Chapter 71

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Skye's eyes perked up and her head turned as the chopping sound of the rotors filled the air.

"-Hold back…"

She glanced over at the original pilot of the helicopter, a gnarly looking bighorn sheep who'd been severely put out at having his job taken over by some mammal subbed in at the last moment by those on top, and even more so when he'd found that 'some mammal' to be some 'poncy pink hippo who looked like he'd just been allowed to steer daddies tractor from his lap.'

Regardless, orders had been ordered, and she'd seen Jack off, held herself tight worrying her fur out and practically tearing it when a bright light had lit up the western sky. The news that the mission had been successful had probably saved her from tearing herself bald, but she still paced and paced as she waited for them to return.

And so she stood at the edge of the impromptu landing site, organised at a small airfield out of town, watching on and folding her ears back as the helicopter unhealthily wheezed itself to the landing pad, backwashing her fur as it bounced on the ground and settled to a halt.

The door swung open, the figures inside began stepping out, and Skye swept forward, grabbing Jack in her arms and holding him tight. His ears jerked up and his spine was rigid for a second, before he settled forward and grabbed her around the chest. "Don't worry…"

"Are we done with this," she whispered.

"I…"

"-Scratch that," she said, sniffing. "If we're done with this, we're done with this. If not, we're not. But…" She sucked a breath through her teeth and just held him tighter.

"I know," he said back. "I know."

"Do you?"

He opened his mouth only to pause, looking away. Nick and Judy were shakily holding each other tight. The panda bear meanwhile was doing his best to comfort the helicopter pilot, the hippo wailing into the air about the mammal they'd failed to save.

The thought pulled Jack's ears back.

That mammal was dead. Dead dead. And it…

He closed his eyes, breathing out.

"Cross that bridge when I come to it…" he whispered. He'd done that, sort of…

"-Not really." He looked up, eyes glaring at Doug. "I mean, yes, we helped to kill a lot of wolves. But not directly."

Jack's paw reached down and grabbed his launcher, firing a bolas line at the sheep. With a snap it whipped around him, tying his arms to his chest and coming to a close with a crack.

All eyes were turned to him as he shrugged. "Maybe do it with a bullet next time. Oh, wait."

"I…" Jack said, before shaking his head and marching away. "Not worth it."

"Yeah," Skye said, giving a glare back at him. "I suppose this'll be the end of this though."

"I mean, who knows, who…"

"-I mean him," she said, glaring back at Doug. "He's got his parole thing or something, he's happy, and…" She trailed off, looking at Nick and Judy. Reaching forward a little, she froze, seeing them together and then pulling back. "They're okay, right? -I mean, not mentally, but physically at least?"

Jack looked up, nodding. "According to our new handler, the polar bear will need a short spell in hospital for a 'quite nasty bout' of radiation poisoning…"

He was cut off by a round of sputtering, Skye turning towards Kozlov and then back to Jack. "-W-w-w-what!? I… -How did…"

"-So, you understand that this was something akin to a comic book villain, right? You know…"

"-Yes, yes, I…" She stared over at them again, paw working up through the fur on her forehead. "Just, what happened…"

"He used the core of a nuclear bomb they recovered from a sunken submarine to create a criticality incident."

He held back, as if waiting for Skye to shout or faint or do something. After an awkward second or so she just nodded.

"The panda bear, the one we didn't save. He… -He shut it down but took a lethal dose in doing so. The polar bear shielded the rest, then the other panda, then the others and… Well, the handler says that the other panda might feel off for a few days, but over the course of the year he'll have just taken the same amount of radiation as an astronaut or something, the others are… -Well, I'm told they'll be okay."

Skye just nodded. "I suppose I'll have to thank this 'Private Turtle', and tell him that that's the last he gets to use you."

"You'd better talk to Murray then," he said, gesturing to the still inconsolable hippo, now being calmed down by Inspector Carmelita.

"-Get in line."

They turned up to the bighorn pilot, his hoof going down and pulling up a gun, pulling the trigger and holding it by his side.

"What are you doing!?" Skye gasped, the sheep glaring down at her, reaching into a pocket, and pulling a phone out and tossing it at her. Reaching forward she tried to catch it, bouncing it around in her paws before finally holding it still.

"-Skye?"

"-Sweetie?" she asked, her sister's voice coming through on a loudspeaker.

"-We've been had," she hissed, Skye looking on as the sheep marched forward. "-Our ACTUAL commanders got through, someone hacked our lines, used a voice programme to impersonate his voice and got you to go on that suicide mission… Which thank god you survived, but… -We'll be taking that pilot of theirs into custody. Then getting the information of whoever did it and…"

A short sharp buzz broke through the air, Jack and Skye turning to see the pilot on the floor, a faint whiff of smoke coming off of him.

Carmelita meanwhile was blowing her shock pistol's muzzle.

"-What was that?"

Jack turned down to the phone. "So, it seems the mammals I rescued just rescued the mammals who ordered their rescue."

…

"Hello?"

"-Just keep track on them," she hissed. "I'll use the phone to record and track them down. When we'll get whoever compromised our own security systems, why they'll… they'll… -Well, I suppose a very long optional internship in our cyber security division is an extremely just reward!"

Skye nodded, a finger up. "Let me guess, you're generous enough to also offer a ten year all expenses paid holiday at Lemmingsworth as an alternative."

