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Savannah Central - Lemming Bros. Bank Corporate HQ - 44th _ Floor, Executive Offices_ Saturday - 12:01 AM - Scattered Clouds / Slightly Chilly Breeze

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The crimson started to leak through her shirt as the serrated dagger brought jagged pains that shot up and down her rib cage every time she breathed. At the angle it was twisted, trying to move it or even attempt to pull it out would result in catastrophic and potentially irreversible damage without expert medical equipment and know-how. She could do nothing but grope the handle sticking out from her body as she fell back onto the floor, stunned at the diminutive otter standing above her.

"Finish the job." Jack repeated over the speakerphone.

Heaving and seemingly upset at what he had to do, Ron answered back without taking his eyes off Murana's, "She's done for, Savage. She isn't going to get help anytime soon. Just let her die in peace."

"Ah...letting her suffer to the bitter end, eh? You're crueler than I expected." Jack seemed a bit impressed. "What about the witness? I see that there is a third person there with you."

"Him?" This brought Ron's focus back to Max, who was looking at him with an unreadable expression. "He's just a kit. No harm to anyone."

"Kill him too." Jack ordered unceremoniously.

Ron's tail thumped on the floor loudly as he adjusted his glasses with a finger. "I didn't agree to work for my father to kill children. I did what he asked and struck my mark."

"Ronald, you know what your father will do if you disobey. Do your job. Remove all witnesses. Now." Jack's voice was steel and offered no room for rebuttal.

After a few moments to mull it over, Ron faced the window directly. "This is wrong. I was led to believe Murana was a fellow assassin-turned-criminal that needed to be put down."

"We're all criminals, Ron. What's your point?" Jack was started to get irritated.

"What was described to me was not what I found. She is much more than some petty thug who kills for pleasure. She has a family." Ron reasoned, gazing back over to Max.

"We all have families. That doesn't excuse the fact she was marked for death by Rosco, your father. You do the job or I do it for you." The rabbit chastised over the phone. "What happened to you, Ronald? You were so eager to take your first kill. You poisoned her chicken skin, steeped her tea in nightshade and more. So anxious to prove yourself, and now you turn yellow and stop right when you're at the finish line."

Ron gave a long, hard look at Murana. She was no longer staring at him, instead just blankly looking at the floor, her mind seemingly in another plane of existence. "That was before I got to know her. The more I read up on her, met part of her family and saw how they were together, I realized it was something I was missing. I never had that before, not even with Rosco after Mom passed away. I looked at her with her family and thought to myself, if she could find and create a family long after her days being an assassin, why couldn't I do the same?"

"And yet you stabbed her regardless." Jack chuckled into the phone.

"She backed up into it, I hadn't decided yet if I was going to go through with it." Ron explained, regarding his paws, the instruments of this destruction. "I only turned the knife on instinct. I didn't really have time to think."

"Humph, you're pathetic. I'm pretty sure Rosco will forgive me if I tell him I eliminated a filthy traitor."

Both Max's and Ron's ears shot up as the phone clicked off. Ron dove to the floor as three more holes appeared in the glass window, the bullets zipping over their heads and splintering through the opaque glass paneling of Murana's office. Scrambling over on all fours, Ron picked up the sniper rifle next to her and raised it to his eye level. He calmly fired off a few shots at the exact position he trailed the angle of those incoming bullets from.

Disregarding the expected departure of Jack's perch, he lowered the weapon and tapped Murana on the face to get her attention. "I don't expect you to forgive me, Bo-, er...Mrs. Wolford, but I need you to get up and follow me back downstairs. It is not safe up here. We're sitting ducks in a shooting gallery if we stay."

She glared at him as she grunted, her breath coming out in whines. Pulling herself together, she rolled over onto her paws and knees, gripping the extended suit rack coming from the wall to assist in getting up onto her hindpaws. Steadying herself slowly, she leaned over to grab a smaller tranquilizer gun and a few metal instruments of unknown purpose from the containers at the bottom of the rack.

"We will talk later, Ron. For now, are you with me or against me?" She winced, drawing a paw up to cradle the knife lodged between her ribs.

Looking very secure with that obscenely long rifle being held in one arm, he nodded his head with firm resolution. "I'm sorry for stabbing you. It's just part of the job. I think you know how it is."

She paused and gave him an inscrutable look, "Unfortunately, I do. We'll discuss when this all blows over, but it's safe to say you are fired, Ron."

