additional songs that need to be recorded."

Bogo's frown reasserted itself. "What songs?"

Maria chuckled. "You authorized it. The charity album with various first responders singing on it and me as backup at most. Well Judy, Nick, Lizz, and Mike, are the literal stars, to the point that some of the artists that have allowed their music to be covered by the various mammals have asked that the four of them perform some additional tracks."

Bogo nodded. "I see. Okay. So you, Miss Gazelle, were here as well when that went down outside?"

Maria nodded. "We were. Jarvis and I retreated back into the safety of the restaurant."

The stoat approached, looking up at Bogo. "Chief Bogo, here is the recording from the front, and any other cameras our techs identified the perpetrators on." Handing Bogo a flash-drive and a note. "The information there is for our security company and the already authorized access so that you can request any other relevant time frame of the events this evening."

Bogo took the items and placed them in an evidence bag, and then into one of his pouches. "Okay. Now..." Looking down at the food that was placed in front of him. "That smells amazing." Taking a bite and moaning in pleasure. "Oh gods. That tastes like grandmas." Turning his eyes to Nick and pointing at him with his fork, before stabbing another bite. "Okay, now explain how you did what you did."

Nick sighed. "You know I spent many years of my life on the street sir. Well..." Glancing at Judy and getting a reassuring paw squeeze and smile. "Sir. I am, as far as I know, the only surviving member of the Helketta. I lived and trained with them for many years. I promise you, I was never sent on a mission, and have only ever used those skills as you have seen."

Stopping, Bogo looked up and Nick. "The Helketta? But they were destroyed, I thought?"

Nick nodded. "They were, sir. I had been sent on a messenger run. When I got back, everyone was dead. The reason you didn't find any of their books and writings, or records, is because I collected it all. All the important stuff, including the master's writings. It all belongs to me now, and that is where it stays until I can pass it along to an appropriate mammal. The knowledge deserves to be kept, but as I told the Alphas. I have no interest in creating what the Helketta were."

"I see." Bogo finished his appetizer and then turned to Judy. "That explains his skills, now what about you? You are his equal. Are the Hopps actually the Cheth?"

Judy laughed. "No... The Hopps are not the Cheth... Although I am the student of the only surviving member of the Cheth."

Maria chuckled. "Student? Judy, you have long since passed beyond the state of being a student. The only test either you or Nick have left is that of teaching others, and you already have your students."

Bogo stared for a moment at Maria as the next plate was placed before him. "Hold on. I do not like the implications of what I am hearing here. Miss Gazelle."

"Maria, please. That's just my stage name."

"Okay. Maria. You are implying that you taught Judy, and if she is the only student of the survivor of the Cheth..." Taking a bit of his soup, Bogo had to take a moment before he returned to the point, looking at Judy and Nick who were enjoying a collection of Shrimp skewers. His eyebrow rising high as he watched Judy enjoy a shrimp. "WildeHopps. So you two are basically trained assassins?"

Nick shrugged. "Neither of us have had to use our skills in that way, and have no interest in doing so. That said, I think you understand how I was able to do what I did. Why Judy and I have the skills that you use as a punishment in the sparring ring. We're both required to be armed at all times, per your order. As said earlier, we realized that we may not always be able to access our ZPD weapons, be that a tranq, taser, or lethal. So... We have added to the arsenal that we carry with us, in addition to having our clothing made of armor cloth. We know we are targets, so we have to be prepared for that."

Bogo sighed and shook his head. "Fine. These facts stay here at this table, can we all agree to that?" The assembled mammals nodded with smiles. "Good. I wouldn't even know how to start writing that up. Come up with something believable, while not mentioning the whole trained assassin part."

"Can do, sir."

Smiling as another plate was placed in front of him. "Damn, this food is good. No wonder it is so exclusive. I'm not even going to bother trying to figure out how you four managed to have a table here."

Judy pointed to Maria. "I blame her. She was my college roommate, and the Crimson Gazelle. Nick burned a dozen favors to get us a table for a date, and she was here."

