Sunderance Chapter 29: Wraith - Part 1

   The goings-on in the courtroom below were not really of much interest to him, even though sharp eyes that watched every person below. Just because it was of interest to the vixen below and the city at large didn’t mean that he needed to care about the outcome of the trial himself. All he cared about was ensuring that she was properly protected. The fact that the building was currently surrounded by dozens of ZPD officers had not been enough argument from her to incline him to leave her protection entirely out of his paws.

   As it was with any government building Neveen might have found herself entering, and many private ones, he had his means of getting into the courthouse undetected. It had not been hard to convince her that this was necessary to ensure her safety, as long as he ensured that he remained out of sight. In the days before the cloaking technology had been made available to him, his secret entrances had just as often served as his hiding places above. Now he had more freedom to move, but he rarely strayed far from those compartments and trap doors just in case the holograms failed.

   It hadn’t, yet, but it never hurt to be prepared when keeping his existence secret was of the utmost importance.

   The secret door in the courthouse had, itself, been upgraded to a hologram days before when she had decided that she would be appearing in court to witness… Whatever it was she wanted to get from the drama playing out below him. He remained crouched down on his belly in the narrow passage just below the ceiling, his eyes scanning every target in the room for any possible threat. Even he was almost certain that the courtroom was safe for her, but it wasn’t his job to assume anything. His eyes moved from Neveen, sitting upright with a pleasant expression on her lovely face, to the otter who sat at with his head low at the defense side of the court, to the fox who sat at the prosecution’s table, and on to the gallery where almost everyone was watching with rapt attention. The lack of threats was no more disappointing than the case was interesting; it simply was.

   His eyes paused, as did his breathing when there was a light buzz in his ear as the earbud silently informed him that someone was trying to reach him. Blue eyes shot to Neveen, who remained as focused on the trial as she ever was. No signals were being given, no sign that it was her, which had him inching his way deeper into the narrow passage leading to the city. After a second buzz came and he was sure he was deep enough, he flexed his ear muscles to activate the device. The mechanical voice, even at the low volume, was clear and familiar to him.

   “The Foxhounds have engaged her brother near the courthouse.”

   Flash. One of those people in the city that was on a strict ‘no-kill’ list for Neveen, even though the information broker was fully aware of Jack’s existence, who Neveen really was, and what her plans were for the city.

   The power of unlimited information was invaluable, after all.

   As soon as the words were spoken, the line went silent again, leaving Jack to flex his ear again to trigger a call to Neveen as he slithered up to the entrance again where he could see her.

   “The broker sends word,” he said, so quietly that he couldn’t even hear his own voice clearly. “The Foxhounds found Nicholas.”

   There was a brief pause in her pleasant expression, a slight downward turn to her muzzle. Anyone else would have missed it, just as they would have missed the tension in her body that came and went as quickly as Flash’s message to him had been. Then she was calm again, with the pleasant expression smoothly returning as the news that would have sent most into a panic was replied to with a light flick of her ear.

   That flick was her signal to act, and the course of action she wanted him to take in this case was clear to him: ensure that her brother survived the night.

   He didn’t bother to reply to the signal. She knew that he would do what was needed, though before he did so he took the time to look to each mammal within the courtroom one last time for signs of anything he might have missed. Even the hologram of Lionheart on the stand, being questioned by the only other bunny in the city, was not above his scrutiny. For that matter, neither was Hopps.

   Once that was finished, he slid back behind the hologram again and deeper into the tunnel. Halfway through, there was a widening of the gap that allowed him to turn around and move more quickly until he reached the exit hatch. When that slid away, he was greeted with the scent of fresh air - relative to how fresh air in a city like Zootopia could be - before he easily pushed himself out onto the sloped roof. Even the entrance had been placed in an area where no one from the ground would be able to see the hatch slide open, between the large front dome and one of the six smaller around the triangular building. It afforded him a quick look at the police barricade that was keeping the crowd of reporters on the front steps from getting too close to the courthouse. Not just the media, he knew. Until the trial was over, the courthouse was on complete lockdown due to the repeated attempts on Hopps’ life. It was for the best, since he would be leaving Neveen at the mercy of the ZPD’s competence for a short time.

