Many things happened at the same time.
Inside the ring, the battle had just started, as both bison and lion charged at each other. The bison with a mad grin on his face, while the lion roared like a mad mammal.
The lion immediately tried to claw the bison, who sidestepped and countered with a well-placed punch into the gut of the feline, who reeled back, this was the opening the lion needed to be able to land three more punched into the lion, who was now spitting out blood.
The feline growled and bared his teeth and claws, and was ready for the counter, which was so violent and sudden that the bison barely had time to react. He was only able to move his body out of the way to avoid the worse of the slashes, and the claws of the predator before him opened gashes on his clothes and on his skin (which he thanked the maker that was thick), as droplets of blood leaked down form the wounds that were just opened.
The bison grunted. The pain of the wounds was stinging, but he knew that it was far from being debilitating. Actually, the pain helped him feel more alive and was an encouragement to fight better. Also, the fact that the lion started to fight with all that he had actually gave him the excuse he needed to fight with all that he had as well. He had a grin on his face as he looked at the lion, which would almost make one think that he was high.
As the lion himself seemed to be, if the maddened look in his eyes as he growled was of any indication.
***************************
Outside of the ring, somewhere in the crowd, a sheep had just started howling, and this, of course, called some attention.
Many of the prey gave a step back from him as he howled, and some of the predator side were staring as Nick could only look in fear.
"What the heck?" The prey who had just tried to help the "sheep" said, as he looked at the ovine that had just started to howl as if he was one of the wolves. Another animal who was near him, a rhino, had a raised eyebrow as he looked at him.
"Wait, is that a zipper?" He said, gesturing to the neck of the sheep. It was possible to see the shine of a zipper, as well as the glimpse of something that did not looked like wool.
"Wait a minute!" Another one, a bull said, and walked to the howling sheep. He grabbed the zipper and pulled it down, revealing fur under the wool. He also grabbed the bottom "wool" of the neck and pulled it up. The animals around him gasped as a wolf's head revealed from under the sheep's one.
"What the fuck!?"
"Is one of the chompers!"
"Get him!"
Wolfard had stopped howling as he was exposed. He always carried a gun hidden, but it was only one, and right now he was in the middle of a whole mob of predator-haters. He was pretty sure that his days were numbered at that very moment.
However, it seemed that luck was on his side, for at that moment, the ones who were wanting to go at him were distracted by the sound of a great commotion coming from the area of the entrance.
"The cops are here!"
That was the moment when all hell broke loose.
All of the animals in there were trying to make a run for it, getting one over the other to try and reach a way out of the warehouse. A team of mammals in the ZPD was throwing out orders of them to stop and to surrender, as they darted however was trying to run away or to attack them.
They were armed to their teeth with dart guns, anyone who tried to go at them was darted on the spot, and the ones who tried to run were darted as well. Most of the animals in there were unarmed, and they didn't wanted to get darts on the arm or butt, so they were either surrendering or (most of them) trying to make a break for it.
"What? The police?"
"But how!?"
"The mutt!" One sheep said, pointing at Wolfard. "He is with them!"
Most of the animals were running, and they seemed to have forgotten of the "imposter" that was among them. Wolfard used this as a chance, pulling out his dart gun his pants and pointing it at the animals that were still paying attention to him, darting as many as he could. The ones who were surrounded him were out like lights. Most paid little attention, as they were most attentive on getting the hell out of that place.
Nick saw it, and he was able to smile at the wolf. While he also tried not to get step on or dragged by the predators who were trying to get out of that place as well. All of sudden, it was like the animals in there had forgotten their differences, as all of them only thought of running out of that place so they would not go to jail.
They rushed in direction to the other end of the place, to the other door that was on the end of the other warehouse, aiming to go through it and to the hope of their freedom.
They did reached it, and they were nearly trampling each other as they tried to get through it as now it was each mammal for himself. Eventually, the door was open, and the mammals were able to get through it. Most of them actually wanting to get away from there as fast as they could, but a few did stopped as they were able to notice that there was a piece of the scenery that was unusual, to say the least:
An unconscious elephant with a dart sticking form his behind.
Only when darts started to fly from the darkness, hitting the mammals who were trying to get out of the warehouse, was that they noticed that this was not a good idea.
"ZPD! Paws in the air!" A bunny wearing heavy police suit said, pointing her dart gun at the animals. She was not alone though, as a wolf, cheetah and rhino, all dressed alike, were along with her, pointing their guns at the animals and darting them as soon as they tried to move away.
The animals in there were falling like leaves as the darts hit them. The mess was set, as each mammal was trying to run out of the range of the darts, and some of them were actually able to avoid the darts of the four animals, and to run out of the cops who were firing. One example was a hippo, who managed to slip away in the mess and run away. He had a smile on his muzzle as he thought that he had managed to slip away. However, this was short lived, as soon, he was dropping face first in the ground, a dart sticking out of his arm, courtesy of Meerkovitz, who was just reloading his dart rifle.
"Got you." The meerkat said, as he went back into surveilling the area, keeping an eye over the ones who were down there, trying to get away. He also kept an eye over his fellow officers, as they continued their job on darting the ones who tried to escape by the other end.
The animals who were trying to escape, as they noticed that the cops were covering that area, rushed to go back inside, and that was only for them to be remembered that the cops were also inside of the warehouse, darting whoever was in their sight.
They were trapped.
The plan that the ZPD came up with was showing to be very efficient, as the animals in there were now easy targets for them. Of course, only a part of the mammals seemed to notice it, as only a pawful of them surrendered to the officers, while most seemed to either be willing to try to find a way out or to fight.
Bogo already had to dart five animals who had tried to run on his direction, as he and Delgato were looking over one of the sides that was separate by the barbed wire, while McHorn and Fangmeyer were on the other end. Many of them were willing to attack them, either with their bare fists of with anything they could have in hand, including the boxes and craters used as tables and chairs in there. Luckily, none of them was ready to fight, as they were quickly darted without as much as putting up a good struggle.