"Fifteen years Skye, don't short change them."

And with that, Jack turned off the phone, he and Skye slowly making their way back towards the helicopter. Doug had made his way out of his bindings, but was watching on with a look of mild amusement on his face as Carmelita walked away from the downed pilot, paws up in the air. "We are not enemies here. I do not wish to hurt the brave mammals who risked their lives for us."

"-No, no, no issue," Jack said, his paws up too. "Just, you know, military mammals do not like having their communications hacked and false orders being given to their troops."

"I understand," she said. "And I am sorry that one of our operatives back at Interpol went to such extreme measures to retrieve me. Regardless, I see no reason why this sullies what you risked for us."

Slowly, she lowered her arms, Jack following suit before the two met, shaking paws. Seeing the display, Skye walked in too. "-And for the record, my sister didn't not order that rescue because of any professional rivalry or anything… She thought it was a suicide mission, and that the actual navy would handle it. When the false orders were put through to conduct a raid, she demanded to be put in charge of it. Then she said she'd be willing to throw away her career to stop us being sent out if we didn't want to. -But, we did, and…"

"Hey," Carmelita said softly. "No hard feelings. And thank you. Too. For everything."

She paused as a loud rumble cut across the airfield, all eyes turning to see a blue van driving up to them. While the flame decals along the side would normally be the most noticeable part of it, that was beaten out by the stylised raccoon head decals and fake raccoon tail hoisted on the radio antenna. It slammed to a halt, two sharp beeps of the horn ringing out, and the pith helmet wearing turtle at the wheel waving them in.

"That's…" Skye began.

"Private Turtle," Carmelita filled in, looking up as she lifted the groaning bighorn into a recovery position. "And our ride, come on. We need to get back in contact with the ZPD. We've almost won tonight, we just need them to cross the T's and dot the I's and we have this."

Together, the group of mammals got into the van. The hippo helicopter pilot, pulling in a loud snort through his nostrils and wiping his eyes, took the turtle's seat at the helm, adjusting it down as his reptilian partner directed his wheelchair to the centre of the van and locked it in place. Carmelita pulled herself next to him, Nick, Judy, Jack and Skye taking the row behind. In the back, Po, Kozlov and Doug sat down.

"In situations like these, it's usual for unknown persons to formally introduce themselves," the turtle said, looking back. "Bentley."

"I… -I think I already said, but Murray," the hippo replied, wiping his arm across his eyes.

"Jack Savage, secret agent, and let me clarify that you're a turtle, with a van, who hasn't changed your horn tune to 'Heroes in a half-shell'."

"...I will not dignify that with a response," he said, giving Jack a subdued glare through his thick glasses and then glancing up at Skye.

She nodded. "Skye… -I know the rest of you."

"Officer Judy Hopps," she said, pausing as no response came from her side. She blinked, looking up to see Nick, his fur on end, starting down at his feet and hand paw gripping his head. She reached out to touch him, only for him to jolt a little.

"N-Nick, Nick Wilde, Officer Nick Wilde."

The bunny reached over to ask him if he was okay, getting just a shake of his head in response as the last member of the front row spoke up. "Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox of Interpol," the vixen said, looking at the sheep in the back. "And muchos gracias by the way, -Dave was it?"

He blinked. "Yeah, sure, why not. You know, after me saving you, could we stop and get a latte or something?"

"I…" She began, before Nick cut in.

"Hey, you know what!" he said, a wide grin on his muzzle as his chest heaved in and out, in and out. "After all that I was looking forward to enough alcohol to erase it from my mind, but yeah, sure. I'll… I'll…" He paused, looking around for a second before leaning forward, grabbing Bentley's pith helmet and yanking it off, strap and all, before turning it upside down and throwing up into it.

Shaking, he offered it around to anyone else, mammals shying away as the shaking container threatened to spill its contents. Carmelita gently took hold of it, opened her window and tipped it out.

"S-s-sorry," he said, a smile growing on his spiked up face. "But I think I've been broke since the whole demon eagle thing! I… I…"

"Officer Hopps," Bentley instructed. "Try placing your head into his lap, applying a gentle but firm pressure to his chest."

"-H-hey!" Nick snapped. "You just rescued us, but you don't…" He paused, looking down and seeing Judy doing just that.

"You're coming down from an intense adrenaline spike," the turtle calmly narrated.

"-You think!?"

"I believe the evidence to be reasonably overwhelming, yes."

"Well, you know what!" Nick half snarled, fur spiking on end. He paused though as Judy nestled her head in his lap, drawing his eyes down. There she lay, ears back and between his paws, eyes looking up, nose twitching as he slowly held on, paws on her head, paws on her head… He closed his eyes and shook. "J-just get us back in one piece okay. Just… Just do that, I am done. I am done with this secret agent stuff and this cop…" He choked back a sob. "I am just done."

He slowly lowered his head down, pulling in Judy close.

Carmelita pulled up her radio. "I'll tell them to have your Precinct psychiatrist ready for when he comes back. Same for you, liebre," she said, looking at Jack. "Don't think I don't know that you are a civilian asset, who went far and above the call of duty. Master Po was just a civilian. Period. And he and Kozlov are going to the nearest hospital. And while I do not know about Mr Dave's level of training, the point still stands."

"Don't worry, I'm cool."

