The day started early for many mammals who lived in Zootopia. Be they a shopkeeper going to open their store in the first rays of the morning, or a mailmammal going on to deliver the first letter of the day of a few mammals.
Some mammals woke up before the sun did, so they could carry on with their many businesses around the great city of Zootopia, a place that, according to some, was one of these cities that never truly slept. A place where all mammals took their part into making this city active around the clock, either the sun rose or not.
Among these mammals, was the ZPD's Chief, Mansa Bogo, who was among the first officers to arrive, so early that he was there before even Benjamin, who worked in the front desk, and he often was the one who welcomed the ample cheetah, and then moved in to his office to take care of his business for the day.
That day, however, there was something different, as right after he entered his office, Bogo received a call.
It was from the City Hall.
Now, the mammals of the City Hall were not the kind who woke up early, as these mammals who had influence and money had the liberty of making their schedules and altering them to their whim. This was one reason, among some, why Bogo did not bode well with these super influent mammals. They tended to do as they pleased, and they tended to be lazy like that, when compared to his officers, who got up with the first morning rays.
However, there they were, giving Bogo a call through his private extension very early in the morning, to talk to him about something that was important.
" So, these mammals are just going to come in here and they will ask for our cooperation?" Bogo asked as the one in the other line told him what to expect from today.
"Yeah, I understand that." Bogo said to the mammal on the other end. "Still, I would like to know what is this 'important business' that you are talking about."
Bogo kept the phone close to his ear as he paced back and forth in his office. The answer that he received did not make him very happy.
"So, I need to just stop all of the day's business and hold all of my officers just so they can be briefed into something that these 'important guys' want to ask their help with?" Bogo asked, and he received an answer on the other end that made his sigh.
"Yeah, Okay I understand Can you at least tell me who are these mammals who are so keen on interfering on our schedules?" Bogo asked, and he stood in place as he got the answer. "Oh, I'll know when they get here, huh? Can I at least know what is their 'important business' with the ZPD?"
Again, Bogo rolled his eyes at the answer he received.
"Right I'll know when they get here Okay, fine. I get it Right, I'll have everyone ready Yes, I'll keep that in mind Good day " Bogo said, and he hung up his phone, sighing as his massaged his temples with his hooves.
That was another thing that Bogo disliked about these big shots: the fact that they thought that they could interfere with his schedule and with his work and of his officers just like that. Especially so early in the morning.
"What a good way to start a day " The buffalo groaned.
**********************
What a good way to start a day. Judy thought to herself as she saw the images of her parents looking back at her on their own phone as they talked on MuzzleTime.
Now, it was not like her parents were lazy. Quite the opposite. As mammals who were farmers, they were often waking up very early in the day. Something that Judy herself went after, as she was an early bunny and would often be up early even before her alarm did. This was something that did not changed ever since she came to live in the big city.
Still, it was not every day that her parents decided to call her this early in the morning just to talk.
"Well, you can't blame us for wanting to talk to our daughter, can you?" Stu said to the bunny on the other end, who was already all in her uniform and ready for a day's work.
"Sure can't." Judy said to them. "So, you guys still planning on visiting soon?"
"You bet!" Stu said to his daughter. "We are planning on going on the inauguration of that big mall!"
"Oh, yeah." Judy said to herself. It seemed that one of the subjects that were the most popular in the city in the recent times would be the soon-to-be inauguration of New Den Plaza, the biggest mall of Zootopia, located nowhere other than all the way Downtown. They said it would be over three hundred stores of all kinds in the place, and it was truly massive. Many mammals were talking about going in there, and her family was no different.
"Yeah, Harry said that he wants to go in there to check on the new bookstore that will be opening there. Some of your sisters want to check on the stores, and some are wanting to take a look into the new state of art movie theater that they will have." Bonnie said to her daughter through the screen of the phone. "Even Cotton wants to come, because she wants to buy some toys from the Pixar store that they say that will be opening in there."
Cotton. That was the name of Judy's favorite niece. Judy had many, as many of her brothers and sisters, especially the older ones, were already married and with children of their own. Cotton was that nice and adorable little thing that saw the good in everything and everyone. Judy looked forward to having her visit.
Along with the rest of her relatives, of course.
"We just need to fix up a few things in here, and hopefully we will be at Zootopia in the morning at the day of the opening." Stu said to his daughter "We all will make sure to pass to visit you when we come, right before we go."
"I'll be anxiously waiting. It will be nice to see you guys now, you know, since this year I could not go home for the festival." Judy said, remembering that during this summer, when the Carrot Days Festival happens, she was not able to go to see her family, in part due to the great amount of work that she had. That and the fact that she was not able to plan her vacation in advance due to all of the unpredicted things that happened in the course of the past months. She still felt a little bad for it, but she could not regret having choose to do her work over enjoying vacation.
"Yeah, we missed you back then, but it will be nice seeing you again." Bonnie said, a smile in her face as she stood next to her husband. "Well, I guess that this was enough talk for now. You still have work today, and can't keep your partner waiting, right?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Judy said, looking through the window, just in time to see Nick walking into the street and stopping right in front of her building. "Speaking of him, he just arrived. I gotta go now."
"Uhhh, Judy about your fox partner " Stu tried to say, but his wife was sure to cut him:
"Have a good day, sweetheart. Love you."
"Love you two, bye." Judy said, and soon the call was ended. She then turned to the wall, "I'm going now boys!"
"Okay Hopps, see you later!" One of the voices said, "Also, your parents sound really nice, I hope to get to meet them!"
"They probably would not like meeting some guy who yells all the time!"