Even thought, some of them actually seemed to be ready to represent an actual threat, as it was the example of one zebra who was advancing at them with a switchblade, but he quickly feel to the ground darted, but not by their darts.
Delgato, the one the zebra was going for, blinked, and he looked over, to see Nick with his dart gun. The fox casually winked at the lion, and blew the barrel of his dart gun.
Meanwhile, other animals were still trying to escape by the other end of the warehouse, where team Alpha 2 was waiting. Most of them were darted on sight, but some of them were able to avoid the darts and try to make a dash for it. Some of them even dashed in direction to the cops, as they wanted to maul them.
Catano just had to dart two rhinos who were coming for her. She missed a jaguar that was coming in her direction, and nearly managed to get to her when Rhinowitz got in the way, and pushed him back, making him drop hard on the ground as he was pushed back by the burlier prey, only to be darted right after.
Judy seemed to be a popular target among the mammals who were trying to escape. Probably because she was small, and the animals assumed that she was an easy target. These were in for a great surprise.
The small bunny lacked size, but she compensated with wits and speed, which she used with mastery, as she scampered from the animals who tried to claw or stomp on her and darted them. At one moment, a horse tried to stomp on her with his hooves, but Judy was able to avoid it by jumping. She landed on his knee and jumped again, landing on his head and jumping once more, darting him on the neck in the process. From there, she jumped over the heads of four more mammals, darting each one of them in the neck as she jumped, and she landed in front of a big bear, skidding on the ground and between the bear's legs as she darted him in the buttocks.
Judy was getting up, and she had failed to notice the weasel who was coming at her with a pocketknife. Luckily, someone else noticed that, as the weasel was darted and dropped to the ground. It was a courtesy of Eliot Fanghanel.
That is what you get for messing with future Mrs. Wilde. Eliot thought to himself as he smiled at the unconscious weasel. Judy had just saw the unconscious weasel and looked at the wolf. Eliot smiled at her and made a salute. However, instead of smiling back, Judy widened her eyes.
"Look out!" She cried out, surprising Eliot. The next thing the wolf heard was a strangled gasp and the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. He looked back to see a big elephant laying on the ground, with a dart sticking out of his body, his trunk still tied around the big piece of wood that it intended to use to hit the wolf.
"Fanghanel, you need to keep focus." Meerkovitz voice came from the radio. "Just because I'm on sentry duty here does not means the rest of the group can slack."
Team Alpha 3 was also doing their job right, as they kept watch over the place from the top, and darted whoever escaped from the other two teams. Most of it consisted into darting the ones who were able to get past Alpha 2 or, like just happened, tried to take out the officers. Of course, it also meant the ones who tried to escape by other means, since some mammals wanted so bad to escape that they were able to break through the relatively frail walls of the warehouse, with a lot of effort.
All of these were darted by the officers in the sniper team, all of them with great shooting skills. Meerkovitz was a great example, as he seemed to notice all of the animals trying to attack Alpha 2 or escape by one or another end, or by their own self-made exits. The meerkat showed to all that he truly was a mammal of good aim and sharp senses.
Oh yeah, puppy. This is Sentry Duty for you.
The plan was working like a charm, and the ZPD was being quick to seize and dominate the animals who were in there. In the middle of the mayhem, Nick was able to pass to the other side by sneaking under the barbed-wire fence. In there, he could sneak in between the animals who ran from one side to another, trying not to get caught up in between their running and their attempts of escaping, and occasionally darting one or two with his gun, which he had brought hidden on himself.
After running a little bit, he was able to see Wolfard, his wolf head exposed against the false sheep appearance, and the fox was quick to run by his side, darting an animal who had tried to attack him in the process. The wolf had formed a small barricade with the tables, hiding behind it, and the fox soon joined him.
"What a night, huh?" Nick said, panting slightly, while the wolf looked down on him.
"Yeah, kind of like the basketball game I was last week." The wolf agreed, and the two animals were able to look past their barricade and dart one or two animals, before they ducked back in to recharge their dart guns.
As they did, Nick was able to catch something with his peripheral vision. It was Kyle, the grizzly bear. Accompanied by two other bears, both dressed in suits who were defending him as they made their way through the mayhem.
Nick followed them with his gaze, and he saw the grizzly bear reach out for an old rug that was covering that area of the floor. The grizzly removed the rug, revealing a trapdoor. He opened it, and soon he was going down on it with his two bodyguards following him closely, with the last one to go closing the trap door as they went.
They probably thought that they were making an exit without anyone seeing, but Nick had managed to see them. The trapdoor surely was of an old underground path. Zootopia had a few of them; memory from the old times of the city, but mostly of these underground paths had been close, with only a few having remain open. They probably had found it and thought they could use it as a way to get away from the problem in an emergency, just as they were doing at that very moment.
Kyle had presented himself to them as one of the organizers of the event, and Nick knew that they could not let the bear slip like that. The bear could be the key to get the other mammals who were involved in this and close these illegal fights for good.
"Orange." Nick said, catching the wolf's attention. "I just saw our friend Kyle trying to get away from the party."
"Let him try. The other teams will get him." Wolfard said, as he finished reloading his dart gun.
"I don't think so, unless one of them can see under the concrete." Nick said, "Come, we gotta get him."
Wolfard said, following the fox into the place where the trapdoor was. They opened it and, as Nick had expected, saw a staircase inside that led to what seemed to be a tunnel.
"Not afraid of the dark, are you?" Nick asked, and the wolf triggered his gun, showing that he was ready for action. Nick could only smile back at him.
"Attention, Alpha." The fox said to the lapel of his shirt. "This is Apple talking. We just saw one of the organizers of the event escaping by an underground tunnel. He is with two other bears and it is probably that they are armed. We are going on pursuit."