"Well, if at any point…" She nodded, reaching up with the radio.

"-Same for you, Inspector." She paused, looking at Murray. "You don't have to be this super Inspector cop all the time."

In front of him, Bentley nodded, and she nodded back. "I'll ask if I can have a talk through, after we wrap this up. So get us to Zootopia, now."

Murray nodded, turning the key and pushing forward on the accelerator. They jerked forward, slowly picking up speed as the hippo reached down to the side and twisted a valve, the van suddenly roaring forward. With a sharp squeal they pivoted around a hanger and pushed through the open gates of the airfield, racing out onto the road.

Inside, Carmelita kept the radio to her ear, her brow furrowing as they swept onto the road. Finally, she put it down, shaking her head. "Can't get though. Anyone got a phone, or…"

Skye handed one over, Carm dialling the emergency contact and… She frowned, grimacing as she handed it back. "Line's busy… -Must be mammals still calling in about the explosion." Her brow furrowed as she looked up at the pair next to her. "Any news about what happened out there, the ship?"

Bentley nodded. "Last I heard some coastguard vessels had gone out to help recover any in the water, meeting up with, and I didn't get time to cross check my records, a registered naval patrol ship from the Lundøye islands."

Carm blinked. "What's that doing out here?"

"Note how I said I didn't have time to crosscheck my references," Bentley shrugged, opening his computer and tapping away. "For all I know, some fishermammals from Zootopia tried to take an illegal catch up there, and the mad minks have been chasing them ever since."

"Yeah, no, that makes sense," Carm said, shaking her head. "The stories the King Iorek had about their crazy southern neighbours, I… -Nevermind. The point is, they had their own Clockwerk Horcrux as it were on that ship. From what I gather, their one eyed wolf ," she pointed at Jack and Skye, "had it on him when the ship went down. If he got out, we need to capture him. Easy if he's picked up by the coast guard. Harder if it's that Lundisk ship. Either way…"

"-We take control of it and take it back to Interpol," Bentley said, nodding his head.

"-Or you destroy them," Skye added. "Carm's shock pistol can make them vulnerable, at least according to Kozlov."

"Remarkable," Bentley said, turning to her.

"-Not as remarkable as this," Carmelita said. "Shen thought that two of them, together, could be used to pinpoint and track down the others."

"That, that…" the turtle began, looking at her. "That is fantastic. We can actually destroy him, once and for all!"

"-Not quite," the vixen warned. "The chances are that wolf, and the horcrux with him, are at the bottom of the ocean right now. In which case, the most likely outcome is that the military get wind of it and try to recover it."

"...Oh jeeze… -Right, I'll call Dimitri in…"

"-Can he survive in this water?"

"With the application of some of my science, anything is possible Carmelita," Bentley said, pausing as he turned up to Murray. "You want a left here."

"-But the museum…"

"-The hospital first," he said, "for our two ursine passengers."

"-Right, of course," the hippo agreed, yanking up the handbrake and sending them squealing around a corner in a wave of smoke and screaming car horns. He reached down, spun the nitrous again, and they roared forward down the road.

…

"Why, exactly, can't the military recover this thing?" Skye asked.

"Miss Skye," Carm said, holding a paw up to Bentley and turning back. "Do you believe that, if fully briefed on the full capabilities, history and danger of that mechanical terror, any military would either A: do the sensible thing and use these horcruxes to track down and destroy the rest. Or B: 'Hey, let's bring the bird monster back and make him fight for us!' Now…"

"I get it."

Carm blinked. "Okay… -Good to hear…" She trailed off, eyes glancing over to Nick and Judy. The fox was sitting up, holding the bunny next to him, both of them very quiet. Judy just turned to her and nodded.

"Right," she said, pausing as she faced forward again.

"-Wait…"

She snapped around, looking back to Nick. "Yes, anything…"

"If…" He cut in, sucking up a breath and letting it out. "If, what I think has happened has happened. That at the kung fu temple, you swapped the real thing for a fake made by Skye and co… That means Haida or Tigress have the real deal, right?"

"Well…"

"-You let the kits take it!" he snarled.

Carm moved her mouth to speak, only for a deep, tired voice from the back to speak out. "I would have carried burden, for rest of life," Kozlov said. "But young pioneer come again, convinced me not to. Said it was his turn, to give me chance to be free. To play them, at their game…"

"Haida is with them," Carm cut in, "and Tigress too."

"Right," Nick hissed, "so after we drop the bears off at the hospital, we go there first. I don't want that demon bird thing messing with their head or coming back or Rattigan getting his paws on it right away. Understand!" He sat up, straining the seatbelts around him as he hauled himself up to glare over the headrests. "We go there first, we take them and it out of the game and…"

"-It already is!"

He froze, blinking. "What?"

"I didn't get a chance to fully explain this to Bentley or the rest," the vixen said, giving the turtle a look. "But decades ago Kozlov, using the precursor to my shock pistol technology, was able to damage it. Badly. A lot of energy was released. I believe it can't regenerate into Clockwerk anymore, no matter how much energy Rattigan puts into it."

"So what?"

It was Bentley who spoke. "Consider the following, Officer Wilde. Does Rattigan know this?"

"No…"

"So he spends all his energy on getting it and then what?"

