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Savannah Central - The Merry Wombat Apartments - Against the Sahara Square Border Wall Friday - 07:48 PM - Scattered Clouds / Cool Breeze

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Ronald proved to be quite the difficult character to slip away from. All throughout their trip to and from the restaurant, Max couldn't seem to find an opening with which to sneak away from the crafty otter. Whenever he thought he had a chance, Murana's secretary would immediately spot his behavior and bring him back.

"Oh, no, no! I am responsible for you. If what was said is true and you are to be the new adopted son to my Boss, then I can't possibly let you out of my sight! I would be remiss if I did not take utmost care of you!" Ron would smile as he patted Max on the head, and he continued to eye him carefully as they went about dinner.

It was interminable to Max. He just wanted to be on his own and find Murana in his own way. Granted, he would have most likely been better off with Chris or at the very least hanging around her apartment suite, but being around others he barely knew was aggravating to him. He was never quite a people person, and the mere fact he was comfortable with Murana was a miracle in and of itself. Ron seemed the lesser of the evils, yet turned out to be quite the opposite.

The conversation during dinner was banal and the noodles soggy. Max preferred a bit more crunch to his pasta, but whoever had cooked them overdid it. They practically slipped off his spoon and plopped into the broth, causing some to splash across the tablecloth. He had even attempted to excuse himself to the bathroom, to which the otter thankfully gave him some privacy to relieve himself, but then came in not even two minutes later to check and see if he was alright. His escape by window to street level was completely foiled.

They had walked a good distance from the heart of Savannah Central and were coming up along the eastern border wall that just over its imposing height was Sahara Square. The tall skyscrapers of central downtown were giving way to smaller complexes that were sandwiched side by side with nary an inch between them, as if they were created to be one large building, but separated by dividing walls and different façade décor.

It was getting dark and the streetlamps buzzed on, illuminating pockets of street down the row. A large automobile zipped past them and splashed through a puddle, causing it to drench Ron ahead of Max. Taking the opportunity to run, the raccoon tore off across the street and down a narrow alley between two buildings. Within moments, he could feel a firm grip on his arm as he turned around to look at the dripping otter.

Never losing that smile, Ron remarked, "If I didn't know any better, Max, I am starting to get the feeling you don't like my company."

"No, it's not that." Max couldn't really put his thoughts into words.

"Well, do you have anywhere to go for the evening? A bed to sleep in?" Ron reasoned.

Max shook his head. "I'll figure something out."

Ron shook his head vehemently, "Not on my watch, Max. I think I'd lose my job if the Boss discovered I had just left you to your own devices. I rather like my position right now and I'd hate to lose it. Besides, I can't in good conscience leave a young kit out on the street like you. I'm not that type of person."

"I've been on the street before." Max tugged back on his arm, but the otter's grip was strong.

"Not the point. I promise you can be rid of me once we discover Murana, okay?" Ron tried to bargain with the stubborn raccoon. Max finally gave in and just bowed his head in acquiescence. "Good. Ugh, now I have to get a new suit to wear. Good thing tomorrow is the weekend."

Letting the otter lead him to his complex, Max had to tilt his head as he looked at the garish neon sign that emblazoned the building. It had a combination of adobe-like mold with rounded edges along the rooftop, but mixed with the brick and mortar of the major structures around it. It was an oddball collage of clashing styles that gave it its distinctive, yet unusual flair.

Ron looked up at the blinking 'Merry Wombat' sign and chuckled, "Yeah, it wasn't my first choice either, but the rent was cheap."

Ignoring the wailing siren of the police car zipping past behind them as they climbed the steps to the entrance, Ron buzzed himself in and held the door open for Max. Inside the barren entryway, Max could hear muffled coughing, some loud banging, a child crying somewhere and multiple television sets on in several rooms. Some refuse and trash lay in the corners of the hallways as a few lights flickered, in desperate need of a new fluorescent bulb.

Ron's brow furrowed, "Albeit cheap because it isn't really the nicest part of town, but I manage." He shrugged as he motioned for Max to follow him to the elevator.

It seemed like a very old freight elevator with a collapsing cross-hatch door you had to swing open and closed just to enter the cabin. The entire place creaked and shuddered as it made its laborious ascent to Ron's appointed floor. They just stood quietly as the lights along the walls flashed past them as they rose, revealing the dust and grime hiding in the corners of this place. The elevator shook and the buzzer blared when they reached their floor. Sliding the grated door open to allow Max off, Ron shut it and led him down the dim hallway.

They reached Ron's apartment as he looked back at Max with an abashed look. "Ah, sometimes my own key doesn't always work in the lock. If you'll excuse me." He huddled close around the door knob, trying to undo the lock. With a jerk and twist, the door swung open with some relief from the otter. "There you go. Home, sweet home."

Max wandered in, looking around at the sparse environs. He noted it wasn't that much different than when he lived at the orphanage. There wasn't much in the way of furniture. In fact, all he could really see, as he inspected the rooms, was an old, antique set of table and chairs, one rocking chair, a bed mattress with no frame on the floor and some dishes set up haphazardly on the tiny kitchenette counter.