"Hold on, Apple. It is dangerous. You don't know what you could be walking into." Bogo's voice came.
"True, Alpha 1" Nick said, checking on his dart gun. "But I do know that we cannot let that guy escape when we can get him. We are both ready and we will proceed carefully."
There was a brief silence, and next, the chief's voice came again.
"Fine, but if the situation proves to be difficult you must either turn back or call for backup and wait for it. That is an order."
"Okie dokie, Chief. That is Apple, roger and out." Nick said, and looked at Wolfard, who nodded at him. Soon the two mammals were going down on the staircase, relying on their good night vision to be able to walk down the steps of the stairs.
As the two officers went down in chase of the criminals who were trying to escape, they had both failed to notice that someone had observed them go, and the two figures were now approaching the open trapdoor.
***************************
The lion was giving him more trouble than he thought. Killer Hooves had seen better days, as he now had a lot of cuts and gashes on his body, from which blood continued to leak, and he had a limping leg form the bite that the lion gave him, and left eye bruised and swollen shut. The lion was not in much better shape either.
Bruises were all over his body and on his face, swollen on the muzzle from multiple punches that he had received. The lion also had gashes on his body. Hooves could cut just as deep as claws if you used enough force, as Killer Hooves knew himself. The left arm of the lion was hanging limp, certainly dislodged from the shoulder due to the last grapple that the bison had made. Still, the lion was growling at him, looking as if he suffered nothing at all, and looking like he wanted to maul the bison with whatever claws he had left. He showed his teeth, with some missing, fallen form the fight, and unsheathed the claws of the paw that was on his still good arm.
The lion didn't knew when to quit!
Well, at least the crowd was surely riled up from...
However, this trail of thought was interrupt when the bison looked at the crowd for the first time since the battle began. During the course of the battle, he had been too focus on fighting and he had only paid attention to the sounds of the crowd. He had assumed that the screaming he had been hearing was cheering and jeering, as it was common in the fights. However, when he looked around, he could see animals rushing from side to side, and many on the ground. He also saw animals in heavy equipment in there, carrying heavy dart guns. There was no way he would mistake kinds of animals who used such equipment.
Crap! The cops got in there!
"Dammit!" Bisantin said. "The cops are here! We gotta-"
He didn't had the chance to finish the phrase, as in that same instant, the lion lunged at him, roaring and swinging his claws, which the bison was barely able to dodge in time to avoid losing an eye.
***************************
Nick and Wolfard walked side by side. Their eyes had gotten used to the low light of the tunnel. Night vision was surely a perk of being a nocturnal predator, as foxes and wolves both surely knew.
"Got any visual on them?" The wolf whispered to the fox, as both of them kept their weapons pointed in front and approached as quickly and carefully as they could.
"Not at all. But they surely are ahead of us." Nick answered, absolutely sure of this. They had made a few curves ever since they entered into that tunnel, one or two times they had come into an area where the path bifurcated. Luckily, Wolfard's keen sense of smell was able to pick up the scent of the bears who had just passed, and indicate to them the right way to follow.
"Where do you think this tunnel leads?" Wolfard said, as they turned yet another curve.
"Wherever it is
" Nick said, as he kept up with the pacing of the bigger canine "I just hope it is not the Nocturnal District."
***************************
Bogo and Delgato had just finished the darting, and the ones left were either cuffed or trying to find other ways to escape. McHorn and Fangmeyer surely looked like they could take care of this.
Alphas 2 and 3 were outside catching anyone who was trying to run away from the warehouse. Meanwhile, Wilde and Wolfard were on the pursuit of a key target that was escaping through an underground passage.
This left only the two animals in the ring to catch.
Bogo looked at the two animals, who seemed still far too focused on fighting each other to notice that things had gone wary around them. The lion roared like a mad mammal while he tried to claw at the bison, who fought back with punches and by pushing him away.
Bogo looked around, and saw a pig handcuffed into the ground, remaining in the ground like they told him to when they put the cuffs on him. Bogo approached, and the pig saw him coming, adopting an expression of fear.
"I'm cooperating! I'm cooperating!" The swine said in earnest. Bogo approached and knelt near him, and asked:
"Do you have the key to the cage?" He gestured at the ring, and the pig nodded.
"Y-yes sir! In my left back pocket!"
Bogo put his hoof in the pocket of the swine's pants, and soon he was able to fish out a set of keys. Getting up, he nodded at Delgato, gesturing for him to follow. They approached the closest end of the cage in the ring, and as Bogo put the key on the keyhole to open the door, he could hear a little of what was going on in there. It seemed that it really heating up now
"Stop it!" Bisantin said to the lion, who continued to try to maul him, forcing the big prey to use both his arms to hold the teeth-packed muzzle and the still functional clawed paw of the lion away from his body.
"Stop it, you idiot! The cops are in here!" Bisantin said to him. "We are both going to go to jail! I think we can escape from them, but only if we work together!"
"I'll... kill you..." Fera growled as he continued trying to claw and bite the bison that was standing before him. "I'll kill you... you darn grazer... you will pay... you will all pay..."
"Stop it! Stop it!" Bisantin said once more, as the lion was now trying to reach for his neck with his jaws. Finally, the bison had enough and was able to use his strength to raise the lion from the ground slightly and throw him back.
"You idiot!" Bizantin said to the lion, who was slightly dazed, but quickly getting up. "The cops are in here! We are going to go to jail if we don't escape! Is that what you want? Have you been in jail before!? I have! And I don't intend to go back! Now quit this whining of yours and listen to me so we can... we can... ooowwwww."
Bizantin soon was falling to the ground. There were four darts sticking from his back. Delgato was pointing a dart gun at him, and right behind him was coming Bogo, also pointing his gun forward.
As they pointed, Fera was getting back up, and he looked at the bison, who was in the ground.