Bogo was proud of himself, he managed to not choke on his food, instead swallowing the bite of literally divine salad in one gulp. Closing his eyes for a moment and snorting. "Ben is going to lose his bleeding mind. If you answer the door in costume, it may kill him, so please don't. However, if you reveal this fact to him when we have dinner at your place, he will faint." Glancing and Nick and Judy. "He has pretty much figured out your previous selves. Bunny Avenger and Vengeful Vulpine."

Nick shrugged. "It was bound to happen eventually."

Bogo looked over the assembled mammals, a wicked grin taking over his muzzle as he pointed his fork at Lizz, Mike, Nick, and Judy in turn. "Now. I want all four of you in the precinct, at your desks, day off or not, maternity leave or not, first thing Monday morning; and your reports on this incident, on my desk, before you leave. Unless you ladies go into labor, and then your mates will have to finish them before taking their paternity leave. You can't seem to stay away from the action, so you get to do the paperwork, pregnant or not."

Lizz groaned as Judy rolled her eyes and spoke. "Yes sir."

Bogo switched to Nick as dessert was placed in front of him. "How goes the training? From what I have seen and heard, it had some serious impact on the officers in the audience. Interesting idea to make sure you pulled in officers that had all arrested you in the past."

"We look good after the first record session. Depending on scheduling, I will have one or two more video records, and then we will have all the video needed to build the detailed tests along with the presentation portion of it. Then I will do a full presentation to test it with the various tests. We were going to give out a generic test during the first one, but with what happened and how gut punchy it was for some, we skipped that part."

With a nod Bogo savored the desert for a moment. "Sounds good. You think you'll have it done in time?"

Nick smiled. "Very confident in that sir, as long as nothing happens that prevents me from doing so."

"Very good. Once the bomb squad clears your cars, you can all leave. Like I said. Monday morning. Bright and early. Reports on my desk."

The four officers nodded and spoke in unison, and all with the same long suffering tone of voice. "Yes sir."

Maria stepped up behind Bogo. "Would you like to take a selfie with me, Chief?"

A grin pasted itself over Bogo's face. "I would love that." Reaching into his belt and pulling his phone. He took several photos. "I have to show Ben these, even if he will die from jealousy. I think I will survive, if only because I wasn't expecting to meet up with you. Thank you."

"My pleasure chief." Maria turned her attention to Lizz, Mike, Nick, and Judy, sweeping her hoof at the four of them. "Studio, Friday afternoon. As long as you are as on point as you were at the last recording, it won't take long. Come on Jarvis." Reaching up and pulling him down into a kiss. "Hanging around with these two pregnant females makes me want to try a bit harder for a calf or two of my own."

Jarvis grinned. "Oh, the utter torture of needing to satisfy your needs." Turning to the table with a look of mock terror on his muzzle. "Save me!" He was then dragged bodily away by a giggling gazelle.

They all laughed while Bogo watched them go in shock, then turned to Judy. "No way."

Judy laughed. "They've been together since college, sir."

Once the cars were safe, and statements taken, the Alphas were escorted home by five cruisers. Nick and Judy heading home to their own apartment.

Arron and Victoria were shocked by what happened, while Maria and Jarvis were not as much, though still surprised. Lizz and Mike were also shocked, but handled it far better due to them being officers. Mike vowing to never again leave the house without his sidearm.

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A/N

Remember to share the love. Review and Fav. It is the life blood of every writer to know you are enjoying their work. I also want to thank everyone who has Fav'd, followed, and reviewed this little project. I know that isn't much, but to me, it's huge. Even as a writer of original fiction, that you enjoy this means a lot to me as an author. You can check out my original work and link to my Blog, Scribblings, where a lot of it lives by hopping over to dcballard . com ( Direct: ascensionnovel . / scribblings (remove the spaces) because the forwarding is misbehaving.)

If you enjoy this, and you are not also reading my original Log Entries series over on my Blog. Why aren't you? (takes a Nick-esk pose of hurt) Also. I am now posting them on AO3, so you have even less excuse. It's free, ORIGINAL fiction. "An original story told through the log entries of the pilot and captain of an experimental star ship."

You should really be checking out my bestest bud, Bear678, and his story What Foxes May Come.

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