Chapter 30
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AN: So, seems like copying in a doc to fanfic nukes the text formatting. I've tried to put the italics back in, but probably missed at least some.
The two watched on as the goat slipped and fell, crashing down near the base of the wall. Tired, weary… Passed out but alive. But he wasn't the one that mattered.
"Where's Rattigan?" Loxy asked, the fox running forward and spotting no signs of the rodent on the goat. It was a glance up that revealed the truth. Only a faint sight, the rat up there starting to hobble along again. Keeping moving, keeping at it. "Still with a chance, huh?"
"I'll give him a…" Napoleon growled, grabbing his gun and aiming it up, ready to…
A paw on the pig's hoof stayed him, the mammal turning to the fox and glaring at him. "You know for all the stupid dupes I lured into my cults over the years I never pegged you as one."
"Oh trust me," the fox said. "If I could, I'd throttle that rat so hard you wouldn't have a chance. This is from a point of self preservation, for the both of us."
"Well, I have my pride, and the glorious retirement he stole from me…" The pig aimed his gun up, only to freeze as he saw Loxy pointing his own at him. "You know…" He said. "I did consider you a friend, in all of this. And not like how he defined it."
"I know," the fox said. "But look at it this way. There is no way out, not for any of us, apart from his mad scheme succeeding."
"And the one exit shaft I happen to know about?" Napoleon asked, lowering his gun slightly. "Complete with a lift." It seemed all the other allies of Rattigan were busy chasing the escapees or reinforcing the main access shaft against the ZPD, caught in feral rage of obeying the last orders of the rat blindly.
"And how do you know they don't know about it, or the ZPD. And what after that?" the fox asked. "Rattigan liberated us of the harvest of project chaos."
"I know, which is why I want to shoot him and then get the hell out of here."
Loxy raised an eyebrow. "Odd, isn't it. The ZPD know who you are, unlike me. Yet…"
"I'm not the forgiving kind," he said, pausing. "But then again, I am the one who knows when to cut and run." He paused, passing over his gun to Loxy. "A last token, friend. You do it your way, I'll do it mine." He turned, pausing and smiling. "After all, if Rattigan succeeds, I don't think that rat will have known about this, will he?"
They paused, looking up and waiting for a second, before turning to each other, smiling and parting. Loxy looked back up, Rattigan wasn't too far away. Going up a small rodent-access side ramp alongside one of the stairs. A few switchbacks were left, then the climb in through the gap and over. -He didn't know the exact way to get there on the other side, it'd take a while, but still… No better way to endear himself to the boss, was there?
He stepped forward only to freeze, a rumble and then a crash coming from far away. Turning, looking down, he saw the metal shutter gate to the far end of the loading bay come crashing down in smoke and bright sparks, emerging out of it…
"Oh cuss," he swore, thinking about turning back to Rattigan again only to freeze as he heard the sound of motorbikes revving their engines. He shook his head, turning away from the rat and hoping, hoping he had enough left in him. One gun stowed away he began jogging forward again, hoping that he would buy that stinking rat enough time to do his thing.
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The sparks cleared, the engines revved, and half a dozen bikes roared out in earnest, the wolves on them letting out a howl as they raced on, those on their backs poised and ready. What mammals of Rattigan's were in front of them, lined up to block the previous escape from the base, turned, those with firearms aiming them up only to cower back as fire was returned. Bright flashes of gunpowder racing forward and blasting off, fired by the poised panda and tiger on two bikes, while two foxes on a following set fired off arrows. The mooks buckled, shying away, before fleeing as the bikes raced forward through them, their drivers swinging chains or pipes, taking them down and shattering the line.
Sly raced forward, cheering them on as they passed, all as Carmelita and some of the others ran out onto the catwalk, firing supporting fire up and down, pinning anyone who thought about firing down on them. The two newly arrived foxes leapt off, bows drawn, and began peppering the galleries, Rattigan's forces turning .
"Bows and arrows?" was all Nick could ask, shaking his head and turning to Carrots. "Why arrows, why not guns? Why?"
"Don't punch a gift giving horse in the mouth Slick," Judy cut in.
"Fluff," Nick shook his head. "If bows and arrows are the deciding factor in this, buy me a maid outfit and I'll call you lady."
"Not the time!" Carm cut in. "You four!" she yelled at the members of the fox family. "You have your way out, move, move!" She turned, leading the charge with Sly, back towards the other end. The bikes had already pulled around and were racing back towards their entrance, the fire too heavy further down. It didn't matter though, the cavalry had done their job, the line was broken, the initiative was in their paw again. Hearing a crash and some screams, Nick looked back to see a gas mask and boiler suit clad armored up elephant, an uprooted lamppost in his hands, laying waste to the scattering of forces down at the base of the lift.
"Okay," the fox said. "Him having the bow and arrow might have done something."