"Get up..." the lion said to the unconscious bovine. "Get up now... Get up and fight! You darn grazer! Get up so I can finish you off!"
Delgato looked over his shoulder to look at Bogo, and the chief only made a head gesture. This was all that the lion police officer needed.
"Mateo Fera?" Delgato said, catching the lion's attention. "ZPD, do not move. You are under arrest."
Fera looked at the lion, still panting and growling. The lion fixated his gaze on the two officers that were coming, and he leaned forward. Delgato even thought that he was going to lay on the ground and let himself be cuffed, however, the lion was instead adopting a four-legged position, and the way he continued to growl and bare his teeth made he look pretty much like a savage predator.
"Is all your fault... All your fault..." Fera grumbled as he growled.
"Stop! Stay down!"
"Is your fault... my brother... ALL YOUR FAULT!" Fera roared as he made a leap, lunging straight in the officers' direction.
***************************
Another trapdoor has just opened, and a big bear with a suit came through. He got out, and soon two more bears came after him. One of them was Kyle, who sighed as he finally could feel the fresh air again.
Bears were famous for liking caves and dark places, but Kyle surely was not one of these. In fact, he was a little claustrophobic when it can to caves and similar spaces. Still, he was glad that they had found this old underground tunnel when they were preparing the warehouse for the fight. It led to a deserted road so abandoned that vehicles hardly even went that way anymore, only old light posts illuminated the road, and it was so empty that some could even mistake it by part of a ghost city. Apparently, it was once used to smuggling illegal materials and stolen goods, in the past of Zootopia. Now, it made a perfect getaway for an emergency, and it proved to be very useful just now. It led to a good distance from the warehouse, and the way that things were in there, by the time the cops managed to find it, he would be long gone.
Still, Kyle could not understand how the cops were able to find the place and take it like that. He had been so careful... Oh, well. No use crying over spilled honey, now he had to keep moving, and next time, he needed to be more careful.
Sighing as he fished up his phone, he went to the fast dial and dialed a number. He was taking the phone on his ear and waiting for the one on the other end to pick up. He, along with his two bodyguards, failed to notice that someone else was coming out of the trapdoor behind them.
"Hey there." The bear said as the one in the other end picked up. "It's Kyle. Look, there was a problem... The cops busted into the place and took over, sorry." Kyle immediately had to move the phone away from his ear, as the one in the other end started to yell.
"Hey, hey. Hey!" Kyle said, as the one on the other side continued to yell at him. "Will you let me talk?" He said, and the conversation continued, he didn't noticed that the bodyguards both suddenly gasped, a sound that was followed by the sound of two heavy bodies hitting the ground.
"Yes... yes, I know... No, I don't know how they found out!" Kyle continued. "... Of course I was careful. What do you think I am...? Yeah, I know that this means problem for us... No, the fighters were still in the cage, I'm pretty sure that they didn't escaped... Yeah, it surely is a setback on everything... Hey, don't worry, we have a good audience, of course they will all come back as soon as the dust has settled... Yes, I'll make sure that next time there are no flaws... If what happened today was caused by someone, you can be sure that I'll have their pelts. Now don't worry, I'll do what I can to prepare for the next fight, it will be a success. You have my word on that." Kyle finished and hung up on the phone. Immediately, a familiar voice said from behind him.
"I'm afraid you won't be able to keep that promise, pal."
The bear twirled around, and he saw two animals pointing dart guns at him. One was a wolf who was with what seemed to be sheep wool from his neck down. The other one was a fox who had a sly smile on his face.
Kyle looked around, and he soon spotted his two bodyguards on the ground, laying unconscious with darts sticking out of their bodies.
The bear blinked, confused, but as he looked at the two mammals, comprehension replaced the confusion, followed by a cold expression as he looked at the two.
"I see... Well, it does make sense." The bear said calmly, as Wolfard and Nick pointed their dart guns at him. "Well, I have to say that I'm doubly surprised. Both for finding out that 'wolf in sheep's clothing' is not just a saying..." He looked at Wolfard, and turning his head at Nick, "And that the ZPD actually did started to employ foxes... I was sure it was just a publicity campaign."
"Yeah, this campaign truly works out for me." Nick said to him. The bear only looked back at him.
"Just what is the world coming to?" The bear said, "Now even the foxes can turn tail and join the cops. Before we only had to worry about you guys picking our pockets or selling us cheap stuff in the street."
"Yeah, I used to do that. Not the pocket picking, but I did should a few things to people out there. Until I decided it was time to turn over a new leaf. Now here I am, using my slyness in service of law and order."
"Until they decide that they don't have to tolerate you anymore." The bear said. "It will happen, you know? I heard that of many foxes. They try to go legitimate and get themselves honest jobs, until something go missing or someone complain of having a fox in the workplace, then they are thrown out like old, rotten fruit. It happened to many others before."
"You know, I think we should start by reading your rights, but I'm pretty sure you know them." Nick said to him, "My doubt is that we should count that phone call you just made as your one phone call or if we should give on an extra one. Also, maybe you could want to call your lawyer, if you think you need."
"Now, paws where we can see." Said Wolfard."
The bear looked at them for a few moments. "Do we really have to do this?" The bear said, raising his hands as he had been told. "I have resources, you know? I could make a phone call and have a good sum of money transferred to both your accounts. If you two would be kind enough to look away so I can leave." The bear kept an eye on both officers as he said that. "Sounds reasonable, don't you think? Come on, we are all predators, we know how unfair life can be for us. Let's help one another, yes?"
"And you have just added bribery attempt to your charges." Nick said to him. "You are running a pretty long tab. These kinds of things accumulate jail time, you know?"
The bear looked at the fox, and after a few moments, he opened a smile. Nick didn't liked that smile.
"Well, it is too bad..." The bear said. "For you two."