"You yell too!" The other one shot back, "Maybe we can meet them when they come! We are planning on going on the mall during the opening too! Maybe we all could go together!"
"Going with people they have just met? Don't you think they will find a little creepy? Besides, you know that every time we met new people we end up in a screaming contest in front of them and when we look again they are gone!"
"Because you insist into starting a fight all the time!"
"Like you don't hold blame for going along!"
"Oh, shut up!"
"No, you shut up!"
As they continued their squabble, Judy had already left her apartment and in no time she was going down. She soon met up with Nick, as the fox smiled back at her, and soon, after a brief greeting, they both were walking across the street.
Meanwhile, they were talking:
"So, the mall will be inaugurating in a few days, right?" Nick said to her, "Wish to go in there if you have the chance?"
"Maybe." Judy said to him, "If we won't have too much work, but mostly just to look at it. Although there are a few stores in there that I would like to see. Everybody is talking about the mall, you know?"
"Yeah, nearly as much as they are still talking about the mages." Nick mentioned to her. "It seems that mammals are starting to get used to the fact that there are mages around."
"Yeah, it seems." Judy said, "The protests have all but stopped."
"Save for one now and then by some religious fanatic." Nick said to her, "But, it is around the same in regarding marrying someone of a different species or of the same gender. These guys just want to keep making noise. They are just a bunch of whiners."
Judy smiled, as she found herself agreeing with Nick. She totally thought that the ones who were still protesting just wanted to express their hatred. Of course, she had experienced that mages could be dangerous in certain cases, but labelling all mages as dangerous was stupid and prejudiced, and it was actually no different from the anti-predator protests that had developed during the course of the Night Howler Conspiracy. Such actions were irresponsible and they would only divide society, and Judy knew that, as well as she knew that not all mages were "evil devil worshippers".
"And mages are still the main topic that everyone is talking about." Nick added, "I mean, it has been a few months already, and all everyone talks about are the mages."
"Well, you can't really blame them." Judy said, "We spend our entire lives believing that magic didn't existed, and now we know that mages are real and that they were kept hidden by a conspiracy. It is the kind of thing that you will be talking about for a while."
"Yeah, I'll say " Nick added, "A friend of mine has been going ballistic over this "
The two mammals continued with their casual talk until arriving at the station and taking the subway for their work. Once inside the train, the two sat together into a bench that was on the corner, and then, Nick went for a subject that was a bit touchier than the other ones.
"What about that crow?" He asked, "Have you really not seen it again?"
Judy looked at him, and she nodded. "Yeah, not since that night with the butterfly. I guess it has gave up on following me "
"Yeah, after losing its talons, I think that the thing really got enough of following a bunny around." Nick added, "And we still found nothing in regard to the investigation."
When he said "investigation", he truly meant investigation. As in, a series of investigations and research that was done by the ZPD in regarding to the event, as an actual case. That was because, in the following morning that the event happened, a report was filled detailing the event, and soon it was being treated as something that had happened and was related to mages.
Nick and Judy had collected some evidence on their own, and they handed it to the other officers as soon as they arrived, and gave both detailed reports on what happened. Such reports were reinforced by the neighbors, the Oryx-Antlersons, who told them pretty much the same thing that had happened in regarding the crow and the way that it attacked. The fact that the walls and windows seemed to have been destroyed by black feathers gave some credit to their claims, and the fact that the supernatural was starting to become commonplace helped a lot.
Soon that event was something of an interesting thing in the ZPD, as everyone was hearing how Judy and Nick had been attacked by a magic crow. And there was also the fact that the crow fought a magic butterfly. Of course, questions were asked in regarding to the whole thing, and Nick and Judy soon told a lot of things.
Now everyone knew of the story that Nick and Judy had both been followed by a crow and a butterfly, which they assumed were familiars of mages. Of course, the cops also were detailing other things, with Judy even handling to them the records that she has been keeping on the crow ever since she noticed that it was following her. The story was a pretty interesting one for the ZPD, as it seemed that there were mages spying on the two of their top officers.
Of course, there were things that were purposely left off, like the fact that Nick had witnessed some fight with mages in regarding to the case of the illegal fights. Yeah, it would probably not have the risk of others thinking that he was crazy for saying that, but that would involve admitting officially that he lied on his report, and that could bring him problems, even if everyone agreed that lying was surely the way to go.
Still, now everyone knew that Nick was followed by a butterfly and that Judy was followed by a crow. This was certainly something that the ZPD could get to talk. And also make some jokes about
**********************
Once the two arrived at the ZPD, the first face they saw was that of their dear cheetah friend.
"Hey, Spots!" Nick cried out, the Cheetah soon looked down to see the two smaller mammals, and he swallowed the mouthful of Lucky Chomps before he smiled at the two.
"Hey guys!"
"So, what's new?" Nick asked as he lowered his shades, and the cheetah looked at him.
"Oh, just planning on going for the opening of the mall!" Benjamin said, "They will have a lot of new versions of my favorite stores in there, including one that sells Gazelle's stuff! I already filled requests to have my day off when the mall inaugurates!"
"Smart guy." Nick told him, "You need to tell in advance for this, unless you want good old Buffalo Butt to be really mad at you."
"So, is everyone in the meeting room now?" Judy asked.
"Totally. Everyone gathering in the bullpen." The cheetah said, and gestured at the meeting room, and soon, Nick and Judy were both walking in direction to the place.
