19 Let The Bodies Hit The Floor
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It's been a hot minute since I included a song in this story (I haven't in case someone was wondering) so I thought this would be as good a time as any.
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"You're sure you wanna do this?" asks Nick.
"At this point, what do I really have to lose?" comes the steadfast answer.
…
Using a single sharp claw, Nick cuts the restraining strap holding the hare to the chair.
As Jack stands, a quick glance toward the bed assessing his chances at grabbing a magazine and weapon is just as quickly stifled, as he realizes that with four basically professionally trained killers at close proximity, he probably wouldn't make it two steps before he would become nothing more than a pink mist.
As his attention returns to a certain todd in the small room, his suspicions are confirmed. The now ice-cold gaze of Nick's tells Jack that he was just waiting for him to try something that stupid.
As Reaper holds the door open, everyone waits for Jack to exit the room, no one wanting the untrustworthy buck behind them.
Stepping into the now basically empty parking lot (the only cars are Jack's close to the room, with Nick's GTO and a nondescript van that brought the rest of the team sitting in a far corner of the lot), Sparks and Reaper make their way to the driveway entrance as Radar takes a quick perch on Nick's shoulder, whispering something into the todd's ear that the hare couldn't make out.
Flapping to a spot just above the motel's main façade, Radar pulls up a song on her cell phone and plays it through the devices speaker … "Let the bodies hit the floor …" blasts out over the parking lot, slightly unnerving the buck.
After allowing the bat time to take her perch, Nick slowly turns to survey the surrounding area, which is exactly when Jack decides to open his custom folding karambits and attack – just when Nick has his back to him.
Just when Jack thought that he had Nick, the todd spins to his right and kicks the cowardly buck on his hindquarters sending him sprawling face first onto the filthy tarmac.
Giving the astonished hare a lopsided grin, Nick tells him "I figured that you'd try something as cowardly as that, so I was ready for you. Glad you didn't disappoint."
"Screw you, you filthy pelt!"
"Sorry Jack, I'm not a doe and I haven't been drugged, so I'm basically not your type." is Nick's tauntingly sarcastic reply.
"Aaarrghh!" as the deceitful lagomorph quickly bounds up and renews his attack, hoping to catch Nick off-guard this time.
Quickly spinning to his right again, Nick again propels the angry hare sprawling several feet further into the empty parking lot with yet another well placed kick.
Sprawling once again face first onto the pavement, Jack's suit coat and pants become mired with grime and oil, with a slight tear in one of the sleeves of his coat.
"C'mon Jack, where's all of that super special, special agent training?" mocks Nick.
"MOTHERFUCKER….!" screams the now totally enraged buck as he again jumps up and attacks, wildly slashing continuously with both karambits.
Easily backing away and sidestepping from side to side to avoid Jack's frenzied attack, Nick adds fuel to the fire that now consumes the striped buck "Well, since Judy and I are legally married, and we did have a hell of a honeymoon night, and since she is pregnant, I guess technically I am exactly what you just described …"
"Stand still and fight you damned pelt-" Jack demands when suddenly Nick simply sends a front straight kick to the inside of one of Jack's knees, again putting the buck on the pavement, yet again face first.
"Having problems standing are we Jack?" Nick again taunts.
As the buck attempts to stand, he's met with a hard right paw slap to the face, hard enough to spin him in a complete circle before again falling down.
"What's that, I didn't quite hear you!" laughs Nick.
Again attempting to stand, Jack is met this time with a left paw slap to the face.
"You're gonna have to speak up Savage, I'm having a bit of a hard time hearing you!" taunts Nick again, with the other team members now laughing at the formerly overconfident buck's predicament.
"You don't seem to be so tough when you don't have other agents in the background actually doing your dirty work, do ya Savage?"
"When I get my paws on you-" begins the buck as he regains his feet, only to be met with a front kick to the chest, just hard enough to propel the hare backward onto his butt.
"You see, therein seems to be the problem Jack." says Nick, slowly advancing "You don't seem to be able to do that, even when you're cheating, like attacking me when my back is turned. You're a legend in your own mind Savage. Always have been, always will be. Get up! "
As Jack again stands, Nick tells him "I guess it's time for me to show you just how helpless you really are!"
This time when Jack again attacks, he tries a different technique.
Using crossing motions with the karambits, very similar to the patterns used in arnis fighting, the humiliated buck finally manages to get Nick to back away carefully, the todd making sure to deflect the now deadly blades while actually taking a few very minor, and only skin-deep cuts to his paws and forearms.