Before Nick had time to think of what the bear just said, he heard two metallic *click*s coming from behind himself and Wolfard, followed by the feeling of something metallic and cold on the back of his head. He didn't even had to turn his head to know that he was screwed.
Behind them, two burly bears, also in suit, were pointing two guns at the fox and wolf, who now had no choice but to raise their own paws in surrender. All under the gaze of a smiling Kyle.
***************************
Delgato reacted in instinct, pulling the trigger and firing two darts into the leaping lion. Two hit him square in the chest, but the lion barely minded them. He moved through the air, past Delgato, and straight in direction to Bogo.
The lion tackled him, sending both himself and the buffalo to the ground.
"Chief!" Delgato cried out, and Bogo grunted as Fera bit on his arm, trying to get into his flesh. However, the teeth barely went to go through the armor on his arm. Bogo felt really thankful for the thick covering that was the advanced equipment of the ZPD, and for it being strong enough to resist claws and teeth like the ones of the mad lion.
Bogo had lost his rifle when he was tackled to the ground, and he had to resort to using his fists against the lion. With a closed hooved fist, Bogo punched the lion in the face as hard as he could. He was sure that it was going to leave a heavy bruise, but the lion didn't let go. There was a maddened look in his eyes as he continued trying to sink his fangs in the buffalo's arms.
Meanwhile, Delgato continued to fire darts into the lion, always being careful not to hit Chief Bogo. The last thing he needed now was something like that going on his permanent record. Six darts had hit the lion already, but he seemed to still not have affected by the tranquilizers.
Crap. Is he high on something? Bogo thought as he saw the way that the lion was resisting, and the maddened look on his eyes. The buffalo was even starting to wonder if the armor on his arm was going to resist. He had to get the lion out of himself.
Using his free arm, Bogo put his hooves around the muzzle of the lion, and he squeezed as hard as he could. The lion only had one good arm as well as the other was seemingly dislocated, and the other arm was focused into holding Bogo's arm in place. The buffalo squeezed at the base jaw of the lion hard, to force him to open it. It was hard, for a moment Bogo wondered if he would feel the bones giving in under his hooves before the mouth actually started to open.
However, this did not happened, as the pressure in the maw finally made the lion open it, letting go of Bogo's arm. The big bovine saw his chance in there, and he immediately freed his arm, making a swift movement as he slammed the big feline into his chest on the mat. Bogo was now putting him into a hold as the cat tried to struggle free, growling, roaring and cursing.
"Chief!" Delgato came, going right next to the big mammal. "You alright? Your arm
"
"I'm fine." Bogo said, as he continued to hold Fera down into the mat. "Get a pair of cuffs for him, reinforced ones. And get a muzzle too."
Fera continued to roar as he was forced into the ground, and Bogo was forced to slam him into the ground to make him stay down. The lion growled, and then started to mumble.
"You did it to him... You did it... It is all your fault..."
"What?" Bogo asked.
"My brother... My brother... He is dead... He is gone... It is all your fault... You killed my brother..." Fera continued to mumble, he looked up, hate in his eyes. "I'll make you pay... I'll make you all pay..."
Bogo looked down at the mammal he was pinning. At the hate on his eyes as he looked at the buffalo. At the way he bared his teeth in fury as he said these words. And at the great amount of blood that was coming out of his nose.
***************************
"I take a lot of precautions for these events." Kyle said at the two mammals, who were now on their knees, their paws on their heads, as two other bears pointed actual guns to their heads from behind.
"I make sure to keep the entire thing as hush-hush as possible. I make sure to let everyone know how important it is to keep secret so these events can happen. Still, sometimes someone just talks."
He turned at the two animals, and he said:
"So, who was the one who talked?"
None of them said a thing. They only kept looking at the bear, who simply accepted their silence and continued.
"I really hate when people talk what they should not. Especially when they talk to the cops." He spoke. "This will cause me so much problem... I'm going to have to find new places. To reinforce the security. To made double insurances to all the involved that there will be no danger of the cops coming in again. So much trouble."
"Well, you kind of deserve it." Wolfard said, and the bear behind him pressed the barrel of the gun harder on his head, letting him know that he should not talk. Nick had a few remarks himself, but he knew better than to just start talking now. They were in trouble enough already.
The bear chuckled. "Yeah, many mammals are very brave, at least until they have a gun pointed at them. A real gun." He said, and proceeded.
"That is a point where the ZPD is not very good. They carry darts instead of bullets. Of course, it is efficient and politically correct; still, a gun with bullets makes a much better way of making others comply. They know that when they black out from the bullets they will never wake up anymore."
Another wave of silence filled the place, and the bear said:
"So, you two will really not tell me who was the one that babbled?"
Silence. The two canines only kept staring at the bear, who sighed.
"Very well." He reached out on his suit, and pulled out a long and mean looking knife.
Both animals felt a cold feeling run down their spines, both because of the dagger and of the way that the bear's eyes were shining as he looked at the two of them.
"I did promised an associate of mine that I would have the pelts of the responsible for what happened tonight." He said, passing a finger over the edge of the blade, a wicked smile forming on his muzzle as he did. "And I am a mammal of my word."
Even Nick was unable to hide his worry at what this was implying.
"So, who would like to be first?" The bear said, as he approached the two, his knife ready to taste blood.
That was when something distracted him.
"What?" The bear said, as something fluttered on his way.
A butterfly. With blue wings.
"What is...? Get off! Shoo!" The bear said, waving his paw in front of his face to scare the butterfly away. However, that didn't seemed to work. Actually, it seemed that it only led the butterfly to fly harder against his face.
The mammals who were in there looked at it surprised. Nick the most of all, as his memory suddenly moved back to the previous night.
I-it is... No, it can't be...
"Why, you..." The bear said, waving his paw faster, now looking like he wanted to swat the butterfly. "Pesky... little..." The bear said, getting mad. "Annoying... bug..." He said, and now he actually swung his paw to swat the butterfly.