The fox slowly let his lips pull back, his teeth showing. "He still spent all his very lethal energy getting it from an innocent family. Killing the father, then killing the mother, as the kits hide in the closet watching…"

"Okay, okay," Bentley cut off, shaking his head like a flag whipping around in the breeze. "I… I understand. We'll be going by the ZPD. You mammals can grab a cruiser there and race off to protect them. No worries…"

"-And what will you be doing?"

"Nick," Carm began, keeping her voice calm, her paw out and reaching down. "I think I mentioned it before, we had a report of another, unusual, item, made out of the same material that Clockwerk was in the city. We don't know what it is, only it's connected to him in some way and thus potentially very dangerous if it falls into the wrong paws. It's currently in the city museum, donated by someone who purchased it off Buster Moon in an auction… -Hence why Rattigan had Lord Shen take him and brainwash him. -That reminds me." She slipped something out of her jacket and gave it to Bentley. "Those arms dealers managed to get hold of some of the Countessa's brainwashing equipment and work out how to use it. -Something about using a thought the victim agreed with or something to worm the idea in… The point is, this contains the records of all those… -Or at least some of those, subjected to it. A lot in the Chinese government, but who knows how many else in other places."

"-Crossreference, find them out, contact the relevant authorities. Understood," Bentley agreed, pausing as the van squealed to a halt, the lights of the city hospital up in front of them.

"Master Po," Carm said, glancing back to the panda as he got up, guiding out Kozlov. "Look after him."

"Understood, uh… As awesome as this whole tale was, what should I say to the…"

With a cough, Kozlov spoke out. "Just say I was digging through scrap and stuff from old country, and found nice warm box from old lighthouse electricity supply. They can look it up…"

"I… Okay, and best of luck on fighting the evil metal bird demon and the rat trying to bring him back. May master King's spirit assist you on the rest of your awesome quest!" He opened the door and helped Kozlov out, giving one last glance. "And me too, if it comes to it. -Me in person, not my spirit of course." He punched a fist into an open palm and gave them a bow. "Stay awesome!" And with that, the door was slammed shut and the mammals inside slammed back into their seats as they raced on again.

"Right," Murray said. "Next stop the city museum, research annex, and the ZPD."

With that, they were racing on once more. Up in the front, Carmelita let out a sigh. "Good, they are safe, hopefully…"

"-If I did the math right," Bentley added.

"-Which you always do," Carmelita rushed on. "I know; they don't." She waved to those in the back before rubbing the paw over her face, silent for a second or two.

"-Anyway," Judy began. "For Jack and Skye's sake, that mysterious item is the strange metal sarc…"

"-Sarcophagus?" Jack filled in. "You mean Sylvester?"

"-SYLVESTER!?" Murray blared out, pulling the wheel by mistake. Yells were screamed and the van rolled from side to side, horns shouting out from outside as the hippo got it under control.

The hare blinked. "So Buster's name for that hunk of junk wasn't just random?" He leant forward. "What hidden mystery is behind this, what…"

"-No, no," the hippo sighed. "Sylvester… Just a real freaky coincidence."

"Someone we used to know," Bentley agreed.

"-Sly Cooper, wasn't it?" Judy asked.

"Sí," Carmelita agreed, nodding. "Only, Sly was his birth name, Sylvester's what some mammals called him when wanting to sound formal."

The bunny nodded. "So you two are current members of the Cooper gang."

"Yes, that is accurate," Bentley agreed.

"...And there are three cops in this van."

"-And no crimes you can charge us with that are still under the statute of limitations, no outstanding warrants, nothing under your jurisdiction and some much more important things for us to deal with," the turtle said, looking back at her.

Jack pulled up a paw. "What about hacking into army communications systems, and placing fake orders to field operatives?"

Bentley and Murray looked at each other, an odd silence between the two before the turtle looked back. "The US Army, correct?"

"Yes, and…"

"We're in Zootopia right now, yes?"

"Isn't there a mutual assistance pact or…"

"Just wait for the warrant to come through," the turtle grumbled. "You were happy enough to listen to me as I directed you through that mission."

"Oh, and if it does come through," Murray said. "We're owed a ten second head start. Those are the rules."

Carmelita narrowed her eyes. "Guys, just because it's tradition doesn't mean…"

"I'll see what I can do," Jack said, pausing. "Alternatively, have you considered the wide career opportunities that the modern army provides to all mammal or even non-mammal enlistees, especially in non-combat support and intelligence roles?"

There was a pause, the two Cooper clan members in the front giving a glance behind. "No…" they said together, turning their heads forward again.

"Well…" Skye began.

"Alternatively," Bentley cut in. "-I do believe we were talking about a mysterious sarcophagus known by its previous owner as 'Sylvester'. Discussion! Re!-En!-Gage!"

"What is there to discuss?" Jack asked. "It was something he got from a junk shop, an almost perfectly conveniently timed eccentric called 'Sir Diddimus' came in and purchased it, and I'm guessing donated it to…"

"-Sir Diddimus?" Bentley asked. "Was this a fox perchance?"

It was Judy who answered, a mirthful look on her face. "How did you guess?"

"-I think being a highly educated person," 'Dave' said from the back. "He looked at increasingly clear trends and made a natural and reasonable assumption."

The turtle tutted. "As a matter of fact, he's part of a group nominally on our side that we have prior knowledge of. The new Cooper gang, the public name, not ours or theirs."