Once inside, they could tell that things were much like what they usually were. Some of the bigger mammals were talking among themselves, and Rhinowitz and Snarlov were both having an arm wrestling. Meanwhile, many of the smaller members of the force were together in a bundle in there. Many of them gave these two greetings as they came, and the two officers returned their greetings, before they walked to their chair. Judy hopped into it, right before she helped Nick climb up. It was pretty much their routine when they come to work, and Nick was pretty sure that by now he could probably climb on his own, however, he kind of liked having Judy help him.
Soon the things were developing juts as they always did, with the usual ritual of when the Chief came in, and soon, the buffalo silenced the rest of the officers as he arrived in the podium.
"Okay, okay!" Bogo said to them. "Well, under normal conditions, I would like to just give you guys your assignments so we could all move on with our day."
"Oh, so no foreplay before going down on business?" Nick asked, and this granted some laugh in the place, and Judy couldn't help but blush at the nature of Nick's joke. The Chief only looked at him with an unamused expression, but he didn't made any commentary on the fox.
"However, today I received a call from the City Hall, and it seems that there is a bit of a situation developing." He spoke, and soon the officers were realizing that this was something serious.
Bogo pulled a remote and pressed it, and soon, something was coming out from the ceiling. It looked like some projector.
"Oh, we are using the audiovisual today?" Eliot Fanghanel said, "The thing truly is serious!"
Many agreed with the wolf, and the buffalo looked at them.
"Now, I'd like to let you all know what is this serious business, but unfortunately, I don't really know it myself." Bogo said, and many officers looked confused at this. "All I know is that, just as I arrived for work, I received a call from the City Hall, telling me that there was an important situation, and that some mammals would be arriving here today to brief us all in this."
He spoke, and he looked at his watch. "Mammals that should actually be here already." He said very annoyed, as one thing that the chief disliked was lateness, as he did not liked being made to wait. Many of the officers in there knew that making the buffalo wait was not a good or a smart thing to do.
"The guys in the City Hall insisted that this was very important, so let's give them five more minutes " The Chief said.
**********************
Clawhauser was happily munching away in a box of donuts, as those were some of his favorite brand. They had a special recipe that made the dough so nice, crunchy on the outside and very fluffy in the inside, and they had the best flavors. The ample cheetah moaned in delight, as he could not believe how lucky he was for getting himself some of these.
"Excuse me?" A voice suddenly broke Clawhauser's delight for his donuts, and made him look. He saw a jackal on a suit. The canine stood on 5'10'' feet tall, and he was wearing an indigo-colored suit. He had golden and black fur, as it was possible to see on his face, and he wore half-moon glasses over his amber-colored eyes. He was rather slim, as it was possible to see by looking at him, and he was carrying a computer under his arm. He looked a bit nervous as he looked at the cheetah.
"Oh!" Clawhauser said, right after he swallowed, and he composed himself, dusting the sprinkles out of his fur. "Sorry. Welcome to the ZPD, how may I help you?" He said, being as nice and welcoming as he could, as it was the job of the mammal in the front desk.
The jackal looked back at him, and composed himself. "Y-yes. Huh, you see, we have meeting with the Chief and the other officers of Precinct 1." He spoke, "They are probably waiting for us in the briefing room."
"Oh, in the bullpen?" Clawhauser asked him. "Yeah, the Chief said that someone was going to come to see them! Wait, did you said 'we'?" Ben asked, and the answer came from a female voice.
"We are with him!" Said someone, as an arm shot up, a furry paw becoming visible over the desk.
Clawhauser blinked, and he once more felt bad for failing to notice the presence of a small mammal. Well, it was not really his fault if it seemed that the building was designed having medium-to-large-sized mammals. It was very easy to miss someone of a smaller size under the desk, as they often vanished out of sight once they were close.
"Oh, sorry about that!" Clawhauser said, quickly leaning forward over his table to see the mammals he missed. "I'm really sorry about this, welcome to the ZP-"
The cheetah had a smile on his face as he looked at the two short mammals, but his smile disappeared once he got sight of them, his eyes widening.
"Hello, Clawhauser." Said one of the two figures, one that had a deep male voice.
**********************
The officers inside of the bullpen were still waiting. Some of them were talking with each other, but very discreetly, as not to look like they were visibly bored. At the very least, they could look professional.
The bigger animals talked among themselves in a low voice, looking at the ones closer to their own chairs, or even leaning backwards or forwards to talk to who was in front or behind them. The smaller mammals, all gathered in a single chair, whispered to each other as they waited along with the others.
"This is taking long, ain't it?" Judy asked in a low voice to Nick, who was now almost leaning back on their chair as he stood in it, the same way that one would be leaning on a wall on the street.
"Yeah." Nick replied in a voice that was just as low. "These dudes are certainly taking their sweet time. Being late for their own party."
Many obviously agreed with Nick, as the officers were checking on their own watches, and talking to themselves, wondering why was it taking so long. Chief Bogo was included in this.
"Calling out just in the early morning." The buffalo grumbled as his hooved fingers tapped into the podium. "Telling me that there is an important thing and demanding me to stop everything with my officers to wait for some mammals who don't even have the good grace of showing up on time."
The buffalo snorted.
"This is why I hate dealing with politicians "
Just as Bogo said that, there was a knocking in the door. Everyone's heads turned to the door, and soon, it was opening, and the face of a cheetah appeared.
"Uhhh, hey, Chief?"
"Clawhauser?" Bogo said, looking at his subordinate. "What is this? What do you want?"
"Oh, uh I just that " The cheetah said, and some could noticed that he seemed just a tad bit uncomfortable. However, he composed himself, and he said:
"Some mammals are out here. They say that they have a meeting with you."
Bogo perked.