Either way, the pachyderm tank was crushing through, more bears, along with a number of other mammals, getting pushed back as the brawl turned against them. Judy peeked out smiling. The lines holding the ZPD out were breaking, the real force would be coming down any time soon. As if to prove a point she winced as a lick of flame came out from the base of the access shaft, half a dozen or so of Rattigan's mammals fleeing out, paws up, a red clad canine figure sweeping through behind, barely having the chance to engage and fight as its enemies scattered in terror. Whoever was cleaning out there was doing a good job.
One brave mook, not a bear but a smaller mammal of some kind, maybe one working construction for Rattigan since the beginning, got into one of the resting forklifts and raised the forks up, pushing through the fleeing crowds before turning and charging at the tanked up pachyderm. Potentially it could have worked, were it not for the massive mammal seeing it, dropping his weapon and catching both forks with his hands. A muffled bellow came out as he put his weight into it, holding on tight and breaking the charge of the machine before releasing, grabbing the top of the lifter and then, straining, picking up the vehicle and starting to spin it like a hammer thrower. Any of Rattigan's mammals in the area still in the fight began to turn and flee, exiting pursued by forklift, the device crashing into the wall to cheers.
"Yes!" Sly yelled. "That's how you do it!" The elephant turned, laying his eyes on the raccoon, pointing his trunk out and back and then, retrieving his lamppost, starting on his way towards him. Sly gulped. "Ah… oh, uh…"
"Where are you!?" Carmelita yelled from up ahead before ducking down behind a column. The others hugged a wall as she and Judy leaned out, giving some more shots to the front before tucking in again.
"Coming up," Sly said, glancing behind at the now ever faster elephant, blank optical mask locked dead on him. "Slight issue…" There was a rumble as the bikes pulled back behind the elephant, having disgorged any and all passengers. It was just them now, tucking in behind the cover, licking their wounds, the white wolfess leading the pack pulling out a walkie talkie and sending out more instructions before advancing behind cover.
Seeing that he still had a few moments left, Sly brought out his Binocucom. "Anything pertinent Bentley?"
" Right paw galley has some mammals on it coming in fast Sly, they're already past the crane. " The raccoon nodded, turning to see the walkways on the other side of the access hall. A few bears, a fox, a…
Binnocucom back up, Sly spoke out. "The mad hare's back. Get some reinforcements over there to follow me."
" I'll tell them to meet you on the ground… "
"-Not going by the ground!" Sly rushed out, not giving Bentley time to finish before stashing the communicator away just in time to see the elephant marching up to meet him. Trunk jabbing back into his eye mask, trunk jabbing out at him, lamppost rising up and crashing down. Sly leapt to the side, dodging it and holding out a paw to stay the others from doing something sensible. All as he leapt on the lamppost as it was pulled back, racing up it and then sliding straight down it as the massive beast tried to flick it up and toss him off.
It didn't matter, Sly was falling straight down and landing on the tip of one of the elephant's tusks, jumping to the next, turning and giving him a smile and a wink. Whoever, or maybe even whatever, he was, he reacted just as the raccoon expected. Dropping his weapon, hands and trunk came up to try and bat him off his now shaking head. Sly just turned, raced over what amount of trunk he could before then leaping off, paws out and gripping onto the lamppost, now resting against the other side of the avenue.
On all fours, then sprinting on two feet, rising up with it as it was gripped once more before leaping off as it was pulled and tossed away, Sly landed down on the raised walkway. The thief was where he needed to be, racing along fast, already seeing the oncoming mammals in front of him, a wounded Woundwort leading the charge.
A Woundwort now clad with bandoliers of what very much looked like dynamite.
Sly leapt forward in a dive as the elephant's lamppost came crashing down once again, landing in a fast roll before kicking out and into a neighboring doorway, out of view. Up, cane in paw, he tucked himself to the side before flicking out one of his cut out decoys. Cane up, ready, wait, wait…
A set of gunshots followed by a muffled trumpet rang out and then curses and screams filled with fear and regret rang out, the raccoon shrugging. "That works." He turned, peeking out just as a crash and a roar sounded, the elephant smashing his lamppost into the the catwalk outside, running the bent top along the wall, smashing out the bulb, smashing out the plastic hood and the steel top, smashing the larger of the enemy mammals advancing on there as they fruitlessly fired into the beast's thick baggy armor. If anything, from the sound of the chuckles, it tickled him. The sharp explosion didn't, sending him hopping back on one foot, trumpeting in pain. A second blasted underneath him, Sly turning to look out just as a blur raced past, screaming out.
"Call yourselves bears!" Woundwort yelled, fist up. "Charge! The lupine hooligans will not kill themselves! The armoured colossus will not kill itself! The demon of fire will not kill herself!"
The raccoon charged to follow it, turning to see Woundwort laughing, a blast coming up as the elephant shielded itself, stumbling back. The hare just cackled before turning back, smirking as he saw Sly in front of him. "Well now, there's a challenge."