That was when something unexpected happened.
"Gah!" The bear cried out, stumbling back and dropping down the knife as his paw went to hold the other. In the illumination of the empty street, it was possibly to see blood leaking down from the paw of the bear, coming from a gash that had opened suddenly.
"W-what..." Kyle mumbled, as shocked as the animals who were looking at him. He looked over, and saw the butterfly hoovering close to his face. As the butterfly moved, the bear suddenly cried out and stepped back once more. There was a new cut, this one on his cheek, and it was leaking blood.
"What the hell!?" The bear said, and the butterfly floated near him again. This time, a cut appeared on his forearm as the butterfly fluttered over it. The cut had penetrated the cloth of his suit, reached the skin, and even penetrate into the flesh, or so one could suppose by the amount of blood that was coming from the bear's arm.
The butterfly continued to flutter to the bear, and each time it got close, a wound opened into the body of the ursine, causing him to cry out in pain. All of that under the baffled gaze of the four mammals.
"Stop it! Stop it! Someone do something!" The bear cried out, as he threw himself to the ground, the butterfly still flying to him, more wounds opening into the body of the bear as he did, blood was leaking from them and staining the suit that the bear wore. "Someone help me!"
The animals continued to look, until yet another voice broke then out of their stupor.
"Look at that!"
The eyes of the mammals turned to the direction of the trapdoor, as a familiar (to Nick) coyote emerged through it.
"Out of the warehouse and out of trouble! I told you it was a good idea to follow these bears!" Hudson Coyle said to someone who was coming behind himself, before he was forcefully pushed out of the hole and a big tiger came right after. The big feline rose his eyes, and he saw a scene before him, something that Hudson soon saw himself.
A fox and a wolf, the wolf seemed to be a sheep from the neck down, with two bears on suits pointing guns at their heads, and a third bear on the ground, crying out form pain as he tried to get up, a butterfly flying near him. Other two bears lay unconscious on the ground, with darts on their bodies.
"Ummmm, are we interrupting something?" Coyle asked.
Kyle groaned and got up, scrambling away from the butterfly, looking at it as if it wanted his soul. The other bears were confused, as well as the two canines.
"Well, if you guys are busy, I guess we will be going now
"
"You won't go anywhere!" The bear said, aiming his gun away from Nick, and at the coyote. Nick saw an opportunity, and immediately ran for his dart gun, and only Wolfard actually saw it.
"Really?" the coyote asked. "I just want to leave and you point a gun at me?"
"Stay right where you are!" The bear said, not noticing that the fox he had been pointing at was reaching out for his own weapon. "If you move I'm gonna shot you!"
Coyle looked at the tiger, who just said:
"If he wants trouble, then give him trouble." The tiger looked at the bear, who now pointed a gun at him. The tiger casually reached out for his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. "He is just a mundane. You can take care of it easily." He looked at the coyote as he lighted the cigarette. "Unless, of course, you are too weak."
The coyote seemed to take it as an offense. He looked at the bear, and said once again. "Okay, I just wanna leave so I'll have no problems! But if you keep pointing that at me then YOU will have problems."
"You mangy mutt!" The bear said, giving a step further, getting his gun ready. As the *click* sounded, Coyle immediately reacted, reaching out for something inside his shirt, and pulling out... a long tread of red rope.
What happened next was so fast that some of the mammals in there didn't had time to register it.
The other end of the rope shot forward, and tied around the wrist of the bear. With a movement of the end that was on his paw, Coyle made the bear point his gun to the sky, right before the bear pulled the trigger, shooting at the sky. Right after, the ursine cried out in pain as the rope suddenly dig into his fur and flesh, causing him pain. The gun dropped from his paw, and then, Coyle pulled the rope once more.
The rope pulled the paw down, and then, with another movement, the rope moved the paw right against the bear's face. Once. Twice. Thrice. With a fourth movement of the roped paw, the bear dropped to the ground, unconscious.
The rope untied from his wrist, and retracted back to Coyle, who held it like a whip. He looked over at the other bear, who was looking at him baffled, along with the wolf (but Coyle did not gave the wolf very much attention).
"What about you?" Coyle asked him, and the bear looked at him, before turning around and running. However, the bear was not able to get far, as Coyle immediately made a movement, causing the rope to shot forward and tie itself around the torso of the bear. With another movement, the bear was push backwards, towards Coyle. Then, with an upward movement, the bear was raise from the ground, only to be slam back into the ground with force.
The bear coughed up, some blood coming from his mouth, and he immediately lost consciousness.
"How about that for weak?" The coyote said to the tiger, who just puffed at his cigarette with indifference.
Meanwhile, Kyle had witnessed that. The bear was scared, and he turned around, ready to leave that place, when a dart hit him into the arm, causing him to immediately drop unconscious.
Nick kept his dart gun pointed at Kyle for a few moments, before he turned it to the other animals in there. With his other hand, he picked up the other dart gun.
"Wolfard!" Nick said; causing the wolf to look at him as Nick tossed the dart gun at the wolf, who swiftly caught it, and soon, following Nick's lead, was pointing it at the two mammals.
"Seriously?" The tiger said; sounding annoyed as he saw the two mammals that were pointing dart guns at him. He seemed a lot calmer than the coyote, who suddenly looked meek, even after he had just taken out two bears holding guns.
"Okay
" Nick said, "None of you move." He spoke to the indifferent tiger and the scared coyote. "Drop the rope."
The coyote obeyed immediately, putting his paws up and letting the rope drop into the ground.
"Are you seriously trying to pull that up, Russet?" The tiger asked as he looked at Nick.
Both of the animals were focused mostly on the fox, to the point where Wolfard almost felt like he was being ignored.
"Oh, yeah, I am." Nick said, and continued to point his gun at the tiger, ready to fire if the big feline trying to make a lunge for him. "Now, both of you, put your paws on your heads and get on your knees."