"I figured." He snorted.

A small crash directed their attention to a small ball shattering the window to pieces. Immediately, noxious gas began diffusing through the air. A huge thud was heard as chunks of stone flecked off the window sill.

Limping over to Max to half pick him up from the floor, she staggered past the dead corpse of Sadie. "Come on! He's going to attempt to zipline over here! We need to be as far away from here as possible!"

"Right behind you!" Ron informed, turning around to take a few potshots through the fumes, holding his breath as he did so.

They all could hear a small curse as the monitor on Murana's desk hurtled to the ground in a resounding clatter, Jack having misjudged the distance to swing into her office. Gas mask firmly seated around his ears, he calmly surged in with pistol at eye level, swiveling it left and right to find his targets. His tuxedo looked sharp in the filtered moonlight. He was always the consummate professional, even when he was killing.

Sensing movement down the row of tiny cubicle spaces, he fired off a few rounds before swapping ammo types. Murana sidestepped too far to the left and banged up against a copying machine, driving the knife deeper, causing her to cry out in misery. Smirking at her pain, Jack spun the cylinder and cocked the gun. Taking aim, he led his target and pounded off a single round towards the ceiling leading to the elevators.

"Shit!" Murana swore.

The tiny bullet exploded, its concussive force bringing down the plastered tiling panels and metal beams into a flimsy yet still effective blockade towards their escape route. It wouldn't hold them for long, but it would be enough time for Jack to close the distance and be upon them swiftly. Taking a small needle dart from her pocket, she loaded it into the tranquilizer gun chamber and fired at the mound of debris.

Putting an arm in front of Max to ensure he stayed behind her, she motioned to Ron, "Shoot at that small dart with the rifle!"

Understanding immediately what she wanted, he shut an eye and took aim. The round hit the vial dead on and exploded into a small plume of flames. The minor blast cleared enough of the barricade to allow them to sprint through and hit the elevator doors. She slammed her fist into the down call button. Thankfully, there was a cabin already on their floor that opened immediately. Filtering inside, she hit the lobby button and watched as Jack's form appeared within the slit of the closing doors.

Leaning back and sighing against the metal bars just underneath the lemming catwalks encircling the perimeter of the elevator, she turned to Max. "Hey, hun. You doing okay? I'm sorry you had to be mixed up in all this."

"I'm fine. Was that your superhero outfit back in your office?" Max queried. Murana had to marvel at his fortitude; all this chaos didn't seem to faze the raccoon in the slightest.

Grimacing from how bad laughing hurt her side, she gently massaged the wound entry. "I guess you could say that. Although many wouldn't think that I am."

Ron observed the two of them. Max had something akin to wonder in his eyes as he looked directly at her. She returned the fond look and gave him a bit of a ruffle between his ears as she hugged him to her. Ron's heart melted. Seeing the two of them like that made him regret and miss all the opportunities his dad could have taken to form a better family.

"Murana, I just want to let you know-" Ron began.

The entire elevator shuddered as the cabin stopped and the lights went out. Murana barked over to him, "He killed the power to the elevator. He's going to cut the cables."

Ron sniffed, "Efficient. He'll be taking out two birds with one stone. Well played, Jack." He scanned upwards and noticed the upper compartment door that would lead them up on top of the elevator proper. "How about we take that?"

Murana shook her head, "No, he'll be expecting that and will be picking us off from above. Besides, I don't think I could make the climb in my current condition, no thanks to you."

Ron looked down at the rifle and sighed, "This looks sturdy enough. It'll destroy this thing, but we could use this to pry the doors open and hope we're at a floor stop."

The entire structure shook again as the first cable was sliced through, the space lurching dangerously off to one side. Trying to maintain balance, she shouted back, "Worth a shot. I can always get more of where that gun came from!"

Nodding, he banged the end of the gun onto the floor, snapping off the barrel. With a smooth end to wedge between the two doors, Ron slid the rifle in and began pulling back on the butt. Murana assisted and they eventually got the doors open. They were thankfully several feet below an opening. Opening that set of doors too, they saw that they were nowhere near the ground floor.

"And I still have to climb." She growled. She vaulted Max up onto the floor as another dangerous shake signaled the impending drop. Jack was going after the last cable.