Carm glanced back to Jack and Skye. "Another legal-adjacent group of mammals, who have been running countermoves against Rattigan and co. I know they also include a vixen and a brown bear, they took on a different fox working under Rattigan in Kozlov's home."

"Anyone else in that group you know about?" Judy asked, eyes narrowed as she looked at each of those in the first row one after the other. They all shook their heads, Bentley speaking on, a hint of contempt seeping into his voice.

"All I know is that rather than stealing for the funsies or bragging rights, they have political motivations."

"What kind of…" Judy began, only to be cut off by the hippo in the driver's seat.

"-Yeah, what is that huh!" he said, hand coming up and slamming the wheel. "Here we are, just doing honest thieving!" Slam. "And these guys come in! People give them our name! -and they go running off and making this all about their cause!" Slam. "-Which is just getting in the way of having fun!" Slam. "And just wrecking all the traditions and everything that we worked hard to make!" Slam. "I mean this is just good honest thieving!" Slam. "I don't want politics in my thieving!" Slam. "Get it out of there! Nobody likes you!" Slam. "We do this just for the thieving!" Slam. "Get your politics out of there!" Slam. "Let us just have our fun, by ourselves, why don't you!?" Slam. "Huh, huh!? And what's worse…"

"-Murray," Bentley said, quietly.

"What's worse is…"

"Murray," the turtle repeated, a bit louder.

"Is that…"

"MURRAY!"

…

"-As you can see," the hippo grumbled. "Those mammals have given me some pretty intense feelings about all this."

"The animosity is shared, if not in quite the intensity," Bentley agreed.

"Dare I ask?" Nick mumbled from the back. "What kind of politics these are?"

"They believe in higher levels of economic redistribution in order to promote more robust welfare systems and economic conditions among the lower classes, along with the reduction of inequality as a social good in and of itself… -And in lieu of governments doing enough of that, they have endeavoured to personally make up the shortfall."

"So robbing the rich and giving to the poor."

"That is what I just said, yes."

The fox rolled his eyes. "And buying and donating a fake sarcophagus to the museum aids that in what way?"

"I presume, that on learning Rattigan and co wanted it in some way, they took pre-emptive action without really knowing why it was important," the turtle said.

"-Just like that time a certain vixen came in and interrupted Dr Silverfox from helping out a… 'Slylock Fox' was it?" Carmelita asked, Judy nodding in agreement. "All because, according to the report, regardless of what it was that Dr Silverfox was going to help them with, helping them was bad so stopping him was good."

Judy nodded. "And he was going to help them with data on that site in Armyeenia he looked into decades ago. The same one that used to be home to Kozlov's Clockwerk artefact."

"Sí," Carmelita agreed. "Not that they'd ever heard of Clockwerk. But, I suppose we can thank them for this, and not judge them too critically either. After all, all we know about this sarcophagus thing is that it likely has some connection with Clockwerk, being made out of similar materials and being in his visage, though what it is actually for is not known. A weapon, an invention, a power supply, just a sarcophagus for a long dead relative… Or his original mortal remains themselves…. -No, scratch that last one, Bentley, Murray and I have seen him around in time periods that predate ancient Egypt by millenia."

"Seen?" Nick asked, before groaning. "-Right, time travel, I just remembered that fun nugget! Isn't that right Carm?"

"I understand you won't like the answer, Officer Wilde, but yes, that…"

She was cut off by the sound of a vulpine muzzle collapsing into the seat in front of him, a pained and weary whine somehow escaping.

"-And before you ask," Carm said, turning to Jack and Skye. "That technology has been destroyed, wiped, everything. So no, we're not letting any army mammals get their paws on it at all."

The striped hare blinked, throwing his arms out. "Even to kill Hirschler?"

Closing her eyes, her ears down, the vixen made a sound very similar to that of Nick's. "-¡Especialmente para matar a Adolf Hirchler!"

"¿La verdadera pregunta es por qué estás tan a la defensiva de Hirschler?"

"Time travel cusses things up, we are NOT doing it, OKAY!?" she snarled, pinching the brow of her nose with two fingers and flicking them away. "Believe me," she hissed, glaring back at the hare. "I will scare those stripes off of you, and make your vixen look like an arctic fox if it stops you touching that cuss-storm!".

Their paws lowered, they settled back down, all as the vehicle drove on.

"So," Judy said, bringing out her phone. "We get in contact with the ZPD, we tell them to send officers to protect the Fox residence, and the museum, in case Rattigan tries one last desperate attack."

"-Dr Silverfox too…"

She snapped her head to Nick. "Huh?"

"He's still a mammal of interest to them, right?" Nick said.

"It… It was the wolf on the ship who tried to…"

"-I know," he grumbled, teeth baring ever so slightly. "But before that, with 'Slylock', with that necklace thing and Armyeenia…"

"-Right," Judy agreed. "There's already a set of officers nearby, but I'll see if we can get backup." Holding the phone down, she brought it up to her ears, pausing and frowning. "-Can't get through to Clawhauser."

She pulled it away, dialling a new number and holding it up. Her nose slowly began to twitch as the ringing went on, the van cutting through the streets of the city. Up in the front, Carmelita was looking out, the fur on the back of the neck slowly beginning to rise up.

"Yeah," she imagined Sly saying. Sitting next to her, fur on end, eyes scanning. "I'm getting it too. As Mz Ruby would say… Bad Juju."