Coyle was quick to obey, getting on his knees and placing both of his paws on his head, what seem to annoy the tiger even more.
"Stop doing what he says!" The tiger said to the coyote.
"We cannot make him mad, dude!" The coyote said back.
"We have no reason to humor him! He is nothing!" The tiger said back at him.
"I'm right here, dudes." Nick said, to them.
"So am I." Wolfard said, now getting really tired of people behaving as if he was a fly on the wall. "And we are getting you two under arrest."
The tiger looked at him, a scowl on his face. "Oh, really?" He asked the wolf, locking eyes with him. "I'd like to see you try. You mundane scum."
"Okay, I'm not sure what that meant, but you better apologize for this later." The wolf said, still pointing the dart gun at the tiger. "Now, on your knees and paws on your head!"
"You better do what he says." Nick said to the tiger. "His aim with that is rather good, and the sedatives give you a pounding headache when you wake up."
The tiger turned his head back at the fox, and the expression on his eyes was one of disdain. He walked calmly in the fox's direction, making Nick stand on guard.
"What do you think you will gain from this, Russet?" The tiger asked him, and Nick continued to look at him.
"You really should not come much closer." Nick said, but the tiger ignored him, and pressed on:
"What is this all? What is all of that you are doing? What are you trying to accomplish?" The tiger asked the fox. "Is this some personal quest? Some way you found of making fame? Is this a mission that you are doing for someone? Is a game you are playing to pass your time? What is the meaning behind all of this?"
"I'm just doing my job." Nick said to him. "The job I've committed to do when I joined the ZPD."
The tiger continued to look at him, as if he was trying to see past the façade and into the truth behind the fox.
"Is that so?" The tiger said slowly. "Is it about helping the mundanes with their business?" The tiger pressed. "IS this a personal mission? Do you owe something to someone? Or are you actually trying to gain something on the long run? It could be, but I seriously fail to see what joining the mundane authorities could help you with."
"I decided to turn my life around." Nick said. "Someone came and showed me that I could do more with my life, not that this is any of your business." The fox continued to point that dart gun at the tiger.
"So, you are one of the ones who decided to turn their lives around?" The tiger said, his voice carrying even more disdain. "What, did you failed so many times that you see no longer reason to be part of the moonlit world? Did you gave up and found something else to pass your time? Another thing to give meaning to your life?"
The tiger gave a single more step forward.
"One more step and I'll dart you!"
"You still haven't answered me!" The tiger demanded, "What are you trying to accomplish here, Russet?"
"Right now I'm trying to capture a pair of weird mammals so I can get some answers from them!" Nick said to the tiger. "And my name is Wilde! Officer Wilde to you!"
This seemed to really tick the tiger off, as his face morphed to one of purest rage, and the tiger let out a small roar as he raises hi foot from the ground. Nick was about to pull the trigger and dart the tiger on the spot, but the tiger was faster, slamming his foot back into the ground with full force.
Right next, Nick and Wolfard both were force backwards as the ground beneath their feet expanded, cracked and practically exploded. Pieces of concrete and soil flew into the air as a crater formed, and the two officers were blast backwards, their dart guns flying out of their paws as they fell into the ground, dazed and trying to understand what had just happened.
"What the
" Nick said, as he recovered first, and he looked at the place where they were, to see that a crater had formed in there, as the ground seemed to have opened and expanded, pieces of jagged concrete projecting like stalagmites from around the crater.
Nick blinked as Wolfard also recovered, and they both looked to see the angry look of the tiger, who was still looking at them.
"I didn't planned to go into a fight tonight." The tiger said, "But I really have reached my last never with you, fox!" The tiger said, and as he spoke, he clenched his paws into fists, and Nick could swear that the ground underneath him was shaking.
The tiger seemed about to do something when...
"Gah!" The tiger said in surprise, taking a paw to his arm. The tiger winced, and pulled a paw to see it smeared in blood, which was leaking from a wound that had just opened into his arm.
"What?" The tiger said, and then something caught his eye. It was a blue butterfly, fluttering around him. The tiger followed the small fluttering insect with his eyes, and saw it flutter close to his leg, and pass by it. He winced as another wound opened on his leg, forcing him to take a step back.
The tiger looked at the butterfly. Suddenly, another fluttered around his face, and as it did, it opened a wound on his cheek, what made him roar in pain and anger. He would have done something about that, if he didn't felt three more wounds opening on his body: one on his back, one on the outside of his thigh, and another on his other shoulder. Near each wound, there was a blue butterfly fluttering.
He was surrounded.
"What is this!?" The tiger demanded, as the fluttering insects surrounded him. "Russet! What is the meaning of this!?" The tiger demanded, looking at the fox. "Are these your familiars!?"
He seemed to have failed to notice the confused and surprised look in the eyes of the fox, and he didn't had time to ponder over it, as more wounds were opened on his body as the butterflies continued to flutter around him.
"Stop it! Stop it!" The tiger said, trying to swat them, but only getting more cuts on his body. The three other animals looked at it, and soon, the coyote decided to do something about that.
"Hang on, Zane!" The coyote said, picking up the red rope from the ground, and waving in the air. In that instant, the red rope started to glow, and it erupted in flames.
The coyote swung the flaming rope, making it move around the tiger, who was now crouching in the ground, shielding himself with both arms. Now, if it was from the butterflies or from the flames, one could only guess.
Nick and Wolfard both looked at the scene that was developing in front of them, looking as the coyote used the flaming rope to kill the deadly butterflies that were surrounding the crouching tiger.
"That is it, I give up!" Wolfard said to no one in particular, and Nick was force to agree with him. The fox looked at the two mammals, who seemed really distracted, and he looked at the trapdoor, still open.
"So, wanna get out of here?" Nick said to the wolf, and the canine followed his gaze at the trapdoor. The wolf nodded, and the two canines took advantage of the distraction of the two other mammals so they could sneak around them, and move to the trapdoor.