Holding both their arms out, they gripped Murana as she was dragged up over the edge onto the floor, screaming along the way as her chest was brushed across the floor. Seconds after her hindpaws cleared the opening, a mechanical grind bellowed throughout the shaft as the entire cabin quivered and then was whisked out of sight. A few moments later, they could hear it slam into the ground far below with a cacophonous roar.

"He's not going to stop." Murana gasped, trying to recover from being pulled up from the elevator.

Ron observed the wide open doors of the shaft. "Not when his target is still alive, yep. He'll be down to our level fairly quickly. We should move to the stairs."

Helping Murana under one arm to get her back to standing, Ron assisted both her and Max down the rows of offices. Following the signs that would lead them to the stairwell, he bashed through the door, causing it to bang loudly against the brick siding. Peering down the spiraling staircase, he estimated they had at least another 15 floors left to traverse before exiting out to the lobby.

"We might make it down half of these before he catches up, but we'll need another plan if we wish to survive the other half." Ron didn't sound very hopeful.

Glancing around, Max noticed some piping that trailed upward from the lower landing and hooked right above the doorway they entered from. "Murana, let me try something."

"Max! What are you doing?" She went to grab him, but he had already slipped out of her grasp.

"Please, just let me do this. If this doesn't work, we're probably all dead anyway!" He rationalized.

Not finding the will to argue, she choked back a sob and allowed Ron to escort her down the stairs. Giving a nodding salute to the brave tyke, Ron soothed, "I think I know what he's planning. He is a brave kid, that one. I would be proud if he were my son."

"I am already proud of him." She murmured, keeping her eyes on the stairs so as to not trip.

As predicted, Jack sauntered through the doorway and gazed upwards before turning his eyes downwards. Spotting the two making their way down the landings, he began popping off a few shots, the brass ricocheting off the railings. He smiled as a few clipped Murana's thigh and Ron's tail, causing both to grunt in restrained reaction.

Max was crouched carefully on top of the piping just above the entrance. He had a clear view down to the back of Jack's striped head. Silently letting himself drop to hang from the pipe, he began to swing back and forth to build up momentum. He noticed Jack was reloading his gun, getting ready to follow them. He needed to be swift!

Letting go, his small huff attracted the turning of one ear, and then the rest of the body. Jack pivoted and began to raise his gun towards the incoming raccoon. The shot rang out loudly, narrowly missing Max's stomach. His hindpaws connected squarely into Jack's chest, slamming him up and over through one of the middle railing bars. With a startled yip, Jack toppled ears over paws down the stairwell.

It was like watching the entire event unfold in slow motion. Murana noted Max dashing down the steps to catch up to them, Jack hurtling down the multitude of floors, passing by them completely. Their eyes locked on for a fraction of a second, his face showing true fear for once. His training kicked in shortly after, reaching into his belt and ripping open the faux-leather siding to unfurl a hooked line. Swinging it like a lasso as he fell, he managed to latch it onto the third floor railing just in time.

With an abrupt screech, the line slowed his fall, but not nearly fast enough. He hit the ground floor with a sickening crunch. All of them bent over to look down at the prone form of Jack Savage, his ears askew from the sudden stop. He wasn't moving. Taking the opportunity, they made their way down the rest of the floors and bypassed his inert body, not even bothering to check if he was alive.

"Shouldn't we check to see if he's dead?" Max regarded Jack one last time as the door swung closed.

Murana responded tersely, "He could be acting and I don't want to expose myself any further at this point."

"You could always pop him off with your gun." Ron suggested.

"And alert Don Karnage anymore than we already have that we are coming armed? I don't think so! My family is out there and he has my son. I don't want to chance him getting spooked and firing off out of fear or spite." She snapped her fingers and caused the two of them to stand still. "Ron, I need you to stay behind here and cover me while Max and I go on. I will come up with a story why you are not here." She pressed the tranquilizer gun into his paws. "The less he knows about what we have, the better."

Holding his eyes a moment longer to ensure he understood, she held tightly onto Max's paw and shambled out into view. Anthony and Judy were still being held at gunpoint as their eyes turned to them first, followed shortly by Karnage and Mad Dog. Steven was still passed out in the fox's arms, which was probably a blessing in this case.

"Oh ho...what in blazes happened to you? Where is Sadie? I was getting worried after all that crashing and pounding we heard!" Karnage searched beyond her to see if he was going to be along shortly. "And where is that otter secretary of yours? Was he not with you too?"