"-We're making good time," Murray said, happily. "Seems there isn't much traffic."

"Sí," she said cautiously, as Judy threw her phone down with a huff. "I can't get through to Bogo either."

Carm glanced back before bringing out her own phone, trying again. Empty streets and shuttered shops whipped passed as the phone dialled and dialled and then went quiet, whoever was on the other end too occupied to answer.

"What's going on?"

They turned back to see Nick, body growing and shrinking with each breath.

"-You can't get through, that means they're busy with something… If Rattigan sprung his trap…"

"It's probably just the explosion out in the bay," Judy cut in, a paw on Nick's own as her nose twitched and twitched.

Carm watched as they sped through a red light, no other cars present around to impede them. A faint whiff of smoke coming in through the fans.

They turned a corner only for Murray to slam on the brakes, rubber screeching as they slid to a halt, bumper to bumper with a burning police cruiser, tipped over in the middle of the rubbish strewn, beaten up road.

"Woah," the hippo gasped. "This does not look good."

"No, it does not," Carm said. "Whatever hit here is gone now, but…"

"Sssssshhhhh…"

They turned to Judy, her finger on her lips and ears upright, scanning. Jack, seeing it, joined her while those up front lowered down the windows.

A second or two passed.

"Hear anything?" Skye asked.

The bunnies, ears twitching, nodded. "Shouts," Jack began. "Chanting, footsteps, calls, fire…"

"A riot," Judy said, as Murray pulled back the gear stick and reversed the van, pushing it forward and driving around the burnt out police cruiser, making his way down the street. Around a corner, everything was dark, the power out and only a few embers of light coming out of the odd small window peering out above.

Murray's eyes were on the road, but Carmelita, with Skye and Nick unbuckling themselves and making their way to the front, looked on and saw the small circular sheen of scared eyes peeking out of their battered boltholes, looking on and judging whether the intruder was friend or foe.

More damage began to show itself. More beaten in shutters or shattered windows, more daubed graffiti and smashed up vehicles. Another turn as they crawled into the heart of darkness, and smoking bins and burnt out cars began lighting their way like campfires.

All as ears rose.

A sound growing in the distance, of roars and calls and shouts and chants and anger. Fury. Rage. Smashes and poundings, the odd futile blare of an emergency siren, somehow sounding like the vehicle it belonged to was being sucked down into the depths and giving out one last desperate death scream as it was pulled below.

A dart of movement, Murray flicked the lights back on, a shot of hi-beam painting the shattered up city with a blinding light.

Behind their shielding paws, those in the front glanced at something or someone running off down an alleyway, a few dozen scattered banknotes left trailing in the wind.

The lights went back down low, Murray slowly moving on. The odd solitary alarm called out and they paused as they saw a few mammals of different kinds taking off with goods from a pawnbrokers, fleeing into the night.

They didn't give chase.

"Did…" Carmelita began. "Did the explosion knock out the power or something, and cause this or…"

"Zootopia has had power cuts before," Nick cut in. "Those don't tend to cause riots."

"I…" the vixen began, before a slam of the brakes had her jolted forward. In front of them raced a van, the figure of a polar bear fist raised high sticking out of the window. On the road it left thick black tire marks leading back to the shattered remains of a high end jeweller, gutted like a fish. Carmelita gripped her shock pistol and rose, only to stop herself. "Of all the time for the city to riot," she snarled. "Just get us to Precinct One, they'll need all the help they can get."

"What about…" Nick began, only for the bang of a firework to echo out from ahead.

"It's only a few blocks anyway," Judy said, "we can split up there, get more resources, if this is going on no wonder we couldn't get through, we…"

"-We can't get through!"

She froze, turning to Murray, the hippo gesturing on at a roadblock up ahead. Half a dozen or so burning vehicles, largest among them a charred and ash laden bus lodged across the road, civilian vehicles and police cruisers shattered at its base. And above it loomed a dozen or so mammals, different species but all glaring down, pipes or ropes or fireworks in their paws and hooves.

Murray pulled the van into reverse, only for a cheer to come out. "Hey boys, we got some more!"

"-Come on up, we almost have them!" Another shouted.

Carm blinked, then glanced back. "Murray, act the part, now!"

"Okay," the hippo said, opening the door and leaning on, cheering on out about not missing all the fun. All as Carmelita talked to those left inside." Jack, Skye, Nick… 'Dave', make yourself useful. Get in there with me, see what's going on."

"What about…" Judy began, only to get cut off.

"Uniform," Carm said, pointing at her while taking off her own collar mounted badge and hiding it away.

"Of course," she said, Nick nodding.

"The Fox family…"

"-Circle around, check out the museum first," Carm ordered. "At the least, make sure they have Murray there for added reinforcements. Then the Fox family."

Nick leaned forward, muzzle riven out and about to protest, only to swallow it down and nod.

"-I got some more to get!" Murray shouted out. "I'll drop some off now, and…"

He froze, watching on as the bus was wheeled out of the way, an open road ahead.

Carm glanced at the bunny cop. "Hide yourself, we can cut straight through."

She nodded, diving down, as the Hippo slowly pushed on. The rioters, in work mammals clothing, office wear, casuals or full on black block regalia cheered and whooped, celebratory pats given to the side of the van as it crawled on forward, Judy peering up as much as she could as they all turned into the centre of Watering Hole plaza.