"You don't have a lot of things." Max commented plainly.

"Movers got the wrong address." Ron explained, sweeping past him to toss a key on the tabletop. "I just moved in earlier this week and didn't have much time to reschedule their delivery, so I had to make do with the furniture that was already here when I arrived."

"Dusty..." Max drew a finger across the table, making a clean line through the dust.

Ron had just closed the refrigerator door, popping off the top of a beer, as he regarded the raccoon surveying his apartment. "As I said, not much time lately. I've been mostly at the bank doing the job than cleaning up the house, although you have reminded me that I need to do that this weekend." He took a swig before shuffling over to the rocking chair and plopping down into it with a contented sigh. Gently swaying back and forth, he studied Max a bit before speaking, "So tell me the truth, Max. It was clear I was not the best choice to be with for the evening waiting on Murana. So why did you come with me?"

Max had already settled into one of the wooden chairs flanking the table, his legs dangling off as he watched the inquisitive otter. He was far more intuitive than Max gave him credit for. Shrugging his shoulders, he looked out the window, another police siren squealing past their building, "I don't do well with people. I never have. I usually like to be left alone."

Ron folded his paws over the beer against his chest as his rocking stopped, "And you think being with Murana is going to help things? I hate to break it to you, but being adopted means not being alone."

"I know." Max's gaze flitted past Ron and focused on the bedroom across the hallway, where the bleak mattress lay. "I've always been fine by myself, but sometimes you just want to know someone out there loves you."

Ron observed the raccoon for a long while before sighing, "I think I get what you mean, Max." He took a deep chug before continuing, "Although I grew up with a dad, and with my mom having died during childbirth, I never quite felt like I was loved despite having a parent. So I can understand the need for wanting to have someone, anyone be that rock that keeps you grounded through the day. It's quite the feeling to have someone to come back home to and love."

Max's eyes focused on the beer in the otter's paws. "Do you have anyone like that?"

Ron looked a bit startled at the question. "Me? No, actually. I do work for my father now, but it still is just all professional with him. I jumped at the chance to help with the family business, but in the end, it was just money and numbers to him. Despite all that, it pays the bills and makes a living for me." He seemed lost in his own thoughts, staring down at his drink.

"I never knew my parents." Max murmured, his eyes trailing back out to the neon lights out the window. "As long as I could remember, I was in Tail Hollow. I knew I was different the moment I tried to play with the other kids. I couldn't understand them. They all seemed so childish to me, but I tried to fit in. What I could call a family didn't care about me. They were only concerned with keeping me quiet until someone came along to adopt me."

Ron's face was full of pity, as it seemed his heart went out to the raccoon, "I can relate. Being the son of my father and his...position in the company, I did not have many friends myself growing up. It was quite lonely."

"I had given up hope." Max finally showed some emotion as anger formed on his face. "I became unruly and hard to control. I got into many fights as they ridiculed me, calling me trash or worse."

Ron adjusted his glasses, "I'm going to assume this is where Murana came in."

Max nodded, his line of sight never wavering from the window. "I didn't like her at first. I thought she was just the same as the rest. She kept visiting and never gave up. I had grown used to her coming around to see me. I had hope."

"Interesting." Ron flicked his tail, mentally taking it all in. "Did you know she had a full family?"

Max shook his head, "No. I didn't even know she had another adopted son until this week. She never really talked about herself much other than simple things, like what she liked or hobbies she was into. She was more interested in me."

"I can see why, you're quite the intriguing raccoon, Max." Ron laughed. "Don't give me that look. I'm just stating the truth."

"I don't really think so." Max rested his cheek in the palm of his paw.

"You remind me a bit of myself when I was younger." Ron looked pleased with this comparison. "On your own, you took the initiative to seek out someone whom you had no address for with very little hope of contacting, and against all odds, with very little leads, found the exact place she lived in." He thought for a moment, "Granted that could be considered to some as stalking, but the fact remains you did a very difficult task based on sheer determination alone! That is to be commended."

"If you say so." Max had already exhausted his brain on this conversation and he just wanted to find a place to relax.

Ron shot him a look, "Well, I haven't had this much interaction in quite a while. Let me tell you, lemmings are not the best conversationalists. They are rather simple-minded. I guess being stuck with them for this past week without the Boss to talk to has gotten me quite batty. I'm a bit more talkative than I normally am." Ron snickered at the thought.

His mirth died down a bit as they sat in silence. He continued to rock in his chair, enjoying the ambience of the night sounds. Max did not know how long they sat there together, but he was starting to get the oppressive feeling of wanting to be somewhere else right now. This place didn't feel right, and he just wanted a secure and comfortable place to sleep tonight. He felt so tired. The events of the last few days wore on his mental state.

Ron finished off his drink, ears flicking to the sound of even more sirens. Looking a bit troubled at the rising amount of police activity, he dug in-between the cushion and the armrest for the remote and turned on the small television perched on the corner of the kitchenette counter, facing the two of them. The screen was ablaze with purpose as the cameraman focused on the apprehensive koala reporter, the downed Iron Vulture in the background surrounded by arcing energy.