Murana didn't have to act hard to look in pain for Karnage as she stammered, "There was a scuffle upstairs. Ron tried to protect me and got injured. They...killed each other, but not before your man got to me." She looked down at the knife jutting out from her side for emphasis.

Karnage seemed visibly jolted at this, cursing under his breath. "The fool. He didn't even get his fix yet!" Snarling at his minion's ineptitude, he motioned with a paw for her to come closer. "I've lost two good men today, but never you mind! Come closer and give me the keys to the safe so Max, your pretty skunk and I can get out of here!"

"Not going to happen, chief!" Judy was itching to put Karnage down.

"Unless you want people dead, bunny, I'd advise you to sit your cute, little cottontail down." Karnage snarked.

"Don't call me cute!" Judy leaped into action, forcing Karnage's paw to swing towards her, shooting her directly in the chest.

The air whooshed out of her as the impact flung her back, skidding her across the floor. Anthony was over her in a minute, trying to radio that they had an officer down. It was at that moment that Murana yelled for Ron to fire. Sensing the diversion, Karnage went to aim his gun straight at the skunk in his possession when the dart punctured his neck, causing him to drop Steven to the floor and teeter a bit before collapsing, paw over his wound.

Murana immediately scooped up Steven who was just coming around, keeping both him and Max behind her and firmly away from Karnage. Mad Dog was at a complete loss of what to do, his eyes bulging as he turned from one mammal to the next. It seemed like he was going to bolt if not given a command and soon.

"What...what did you hit me with?" Karnage's movements were sluggish and it seemed like he was slurring his words as if drunk. "I can't feel my face...and it's so very cold."

Leering at the fox who gave her years of residual trauma, Murana informed him, "I forgot to mention, Ron." She barely looked over at the otter who had now waddled up beside her. "The darts I carried had a potent toxin that slows the heart until it stops beating. He'll be dead within minutes."

"N-no..." Karnage uttered, gurgling on spit.

"What about her?" Ron lifted his chin up in the direction of the downed Judy Hopps.

A paw shot up suddenly, "I'm alright...I'm fine." Rising up to a sitting position, she massaged her breast as she slipped off her custom-made breastplate. "This is bulletproof. I'm alive, just hurting like heck." She massaged her chest.

"We'll have to arrest the other." Anthony menacingly scowled at Mad Dog. "Ron, or whoever you are, you seem handy with a gun. Can you assist me in apprehending him?" It was then that he noticed the glaring knife handle protruding from his wife's body. "Honey, what happened?" He looked horrified.

Anthony barely made a few steps towards her when everyone ducked to the floor as several rapid gun blasts pummeled through the foyer. They saw Jack Savage, his tie hanging awkwardly half-tied down his chest, his suit coat unbuttoned and disheveled. He looked furious and continued to aim for Murana, who was already moving despite her injuries due to the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

"Boss, boss! Get up! We gotta get out of here!" Mad Dog was panicking, trying his best to drag Karnage by the arm. The fox was clearly dead.

Without even breaking stride, Jack took one second to fire a round straight through the face of Mad Dog, a bloody splatter exploding out the other side as the pitiful canine crumpled atop his captain. Jack was relentless and kept loading another clip into his pistol and firing on the group, keeping them on the defensive as he advanced.

"Who the hell is that?!" Anthony roared, ducking back behind a sofa.

"Does it matter? Shoot the fucker!" Murana yowled back.

Even Judy recognized a genuine threat when she saw one. Both her and Anthony pulled out their guns, peeked over their furniture cover and began firing indiscriminately towards Jack. The bunny instantly dodged and evaded, bounding around insanely fast. They pushed him back towards the elevators where he was a sitting duck for their gunfire. Leaping around the corner of the grand hall, he slammed up against the marble siding. In the sudden stillness that followed, they could just barely make out his labored breathing.

"This won't hold him off for long." Murana struggled to get back up, requiring the assistance of Anthony to do so. "We need to head out to-"

A growing moan caught their attention. They all stared in disbelief as Karnage rose up to his feet. It looked like he had aged fifty years in the span of a few minutes. Alongside him was Mad Dog, who also seemed to be just as old-looking now, complete with baggy wrinkles. There was still a nice blood stain on the back of his head, but the bullet wound was no longer visible anymore, having apparently healed over completely.

"Impossible." Judy was astounded.