"Well, about darn time! Send them in." The buffalo said, and the cheetah nodded, and opened the door. Soon three more mammals were walking forward into the briefing room. The first was a coyote nicely dressed, carrying a laptop under his arm. He was the first one to be noticed, however, two other figures were coming in front of him, both of them smaller.
The first figure was also dressed nicely, with a pair of long black pants, a white shirt, a black vest, and a black tie. He stood on 4'2'' feet tall, and he walked forward without any fear or hesitation. The fur on his body was of a jet-black coloration, and his eyes were yellow and serious as he walked into the bullpen. His tail was long and bushy, ending in a white tip, something very common for foxes, like himself.
Right behind him, came yet another fox, this one a female. She stood on 3'10'' feet tall, with a slender and attractive body. Her clothing was less formal than the coyote's and the other fox's, as she wore a pink sweater and a pair of long red pants. The fur of her body was of a russet coloration, with a pinkish-cream color around her muzzle, down her neck and on her paws and feet. Her eyes were of a deep-sea green color, and they looked smart as they evaluated the room and the mammals in there as she walked in with a confident smile.
The officers all looked at the three animals who had just walked in, while Clawhauser stood right where he was, holding the door open.
Then, the male fox stopped and turned around, looking at the cheetah.
"Thank you, Officer Clawhauser." He said, and the cheetah looked back at him for a moment, before he nodded. The fox gave a brief nod back, and the cheetah closed the door. With this, the fox turned his gaze back forward, and he started walking, the other two canines following close behind.
The two foxes and the jackal all walked forward, all under the looks of the mammals in the bullpen. All of them looked at them differently. Some looked with curious glances, others with raised eyebrows. Nick and Judy were among the ones who looked with interest at the two pairs of foxes who walked forward, the male looked serious and professional, while the female smiled and even waved at a few of the mammals who looked back at her.
They walked to the podium, where Bogo was standing, looking at them with a raised eyebrow. Once they were right in front of him, they stood in there, and the male fox said, with a deep voice:
"Chief Bogo, I presume."
"Yes." The ZPD's Chief said, looking at the three mammals standing in front of him. "And, you are the mammals that I was told were coming?"
"Indeed." The male fox said, and someone said:
"Yeah, right."
The eyes all turned around to look at McChill, who was sitting in the front, and who looked at the foxes.
"I'm sorry, do you have something to tell us, Officer " The male fox said, looking at him, and the polar bear looked back at him.
"The name is McChill, fox." He said, looking at the vulpine, "And what kind of scam are you trying to do right now?"
"McChill." Bogo said as a warning, but the polar bear continued to look at the fox, looking to be expecting an answer out of him.
"What do you mean by 'scam', Officer McChill?" The fox asked, very patiently and very polite.
"I'm saying that this could very well be some kind of trick." The bear said, "As if the City Hall would send two foxes to the ZPD to do anything important."
Nick looked at the bear coldly, and Judy did had an angry look as she looked at the polar bear. However, McChill did not even noticed their glares, and continued to look at the foxes.
"Come on, just tell us what kind of trick you are playing, and maybe we won't throw you at the cells we have down there." He said to the foxes, and now he was sounding a little aggressive. Bogo was about to reprimand him, when suddenly, the female fox started to chuckle.
"What?" The polar bear asked, "Did I said something funny?"
"Oh, sorry." She said, still snickering. "It is just funny that a big and strong mammal like you feels so intimidated by us before we even spoke to you."
The polar bear perked as he heard that.
"I didn't knew that we were so scary to frighten a polar bear like that." The vixen said again, and some chuckled at this.
"I'm not afraid of you!" The bear said getting up and looking at the foxes, this time Bogo reacted.
"McChill! Sit down!" The buffalo said, and the bear obeyed, and he looked at the foxes, still not very satisfied.
"I bet it is good to walk in pairs so you can support each other." The bear said, ignoring the many glares that he was now receiving from his fellow officers. "So, how much you pelts make a week with your scams?" He asked, a smirk on his muzzle.
The male fox only looked back at him, and said:
"Well, we could tell after you tell us how much you make a week by working for the Big family."
This immediately gathered a reaction.
"What did you said, fox?" McChill snarled, and the fox only looked at him with a cold glared.
"The Big family is known for having a great deal of polar bears as their employees." The fox said to him, "This is pretty much common knowledge. You are a polar bear, so it is only natural for me to assume that you work or worked for the Big family."
"Not all polar bears work for Mr. Big!" The ursine nearly roared at the fox, and the fox glared back at him.
"And not all foxes are scammers who trick others to get by." He said in a very formal tone as he looked at the bear. "So, Officer McChill, if you refrain from making assumptions about my species, I might refrain from making assumptions about yours."
McChill glared at the fox, and it looked like he wanted to say something, but he refrained, and just sat there. He was still staring daggers at the male fox. Meanwhile, Nick couldn't help but smirk as the fact that a fox was able to make the big and bigoted polar bear stand down.
Bogo also glared at McChill, a glare that said "we talk on this later", before he turned to look at the three mammals, and asked again:
"So, are you the ones who I was told were coming?" He asked.
"As I already said before I was interrupted." The male fox said, "Yes, we are."
Bogo nodded.
"Right, and who exactly are you? If you don't mind me asking." He said, "The guys in the City Hall were pretty vague when they told me what this was about."
"Yeah, of course they would be, considering how we insisted for them to be discrete." The male fox said, as both he and the vixen reached out for something that was under their clothes.
"Hey, what do you got there!?" McChill said, getting up and a paw already on his dart gun. Everyone stared at him, and the foxes simply pulled out what they had in there, and held it for everyone to see.
It were two pairs of daggers, both of them with silver handles decorated with gemstones.