"I can say the same thing," the raccoon said, bracing his cane against himself and starting to advance.
"Didn't get time to get kitted up before round one," he said, the odd twinge in his breath, the lower parts of his body stained and dark. "-And now we're hearing that all those holding the actual ZPD out are fleeing, an interesting mammal for sure taking them on. I'd have liked to take her on, but you again?" He cocked a grin to Sly as he bit off the end of a fuse and lit it with the end of a cigar he now sported. "Still, you were good. Shame I am too."
He tossed the dynamite down over towards the elephant, now lying on its back clutching a foot, the hare's paw going down not to grab the gun he had but rather a bunny-knife, the excited grin on his face growing as…
-Sly leapt past him, cane swinging out and grabbing the dynamite mid-air, flicking it away and back just a second before it exploded. The blast slapped the raccoon back and he landed hard onto a thankfully somewhat soft surface, blinking and looking up just in time to see Woundwort, shying away from the near-returned blast, chuck another. Pushing himself up, Sly moved to try and bat it away with his cane, something he didn't really expect to work very well at all now that he…
-A fizzing light swept over him and touched the explosive, blowing it up mid-air. Sly cheered, turning to Carmelita before the ground under him shifted and moved, something very tight coming around his midsection. "Oh, right," he managed to say as it tightened further, the elephant turning to shield him from any further explosions, blank optical mask staring into him. The raccoon shrugged. "Evens?"
The titanic head tilted, two massive shoulders moved up and down, and Sly was placed back down, the filter-ended gas mask clad trunk giving him a few heavy pets on the head. All as a bike revved up next to him, the wolfess on it giving him a shake of the head. "Need a ride?"
"Now that you ask," Sly said, pausing as he turned back and over. "What about Wound…" He looked in closer before smiling. "Seems like he's being covered.
As he said it the hare was leaping back, laughing, gun away but knife out, ducking beneath a striped foot-paw kicking out over him. Tigress sneered, pulling back and holding position, paws up and ready. "We beat you before, we can beat you again," she said.
Breathing in and out, the hare smiled. "There was more than just you there, kitten."
She snarled before a grin grew on her muzzle. "There's more than just me here either."
She looked ahead, Woundwort turning to see a bent and broken gantry, wounded bears slowly managing to get up, shaking, looking forward and…
"-Ah…" A panda burst out of one of the doors, taking a second to catch his breath before looking forward at the hare. Then down at the bears between them. "Sorry, stairs, uh… -I'll make this quick." He began tip-toeing forward between the slumped mammals, carefully dodging their attempts to swing at him, batting away the odd gun they still had, and giving demure knock-out punches to their heads just to make sure they wouldn't be too much of an issue.
Getting to the front, he raised his fists, staring down Woundwort. "So, I've heard a lot about you, hare. "
The hare chuckled, grinning, before charging at Po, knife out and ready. The panda raised his fists, charging forward to meet the hare as they raced in at each other, only for the smaller mammal to dive down low, knife thrown into his mouth and all fours racing along as he shot underneath Po's legs. The panda saw it coming, legs snapping together as he jumped and twisted, the feeling of a fast running leg getting caught coming up and the sight of the hare sliding to a halt and bolting back revealing itself. He looked a little surprised, but still confident, still in control as he leapt again, this time pushing between Po and the wall.
The panda jumped to kick him into the corner, only to pull back as he saw the hare fix his two back feet on the floor, sliding to a halt with the knife in his teeth pointing up and out, ready to impale his descending foot. The only thing the panda could do was move it to the side, cutting off Woundwort's route forward, giving the already backpedaling hare the chance to let go of the knife in his mouth, transfer it to his fast-flicking front paw and stab the now retracting foot in the side.
Po grit his teeth, hissing as his quick speed managed to downgrade it to a nasty cut, Woundwort turning and retreating just as Tigress somersaulted over the pair of them, cutting his escape route off. Muscles poised, she stood there waiting, ready to react to whatever move he pulled next.
The hare just stood to, knife in paw, between the pair of them and waiting for them to open up, ready. "Not bad," he said, "not bad…" His smile grew as his ears rose, head turning. The two others followed it only for their eyes to widen as they saw Carmelita over on the other side, sparing them a helpful shock pistol shot… One that was now speeding straight towards the dynamite clad hare. The vixen on the other side hadn't seen his armament, while the hare just smiled. "Your move."
"It's a trap!" Tigress yelled, already starting to pull back, only seconds to try and get out of the way and with no idea whether it'd spare her or not. Po though began racing forward, paw coming out, eyes fixed on Woundwort and the oncoming electrical shot and…
-He kicked down, hard, Woundwort's eye going wide in surprise as the section of steel catwalk he was on was levered up, throwing him up and over the electrical pulse as it sailed below him. Limbs waving, he got them under control, stared on at Po as he prepared to leap towards the Panda and carry on his assault… -Only for a flying tiger to come up behind him with a power kick right into his back.