"Improbable, yes, but not impossible, my dear bunny." The Don chortled, groaning as he used his subordinate to get back up onto his hindpaws. "And that was a very naughty thing you did to me, my pet!" He dusted off his jacket, looking concerned at the fresh blood from Mad Dog on it.

"Boss, we gotta get outta here!" Mad Dog skirled, doing his best to yank on Karnage's wrist cuffs, drawing a vexed look from the pirate.

"You make an excellent point. We got what we came for anyway. Let us vamoose!" He went to pick up his dropped gun, but paused as he heard a click.

Judy Hopps was already standing and had her gun sighted on him. She was determined to not let this fox escape. "You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you."

The Don gave a sheepish grin, his cocky demeanor suddenly disappearing. "Ah, ah, let's not be hasty now! Someone could get hurt with that thing." He pointed at her gun, both paws raised in the air.

"Exactly. Radio them in." Judy said without emotion.

Anthony raised the walkie to his mouth, "All units, the situation is under control here. We have two suspects at gunpoint and a third is armed further inside the bank, currently not an active threat. Requesting immediate back-up."

"Roger that!" A gruff voice returned.

Anthony snapped the radio back onto his belt strap and knelt down by his wife, giving a small nod to both Steven and Max to give him some space to get to her. "Babe, we need to get you looked at immediately. Whatever you did in the past, we'll have to deal with later, but for now I'll escort you to the hospital and get this out of you." He delicately touched the hilt of the dagger sticking out of her side, drawing a small whine from her.

The rest of the police began to funnel in, Nick Wilde at the forefront, his eyes darting around frantically for Judy. His eyes resting on her, he beamed and began to rush over to her when Officer Swinton screamed out. "Everyone duck!"

A squealing ball of metal was soaring through the air directly at the group of incoming cops. It hit the tiger at the front of the pack and immediately exploded. Bloody chunks sprayed while bodies went flying tail over end in all directions. Another ball whistled towards them as Nick barreled over Judy to the floor, the rest of the ZPD scattering. It landed a few feet away from Murana. Ron pounced over and whacked it away with his tail, annihilating the nearby foyer coffee table, its shards of glass raining down from above.

"You're starting to piss me off!" Jack was furious. He was stalking toward them with ire, a mounted launcher chassis now attached to the underside of his pistol. His eyes were trained solely on Murana, his paws moving quickly to frontload two more rounds into the tube. "Just face your death with dignity, like a true killer should! This didn't have to get complicated!"

"The hell he armed with in that tux? An entire armory?!" Nick was amazed.

The bunny snarled as he lobbed another grenade into the group. Cops were opening fire as they began star-bursting and fanning out through the lobby. Jack leaped and bounded around the flying bullets and darts. The shockwave hit the group and Steven cried out, sailing through the air as Murana went to catch him. Anthony held her back as Max tried to get under cover.

"Steven! Anthony, we have to go after him!" Murana cared not for her own safety, but for that of her son.

The detonation did not greatly injure Steven, having been far enough away, but it knocked him out cold. Karnage was even shying away from the insane altercation, but his attention was distracted by the comatose skunk now by his feet. All parties flinched as another clunk was heard and an explosive twirled through the air.

"Get everyone out of here!" Judy roared, scooping up one arm of Murana while Anthony scooped up the other to help her get back onto her hindpaws.

Murana writhed and thrashed, crying out in misery as she attempted to fling herself back into the fray, her eyes not leaving Steven. "We have to go back for him!" She could see Mad Dog dragging him away with Karnage at the forefront.

"Not while there is an insane bunner on crack after us!" Nick Wilde commented, bundling up Max under one arm and making a mad dash for the exit. "Come on, buddy. Let's get you out of here!" He tried to soothe Max, despite being freaked out himself.

"Not a chance!" Jack ground his teeth.

Jack closed an eye and blew through Judy's calf, causing her to stumble and Murana to collapse right beside her. Anthony growled as he tried in vain to pick up the dead weight that was his wife. The wound was finally getting to her and she was struggling to keep up with the battle. Judy was screeching beside her, clutching her bleeding leg. Savage was merciless, proceeding to set Murana in his sights.

"Shoot him!" Anthony thundered, using his body to cover Murana's.

Any remaining cops still conscious or able-bodied enough to respond whipped out their firearms and began firing with impunity. Savage pulled a rod out from the sleeve of his suit coat and slammed it down on the tiled flooring, expanding it out quickly into a vertical makeshift shield of solid metal.