Some of the ones in there looked at it with raised eyebrows, wondering what these were about. McChill even wanted to ask them if they had stolen it from somewhere. Bogo, Nick and Judy, however, knew that these were, for they had seen one similar a while ago.
"For those who don't know." The male fox said, "These daggers work as badges in our case. They are the proof that we are among the rankings."
"Rankings of what?" someone asked, "What do these daggers prove?"
"That they are Enforcers." Bogo said, causing all mammals to look at him, "The police force of the Mage's Association."
The mammals in the room were very surprised at this. The fox looked back at Bogo, and he said:
"You seem to be well informed, Chief Bogo."
"I try to be." The buffalo said, not finding it worth mentioning because he had already seen a dagger like that before, in the paws of someone who was not really an Enforcer.
The fox turned back to the room. "So, we are Marceli and Emilia Mieczyslaw." The male fox said.
"I am Emilia!" The vixen said, and the fox continued:
"We are Enforcers in here representing the Mage's Association." He spoke, and then gestured at the Jackal. "This is Gary Jackalson, he is our assistant."
"He is the guy we pay to handle technology." The vixen added, and the jackal smiled as he waved at everyone. It seemed that he was a tad bit uncomfortable for being in the center of attention so suddenly.
Mieczyslaw where have I heard that name before? Nick thought to himself, as everyone else absorbed the new information that was just dropped there.
"Wait, so you guys are mages?" Wolfard asked.
"Well, we are." Emilia said, gesturing to herself and the male fox, Marceli. "Gary is not."
"Yeah, I wish I was a mage." The jackal said, but lost his voice once more when all eyes were on him again. It seemed that he was a bit shy.
"So, you guys are like, the mage police?" Eliot Fanghanel asked, "Like, you do the same as us, byou chase criminal mages, right?"
"That is correct." Marceli Mieczyslaw confirmed.
"Oh, that is so cool!" The wolf then said, his tail wagging as he looked at the two. "You see, recently that has happening a few things with Nick and Judy. Oh, sorry! Officers Wilde and Hopps!" He said, correcting himself after this, meanwhile, many were looking at the wolf, including the two small officers that he had just mentioned.
"You see, they have been threatened by a mage horse a while ago, and in the same day they were attacked by a murderous crow!" The wolf continued, "Can you imagine that, the two darlings of the city of Zootopia being attacked like that? This is awful! So, could you guys investigate it a tiny bit? We still have the feathers that the crow shot in them in the evidence lab, if you want to take a look. Oh, by the way, the crow could shot feathers, which is why we are sure that it was magic."
Nick and Judy both groaned at Eliot and his antics. Meanwhile, the three newcomers just looked at him.
"Well, while it does sounds somewhat worth of our attention I think that we can give a look at this later on." The male fox said, "For now, we are in here in official business of the Association, and we will need the assistance of the ZPD."
"Oh, really?" McChill said again, "So the Association has sent two foxes to come ask for the ZPD's help? How interesting They must have a lot of faith in you and your wife, Mr. Mieczyslaw."
"McChill, stop it, this is the last warning." Bogo said to the polar bear, who now was standing down. Meanwhile, some noticed the face that the vixen made when the ursine said "wife", while the tod of black fur remained serious.
"Emilia is my niece, Officer McChill." The fox said coldly. "But, if you want to know, the Association does have a certain trust in me, after all of my missions."
As he spoke, he looked at the many mammals gathered in there, and he started to talk as if he was explaining to them:
"Now, this is pretty new for all of us, as the revealing of magecraft and of the existence of mages had led to some changes in our ways of acting and in our laws. One of these meaningful changes were the cooperation agreements made between the Association and many of the governments of the world, including your own." He spoke, and the cops all whispered among themselves as they took in what the fox was telling them.
"Now, before all of this, the Association would try to deal with their business in particular, keeping out of the public eye and solving our matters with our own methods, often covering up such happenings. However, due to the changes in policies and the agreements, we are now taking a different kind of approach. Now, there is a subject that requires our specific attention, and due to the agreements of cooperation, we are requesting the help of the ZPD in dealing with it."
The fox looked around, looking at the many mammals in the room, many of which were all looking back at him.
"So, can we count with your help?" The fox asked, and a brief silence followed these words.
"Well." Nick said, standing on his chair and letting himself be on full view. "You can surely count on me." He said, the other fox looking at him.
"Me too." Judy said, and soon other officers were agreeing with them. Soon it was Bogo who spoke.
"Mieczyslaw, you can be sure that all of my officers are reliable."
"I'm sure that they are." The black fox said, "However, there is one more thing: you see, although we are making efforts to be more transparent, and changing our policies in secrecy, we still need to be subtle when conducting our business." The fox spoke, looking around, "So, as part of the agreements, all of you in there must agree to keep secret over what you are going to hear today, as not to bring too much attention over the Association, over us, or over what we are doing here."
"Why, are you doing something you shouldn't?" McChill asked.
"McChill!" Bogo said, slamming his hoof on his podium, what caused many mammals to jump back. "One more of these and you will be working in the archives for a month!" The buffalo said in warning, and this was enough to shut the bear up at last.
"This matter is a delicate one." Marceli Mieczyslaw said, "So, we must conduct it with discretion and with a lot of care."
"Mieczyslaw." Bogo said to him, "I can assure you that all of my officers are trustworthy, and that all of them know that they must not speak of cases openly with others."
As he said that, he failed to notice that Eliot Fanghanel looked to the side, seeming to be a bit nervous about something suddenly.
The fox looked at the buffalo, and at all of the officers present in there. He then nodded.