Each and every occupant gasping at the sight.

A massive throng of mammals filled it, shouts and chants and flags waving, drums beating, howls and calls coming out. Burning vehicles, burning police cruisers most among them, littered the entire area, while heavy barricades kept them shielded, the rioters claiming the tops of buildings and letting off fireworks, flares, or keeping their pyres burning. But amongst all the chaos, disorder, vandalism and anger, two things became increasingly clear.

City Hall and the ZPD, holding out but under siege, vast waves of mammals pooling around their entrances, the figures of mammals waving back and forth, back and forth, as they pooled and pushed, trying to break their way in.

All as one powerful, righteous cry, came out. "Save! The! Kits! Save! The! Kits! Save! The! Kits!"

"What…" Judy asked, looking down. "Save them from what, save them from…"

And then she froze, hearing another chant rising up as well. "We're with Ratty! We're with Ratty! We're with Ratty-Ratty-Ratt-I-Gan!"

"How…" Judy began. "-How did… WHAT!?" She clutched the base of her ears, pulling them hard and shaking her head.

"I…" Nick began. "I know my mother mentioned meeting a small group of crazy mammals, but… But they were idiots, how did Rattigan get all these guys out? This morning I bet they didn't even know his name, how…"

They were cut off as a fizz of static lit up the massive screen hanging above the plaza. Apart from a small impact to its base, inky black spiderwebs crawling out from it, it was mostly unscathed, a black and white title tuning card displayed up for a second or two before it flashed to a blue screen, 'City Emergency Address System' displayed in formal writing up on it.

"Bogo must have got through to ZNN," Nick said, "that's where the emergency address system is. He…"

There was a fizz of static, and a new image was displayed on the screen.

A rat.

A tired looking, weary, hollow eyed rat who, from the look behind his glasses and the greys in his fur, looked like he had seen the worst horrors the world could offer. Paws frantically adjusted the camera, trying to get it level, eventually settling at a slightly off angle, one that a frustrated shake of the head seemed to signal was an annoying flaw that he'd just have to live with.

And with that, he stroked down his tie and took a breath in, a desperate mammal about to speak out.

That didn't fool anyone in the van though. They knew exactly who he was.

"H-hello," He said, the grand bombast replaced with a frank, desperate humility. "My name is Dr Padriach Rattigan. I am currently… The city's most wanted. They claim that I am a crime lord, a villainous mastermind, a monster, a sadist…" He shook his head, a trembling paw going up to massage around his whiskers. "Who, after decades of supposedly ruling Little Rodentia with an iron fist, a rule that I am sure is as a surprise to you as it is to me, left the city before returning, running a string of new criminal enterprises to prey on the innocent, the vulnerable, the weak."

And with closed eyes he breathed in and put his foot down. "And if that whole nonsense sounds just like a bunch of made up craziness, that is because it is. A pack of lies and slander, made to make mammals panic and fear me. An ordinary civilian like yourselves, not some depraved monster. Why? Because I found the true depraved monsters in this city and dared, dared to try and stop them. Who are they? The very politicians, elites, and police force who swear to protect and serve you, me, everyone! But instead attack them, prey on them, take our children and do unspeakable things to them! -And for discovering this horror…" The screen flickered a bit and images came up on the screen. Images involving kits and cubs, images that made those in the van glance away, baulking… "For trying to save them…" Rattigan sniffed, "they turned me into this comic book villain, to try and stop me, discredit me, make sure that they could carry on with this monstrosity forever! Worse, to expand their power more than ever in response, hoping to get you cheering on as they pushed down the boot onto their neck…"

He shook his head, wiping away a tear. "I finally came back to this city, despite the risk of arrest and murder by the establishment, to end this. -Many of you will have already followed me via my blogs, my messages, you know who you are you brave souls and I want to say thank you. Thank you so much, for your faith then, and for coming out tonight. -Already, a few valiant heroes have lost their lives, I'm sure some of you in the rainforest heard of what went on. And finally, we cornered the ZPD. We cornered none other than Chief Bogo himself, caught red hoofed. Only, this enforcer of the law sees himself above it, just like the rest of them."

The screen flickered away and was replaced with what looked like a desk cam recording. Nick, Judy and Carmelita blinked as they recognised the scene. Chief Bogo's office, the buffalo, grainy though he was, clearly yelling and ordering into his phone. It was during the time they'd been on the submersible, the Chief yelling at someone to get in the boats, to end this, to retrieve them…

And then a knock came at the door, Clawhauser and Fangmeyer walking in, two slightly smaller officers following. The first, a tiger, Nick and Judy blinking as they recognised him. The one who'd arrested Kris. The other, a pronghorn, followed on closely.

"You better have…" the chief began, only to pause as he saw the two others. "What…"

"Uh, sir…" Fangmeyer began. "They say they…

"-Chief Bogo," the tiger announced. "We have a warrant for your arrest…"

"WHAT!?"

"On the charge of possession of indecent images of…"

"Give me that," The Chief snarled, walking forward and grabbing the warrant from his paws. He looked at it for a second before snorting, crumpling it up. "What is this, a prank!? I am not in the mood…"

"Bogo," Jones shot back, voice dripping with schadenfreude and righteous indignation. "It's official…"

"Anyone with a word document could do it, and right…"

"-Then you won't mind me looking at your computer," the pronghorn said, slipping off his thick coat and leaning over.