"Who the hell is this guy?!" Nick exclaimed, his eyes wide, feet still traveling past the front doors of the bank with Max in tow.

"I thought you knew everyone?!" Judy called out. No response came back. She cringed as she went back to babying her leg, her eyes now rapt on the approaching bunny.

Savage was calm as he loaded up several darts into his gun and pressed a button on the backside of his shield. Ignoring the hailing gunfire, he stuck his barrel through the small slit. Ears down, he took a peek over the top of his shield to gauge his targets. Bending low, he aimed and fired off six rounds, each one finding their mark. Within seconds, the remaining cops, including Anthony, fell to the floor, drugged and sleeping.

Ron stood up from behind a chair and walked confidently towards Savage, "Jack, she's dead anyway. Our job here is done. She will not survive the night." He tried to reason.

Jack stood up, venom in his expression as he coolly cocked his gun at Ron's head. "As much as I should shoot you right now, I am suddenly reminded of a promise to keep to your dad. You will either come along quietly as I finish the job or I'll be forced to take you back to Rosco myself and explain why you failed in your mission. I think his punishment would be far worse than anything I could dream up for you."

"She's dead already. We did the-" Ron began, paws out in supplication.

"Dragging you back it is." Jack fired a dart into Ron's neck, causing him to collapse as well with a look of shock on his muzzle. Shifting his paw into his pocket, he jangled up a few new rounds he had not used before and began smoothly loading them into his pistol. "Now, Murana, enough running. Enough games. It's time you faced your reckoning, as you knew it would happen the moment you left us."

Gnashing her teeth, shooting blades with her eyes, she untangled herself from Anthony's snoring body and began to back up on her rump, trying in vain for her forearms to carry her across the foyer and out the front doors where a few cops could still possibly be available. Firearm held at his side, Jack steadily followed her, not even trying to hide the smug look on his face.

"Murana, I thought you were prouder than this. When we were partners, you were fearless. You did not worry about staring death in the face, and yet here you are, sniveling at my feet and trying to run away like a coward." He chortled, admiring his handiwork around him. "There will be no one to save you, not in time anyway. And what hope do you think you'll have out there? That fox? Maybe another predator cop to assist? You and I both know we were trained to be far better than they could ever hope to be."

"Jack, I got out because I didn't want to be like that anymore. We were prisoners under Rosco. He didn't care about us. He only cared about what we could do for him. I wanted out because I wanted control over my own life!" She fired back, consistently looking back to measure how far left she had to shuffle to get out the door.

Jack spread his arms out wide at the devastation around him, "And yet here you are, killing mammals as if you were judge, jury and executioner. You're not any different now than you were then, Murana. Stop lying to yourself. Once a killer, always a killer. You think you're justified in burning criminals just because you have a higher moral imperative? It's time to accept what you are. A murderer. One that I've been ordered to put down to keep the sanctity of our order secret."

"Secret?" Murana scoffed, indicating with her chin to the wounded Judy Hopps just past him. "She's now well aware of who and what we are now. That we exist."

Jack shrugged. "No consequence. I'll be sure to eliminate all witnesses before finishing up here."

"And them...?" Murana paused, her heart catching in her throat. Karnage, Mad Dog and the comatose body of Steven were gone. A small cry escaped her lips.

Before she could think, Jack cocked his gun. "Alright, enough talk. Be a good girl, Murana, and stay still for me."

Drawing every last ounce of strength she had, she scampered on all fours out the doors, ringing gunfire trailing after her, destroying any last remnants of glass on the front entrance. Stumbling down the steps to street level, she crawled weakly to the opposite side of the road, finally collapsing onto the gutter leading up onto the sidewalk. She wheezed wearily as she turned around and faced her impending doom.

Jack glanced over at the huddled form of Nick, protecting Max behind him. The fox was preparing his weapon and getting ready to fire. He would be of no difficulty to Jack. Smiling one last time at Murana, he said, "You were a good friend, for the time we were partners. Believe me when I say I am sincere. I will miss you. Good bye."

Murana closed her eyes as he raised his gun. A squealing of tires shot them open again as both her and Jack's head swiveled to the bright lights bearing down on his position. The car crashed into the bunny, flinging him over several cop cars and shattering through another window, landing him directly into the backseat of a cruiser. There was no further movement.