"...and nothing new has happened with the crashed aircraft that landed late Wednesday night. There was a brief moment earlier this morning where the electric field you see behind me disappeared, but a bolt of lightning from that very aircraft struck several of our news vans and police vehicles." The reporter looked very nervous, probably in fear for his own life just being out here reporting on the potentially dangerous situation.

"Although there were no major casualties from that incident, there appears to be more reports coming in from Zootopian residents that there have been bombings and vandalism happening across the city. Whether this seems to be connected at all to this crash remains to be seen. The power is still out for a large number of residents even tonight from Wednesday's accident. Who or what is responsible for this is still as of yet unknown." The koala finished.

Ron pointed up at the dim lighting in his apartment, "That would explain the brownout happening across the entire city. Until they can get the electric plants back up fully operational, I bet there will be a lot of intermittent outages across the city. We even lost power at the bank earlier today. You can imagine how much of a disaster that was." He shook his head as he recalled the memory.

Max's eyes dilated as he watched the news report, listening to Ron in the background talk about his job at the bank. Something wasn't sitting right with him and it didn't really click until just now. Without looking at the otter, he asked, "Ron, you're working for Murana at the bank, right?" After a confirmed grunt from the otter, "So what do you do for your father then?"

Ron didn't have time to answer this when his beeper went off, jolting Max out of his chair as he stared at the small device the otter was checking. "Ah, looks like some sort of intrusion happening at the bank."

"Burglars?" Max's first thought went to something bad.

Ron flicked off the buzzing and stuffed the beeper back into his pocket. "Possibly. It could be nothing, but since I'm the CEO's secretary, without her around it is my responsibility to see that the bank is secure." He sighed as he struggled off the chair, hopping to the ground with a flourish. He eyed the raccoon a few seconds before motioning him to follow. "Come on, I can't leave you hanging around here either, especially since you have the propensity for running. I don't think I could live with myself if something happened to you while under my care."

Tossing the beer bottle into the lone trash can situated by the sliding glass door leading out to the metal-railed balcony, Ron snatched the key off the table and tightened up his tie to make himself look more presentable. Flipping the television off, he supervised his charge out the door.

"Let's hope for both our sakes it's nothing and we can have a quiet night." Ron pronounced, shutting the door behind them and locking it.

Max had a strange feeling it was not going to go according to plan.

Savannah Central - Lemming Bros. Bank Corporate HQ - Front Foyer Friday - 10:32 PM - Scattered Clouds / Slightly Chilly Breeze

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The rippling red and blue lights were visible from blocks away. Sensing the urgency in the situation, gunfire echoing along the skyscrapers, Ron and Max could hear multiple police chatter and radios clicking. Rounding the bend, the two of them saw half a dozen cop cars encircled around the front of the Lemming Bros. Bank. All officers were outside behind their vehicles, guns trained on the revolving door entrance to the building.

A high-pitched whine could be heard within as what sounded like a gatling gun was being fired off and on at intervals. Some of the stray bullets were piercing through the front façade of the bank and causing many of the officers to duck behind their cars as errant bullets hit the sides of their vehicles and deflated a few tires.

A huge rhino was buckled up against the back end of his cruiser screaming into his radio, "This is Officer McHorn, we have a 10-24 at the Lemming Bros. Bank. Extreme opposition encountered, request immediate assistance! I repeat..."

Their attention was directed at the heated scuffle just inside the foyer of the bank that no one saw or heard Ron and Max sidling up from behind. Max looked over and saw an unusual duo. A rabbit was peeking over an excessively large-sized car while her fox partner was huddled behind a wheel, loading up ammo into his pistol.

"We got to get in there somehow." Judy railed, crouching low and dropping her ears as a few stray bullets sailed over her head.

"Well, if you hadn't noticed, Carrots, those guys in there aren't too happy to see us." Nick smirked, finishing up his loading. "They look like Mr. Big's men, and believe me when I tell you they are not going to go down without a fight."

She scowled at him, "I would hope we can resolve this without killing."

"Yeah, let's hope for that. Why don't you call up Mr. Big now and tell him to stop all this nonsense. You're the godparent to his grandchildren, I'm sure you got some pull." He pulled out his cell phone and handed it to her.

"Har har, it's not like I have his number memorized. Besides..." Her ears shot up as she noticed both Max and Ron. "Who is that? Hey, you! You can't be here! It's dangerous!"

"Whoa, hey! Stop them!" Nick shouted.

"You stay here with them!" Ron ordered Max.

Without waiting for an answer, Ron hunched low under the cruiser, scuttling beneath it to the other side before making a mad dash across the no man's zone between the police and the front entrance. Max didn't waste any time in ignoring the otter's command and followed suit.

Judy leaped over the car, sliding off the front hood to land hard on the pavement beyond before launching into a dead sprint after the two. She squealed loudly as the gatling gun inside fired off another volley seemingly directly at her position, causing her to screech to a halt and somersault to the side.