"Are you actually dense or something!" Bogo hissed. "Go ahead, and then I'll throw you out MYSELF! We are in the middle of the biggest crisis the ZPD has ever had and…"

"-You can say that again."

The scene went quiet, Nick and Judy looking up and seeing the pronghorn, Fangmeyer and Clawhauser stepping back in revulsion, averting their eyes…

Bogo looked on, blinking for a second, as the tiger officer peered in and glanced back. "On your work computer…" he snorted in disgust. "In My Pictures… There's… There's hundreds in there you sick…"

"It's a set up," the buffalo said, matter of factly.

"Oh sure!" Jones scoffed. "-Well, you won't mind explaining that to your lawyer will you…"

"I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Bogo yelled, spinning on his hoof, his voice almost blowing the tiger back, dominating the room, before a metallic click rang out and snuffed it like a candle flame.

The Chief turned, the pronghorn officer standing there, paw cuffs in one hoof and a dart gun in the other. "Even if it is a set up, Sir," he said, voice unreadable. "You know what the right thing to do is. You know."

"-This is absurd and you know it…"

"Sir."

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH RIGHT NOW!"

"I don't care what it is," the pronghorn said, standing his ground. "None of us are above the law sir. Who do you think you are…"

"I AM THE CHIEF OF POLICE!"

"-Well, call me Dredd as I am the law! Come with us, Chief…" Jones said, getting out his own cuffs as Bogo spared a glance. And then leant down, grabbed his office chair and swung it hard into the chest of the pronghorn, knocking him back and winding him. He then pulled it out, slamming the wheels into the head of the tiger and knocking him offscreen, the thud of him hitting the wall ringing out. In a second Bogo leant down and, retrieving the cuffs meant for him, secured the pronghorn. He then marched forward, a few grunts and protests from Jones ringing out as he was mammal handled, Fangmeyer and Clawhauser looking on speechless all the while.

"-You can't do this, you can't act above the law, you can't…"

"-Right now I AM," he yelled, throwing them together.

"-You two," the pronghorn began, wheezing as he tried to shuffle away. "Can't you see he's rogue, stop him, stop…"

They looked on like deers in headlights, until Bogo's roar snapped them to attention. "And they'll be complicit in something far worse if they do. Now listen up you two idiotic pawns! -You two," the shocked Fangmeyer and Clawhauser looked up at him. "Take these useful idiots down to the holding cells. Lock them up. And then… When all this is done and over, I will personally take them down to the lowest, darkest, most secure part of this building we have and…"

And with that, the screen went to static, cutting back to Rattigan, the image of a despondent whistleblower preaching out to the crowd below, who'd likely seen it so many times before. "This… This is the truth of the matter. Even good cops, even when the truth is right there, are powerless. Right now, they're waiting in the darkest pit of ZPD Precinct one, ready for execution by a corrupt Chief, and his corrupt officers, in aid of their corrupt regime." He closed his eyes and swallowed. "That's why, pooling my resources, I've sent this message out to you, all of you, all the good law abiding citizens of this city. Because she needs saving. They need saving. The locked up, tortured children in the depths of the Precincts and council buildings across this city need saving!"

Again, more shocking images were displayed, the rat narrating over. "The only thing evil needs to triumph, is for good not to act when the call comes out. For the righteous not to act to stop tyranny. I know it is a terrible thing I ask of you, to take up arms against the establishment, but ask yourself what kind of world you'll be leaving if you don't. It's now…" The scene fizzed to static for a second, before he came back. "-ever. We have to act, we…" A set of bangs rang out, the rat snapping a terrified glance up and out. "-I think they've found me, I'll have to go… Scrabbling was heard, frantic packing up, bangs and authoritative shouts, police orders and one last plea. "I may not survive tonight. They may finally end the life they've sought to quell all this time. I only hope, if that's the case, my sacrifice won't be…"

A round of gunshots cut through the recording, cut through with an electric squall, a fizz of distortion, small paws running, one last begging scream. "Save them!" And finally… Static, empty static, the video frozen on one last young victim.

Only as they looked up at the thankfully not too distressing image, the red furred little canine dressed up in his overalls, hugging his salmon chew toy close to him, Nick, Judy then Jack and Skye realised it wasn't one last young victim.

Nick looked on, remembering his undercover operation in that highly suspect daycare, after being dropped off by a volunteer maned wolf civilian for cover. And how a slimy red fox had come in, as he sat in the playpen trying to make sure his true species remained a secret, all while listening to the sleazeball talk to the criminal proprietors and sparing the odd glance at him. As if he knew.

Because, as his picture clearly showed, of course he did.

And as the riots and chaos churned around them, this precinct and who knew how many others under siege, and as the fox remembered outside the plaza, the looting, the polar bears taking off with a haul from a jewellers and all the many, many other things out there that were now free for the taking.

He could only gulp and shiver.

"This is it," Nick gasped, the others looking at him. "All this time, since the very start. We didn't even know it, how could we, but this has been Rattigan's masterplan. And the crazy rat has only gone and pulled it off…"

The van was silent, until one mammal yelled out. "Oh no, not just yet. Not if we can help it!" Murray announced. And with that he yanked the gear shift back, slammed down his foot, blared the horn, and raced straight towards Precinct One.