"Alright then. Jackalson, the audiovisual, please." The fox said, and the jackal immediately nodded, and soon, he was turning on his computer, and he was finding his way across the wires to connect his computer with the equipment. Meanwhile, the fox spoke to the room full of mammals.
"This is about Dawn Bellwether." He spoke, and this surprised the mammals present in that room.
The two enforcers noticed that, as well as the sour looks in the faces of many of the predators present in the room.
"Yeah, you guys surely are not fan of hers'." Emilia Mieczyslaw said to them, and the looks in their faces said it all.
"Yeah, many of us almost lost our jobs and homes because of that psychotic ewe and her night howler!" Someone said, and many of the predators present agreed totally with it.
"Yes, we are aware of the Night Howler Conspiracy." Marceli Mieczyslaw said, "This was something that really called our attention when she tried to do it."
"That is why you are interested in that hellspawn ewe?" McChill asked, "Because she called your attention?"
Right after the polar bear asked this, Jackalson said:
"Okay, everything ready."
Marceli Mieczyslaw nodded, and he said:
"You will see now. Could someone turn off the lights, please?"
Soon the lights were turn off, and the projector was working by projecting an image in the wall behind the podium. It showed the desktop screen of a computer. Jackalson was now operating the computer, and soon, he was clicking in an icon of a video, and opening a video file.
"What you will see now." The black fox said, "Is a recording made from a security camera in Boarwood Correction Center. More specifically, of the dining hall in there, during lunch a few days ago.
The image appeared in the screen, showing the hall of a dining area in a prison, with many mammals wearing prison jumpsuits. The image showed them going back and forth, carrying trails of food. Among the tables, it was possible to see a diminutive figure in the same jumpsuit looking down as she walked.
Yeah, it was hard missing the diminutive figure of Dawn Bellwether, and many predators in the room felt satisfaction in seeing the ewe wearing prison clothes.
Suddenly, one of the other inmates, a wolf, got up and walked behind Bellwether, who was carrying her own food trail, and this wolf slammed a foot in her back, sending her sprawling into the ground.
Many flinched at this.
"Ow that gotta hurt." Nick said, as even he flinched at this, as it looked that the wolf had slammed that foot on her back hard.
Now Bellwether was on the ground. She looked like she was recovering, and while she did, the wolf was laughing at her. Meanwhile, other predators got up, and they were now throwing food at the ewe, getting her clothes and wool matted at the goopy thing that was the food in there. All the while, the predators were jeering and laughing as they pointed at her.
Some of the ones who were looking almost felt sorry for her. However, the predators as whole were not able to feel sympathy for that ewe after all that she had done.
They continued to look, and as they looked, it seemed that the guards in there were trying to break the thing, but the predators were still jeering at the ewe, especially that wolf. Slowly, the ewe got up, and she seemed like she was shaking. Suddenly, she turned to the predators and pointed a finger straight to the wolf.
Immediately after, the wolf started to choke and heave, or so it looked. In no time, the canine had fallen prone on the ground, heaving and shaking, while the other predators and the guards all backed away. All the while, the small ewe continued to point her finger at the canine that had laughed at her.
That was when the video ended, pausing in that moment.
All of the mammals looked at the video, trying to process what they had just seen.
"What the heck was that?" McChill asked.
"It is called Gandr." Marceli Miczyslaw said, "It causes the physical health of the target to decrease, often causing them to become weaker and they can even fall to the ground or lose consciousness if they are already weak. It is a simple curse."
All of the officers in there took in this information. Many of them were still trying to process it, even though the black fox spoke about it as if it was something very casual.
As they took in the new information, soon, they were coming to a conclusion. Some made this conclusion before others did, like Nick and Judy, and others took almost a full minute to make the association of ideas that would lead to this conclusion. However, all of them eventually came to the very same conclusion on the matter.
"So " Bogo said, finally breaking the silence, as he said the conclusion that was on everyone's mind. "Bellwether is a mage."
The fox said nothing in return to the conclusion that the buffalo had, but it was obvious that this point had come across very well, and that it was time to move on. He looked at the jackal and nodded, and the canine took the cue and closed the window with the video.
"Now, I'm sure that you have your own file regarding Dawn Bellwether." Marceli Mieczyslaw said, "But just in case, we are sharing our own with you." And as he said that, the jackal was clicking in another file, and this one opened a personal file of information with the picture of a familiar ewe.
"Dawn Mary Bellwether. Of the Bellwether clan." The fox spoke, "A mage with certain feats associated to herself."
The officers all looked at the file that was opened in there, and some could notice that certain parts of her file were blackened out, as if they had censured the document before sharing it with them. However, there was still some information in it that was possible to read, which included a part that said: Thaumaturgical Knowledge. This was a part that Nick paid attention, and read it aloud:
"Her primary thaumaturgical foundation is alchemy." The black fox said to the officers. "What is no surprise, considering that she is a member of the Bellwether clan, who are famous as skilled alchemists."
"Alchemy, as in, turning metal into gold?" Someone asked, and it was obvious that many officers present had similar questions.
"Alchemy's base is the transmutation of matter, the turning of one thing into another." The fox said, "Actually, it would be better to describe it as the study and manipulation of the flow of matter, one that aims to understand and control matter for one's designs. Of course, turning a non-precious metal in a precious one could be considered a part of it, but it is only part of its true nature."
"And they would also create chemical things?" Wolfard asked, "Like, let's say, using flowers to create a serum that would drive predators insane?"