"Carrots! Get back here!" Nick yelled, genuine fear in his voice.

Max plowed through the revolving door, shattered glass pricking his paw pads from the broken glass of the shattered frame. Inside was pandemonium. He could see several polar bears in dark, jet black trench coats firing indiscriminately with tommy guns across the vestibule into the receptionist's booth and the bank teller's counter top beyond, a set of waiting couches between the two.

Max could see the slithery shape of Ron zigzagging across the bare floor, the ceiling gun completely ignoring his presence and instead focusing on those hiding behind the banker's line. Leading the charge of Mr. Big's men was a plump, diminutive lemming with a gaudy, trim dress and an overly large pearl necklace. She was screeching commands to kill whoever it was they were firing upon.

"Who's that?!" She cried, pointing at Max standing in the entrance. "Whatever! Kill him too!"

Several bears aimed their guns and opened fire. The rattle of the gunshots drummed through his skull as both the bears and the gun installed above trained their sights on him. What followed was a hail of splintered tile, dust, and plaster wherever Max went. Leaping over a couch meant for customers, the gatling gun tore open new holes right through it. He scampered across the rest of the open area, leaped through the little opening in the bars and landed hard on his rump behind the counter.

"Max?" An astonished voice beside him caught his attention.

"Murana?" Max's eyes grew wide. He had finally found her.

There were five of them huddled behind the barricade. Another larger wolf was cursing loudly as he loaded another mag into his handgun. He was trying his best to peek over to get a look at their assailants' positions. Trembling and clutching with abject fear onto Murana was a skunk, his face buried into her side and a stench leaking from his posterior. Ron had already established himself alongside Murana and was seemingly in mid-conversation when Max appeared.

Without waiting for him to respond, she scooped up Max in a heartfelt hug, nuzzling her cheek against his. "Max! I was so worried about you! The last I saw you, Karnage was taking you away from me!"

"You don't remember?" Max was baffled as he finally let go and sunk into the embrace. "I was supposed to meet you at one of the airlocks to hop off their ship, but we were ratted out and I got captured."

"While this reunion is sweet and all," Anthony snarked, "Who the hell is firing on us and do we have any ideas on how to get out of this alive?"

Not even bothering to look over the teller counter, Murana answered as she continued to hug Max. "It's Trudy."

"Her old secretary before me." Ron clarified. "She wasn't the best of employees."

"She tried to kill me." Murana set Max down, petting Steven on the head to calm his nerves as she looked over at her husband.

Anthony rolled his eyes, "That makes total sense. It's not like we're hostages, so I can radio in the rest of my team to storm the place."

"Not a good idea." Murana snapped, pointing her finger up towards the ceiling. "Those gatling guns will tear them to shreds before they even get feet within this bank. If only I had my utility belt on, I might have something to rectify this situation." She groused.

"Seriously, whose bright idea was it to install that blasted thing?" Anthony barked, teeth bared. He was getting aggravated that he could do nothing to protect his family.

"That would be Trudy's." Murana groaned, ducking low as another volley of gunfire spat over their heads.

"Brilliant." Anthony muttered. "So where is this so-called utility belt of yours?"

"Since Billy's place got smashed, the only other spare suit I have is upstairs in my office." Getting an idea, Murana locked eyes with Ron, "I thought you said you installed a DNA profiling system in that device, so why is it firing on us and not on them?"

Ron wiggled over around the skunk that was still shivering face first into Murana's side, "I did, Boss! However, other than myself, I hadn't really had the time to put anymore DNA profiles into the database for the gun, and since you've been gone this entire week, I couldn't get any blood samples from you to add to it."

"I get that, but why is it not attacking them?!" She jabbed another finger in their direction.

"I'm not entirely sure." Ron puzzled over this. "Last I checked Wednesday morning, I was the only profile in the control panel."

"Come on out, Mrs. Wolford!" Trudy trilled, her tiny cackling sounding ridiculous only if it wasn't backed up by lethal intent. "Mr. Big has a message for you! You should have taken his offer to be his enforcer, because after all, don't you owe him for where you're at now?!"

"Of course!" Murana popped her forehead with a paw. "Trudy has ties to Mr. Big and I'm pretty damn sure he had something to do with my initial hiring here at the bank."

"Are you saying you were being watched?" Ron probed.

"More like being kept tabs on." Anthony assumed.

"I wouldn't be surprised if during business hours, Mr. Big had someone hired to put those goons' DNA into the system, and then when I showed up here next, they'd attack!" Murana growled. "All because I refused to do what he asked when he finally requested something of me. So instead of slowly getting me fired through embezzlement and the bank going under, they're now turning to more violent means of laying me off."

"Guess I had a hand in stopping that, Boss." Ron mused with some enjoyment.

"We both did." She corrected.

"Who is the big, bad wolf now, huh?!" Trudy continued to taunt, her laughter high-pitched and grating. "When I'm through with you, I'm going to have your pelt as a rug!"

"Charming lady, that one." Anthony seethed. "Murana, is there some sort of control mechanism for that gun up there?"