Ears turning, he realised it was coming just in time to spring his legs back and absorb the impact, firing him forward into Po like a missile.
The panda bear, still coming down and positioning himself after the kick up, could only bare his belly as Woundwort came flying in and was bounced straight back off his belly, tumbling over Tigress' head just in time for the tiger to intercept him with a side wipe to his flank, the force of the her paw cut throwing him out into the avenue below, shreds of fur and fabric thrown off by the slice of her claws. She landed and turned to watch him crumple to the floor, staggering to get back up again as he turned forward and hobbled towards an empty exit door, a burst of speed kicking in as some bikes turned and raced at him, ready to run him down.
Tigress couldn't help but think that now would be an excellent time for a shock pistol shot only to turn and see that Carmelita and the others were pushing on ahead, getting close to the gantry crane and all too preoccupied. Other battles and skirmishes were going on, though it seemed the majority of Rattigan's forces were holding fort at the far end.
Sly was the closest to them by far, thrown way up on her side of the avenue by a now retreating wolfess biker, who first raced past the disappearing Woundwort as he dove into cover and then the retreating elephant. Tigress looked on closer, trying to see whether Cooper had a clear shot at the end or not. He was climbing up a set of supports, from there he could race across the ventilation ducts and wires hanging from the roof… -But he was already drawing more and more of the defensive fire. "We need to keep the pressure up," she said, only to freeze as she heard Po grunt out.
"Y-yeah, I know the drill…" Her blood ran cold as she turned to see the Panda, and the small knife embedded in his belly. "What can I say," he smirked. "Don't bring Kung Fu to a knife and dynamite fight."
She raced forward, grabbing on. "Come on, we need to…"
"I can make it," he said, paw up. "Help with the…"
"You're not playing hero on me," she scolded, leaning down and taking his weight over her shoulder.
"I know," he nodded. "I'll be fine…"
"No, you…"
"Trust me," Po said, "I'd be all for a whole 'die a hero in battle, carry on' kinda thing, but I'm pretty sure this is only a superficial wound."
"It's right over your liver!"
"Yeah, but it's only 'yay' long," the panda pointed out, two fingers up before starting to expand them. "And uh, my belly is…"
"Well, I'm not taking any chances," the feline said, brushing it off.
"-Still, impressive that that bunny did this. He really WAS good!"
"Yes, so I gathered, now come on," Tigress warned. "I…" She paused as she heard a honk from down below, one of the biker wolves racing back and pulling into a sheltered area, one of his injured companions slumped on the back seat.
"Room for one more," he called out.
"That works," Po smiled. "Also… Cool bike."
Tigress just turned down and nodded. "Stair just ahead, I'll get him down. There's also a hare loaded up with dynamite, just gone into there…"
A pair of mammals pushing up, one of the archer foxes and a large brown bear, were told of the order and diverted in as Tigress pulled Po onto the stairs and helped him down. By the time they were meeting up with the biker wolf the two had returned, shaking their heads.
"Vent tunnel," the vixen said, "too small for me to get through."
"How bad is this hare anyway?" the bear asked, only to pause as he saw the knife in the panda bear.
"There's your answer," Tigress said, helping Po on. "We have to keep pushing up front."
"We have a mammal up ahead too," the vixen said. "We were just grabbing extra supplies."
The bear patted the heavy bag he had on his back, Tigress nodding before leaning out behind their cover and turning to the wolf driver. "All clear. Take him back and get him patched up."
The bike revved as Po smiled, turning to her. "Take them forward and kick tail!"
She nodded, waving them off, just about hearing Po ask if he'd get a cool scar from this above the roar of the bike engines before turning to the other two. Nodding her head, paw going into a fist, she looked at them. "How do you fight?"
The vixen wielded her bow, complete with a few tech'ed-out arrows plus some retrieved dynamite shed from the hare, and the bear revealed a big, thick stick.
"That will do," Tigress said, passing some spare fireworks to the vixen before pushing them all on.
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Sly tucked himself in closely. Pulled into the nook of a massive I-beam, shuffling his feet along, he darted a little faster as a mammal below took a chance and tried to get a better angle. A few shots came up, way too close for comfort, before he shook and stumbled, slumping to the ground as one of the raccoon's allies took him down. It didn't matter though, every push forward was riskier. End of the beam, cane out, Sly took a swing and hooked it around a pipe before swinging himself forward. Cane detached, quickly reattaching itself to another pipe before he used the momentum to launch himself onto a large metal ventilation duct that was just about in range.