When the renewed battle unexpectedly lasts more than a few minutes both Sparks and Reaper glance at each other, not exactly sure what's going to happen next until-
When Nick suddenly emits a very loud growl (I know, foxes don't actually growl) a stunned Jack's attack stops dead and Nick quickly attacks – placing two gentle strikes on Jack's left front shoulder and one on his shoulder blade, causing the arm to go limp.
"What's the matter Jack, having issues with your arm?" mocks Nick.
"What-" begins the astonished buck.
"It's a nerve blocking technique that I picked up a few years ago while in the far east. It causes a temporary paralyses of the limb when applied. Like it?"
"But-"
"Yeah, I know, you can use one arm but not the other, so how about a matched set?" says a very sarcastic Nick as he applies the technique to the stunned bucks other side, rendering both arms now totally useless.
"Since the effect only lasts about five minutes or so, what say we add another element to it?" suggests Nick as the todd applies what is basically the same technique to one of Jack's hips, causing the astonished hare to collapse onto the blacktop once again, this time with a total of three temporarily disabled limbs.
"Just so you know Jack," continues Nick as the buck flops around like a fish out of water while trying to regain his feet "applied correctly using acupuncture, or simply one of my claws, the effects can be made permanent. They can't be undone … period. Not by me and not by any of the known medical sciences. Maybe instead of killing you I could just paralyze all voluntary muscle movement … how about it Jack, would you like that? Not able to move a single muscle on your own? Not even speak?
"Only your involuntary systems would be working. You could see, feel and breathe, digest food - even though you wouldn't be able to chew so that would mean IV fluids only. Which means you'd piss and shit yourself all the time so a nurse would be needed 24/7. Sound like fun?"
A now horrified Jack could only stare at Nick.
"Not to worry," announces Nick to not only the horrified buck, but to the rest of the team, who by now was wondering if Nick had stepped over the limit "I don't plan on doing that, but it is something to think about. You should be back to your old treacherous self in a minute or so, and we can have at it again okay?" as the todd backs off a comfortable distance, giving Jack time to fully recover.
By the time three more minutes pass, the hare has full use of all of his limbs.
…
Upright and ambulatory again and palming both of his blades, Jack again cautiously advances on Nick, again weaving his twin karambits in a deadly pattern.
With Jack basically repeating the same mistakes he made previously (using a patterned attack which is easily predictable), Nick is able to perfectly time Jack's knife attacks and land several soft punches, just hard enough to keep the buck at bay but with enough power to let him know that each one could have devastating circumstances if landed at full power.
As the pair continue to do their deadly dance around the parking lot, Jack gradually begins to tire, and pretty soon, when a real opening presents itself, Nick strikes, landing an almost full power punch to Jack's mostly unprotected face, knocking the buck out cold!
…
Sometime later, as Jack slowly wakes, he's keenly aware of several things – first, he's definitely NOT dead, second, he's actually laying down on a bed, third, his entire head feels like it had been put in a vise and squeezed, then hit several times with a sledge hammer. And lastly, when he tries to open his eyes, they would barely open, and what little he sees, or thinks he sees, doesn't make any sense.
Through bleary and dimmed vision he thinks he sees a blurred upside-down head in addition to hearing various voices in the background.
"Hey, that stings!" was one voice.
"Shut it ya bloody Shiela!" answers another.
"Hey Nick, I think he's awake … sort of!" comes a more or less recognizable female voice, one that Jack is sure he's heard at least once before.
"Sit him up guys …" comes Nick's voice through the haze.
After the buck is set up more or less straight and propped up with pillows so he doesn't fall over, Nick pulls his chair over, turns it and sits on it with the back of the chair facing Jack.
"Why-" the buck manages to croak out.
"Why aren't you dead?" asks Nick leaning on the chair back "Because unlike you, I wouldn't kill an incapacitated opponent, even though it was tempting. But then, you never were much of an actual threat to me."
"Why-?" comes the next question.
"Why does your head hurt so much?" asks the grinning Fox.
Getting nothing but a glare from the now very perturbed buck, Nick elaborates. "When I punched you, I hit you so hard that I not only knocked you out, but both eyes are now very swollen which is why you probably can't see very well, you look to have a broken nose so that's a bit difficult to breathe, several loose teeth, a concussion and probably whiplash, so you must have a nasty headache."
"Wha-?" asks the stunned buck.