She nodded, gesturing with her head towards the receptionist's podium that doubled as an informational booth. "It's behind that at its base. We had it installed there for if we were robbed, the front clerk could immediately activate the guns and eliminate the threat."

"And quite possibly every other client of the bank. This was certainly a well-thought out idea. Why the hell did you sign off on it?!" Anthony was scoping out the distance between their position and the booth in question.

"The hell if I know! I normally didn't question many of the actions of my supposed loyal secretary." Murana was vexed, while Ron looked put off at her comment. She inched up next to Anthony and surveyed their route. "I'm too big a target. Even though I'm pretty fast myself, I don't think I'll make it there in time without getting hit." She put a paw on her husband's arm. "And you're not that much faster, so don't even think about making the sprint."

"Fine, so what do we do? Wait until they run out of bullets?" He turned to Ron and snapped his fingers. "You. How many magazines do those gatling guns have?"

"Maybe twenty or thirty left?" Ron wasn't entirely sure, but he knew it was a lot.

"That could last hours." Anthony was aghast.

Max crawled over on all fours towards the quivering skunk who was mumbling over and over, "I shouldn't have come here. I shouldn't have come here."

Max put out a small paw and rubbed the skunk's shoulders. "It's okay. We're going to be all right."

The skunk looked up and eyed him with curiosity, "Who...who are you?"

"Max Thrash..." He paused for a moment, wondering if this was the right time to say it. "I'm to be your new brother."

At this, a weak smile began to spread on the skunk's face. "Brother...? My name is Steven. H-happy to meet you." It was clear he was still quite terrified.

"We're at a standstill, then." Anthony fumed ignoring their introduction, rechecking the amount of bullets he had left.

"I could probably make that distance." Max offered, padding over next to Murana.

"What? No! You'll do no such thing!" Murana was adamant. "You just stumbled back into my arms again once and I will not lose you again!"

"I wasn't asking for permission." Max was resolute.

"If I am your mother, then you will do as I say." She began to reach out a paw to grab ahold of him to and prevent him from doing anything rash.

"It's a good thing you are not right now!" Max did a lazy salute and took off.

"Kill him!" Trudy pointed at the darting form of Max.

All guns turned and began to erupt in a flurry of bullets. Max could hear Murana scream as Anthony tried to put his full weight on top of her to contain her struggling. He was bellowing something about letting him go. She was furious and began snarling as she watched Max dash out into the line of fire in hopes of saving them all.

A tense moment later, Max dove and rolled behind the receptionist's booth. He was breathing heavy and began looking around the base of it until he saw a metal panel. Swinging it open, he looked at the complex machinery within. "What do I do?" He called out.

"Thank goodness." Murana almost broke down in tears at Max having survived.

"Do you see something that looks like a keyboard beneath a small monitor screen?" Ron shouted over the din of gunfire. After a confirmation from Max, he revealed, "Enter in the password R-0-S-C-0. Now scroll to the second option that says DNA profiles, hit enter. Now disable all profiles!"

"Run, you fools!" Trudy skirled, her eyes bulging as the gatling guns had no protected targets.

There were many howls and cries as the gatling guns tore them apart. Viscera and chunks were flying everywhere as they were riddled with holes like Swiss cheese. The gunfire went on for what seemed like several minutes and then all grew silent. Max peeked out from behind the podium and had to close them again at the brutal scene of death. There was very little recognizable of Trudy or any of Mr. Big's polar bears.

The lobby was eerily silent as they could hear the chatter of police just outside. Ron called out to Max, "Okay, now flip the red switch in the upper left to off."

Max did as he was instructed and each gun drooped like dead weight, the entire system offline. Murana scrambled out from beneath Anthony and rushed over to Max, scooping him up in her arms and kissing him multiple times. "You were very brave, Max! I'm so glad you are safe!"

"Is it over?" Steven began to stand up on wobbly legs.

"Yeah, that bitch always had it out for me, I guess." Murana smiled, seemingly joyful at the chaos they had brought down upon Trudy and her hired goons. With Max perched firmly on her hip, she looked over at her secretary, feeling uncomfortable but not exactly sure why.

Ron was tapping a text message into his phone, about to head over to be with Murana when he stopped suddenly, his ears flicking this way and that, "Do you all hear a beeping?"

Once their attention was drawn to it, it was hard to ignore. It was coming from beyond the wall they were next to by the banking counter. With Max still in her arms, Murana paced over and gripped Steven's paw in her own, keeping them both close by.

Anthony's eyes grew wide, "Everyone, get back!" He nearly barreled over Murana and her boys as he forcefully pushed them away and waved for Ron to back up as well.

The entire back wall exploded inward, rubble flinging across the room as smoke diffused through the lobby. More calls from outside were made for additional assistance as the shockwave from the blast reached the police. All five of them had set up camp behind one of the longer waiting couches in the foyer, the glass bank front opening out to the street at their backs.