Now that was a question that many could get behind. They all wanted to hear the answer to this. The fox looked at their expecting gazes, before he said:
"Yes, the creation of potions and elixirs is considered something that is related to alchemy, in a certain way." The fox admitted to the many officers, "For someone who has mastered alchemy, and who is as smart as Dawn Bellwether is said to be, devising an elixir similar to the Night Howler Formula should be a fairly easy task."
"It would probably even be a matter of pride for these sheep." The vixen added, "After all, the Bellwether are the greatest alchemists of the world according to some, including themselves." It looked like the vixen had a bit of fun with this, however, the mammals present in the room found difficult to see anything fun into this, for knowing that the one who almost tore Zootopia apart was a mage, and that she could probably have used her skills in the supernatural to help on her plot.
"She also has other skills than alchemy." Marceli Mieczyslaw continued, "As we know that she is skilled in mental interference, and she has some basic knowledge in healing magecraft, both considered very basic teachings in all forms of magecraft." He said, looking to all of them. "Also, she is skilled in other styles of magecraft that she apparently studied by herself, including things like the Gandr, which is a curse of Sclawdinavian origin. Not only that, but we also know that she became quite skilled in a type of magecraft that is a combination of both oriental and occidental teachings, and one that is seem with a certain mistrust by the rest of the Association due to it representing negative magecraft, much of which was forbidden by the Codex: witchcraft."
"So she is a witch!" Someone said, and many actually agreed with this. The two foxes showed no reaction, as they let the officers think and say what they wanted, before they could continue with their briefing.
"Could someone turn on the lights, please?" The black fox asked, and soon, someone was doing it, and now the room was bright again.
"Now, Dawn Bellwether did called a certain attention, for she chose to enter politics." Marceli continued, now standing in front of all of the officers in the room, all eyes on him, "This is something very unusual for mages to do, as we prefer to keep to ourselves, as you all probably know."
Some nodded at this, and the fox continued:
"However, she was not infringing any of our laws, and she did not risked exposing us, so the Association has decided to let her be. They determined that she was not acting in a dangerous way." The fox explained. "That was, of course, before we took knowledge of the Night Howler Conspiracy, which was exposed by two of the mammals who are currently in this very room."
The fox said, and his eyes wandered to Nick and Judy. Nick could not help but feel somewhat proud of himself, as he smirked smugly. Judy, on her end, was still processing all of the information that was being dump on her and on the entire ZPD in that briefing. Learning that a criminal like Bellwether was a mage was kind of a big thing, and she was sure that many of her fellow officers agreed with her.
"Once we learned about this, we were quick to act." The fox said, "However, once we arrived in here, she was already under the custody of the non-mage authorities." He explained to them.
"Proving once more how hard is to keep track of our mages out there." The vixen said, and the male fox looked at her, she simply shrugged, "What? You know it is truth. I heard a lot of guys complaining about that already."
The fox looked at her, and he simply sighed, as he admitted that he had to agree with her.
"Anyways " The fox said, turning back to the officers. "By the time we arrived to access the situation, Dawn Bellwether was already under the custody of your authorities, having been booked and prosecuted according to your laws. Not only that, but the fact that she was a public figure for non-mages, and the very nature of her crime, gave her an immense amount of publicity in regarding to the fact that she was arrested. Due to this, we could not act freely to apprehend her on our own terms."
"So, you just let a dangerous mage criminal under our premises?" Bogo asked, and many of the officers now looked at them as they wanted to know the answer for that, and the fox was soon giving.
"She was deep into your legal system." The fox said to her. "She had been judged and sentenced. Her own family refused to bail her out, saying that she had disgraced and ashamed the Bellwether clan."
"Bunch of hypocrites." The vixen said under her breath, something that very few had actually heard, Judy among them, with her very big ears. This made her look with a raised eyebrow at the vixen.
"With the amount of publicity that the event has received, it became very hard to approach and simply take Dawn Bellwether under our custody to deal with her." The fox continued, "If she simply disappeared, many would wonder where she went, and would probably come for her. We could not simply appear pretending to be agents of other law agency, for this would demand a great deal of work and it could raise many questions. Some even considered faking her death, but if she died suddenly it could cause some questions to be asked, and this would draw unwanted attention."
"There was also the fact that her clan did not wanted to cooperate with us, even though they supposedly were mad at her for dishonoring them." The vixen added.
"Bottom line was; acting in ways as to take her custody from you would bring problem." He spoke to the officers present in the room. "There was a discussion on what to do in the situation and, while some still defended that they should try to remove her from your custody and come up with some method to make it believable, the higher ups of the Association have decided for a more daring tactic."
"Leaving her in our hooves." Bogo concluded, the officers talked among themselves and looked at the fox, who still looked back at all of them.
"It was risky, and we all knew it, however, it could work, as long as certain precautions were taken." The fox said, "During her incarceration, Dawn Bellwether was visited by an agent of the Association, who informed her of the decision of our authorities, that she would remain in prison as a non-mage, and that she was to act as one, which included not using her magecraft against others. She committed crimes as a public non-mage figure, so it would only be reasonable for her to answer for her crimes as a non-mage."
"And, you guys expected her only to obey what you guys told her?" Nick asked, "Well, I guess you guys all had a certain faith in her, right?"
"She was warned that there would be consequences if she acted in a way of exposing us." The fox said, "It was made clear to her that if she used magecraft to harm others or to try and free herself this would be considered as a behavior that would expose the supernatural, and it would increase the amount of problem that she already was. I guess she preferred to live as a non-mage inmate than to face the anger of the Association."
"However, just in case, we had someone on the inside to keep an eye on her." The fox added, "Someone who would keep watch and let us know if she was behaving."
"You put a spy on Boarwood?" McChill asked, "Who is the guy?"