Even then he barely landed on it, cane swinging forward to tilt him away from the edge before he had to run on once more, making a dart forward as shots sprang up, popping out through the top of the vent duct. He only chanced a halt as he saw a heavy steel beam coming up underneath it, jumping down and laying flat against its cold dust coated top surface. Breathing out, tail pushed down, lying so flat that its width should deny them an angle on him…
No shots fired, yet.
Teeth grit, Binnocucom out, he peered down, the ever advancing rat coming into view. Step after step, slump after slump, grit teeth and heavy breathing. Sly felt a chill go down his spine and into his tail.
Rattigan was close. So very, very close now.
" Bentley, " he stressed. " You are seeing this right?"
" Yes, the others are pushing in, they're… "
"I can't go any further," he said, chancing a look out only to flinch back as the increasing numbers of mammals rallying around the end took shots up towards him. A glance up and, almost tauntingly, the rooftop routes seemed to end.
" I can unlock some of the doors, we've got some mammals who could flank in and… "
"Okay, do that, do everything you can."
" I'm on it… I'm just trying to find where the old public announcement system is. "
"Public…" Sly shook his head. "What will that do!?"
" -A-ha! " The turtle said, typing a few times. " I believe, Sly, it will provide an indescribably effective distraction, personally and tailor made to Dr Rattigan himself. "
Sly flinched down as a feedback squeal rang out, frowning as he began to wonder if that was it only for what followed to put a very, very big smile on his muzzle.
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Rattigan pulled himself around the next flight of stairs. Paw clutched to his chest, breaths in and out feeling more and more strained. Yes, he knew the whole thing about dying without medical intervention and what not, but it could at least have the grace to give him some time! He… -A static squeal cut off his train of thought, the rat turning up and wondering. Was that his beloved, piping in to rally his ungrateful, pathetic and so far seemingly incompetent troops? Or had the ZPD or any of those filthy do gooders hacked in and…
" -Hello, testing, testing, can you? "
" We won't be able to hear back either way Bazzy. "
" Well what else am I supposed to say over this, Dave? "
Rattigan felt his whiskers flit one way then the other. What were those infuriating mammals doing, polluting his airwaves and…
" Hellooooo? Ratty-Ratty-Ratt-I-Gan? " Dave called out. " There, does that work out? "
" Not enough emphasis on the rat part me thinks ," Basil said.
" Oh, you and your insistent mis-speciesesing. "
" And how many times have you extinct-speciesed our favourite rat? "
" Touche, " Dave said before chuckling. " How much of a shaking little spite ball do you think we've got him up to right now? "
" Oh, I expect he's boiling and… "
"NOT! -Boiling," Rattigan waved off, sucking in a harsh breath before turning to carry on his march. "Can't hear you, la-la-la, you've lost. You've…"
" Shame, " Basil said. " After all, he might not get to hear how we won. "
"No you haven't," Rattigan spat.
" How we worked out where he was. "
"Oh, I'm sure you got help" Rattigan yelled, fist up only for him to crumple in pain.
" How we were the first to finally crack the code, identify exactly where his base was, how his little faults, failures, etcetera all came undone. All his little mistakes. "
"All your major luck," Rattigan heaved, focusing back on his journey forward.
" How we finally won our long running game of chess, how we showed that Zootopia's greatest mice were greater than the it's… -Quote, 'greatest' rat. "
"Oh here it goes…"
" Greatest, huh?" Dave asked, both mice chuckling as Rattigan began miming a set of yips and yaps.
" I mean, given his delusions it's not surprising that that filthy, ugly, egomaniacal, arrogant… "
"YOU'RE ONLY SAYING THIS AS YOU'RE NOT IN FRONT OF ME AND TOO MUCH OF A COWARD TO RISK GETTING STUCK IN A DEATH MACHINE YOU COWAR…" He collapsed down, whimpering in pain, legs flicking and pushing a little as he closed his eyes and shook his head. Silently telling himself to get a grip on himself, that he had to push forward, that he… " -That was not luck, " he hissed out, staring up before calling out for his mammals fighting out below. " That was not luck… That was my genius… I pieced it together myself, I worked out… "
.
"That'll buy us some time," Nick said, as he pulled into an alcove with the others. Judy, Carmelita, Jack, Skye. Mr… "-What part of go home didn't you get?"
Mr Fox shrugged. "The bit where you gave me a gun to help stop the mammal who has my tail, showing that you want me as part of the operation to stop the mammal who has my tail, non-verbally…"
"How does your wife manage?" Carmelita asked, frowning as she glared at him.
"Just about," he smiled back before leaning out. "Anyway, I have to commend whoever put on that voice thing. That'll slow him down."
Jack nodded, perking his ears. "I almost think I can hear him yelling back."