"Oh my goodness! Did I just hit someone!?" The high-pitched squeal erupted out the driver side door as a skunk padded out to the front of her car. It was Courtney, completely decked out in a full wedding dress. Upon spotting Murana lying on the side of the road, she immediately appeared at her side. "Mrs. Wolford! What happened to you?! After having not heard anything from Steven for a whole day, I thought he had deserted me! Did someone do this to you?! Should I call 911?! Where is Steven now?!"

Murana feebly placed a paw on her arm to calm the hysterical skunk. Whatever had happened in her absence, Murana was confused as to why Courtney would be wearing a wedding gown. Had she been gone with Don Karnage so long that Courtney and her son had already gotten married? Things were starting to blur as darkness fought to consume her. The knife in her side didn't even hurt anymore.

"He's...gone. Taken." Was all she managed to utter before slumping down onto the curb.

"Mrs. Wolford? Mrs. Wolford!" Courtney tried to shake Murana to get her to snap out of it, oblivious to what her condition was.

"Please back up, Ma'am." Nick Wilde urged the skunk back with a paw. "We'll handle it from here."

The fox looked worried as he inspected Murana. The last view Murana had before blanking out was Max hovering over her with a look of disquiet.

Downtown - Mercy Hospital - Southern Savannah off Oasis Plaza Saturday - 10:34 AM - Overcast w/Light Drizzle / Variable Winds

Murana felt like a sack of sand, lethargic and heavy. The weakness in her limbs spread to her very core and made her unwilling to wake up from her feverish dream. Her memories came back to her in fleeting glimpses of ceiling lights, doctors, masks, surgical utensils and family members. She had no concept of time, and she could scarcely recall what she was even doing before falling into the blissful embrace of oblivion.

It was then that a loud creaking sound caused her eyelids to flutter and her pupils to contract as the harsh light from the open window burned through her retinas. Blinking hard and trying to adjust to the sudden glare bouncing off some vent ducts on the roofing of the floor below outside, she deduced she was in a hospital.

Eyes now accustomed to the level of light permeating her room, she began to gaze around her. The room and bed she was on were pretty barebones. There were no tools or sharp objects anywhere near her. It was then that her focus rested on the towering cape buffalo in full ZPD uniform sitting in a backwards facing chair, his arms resting on its backing as he regarded her.

"Well, good morning, sunshine!" The buffalo sneered.

Murana immediately tried to leap off the bed, but was stopped by the handcuffs chaining her to it, one for each wrist and ankle. They were clearly not taking any chances. Frustrated, but giving up for now, she slumped back into the sheets. "What do you want?"

"What do I want? To finally put the infamous Dark Flame Wolf behind bars for the rest of her life." He seemed very happy with this prospect. "I don't believe we've been formally introduced. I am Chief Bogo. Head of the ZPD, Precinct 1. We've been chasing you for a very long time, Mrs. Wolford. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in finally meeting the esteemed vigilante herself in person. To think it was you, of all people, CEO to a prestigious banking company and wife to one of my own officers. You really had us all fooled."

"My family is still out there! Don Karnage has my son!" She snapped, jangling the cuffs again loudly against the bed siding.

"Karnage? I don't know this person you speak of, but I'm sure if I asked your...husband on your behalf, he would fill me in on the details." Bogo didn't seem the least bit concerned about her son.

"You don't understand! Karnage is prepping to leave Zootopia, possibly within a matter of hours. He has not just my son, but tons of kidnapped cubs and kits on his aircraft. We need to get over there and stop him from taking off with all of them!" Murana was furious; it was like this buffalo had no concept of urgency.

Bogo shifted in his chair, leaning forward on it a bit. "You mean that big wreck in Sahara Square? Don't worry, it doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Besides, I have all available men already there to handle the situation. You don't have to worry about a thing. If your son is there, rest assured he will be found and brought home safely." He grinned. "Now, let's talk more about you, Mrs. Wolford."

"There's nothing to talk about." She lay there defiant.

"Oh, I think there is plenty to talk about." Bogo tapped a hoof on the end of Murana's bed. "Since almost the beginning of my career, you've been a thorn in my side. Coming out of nowhere and being wildly erratic in your killing patterns. It wasn't until just this morning that I was briefed by Officer Hopps that you have an actual premeditated motive for the murders you commit. And here I thought you were just some mindless serial killer."

"Clearly it wasn't me lacking mental faculties then." She snarked.