"What next?" again finishes Nick. "I'm going to offer you the same deal as before, except for the signing the papers deal, I already have those. No, actually, while you were out, Sparks here found something very interesting in your files that I completely missed – neither you nor any of your family ever applied for citizenship to become legal Animalian citizens. You are basically a foreign national and because you were working for the ZIA you are therefore considered a spy. Now even Interpol and several other global law enforcement agencies will be looking at trying to find you."
As the truth of his real predicament actually hits Jack, his mind actually goes in quite another direction "My – my family-"
"We've already smoothed things over for your family Jack." Nick tells him indicating the rest of the team "The State Department has filled out the proper forms and backdated them so your parents and sister are fine. You, however, are not. Since the ZIA failed in doing their due-diligence when recruiting you, they're willing to do whatever it takes to quite literally bury the entire thing, especially you. Luckily for you, I managed to convince them to just dump your mangy ass in your old homeland instead of putting a bullet in your head. The last thing I want is for Judy to think I had a paw in your death after I promised her that I wouldn't kill you myself."
"So-"
"So here's the deal …" continues Nick uninterrupted "you can accept the free ride to your original homeland and village just like before, but this time with no passport, you will be considered and international fugitive after all. Or you can face me in the parking lot again. However there's a new twist. If we face off in the parking lot again, it will truly be to the death, and I will do everything in my power to drag it out as long as possible and make you suffer as long as I can. Then I will quite literally cut you into tiny pieces and we'll flush the pieces down the toilet, with no one but us ever knowing where you disappeared to.
"On the upside, Sparks has taken a liking to your little Beamer and is willing to pay a fair price for it, should you be inclined to sell it, … and providing that you're still alive of course.
"So, what's it gonna be Savage? Life … or death? There's not an in-between this time …"
After only a short moment's thought, Jack decides "I – I guess the only thing I can do now is to take the ride to the land of my birth, especially now that I know that at least my family is safe. And yes, your team member can buy the car, I just ask that the money go to my sister. She's a struggling artist in Zootopia and could really use the cash. You can tell her it's a grant or whatever."
"What a hypocrite – it's really too bad you didn't think of the families that you ruined with your little rapescapade!" dead pans Nick. "Some of the does that you raped actually committed suicide because they couldn't handle the shame!"
"….."
"Meanwhile …" interrupts a certain bat.
"Meanwhile," continues Nick after the prompt "Jack, you can take a quick shower and change into some decent clothes. Sparks and Radar, watch the little prick. Reaper, you might as well go ahead and leave if you want. You can take the van back to the motel and either pack up and leave or feel free to stay for a bit, the room's paid for through the weekend. Radar and Sparks are evidentially gonna show up in Jack's Beamer after they drop him off at the airport.
"Do you want me to e-mail all of the raw footage from tonight to your secure account?" asks the bat. (Remember her whispering into Nick's ear shortly before the fight in the parking lot?)
"Yeah, I guess. send a copy to the ZIA while you're at it, and I'll give a copy to my current and former bosses. Just make sure to remind the ZIA agent at the airport that I need to have proof of life all the way until he's dropped off at his little village so I don't have to make a trip after some unnamed newbie agent who manages to get an itchy trigger finger between here and there."
"No problem, Pepé and I 'll be sure to remind them." the bat assures Nick.
"Damn it Mavis, you know I hate it when you use my real name!" whines the civet.
"Hey, it ain't my fault your parents had a wonkey sense of humor!"
"I know, but I mean really? Name me after a damned skunk?"
"I hate to break up this little lovers quarrel, but just … keep an eye on the hare, okay?" interrupts Nick as he drags a paw over his face "And make sure he gets his knives back when he gets home."
"Those ain't knives," drawls the dingo as he reaches behind his back and draws out a custom version of a Bowie knife " THIS is a knife!"
With that, very other mammal in the room does an eye roll except Jack who almost passes out from sheer terror after seeing the huge knife's seven-inch long blade.
"Will do boss." as Pepé gives the todd a strong warriors pawshake.
Flapping over to Nick, Mavis simply give the tod a quick nuzzle. "I guess this 'll have to do." she tells him.
"Tell Jonathan and your kit hey for me when you get home, ok?" he tells her.
"I can do that!" she remarks.
Turning his attention to the dingo who has yet to make his departure "Mick, old friend, give your Sheila my regards okay?" the todd snarks.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up Nick. It ain't my fault that me mate's a Sheila and her name's actually Sheila." he grouses.