"Either way," Carmelita cut in. "It's not going to hold him off forever." She pulled out a small communicator. "Sly is pinned down up ahead. However Bentley has opened up some of the other gates into the refueling hall. We flank in ahead and cut Rattigan off." She turned down to Judy and Jack. "You're the smallest, if you can find some vents, or go by the cable trays again, you…"
They were cut off as a trio of mammals raced in. Tigress and two others, a vixen and a bear. "Word of advice," the big cat said, looking down at Carmelita. "Don't fire electrical charges at dynamite clad hares."
The vixen's ears went down but she shook it off. "Your help here is appreciated, even if you seem… underarmed, to say the least."
"Don't underestimate us," the vixen said, pulling out a composite bow and threading in an arrow with a canister on the tip. A glance at some others revealed more with different modifications, some looking very explosive. "After all, the third in our trio just finished off someone getting very close to offing your raccoon."
Judy looked on at them, nose twitching. "Did any of you tranq-arrow a polar bear this morning?"
"Potentially," the vixen shrugged, the bear smiling.
"I think we have fans."
"I'd like to think we have a common bond from a mutual cause," Mr Fox said, taking command. "In any case, our priorities right now are stopping Rattigan, in such a way that we all come out of this alive, his plans are foiled, and we are able to take back everything he has taken from us, potentially not in a philosophical manner but most certainly a physical one."
The bear looked at him. "He shot off your tail or something?"
"That's highly relevant to the point at paw," Mr Fox carried on. "What's most important though is getting ourselves over there ideally without dying."
"-Which is why," Carmelita cut in, "most of us need to provide cover, while those of us with the most training…" She pointed at herself, Nick and Judy. "Need to make a run for an unlocked door to the other side of that door.
"Wait, I'm out of this now?" Jack asked.
Carmelita groaned, facepawing. "I'm trying to find a way to make this work, give me a break, or help, or…"
"There's another way," Skye said, drawing the other's attention. She pointed out to the gantry crane. "If we could get that running again…"
"They busted it up good," Jack warned.
"No," she said. "They put metal chocks underneath the tracks, those can be removed quite easily." She pointed at the bear and Tigress. "As for the motor, it's a simple design. Give me some cover, I can get it working again."
"You'll be out in the open," Carmelita warned, "it's not like we can put up armour or…"
"-Borrow some of what that elephant was wearing," Nick cut in, "That seemed like it worked. Until the dynamite."
Carmelita nodded, pulling out her communicator. "Bentley? Bent… -Okay, we need some mammals to bring us some cut-off cloth that the elephant was wearing. It'll let us shield ourselves as we try and get the gantry crane back on line. -Meanwhile Hopps and Savage will try and make a run up ahead. You could get some of the doors open and let them in."
" Got you," he spoke back. " But it's bad down at the base. "
"How bad?" she asked, ears going down.
"Lots of injuries, and while the lift base has been cleared out some of the controls have been trashed. Mammals are trying to repair them, but I don't know how long it is until the ZPD get down, or the Fox family get out. "
Carmelita wrinkled her nose, glancing away and ignoring Mr Fox's comment about how him being up here wasn't a bad move after all.
"Good news is we've got some mammals who've become available and moving up."
"Right, they can carry the stuff."
"Sorry Carm," Bentley said, "we're so tight that everyone possible is going to have to chip in. Then again, given what he's gone through I don't think lugging some kevlar will be too tough on the main mammal of concern."
Carmelita glared at his little image on her screen. "You're not throwing Kris into the fight, are you."
"No, just having him run up to just behind it and back again."
.
.
Mrs Fox sat in the corner holding her baby in a vice-like grip. His crying and pleading had gone down somewhat, the little kit just holding tight onto her, nestling his head into her fur. Not sleeping, he was still too fretful for that, the sounds of the gunshots or odd scream too loud. Even still, even with him, even with everything going on, she still found time to…
"Let me do that," she said, moving her baby up and biting onto the back of his neck to carry him as she wandered over to one of the wolves who'd busted in earlier. A large bandage around his arm had started slipping and, guiding him down, she repeated old and long memorised field medic training techniques to change it out.
"Thanks miss," he spoke, hissing a little as she touched what she believed was the exit wound. "-'Preciated."
"Same here," she said through kitted teeth, glancing up and around. Already a small corral had been set up, out of the line of sight from the main battle but showing its scars. Large numbers of biker wolves and a dozen or so other assorted volunteers of potentially questionable origin were lying about in various states of injury, their charge in throwing Rattigan's forces onto the back paw but soon running out of steam. Certainly she'd have hoped that the ZPD would be soon on their tail, but the yells and curses coming from a large set of equipment nearby were proving otherwise. Led by a red furred-she wolf and a large number of other biker wolves, many sporting injuries or other damage, they were busy working on the smashed up controls and winding equipment.
Ideally a whole reasonably sized platoon of riot control mammals could come down with each lowering of the large platform lift, a few vehicles adding to their effectiveness. As it was though the forces who'd defended it had known that and had done their best to ensure that their inevitable defeat would not lead to a victory on their enemies' part.