"His name is Krystin." Marceli said, "Krystin Mieczyslaw."
Nick blinked, as he suddenly remembered where the name was familiar from. The therapist fox! The one who was Bellwether's personal therapist!
"Mieczyslaw?" McChill asked, looking at the fox, "Is he related to you?"
"Krys is my cousin." The vixen said.
"And my nephew." Marceli said, "He was selected especially for the mission of watching over Dawn Bellwether."
"How many foxes are Enforcers?" The polar bear asked, and the black fox looked at the polar bear.
"Krystin is not an Enforcer, Officer McChill." The fox said to him, sounding very calm and polite, in despite of the unfriendly attitude of the bear. "However, he was selected for this mission due to his background. He is famous as being a skilled mage, not only that, but he also has a degree in psychology, something that he pursued on his own."
"He presented in Boarwood as a psychiatrist coming from Roarope." The vixen said to the officers that were present, "He just showed up in there, showed his degree, and said that he had come in there because of that ewe. He became her personal therapist, and they practically gave him full access to everything. Surprisingly few questions were asked." She finished with a smirk, as if she found the thing funny.
"So, this arrangement was made." The fox concluded, "Dawn Bellwether would be in prison as a non-mage, with Krystin watching over her and reporting back to the Association, reporting on all that was happening and making sure that she would still behave properly. It was a daring strategy, but it worked perfectly for the last two years."
"Until she cast a curse on someone else." Nick said, and the black fox sighed, before he continued:
"Krystin has reported back soon after this happened." He spoke, "He told us that she claimed to have faced a lot of stress and reacted. However, what is sure was that she acted in using magecraft against non-mages. And in doing that, she exposed herself to them as a mage. So, it was no longer viable for her to be under their care."
"Now, we would have acted as to cover up everything, however, some important mammals in your jurisdiction had already taken knowledge of these events as they saw the video." He spoke, "I'm talking about the authorities and directors of Boarwood, as well as their guards and the inmates, not to mention mammals of your City Hall."
"As you all probably know, recently cooperation agreements were firmed between the Association and your own government. This, of course, includes the city of Zootopia, and they were give means to contact the Association in case they wanted anything. As a result, by the time we had full consciousness of the event that had transpired, your City Hall was already calling us and asking for information on what the video showed."
The fox looked at all of them, as he continued:
"Now, some of us wanted to cover up everything, even from them. But our superiors decided that it was better to respect the agreements, and to be honest with them. As a result, my niece and I were both dispatched to this, along with Jackalson to be our assistant." He said, and the jackal waved back at all of them. "Upon arriving, we had a meeting with the mammals of the City Hall, including mayor Amur. We have told them pretty much all that was just told to you, putting them in pair of the situation. They were quite surprised."
"One of them even asked us if we were pulling their tails." The vixen added, "I guess that they truly didn't expected this."
"Can't really blame them on this." Bogo said, looking at the Enforcers. "So, you told this to the mammals in the City Hall, and..?"
"They agreed to help keep this under wraps." The tod said, and before anyone could protest, "It was done to prevent a public reaction for knowing that a very well known criminal, actually categorized as a terrorist, was a mage. This could very well be something that would cause problems to the relations between mages and non-mages, at least in what it comes to the public opinions. I know that some would make a lot of noise in this."
The officers were forced to agree, as some of them could imagine the public reactions in regard to such an information. Many could probably make a lot of noise once they learned that the one who persecuted many innocent predators was a mage.
"That is why we need the ZPD's discretion." The fox said, "To keep this as under wraps as possible, and so we won't have to deal with the public outcry as we carry on our mission."
"And, this mission would be..?" Wolfard asked, and all of the cops now looked at the mage fox. All of them really wanted to know this information. The fox also knew that he needed to give them this information, for that was the whole point of this whole briefing and of all that he told them.
"Dawn Bellwether can no longer remain among the non-mage inmates, now that she revealed her own nature as a mage." The fox spoke, "We will be taking her out of your paws."
The officers in there murmured among themselves. Some were surprised, but some already had expected this, from all that the fox had explained already, they had a feeling that this was where this was all heading.
"So, they will just take her with them?"
"She will be judged as a mage?"
"How they are going to punish her? Sending her to Terrain Tartarus?"
"Maybe there is a sealing designation ready for her. I know she deserves it."
"Silence. Silence!" Bogo said, making them, all keep quiet, and he turned to the fox. "So, you want the ZPD's help into moving her out of Boarwood without causing public reaction?"
"Everything is pretty much prepared already." The fox said to him. "We have taken measures, and we have already decided that she will be transported and handed to us by some of your officers, who will take her from Boarwood to the combined place, and from there, she will officially leave your paws and be transferred to ours, so we can take her back to the headquarters of the Association. Once there, there are already some plans for her fate, it is not something you should concern yourselves about."
The way the fox spoke made it clear that the decision was already made, but it was not patronizing, and Bogo was quite glad for that. Another reason why he disliked dealing with politicians was because they gave their decisions to others in a very patronizing way, as they were used to have things their way, especially from the ones who they considered their subordinates. He was glad that the fox was not like that, maybe because he was a fellow upholder of the law.
"So, that was basically all that there was too it." The mage said, turning to the cape buffalo. "There are some details, but I can discuss them with you later on, Chief Bogo. Right now, I think there are some other things that you need to carry on, ain't I right?"
Bogo looked at the fox for a few moments, and he nodded. "Yes, indeed."
With this, the buffalo fished his glasses and placed them on his face, as he looked at the files that he had with himself when he first came into the room. With all of the mammals in the room now looking at him, the big bovine went forward with the business.