"Look Dundee, just be safe on the way home okay? Sheila 'd have my pelt for a rug if anything would happen to you." Nick admits.
"I c'n do that I recon." admits the dingo on his way out of the door after giving Nick a warrior's pawshake and shoulder bump.
Just then, Jack emerges from the bathroom, freshly showered, this time in his normal whiteish fur with his signature black stripes showing.
"If ya don't mind, I've got a few bits of friendly advice for ya." Nick tells the buck.
"And that would be …. what ?" comes the slightly surly reply.
"To start with, you might want to wear something a little more … local." comments the todd, pointing at the fresh clothes. "I doubt if a suit and tie will impress anybody in that particular neck of the woods." Nick fires back "Then, stop being a prick and try to act more like a normal mammal, being stupid won't make you and friends there, and I've got a feeling you'll need a few."
"I – I get your point …" admits the buck "Anything else?"
"Settle down, take a nice doe as a wife, have some kits you can claim and raise as your own. In short, settle down raise a family. If you make a lot of enemies there you'll just end up as another corpse rotting somewhere in the jungle." advises Nick.
A now slightly demur Jack tells Nick "Th-thanks, I'll try to remember that."
…
Exiting the room, Nick heads towards the GTO and notices that Mick is still in the parking lot, leaning against the nondescript white van that the team arrived in.
"Problems?" a concerned Nick asks the dingo.
"Nah, I just wanna make sure that you're okay, mate." comes the honest answer.
At first slightly confused, Nick pauses for a few moments before answering.
"Ya know, I really think I am." a thoughtful Nick replies "Jack's getting his second chance at life, just like the rest of us have had, and I guess that it's up to him to make the most of it – or not."
"Then I guess we're done here?" asks Mick.
"Yup, kinda looks like it. You go ahead back to the motel, I'm gonna send a quick text to Judy letting her know that I'm still alive and so is Jack. Then a quick voicemail, then I'll be along, I promise."
"Roit, got it." then the dingo gets in the van, fires it up and leaves the lot.
…
As Nick picks up his personal phone, he notices a voicemail form a certain polar bear.
"Wilde, when you get this, call me, no matter the time."
Taking a few minutes to compose his thoughts, Nick sends Judy a quick text, not knowing for sure when his mate will be able to see it and respond.
Quickly dialing Major Friedkin, the Ursidaepicks up on the first ring.
"Major," begins a now concerned Nick, "What's-"
"Shut up and listen Wilde" interrupts Friedkin forcefully "There's been a bit of an incident here at the academy concerning your mate. She's fine and has done nothing wrong, but that being said, we, as in you and I, need to have a short talk. In furson, face to face!"
"I'm still out of town, but I can be there by-" looking at the time on his phone "nine or ten if I push it I guess. I'm around 450 miles or so out"
"Have you been up all night Wilde?"
"Yeah, more or less, why?"
"It's just past three now, and it'll take you at least five hours to get here with little to no sleep. Tell you what, be here around one, we have a general assembly in the auditorium planned for that time slot. You can at least get a few hours' sleep and not be dead tired by the time you get here. Get some rest and be here by one, got it?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Good. See you around one." and the line goes dead.
Staring at the phone for a long moment, Nick's mind starts to go into all sorts of bad places until he remembers that Friedkin told him that Judy was fine and not in any trouble.
Forgoing the voicemail to Judy, Nick heads back to the motel.
…
Once arriving at the HoJo motel, Nick enters the room and gets a questioning look from Reaper.
After a quick change of clothes, Nick starts gathering his things and starts stuffing them into a large duffle bag. Nick tells the curious dingo "I got a message from the commandant of the academy that there had evidentially been some sort of issue involving Judy. Supposedly it's not anything that's overly serious, but the commandant wants to have a face to face with me asap. I need to get a few hours of shut-eye before I hit the road. Wake me in like three hours or so if you're still gonna be here, okay?"
"No issues mate!" Mick tells him. "I'll just stick 'round and make sure yer up."
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AN: Let the Bodies Hit The Floor as performed by Drowning Pool. I'm sure at least one or two folks are a bit disappointed that no one was killed …
The famous Knife from movie Crocodile Dundee "That's not a knife this is a knife." Actual dimensions – overall length 18 Inches, Blade length 12 Inches. I scaled the blade's dimensions to more or less match the dingo's size. It's still a very large and intimidating hunk of steel.