She froze as a yell and a cheer rang out, looking over to see a small cabin lift to the side of the main one drop down. -Probably roomy enough for a few dozen smaller tactical officers, presuming they were willing to get squeezed a bit. She wouldn't be fussy, if it worked, it worked.
"Mrs Fox? Mrs Fox?"
She turned over and blinked a few times as a raccoon raced over to her. A particularly young non-adult looking raccoon in what appeared to be… She let Rowan slip down into her paws and spoke. "I will say that that is a much fancier superhero uniform than the one my kit several years your superior made. -Which more than anything highlights my issues with it right now."
"-I'd say that your kits and their performance only shows how much more they could achieve if you were more willing to let them," a voice came out, the fox looking up to see a semi-familiar wolfess in a red superhero costume. Her palms were smoking and her costume and fur were cut up from fighting. Indeed, looking back over to some of the control rooms and such of the main lift and those around the small one… "-We've cleared out the forces on the lift. It's safe for you to start on your way up."
Mrs Fox nodded. "Appreciated. I can silently judge you and your irresponsible parenting methods on the way up."
The wolfess nodded in return. "As for us, duty calls. SuperMax?"
The young raccoon nodded.
"Follow everything I say, this is serious."
"Yes Dark Flame Wolf," he saluted, the pair racing off to the front… -But not before passing Po, the panda giving them a thumbs up as he was being tended to by her brother in law and nephew. Speeding over, she told them the news.
"Right," Dr Silverfox said, wiping off a paw. "I'll see you up there."
Mrs Fox blinked. "May I ask…"
"I know basic field training too," he said, waving his paws around. "And these mammals need us. They risked their lives for us. This is the least we can do."
Her ears lowered. "We?"
Kris nodded. "There's only one chance we have at this," he said, pausing as a few of the injured wolves came over, the non-injured white furred she-wolf alpha amongst them. They dropped down a bundle of fabric, the vixen glancing over to see the elephant from earlier lying in a corner, a trouser leg of his suit cut off so mammals could attend to his injured limb while he slowly licked down a lollipop. Through his gas mask. Somehow.
Kris and the she-wolf were already picking it up as William got up, walked over and hugged her. "Get Rowan out of here, we'll be up shortly. And tell Ash thankyou."
Letting go, she tried to say something. What it was, she wasn't sure at first, so something quite natural albeit not the most appropriate came out instead.
"I hope you understand that I am not a fan of this, not with my kits, so I hope you live up to your words."
The white wolf paused before smiling and nodded. "Said like a true mother," she said, her ears going down as she guided her paw over the fallen. "That's what I view myself as to all these, as you do to him." She looked down at Kris. "So believe me when I know. And when I say I will."
"Thank you," Mrs Fox said, glancing at the members of her family before some calls started coming over. Injured mammals were being loaded into the small lift and, if she wished to get on…
"Go," the white wolfess said. "You also have a son up there, remember. One you should be very proud of." She paused, a little grin growing on her muzzle. "As have I."
Mrs Fox nodded, taking a breath in and out before turning to the two members of her family. "Stay safe, help out, slap my husband after a few moments of intense awkward silence and growing tension please."
"Will do," Dr Silverfox said, as Kris came up.
"I can handle this," he said, pausing as he looked over to Rowan, the little kit waving his paws over and over in a certain way. "I…" His eyes widened.
Mrs Fox looked down. "That's one of the signs Ash was trying to teach him right?" The kit turned up and repeated the action faster and faster, Mrs Fox tilting her head a little. "Which sign thing is that?"
"I love you."
Mrs Fox closed her eyes, tearing up a little before, with a heavy breath, she turned. "Stay safe," she said. The others yelled the same, yelled her to thank Ash, as she raced in and squeezed into the tight lift. With a call the metal gate was slammed closed and they began to rattle up. She didn't see the signs of the battle that had raged on. The odd line of Rattigan's goons, knocked out and tied up or lying dead, the scars and flames of the battle littering the beams and catwalks rising up. She didn't even notice the first lines of ZPD mammals slowly pushing down the narrow stairways now the route and blockages had been cleared. She just held her son, always her son, no matter what that cat had said or tried. Something that both of them knew in their heart. "And I love you too," she whispered. "Always."
.
"So, what's he up to?" Kris asked, as he, the white wolfess and another pair of helpers, a scruffy raccoon and badger, walked up. Together they had grabbed the heavy fabric and carried it over to one of her bikes. Leaning down so she was between it and the wall, paws on the handlebars, she revved the engine a little before starting to pull themselves along. Letting it do the heavy work as they guided, keeping close and tight, as safe as she and those behind her could be…
"Who's what up to?" She asked.
"The silverfox, the one who met me after my testimony. He's with your pack, isn't he?"
She smiled. "He said you were a clever one."
"He's probably cleverer."