As the dust settled, Don Karnage stepped through the opening, followed quickly by Mad Dog and Sadie. His gaze settled on the wilted gatling guns above them. He flung out his paws with fanfare, "Ah-ha! So there it is at last, our final prize! Good work, Mad Dog!" His focus wandered around the lobby, taking in the grisly sight in the center. "Ich, what beautiful work this vixen has wrought! Mad Dog, I don't want these dismantled to just the parts we need, I want to bring it all back with us. These could prove useful!"

"But, Boss...!" Mad Dog whined. "It looks heavy!"

Karnage ripped off a glove and smacked the dog on the head with it before slipping it back on. "Then you will get Sadie to help you carry it, you weakling!"

"He's here...he's here again!" Murana was beginning to hyperventilate, her limbs coiled into her as she began to assume a fetal position.

Anthony saw her withdrawing and gripped her shoulders hard, forcing her to look at him, "Don't leave us now, Murana. We are here with you. He's just a fox, like any other."

Trying to be brave for his mom, Steven curled up in her lap and began hugging her firmly, "It's okay, Mom. We're all here to help support you...e-even me." The waver in his voice didn't betray his sincerity.

Even Max had a paw placed on her leg, trying his best to show enough emotion that he cracked a smile at her. It was painful, but it was worth it for her. Ron's heart went out to the four of them. Finally seeing them all together like some oddball, misshapen family, he could see that despite all their issues and differences, there was still love there. Even Max, not even adopted, seemed to already be a part of it.

"So are we just going to let him take the guns?" Ron asked, his whiskers twitching as he observed them setting up some contraption that looked like a ladder to get up and dismantle the bolts that held the guns up into the ceiling. "They don't quite know we're here yet."

"They can have them for all I care." Anthony hissed, bringing out his radio. "There is only three of them. I'm calling in for backup." He brought the mic up to his muzzle. "All units, the situation has been deescalated. This is Officer Wolford, requesting immediate assistance."

Don Karnage's ears perked up at the crackle of the radio. He turned to the entrance as Judy Hopps came blazing through, leaping through the jagged holes in the glass and landing firmly on the shattered tiles. He immediately whipped out a gun and began firing at the bunny. Surprised, but still fleet-footed on her paws, she bounded and leaped over his gunfire, only yelping as the final shot clipped her cottontail as she was diving behind the couch, slamming up against Murana and trying to recover.

"Rotten blueberries, Carrots! I told you to wait!" Nick yowled, instantly ducking for cover, having not even made it into the foyer.

"Evening, Mrs. Wolford, family." Judy nodded to each of them in turn before directing her focus on Anthony. "Officer Wolford, what's the situation here?" She took a chance to glance over the couch, but had to retreat quickly as another bullet grazed her ear, drawing a fresh, crimson sting. "Ouch, he's a good sharpshooter..." She massaged the injury.

"We were being entrenched by a group of Mr. Big's men, but that was resolved. Now we got these three weirdos that just blew out the back wall, and they're wanting something with the guns above." Anthony summarized quickly.

"Think we can take them?" Judy was eager, ready for some action.

"He's a very good shot." Max interjected, pointing out the obvious by gesturing to her two injuries.

"Boss, I think he's-" Ron was waving his paw, tail thumping on the floor.

Murana stiffened as she felt the cool steel of Karnage's barrel pressing up against the back of her head. The fox leered as he regarded the motley crew. "And Max here is absolutely right! I do fashion myself as undoubtedly the best marksman on my ship as well as an excellent thief with great reflexes." He admired his claws, rubbing them ostentatiously on his vibrant coat. "You would do well to remember that or I will blow the brains out of my former pet here."

"Pet?" Judy cocked an eyebrow as she began to reach for her own gun.

Digging the barrel deeper into the back of Murana's head, causing her to wince and growl, Karnage raised a finger at Judy. "Ah-ha-ha. I wouldn't try that if I were you. How fast do you think you are, hmmm? From my angle, I can kill at least three of them before I bet you can get your pistol out of your holster. Do you really want to take that chance and accept this loss of life?" After a soured glare from the bunny, he smirked. "There's a good cop. You are all now my hostages. Come, come, up!"

He motioned for them all to rise from behind the couch, keeping his gun trained squarely on Murana. Signaling them to drop whatever weapons they had by his feet, he had them all line up in a row before him. Mad Dog and Sadie were watching the proceedings until a singular look from their captain got them to resume their tasks of disassembling the guns from their sockets.

"You know you won't get away with this." Judy looked furious.

"With what, my dear bunny?" Karnage was enjoying himself.

"With...whatever it is you are doing." She gestured up to the guns, now half off their fitting plates.

"You have no idea what it is I am doing, do you? Don't presume to think you understand what it is I am after." He paused a bit, admiring the impressive foyer. "Although...I am not above taking the opportunity when it so happily presents itself, I can also take a nice chunk of the spoils this bank has to offer."

"We have you surrounded, you know." Anthony simmered, his teeth bared. As if to accentuate the point, a small whoop went off outside the doors, reminding them all of the roving red and blue lights flitting past their faces through the glass.