Bogo's brow furrowed as he grunted his displeasure at her jab. He didn't let it outwardly faze him much, but she could tell she hit a nerve. Recovering quickly, he glared at her, "I guess you are good at several types of burning. So, is it a thrill to you, to see your victims burn up painfully and screaming? Do you get off on that sick crap?"

Raising a paw up as best she could with the cuffs and pointing up a finger for clarification, "Actually, they don't scream. I make sure they are thoroughly paralyzed so that doesn't happen. They actually die quietly. Peaceful, you could say." Murana had already placed up a mental wall between her and Bogo. She recognized his type and knew there was nothing to be gained from this conversation.

"You think this is a game, don't you?" His scant humor faded. "Just because those you killed were scum and vile rapists or molesters does not make you justified in murdering them. Burning them alive is equal to torture in my eyes." He pounded the back of the chair to emphasize his point, "There are procedures and laws to follow with these sorts of criminals. Just like there are to deal with vigilantes like you. You are not above the law."

"And these sadists are?!" Murana spat, surging at Bogo as far as the cuffs would allow, heaving in indignity.

"I'm not getting your angle." Bogo muttered without emotion, clearly uninterested.

"It's always the same!" She barked. "The average rapist or molester gets what? Maybe seven to nine years of jail time? Getting out on maybe five with good behavior, provided they even get sentenced in the first place? Even those who murder their victims can be let off easy if the lawyer of the defendant can get them charged only on manslaughter or an insanity plea. Within a span of a decade, they can be let loose on the populace again, free to commit more atrocities. They need to be put down, because there is no justice done here!"

"There is justice done!" Bogo boomed back. "Whenever someone breaks the law, there is a preset punishment that is scalable to the crime committed. The perpetrator is sentenced, does his punishment, gets rehabilitated and is then reintegrated back into society a changed person. That is how it is. We are not in the business of locking people up for life or putting them to death if we can help it! The goal is to remove them from society and ensure they are retrained to do better in the confines of jail or some other such containment facility."

"You can't rehabilitate criminals who don't wish to change! Those twisted fucks will continue their sick ways the moment they're let loose back on the street!" She strained against her shackles. Didn't this buffalo see the logic of her side? "Why do you have so many repeat offenders crossing the doors of your department week in and week out? Because they don't care and they'll do what their base instincts tell them to do! They're only animals, after all!"

"Just like you wouldn't care if we did the same thing with you? Are you telling me that you'd go back to your old ways the moment we put you back on the street?" Bogo was getting frustrated at having to explain this simple concept to the wolf. "There are laws to combat repeat offenders like them and you! After three strikes, they can be put away for life. Something I see happening to you very easily!"

"At the cost of what? Taxpayer's money? You'd rather spend millions of dollars keeping these lowlifes alive for who knows how long until they croak, and in the meantime the victims and their families get no justice or closure for the damage those assholes imposed on them! Even seeing that they are living a very good life in prison with three square meals a day, recreational sports, television, games and more! Who cares about me! I care about those who never got to see justice done for their misery!" She lay back onto her raised bed, satisfied she had made her point. "Your 'laws' and safeguards only seem to protect the criminals you claim to put away rather than give comfort and solace to those who were left behind in their wake."

"So you propose to kill anyone who has done the least bit of wrong?" Bogo was flabbergasted. "Then we'd have chaos as people meted out their own justice. Just because it is deserved doesn't mean it is right."

"No! Just those who pose a threat to the innocents who have done no wrong." Murana was exasperated at this point. She was done with this stubborn buffalo.

"That's pretty vague and I'm not buying it. You can lie to me all you want, Mrs. Wolford, but in the end, you can't lie to yourself." He stood up, roughly placing the chair off to the side of the room up against the wall. "You are a criminal and you will be tried like one. External circumstances such as family, connection to one of my officers and CEO of a bank be damned." He pointed a finger hoof at her with intent. "Once I'm done with your case, I'll make sure you are put away for life. Enjoy the last days of your freedom now."

With a huff, he stormed out and slammed the door behind him. Murana was enraged. Did nobody understand what she was trying to do? Did nobody care that her son and many other innocent children would be taken by Karnage soon? That their own souls would be sucked out forever? She screamed out into the empty room, her howl full of anguish and despair. She wilted into the bed, exhausted from the exertion, her side still hurting from the removed dagger.

And then she wept.