"How do you figure that out?" she asked.
"He's not here fighting."
She chuckled. "Trust me, were his skills not useful elsewhere, and from what I gather they have very much been, he'd be here. He'd be fighting. He'd be kicking tail."
"I guess his skills are very useful then."
She nodded. "Let's just say that while a certain turtle may be leading the front of the hacking and communicating on this job, there's some pretty major help behind the scenes." She lowered her head and pushed on, the mammals now jogging forward. "Especially in ensuring that nobody fails to get exactly what they deserve. Indeed, from what I've gathered, he's helped to organise a certain something for a certain someone that will be going down right about now. And after hearing it out, I can only give it my full hearted approval."
.
Up on the surface a lone pig emerged into the dark sky. The last flecks of sunlight had probably just about vanished, the warmth of the day still holding on but seeping away with due and prompt speed. It didn't matter though. What mattered was that he was out, he was free, and around him there was no ZPD.
Which didn't mean he was out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot. Oh, Loxy was right in his assessment, though the crafty vulpine had underestimated his own preparedness for things going south. He had a few safehouses, a few emergency resource packets, and in terms of not gaining all the loot that Project Chaos had garnered… Well, he may have pawed himself a good few bits of diamond, gold, etcetera on the way out. And once set up with a backup alias and scooted off to some foreign land of cheaper living and less scrupulous purchasers… Well, he'd recovered from worse.
He brushed himself down before pulling out one of his reserve phones. While there'd been no signal or anything down there, they'd had some chargers, allowing the pig to while away day after day of imprisonment flicking through solitaire and snake and all manner of other basic time wasters.
He also had a few apps, not used but ready in case of an emergency and, after a little distance away, he loaded up Zoober and put in an order.
It wouldn't be all the way, most certainly, but he knew a set of non-monitored routes to each drop and getting to one was the first step. He looked up at the black sky and sighed. Tonight was going to be a long night, and that was if it wasn't the end of the world as he…
A honk broke off his chain of thought and he looked over to see a Zuber approaching. A quick dive in the back, he settled down, relaxing a bit. A soft seat after so long, the purr of an engine. He wouldn't have imagined he'd have missed it before, but now?
"Long night?" the driver asked.
Napoleon shrugged. "You could say that." He settled down, pausing as he looked at his clothes. Every now and again they'd had the chance of a shower, a wash, the odd spare change. It was still rare though, and if the news came out, if the smell was too much of a giveaway… A glance up and he saw the equine figure of the driver and relaxed. It would be fine. He settled down again, only to pause as his phone buzzed. Turning to reach it, the driver spoke out. "Sorry, mind if I put on some music?"
"Sure," the pig waved off, only to pause. The hairs on his body were sticking up for some reason but he wasn't sure why. He shook it off just as the music began playing, a soft, jaunty, creepy plucked guitar on top of an accordion. Almost like a fancy folk tune, but with something cold and sinister coming in. All reinforced as the slow, measured lyrics began. "Now I've got my payment for the service that I gave, they've given me this ticket to this place beyond the grave. I suppose it's kind of funny, I suppose it's kind of sad, thinking back on all the times we had."
The music picked up tempo slightly, an acoustic bass line coming in as the pig snapped back and checked his phone, noticing that it was saying that his Zuber was five minutes out. Which… He looked around, just as the second verse began.
"But it's kind of hot and smokey, in this ante-room to hell. And I won't make up the story, as you know the truth so well."
It was only then he noticed the reinforced netting between the front and rear. -Very reinforced, along with the hoof making its way just to ensure the doors were locked. Not, the pig realised as he glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the face of the now very familiar horse looking back, that the kit-locks likely wouldn't be turned on either. "Hello again, friend," Boxer spoke. "It's been a long time."
"It's much too late to worry, that we never had a chance. And when Joe the Georgian gets here, we will dance, dance, dance… When Joe the Georgian gets here, we will dance…"
.
"Let's just say," the wolfess said, "revenge is a dish best served cold."
Kris tilted his head, curious about the context of whatever was being alluded to, only for a slam of a door to their right to break them off. They turned around, eyes widening, the raccoon and badger charging forward, raising their weapons to attack only to be beaten down before they could fire, heavy pipes bashing them in. The wolfess lunged forward, grabbing Kris and pushing him out of the way even as he pulled his body into position to try and take one on. A dazing slam to the back of her head was her reward, collapsing onto Kris and crushing him before being kicked off, the kit staggering back as three figures stared down at him, pipes and clubs in shaking paws.
And a fourth taller one loomed behind them, gun raised at first to their backs but then his front.
"No," Sarrahson spoke, fur raised as she loomed over him. There was a fuss from the side as a feral looking Felicity ran out, bruised, injured, scratched up, but turning down and glowering as she saw their cornered prey.
"No indeed," she agreed. "It's best served hot."