Karnage casually looked out towards the throng of cop cars and guns aimed at the entrance with indifference. "And endanger the hostages inside? I don't think so. If it's one thing I've learned about police through the decades, they never change. They'd always try to find a peaceable way to rescue all mammals involved. Pathetic."

"Almost done, Boss!" Mad Dog nearly squealed with glee as the second gatling gun slipped off its hinges with a clunk.

Barely acknowledging his lackey, Karnage continued to gloat, "And another thing you aren't considering. I have more than just you six as hostages. Every single person hovering around and gawking at my beautiful ship are at risk. I just need to say the word or not report back to my crew within the next hour and they will start firing upon everyone there. Officer Bunny," His name for her got Judy's ear to twitch irritably. "Is that a risk you are willing to take?"

Murana could see that Judy's paws were clenching hard, eager to do some damage to the arrogant fox. "It's useless." She stated finally, stepping forward in front of them all. "If it's one thing I know about Don Karnage, he means what he says and he will hurt innocent civilians just because. I would not provoke him."

"Murana, what are you doing?" Anthony whispered harshly.

"I'm trying to think of something!" She shushed back.

Either having not heard their interaction or just dismissing it, Karnage clucked his tongue and smiled, "Ah, you see? It seems my lovely pet has more sense than all of you combined. I'd expect nothing less from her!" This caused Murana's ears to flatten as she scowled at him. His eyes traveled past her towards Max, who was sticking close to the skunk. "However, I am growing rather fond of a new pet as of late. So glad of you to finally bring him back to me in one piece! Max, do be a good pet and come over here." His gun still pointed toward Murana, he beckoned the raccoon over.

"You will not touch him!" Murana roared, claws springing out.

"My dear, I do not believe you are in any position to bargain. I believe your worth to me has run out, especially after having caused me so much trouble." He took aim at her heart, cocking the hammer on his gun. "Unless you can give me one good reason why I should spare you."

She glanced over towards the bank vault behind the barred teller windows before turning back to Karnage. "You want a nice going-away present? I own this bank. I can get you the money you want."

Karnage raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. "You? Own this bank? Either that is highly convenient or an outright lie."

"It's true." Ronald stepped in, correcting the placement of his glasses. "I'm her secretary and she has a key to the vault in her office upstairs. If you'll just give us a few moments, we can get what you want and nobody has to get hurt."

"How interesting." Karnage waved a paw off in the direction of the elevators. "Very well, you two go get me my money and we'll see where you stand after that."

Murana shook her head adamantly, "No. I'm taking my family with me." She moved to be in front of Steven and Max, putting a reassuring paw on the shaking skunk.

"Tsk, tsk, you really think I'm that stupid?" Karnage noted the gesture of affection Murana gave to Steven. "That one, there." He pointed at the skunk. "He stays with me as insurance in case you try anything funny."

"Absolutely not!" Murana was heaving. She wanted to rend Karnage apart, but she had too much to lose right now and she could not bear the thought of losing any member of her family.

Looking bored, Karnage repeated his demand, "The skunk or he dies. It doesn't make much difference to me."

"Mom, please don't let me go!" Steven was near hyperventilating.

Karnage sighed, "Mad Dog, can you go snatch our little hostage?"

"With pleasure!" He sniggered, roughly yanking Steven from Murana's grip, causing him to shout and squirm.

"If you dare hurt him, I will hunt you down and rend you from limb to limb!" Murana's wrath was on full display. She was only in a blue shirt and jeans, completely unassuming to a normal passerby, but those around her who knew what she was understood she was in lethal form right now.

"Spray him!" Max offered helpfully, causing all eyes to pivot to him. "He can do that, can't he?" He shrugged.

"I-I can't!" Steven yowled.

"Yes, yes you can!" Anthony encouraged. "I've had to deal with that crap before. I can suffer through it now. Just let loose and stink these fuckers!"

"Of course, do as they say." Karnage cooed, "Right before I put a bullet through your brain." He drew out a second, smaller pistol from his belt and aimed it at Steven, causing his eyes to widen like saucers.

"Mom...I-I can't....bre..." His panic attack was reaching a fever pitch and he felt like passing out again.

"Stop it! He needs his inhaler! He can't breathe!" Murana bellowed.

Karnage looked over at the struggling skunk and gave it a moment's thought, "You're wasting my time. Either get the key to the vault from your office upstairs or I just shoot one of you for kicks and be on my way with Max."

"You bastard!" Murana grinded her teeth, but finally acquiesced. "Fine, but I'm taking Max with me as insurance you won't just kill Steven."

"And I'm going with her as well." Ron stated firmly.

"Doesn't matter to me. As long as I get to leave with Max." Karnage yawned. "Time is wasting. Sadie will go with you to make sure you don't try anything." He motioned with his head for his fellow pirate to escort them.

"You going to be okay?" Murana turned to Anthony with concern.

"We're going to be fine." Judy nodded, placing a paw on Anthony's arm. "We'll both be here in case things go wrong. We'll make sure he doesn't hurt your son, Mrs. Wolford."