"Hold still!" The coyote cried out. "I'm trying to get all of them!"
The tiger winced and cried out something back at the coyote, but neither Nick nor Wolfard paid it very much attention. They were more focused into going down the trapdoor and back to the place where the other officers were.
Nick was already down the last steps, and Wolfard was ready to go in, when suddenly they heard:
"They are escaping!" The tiger's voice shouted.
"Run!" Nick said immediately, he dashed forward, and Wolfard jumped the steps of the trapdoor and was now rushing after the fox, who had a head start. However, he didn't went far, for a coil of red rope snaked down into the hole and wrapped around his neck.
***************************
The operation had been hard, but it was completely successful, and soon the officers gathered to see the outcome of the busting.
Many mammals captured, including the two fighters, and no casualties.
However, two officers were not present in there.
When Bogo explained that Nick and Wolfard had both gone through an underground path to find a runaway suspect, Judy didn't knew what to think. It was like in the alley days ago, when Nick went without backup.
Now he had Wolfard, of course, but that didn't changed the fact that he was after possibly dangerous suspects. Also, there was the fact that neither of them was answering to the radio, possibly because they were too far for the pieces they were using to make contact. The things had a limited range.
As his partner, and his friend, Judy did what she could think of: dashed into the trapdoor and went in there, with Eliot Fanghanel and Ellen Fangmeyer coming right behind her.
The rest of the officers remained to book and take in the suspects, while Judy dashed to find her partner.
***************************
That really happened! Was the thought on Nick's mind. That really happened and I saw it! I'm not sure of what I saw, but I'm sure that I saw it happen.
Nick continued to dash on the dark tunnel, his night vision helping him considerably.
"That was crazy, wasn't it?" Nick said as he panted and continued to dash. "Guess we will both will have something interesting to put on our reports, right, Howler?"
Nick expected something to be said in return by his comment, but there was only silence.
"Howler?" Nick said and, for the first time since he started running, he looked back. He saw only an empty tunnel behind himself.
Nick immediately stopped running and looked around.
"Howler?" Nick called. "Wolfard?"
No answer.
Did... did I left him behind? Oh, crap! Nick thought, starting to feel a terrible feeling creeping up in the mouth of his stomach.
"Howler?" Nick called out once more, as the feeling got bigger. "Wolfard!?" He cried out, and he was about to make his way running back, aiming to find his wolf friend, when the familiar voice of the bigger canine came.
"I'm here!"
Soon, a figure of a wolf came running into the tunnel, and Nick was able to recognize the wolf.
"Sorry! One of them reached me and I had to get free from him." The wolf said, and Nick was able to breathe with relief for seeing that the wolf was okay. Still, Nick was feeling pretty awful for having left him behind like that.
"It was the coyote?" Nick asked him. "Did he used the rope?"
"Yeah, I felt rope around my neck." Wolfard admitted. "I couldn't even cry out for help. I think the guy was actually trying to straggle me."
Nick would have pressed the matter, however, something distracted him, as his ears picked up noise. There was someone coming from the other side of the tunnel.
"They are right here!" A familiar voice came, followed by a voice that was just as familiar.
"Nick? Nick! Are you there?"
"Carrots!" Nick cried back. "Right here!"
Soon the three officers reached the other two. Judy was the one who first reached the two. She was carrying her cellphone, using its light to light the path, once she didn't had good night vision like Nick. When she saw Nick, she immediately rushed to him and hugged the tod.
"Nick! You big idiot!" She said to him. "Are you okay?" She asked, and Nick was quick to tranquilize her, saying that he was just fine and that he had not got hurt. Nick thought it was better not to let her know that he had an actual gun pointed at his head, not yet, at least.
Soon, the other two reached the group.
"See, I told you I could find them!" Fanghanel said to the bunny. "This nose can pick a scent miles away." The wolf said with pride.
"Didn't you two went after the suspects?" Fangmeyer asked.
"We did, but things got complicated and we had to get out of there fast."
"Did they posed a threat?"
"Actually, we kind of had the situation under control in the start." Nick said, "But them some guys crashed into the party and everything got a mess very fast."
"Some strange mammals arrived and started a fight with the suspects." Wolfard added. "We had to get out of there quick. One of them tried to grab me but I escaped."
"You let yourself be caught?" Fangmeyer asked him, her tone seemed worried.
"The guy came from behind! I had no way of predicting it! I got rid of him fast though."
"Where are they?" She asked him once more.
"On the other end of the tunnel." Wolfard said. "Turn left, then right, then left again and go straight ahead. You will find a staircase that leads to a trapdoor. It ends in an empty street. There are five bears unconscious in there. The ones who attacked might be in there too, be careful, there are three of them."
"Right." Fangmeyer said, "Fanghanel, with me." She said, and the wolf nodded, and soon, they both were making it there.
"Be careful." The wolf said to them as they went, leaving the other three mammals in there.
"You two sure you are okay?" Judy insisted, and Nick had once more to assure her that he was okay, but still, she insisted into them going back so they would get checked. Soon, the three were making their way back into the tunnel, with the bunny in front leading them.
Well, it seemed that the night was over. Still, there was one thing
"Wolfard?" Nick said to the wolf, who was walking by his side. "Why did you said that there were three of them?"
"Because there was." Wolfard said, seeming confused. "The one who cut Kyle up, remember?"
"You counting that butterfly too?" Nick said, "It will be interesting seeing them take it in for questioning".
Wolfard looked at the fox. "Butterfly?"
"Yeah, the blue butterfly that was cutting Kyle up when it flew near him." Nick said to him. "And, that later called a lot of its friends to pick up at that tiger. You know, before the coyote swung the flaming rope at them."
Wolfard had stopped, and now he was staring at the fox.
"Wilde... what are you talking about?"