Anthony agreed, moving in briefly to give a small peck on the cheek to Murana, "Go on, honey. We can handle ourselves here." In a more hushed tone, he whispered to her, "Get what you need to handle him."

A small gasp from Steven drew her attention. The poor skunk had passed out from fear. She could just barely make out a small movement of his chest as he was being held by Mad Dog. Breathing a sigh of relief that he was at least still getting air, even while unconscious, she bowed her head. "I won't be long."

"Touching, but get on with it." Karnage cocked the other gun trained on the comatose skunk.

Shooting him one last look, she reached down and held Max's paw in her own. With him alongside her, she led the small group towards the elevators. Ron was close behind as Sadie trailed the rear, making sure his weapon was pointing at the three of them. Pressing the button for the cabin to descend to their level, they all waited in tense silence. Max wasn't sure why Murana was agreeing to some ridiculous plan to give Karnage money from a bank she owned. There had to be some other reason why she wanted to get away from him right now.

The doors shifted open upon reaching the executive offices. Cascading rows of miniature cubicles and workspaces spread out as far as the eye could see towards the far ends of the open floor plan. It was eerily quiet afterhours. What would have been a bustling scene of lemmings and chaotic workflow was nothing more than empty seats and mute keyboards. The pervading lack of sound caused all of their senses to be on high alert.

With a grunt, Sadie prompted them to step out and guide him to Murana's office. It was the most prominent structure on the floor, its opaque windows looking out onto the cubicle farm, her name emblazoned on the door. Using a spare key from her pocket, she unlocked it and guided them all in. Her eyes were darting around her room, trying to figure out how best to eliminate Sadie so she could get the equipment from her office.

Her ears shot up as she dived to the floor, knocking Max and Ron over and making both of them yip, surprised at her sudden movement. The glass of her office window spouted a small, circular hole as the sniper bullet plowed right into the forehead of Sadie, throwing him completely off his feet and shattering the entire opaque façade of her office. His limp corpse crushed several desks in the process.

"What the hell was that?" Ron asked, looking surprised as he slithered out from underneath her, keeping low to the ground.

As if on cue, the phone on her desk began to ring. Max watched Murana trade looks with Ron as they waited out the call. It went straight to voice message, a confident voice seeping out of the speaker. "Pity that I couldn't catch you a third time with your guard down, Murana. You almost didn't see me coming."

"Jack Savage!" She snarled.

"I'm going to assume you said my name, my dear. Don't wear it out. Now be a doll and pick up the phone before the answering machine interrupts me. I'd hate to have our conversation cut short and deprive me of my final farewell with my good friend and former partner before I pop one into her heart."

"So courteous of you. Little prick." She muttered, having only her paw peeking over the top of her desk as she clicked the button to pick up the call. "What do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious? Your death, of course." Jack rejoined with mirth. "I did warn you fairly that you were my mark, did I not?"

"Who is Jack?" Max asked, crawling on all fours to try and get a good glimpse out the window to see where the shot came from.

Murana kept an eye on Max, warning him, "Stay out of view of that window!"

She went on all fours, hastily keeping out of view as she butted up against the side paneling opposite the mounted flat screen TV. Pressing a small code into a hidden panel in the wall, she extended out a rack of clothes similar to the one where she kept all her spare business outfits, but instead it housed another set of her vigilante garb complete with a few utensils of death of her own.

"Just an old...acquaintance from a time I'd rather forget." She answered back to Max, sifting through her gear, looking for just the right weapons to engage in a long range battle against Jack.

"Clever girl." Jack admitted. "Trying to gain more cover for yourself and blocking my view. No doubt gathering something in your office to try and shoot back, like the good crack-shot you are."

"We learned from the best." Murana scoffed, assembling the pieces of a sniper rifle herself. Her fingers worked fast as she fastened each part together to form a formidable-looking weapon.

"And yet you are either oblivious to one of the most important practices we were required to adhere to when out on the job or just simply forgot." Jack simpered, his cocky voice strident on her ears.

"Oh, and what's that?" She had just finished applying the silencer to the end of the barrel, loading up some ammo into the magazine when she detected the odd look Max was giving from across the room on the other side of the desk. He was pointing at something behind her.

"We assassins work in pairs to take down our appointed marks." Jack said with finality. "Thanks for the heads-up earlier, Ronald."

"What?" Murana looked confused as she backed up into her supposed secretary.

A lancing pain seared through her ribs as the knife the otter held sliced through her flesh like butter, cutting clean into her side. The gun clattered to the ground, the agony of the wound growing exponentially as it was twisted to lock in the dagger. Ron stepped back a few paces, his paw releasing the handle as he looked upon her with a mixture of fear and horror. Max couldn't interpret the expression and wondered if he was either confident in his kill or disgusted he had to do it.

"Ron...but...you...?" Her paws went to the knife pommel, clutching it as her breathing came out in ragged gasps. She collapsed to the floor, her eyes never leaving Ron's.

"I'm sorry, Murana." He did look genuinely remorseful.

"Good job, Ronald." Jack's voice emitted from the phone. "Your dad would be proud. Now, finish the job."