   The shadowy rabbit turned his gaze outward and did something he rarely did; he raised his ears to listen to the sounds of the city. With the racket of the reporters talking to their cameras and the ZPD officers shouting at energetic citizens demanding entry into the courthouse, he needed to move across the rooftop almost across the entire length of the eastern side of the building before he heard something. A distinct sound of metal on metal. Not something most mammals would have been able to hear over the noise, especially since they were not trying to find it. But he had a location now as he looked across the street behind the courthouse and saw a vehicle identical to the one Nicholas had been using to drive Hopps around in.

   It didn’t take him long to slide down a windowless gap in the wall, using the deeper shadows cast by the building to dash across the street, and scale the wall above the alley where the sounds of metal striking metal increased. With it came the occasional sound of masculine grunts, the sounds of deep breathing, and the scent of blood, all of which reached a zenith when he stepped onto the high ledge overlooking the alley and gazed down.

   A quick assessment of the situation told him most of the story from above.

   First, he took note of the five wolves, known in some circles as the Foxhounds. One was on the ground motionless, two were standing at one entrance to the alley, watching the other two who were currently playing a game of distance with the fox that stood against the two of them. Both wolves, one grey and one write, wielded swords against the fox that was longer than the baton that was Nick’s weapon of choice. This, Jack noticed instantly from this angle, made his already clear size disadvantage even more crippling as it increased the superior reach the two larger wolves had.

   Even as the buck watched, the smaller predator was driven back a short distance as a failed attempt to move in low against the two males was met with a quick slice of the white wolf’s sword. But it was when the two wolves tried to press their brief advantage that it became clear that they didn’t really have an advantage. The grey moved forward, intent on countering the retreating fox with an overhead lunge, only to almost have his forward momentum met with a swift uppercut counterblow by the fox. The only thing that saved him from taking the blow was the white male, who managed to deflect the baton with his own sword just as it came close to the other’s muzzle. They then moved back a few steps, back to where they had started, as Nick stood to his full height and stood unmoving.

   This act repeated itself a few times as Jack watched, his eyes narrowing as his paw moved to the hilt of the dagger at his back. He had no intention of interfering unless he absolutely had to in order to save the Todd’s life, but as he watched the fighting continue, he could see that something was off. He knew what it was, of course. In his brief engagement with Nick days before, the fox had moved much faster than he was moving now.

   But more than that, the fox had adapted to counter even his speed, landing the first painful blow that Jack had felt in years. And from every recording he had seen of Nick’s fights, the fox seemed almost sluggish. He seemed to be making the same moves, the same mistakes more than once only to be driven back by the wolves again. And again, they pressed the attack, only to be driven back themselves. From where he was, he saw at least five openings where the fox could have moved in further than he had, landing a fatal blow easily.

   In a way, it was as thrilling as it was confusing. He had not been so interested in the methods of another fighter for a very long time. Generally, he found weaknesses as quickly as the enemy exposed them, but the weakness he believed he had found in this one had proven to be a feint that had exposed his own vulnerability. A vulnerability that he had worked to correct since that night. But as he continued to watch, there was something different in the way Nick struck out when the white wolf this time exposed himself. It was almost like he wasn’t trying to finish it as quickly as he could. That idea was dismissed, however. Even if he was attempting to wear down the wolves, there were still two waiting at the other end of the alley.

   The fox moved in quickly again, ducking low and bringing his baton around in a broad upward sweep that had one wolf deflecting with his sword and the other wolf counter-attacking. It was the third time he had attempted this, with the only difference being the method of the counterattack, and the deliberateness had the shadow watching from above looking for the reason. The reason Nick was holding back, and the reason he kept doing the same thing repeatedly when it was obvious that it was going to fail.

   Jack felt something akin to annoyance, causing his nose to twitch once when Nick lowered himself into a combat stance again and moved forward. The Todd darted forward, dropped low, swept his baton upward in an uppercut motion, and was predictably blocked. The grey wolf pressed the attack, moving into the gap created by Nick’s retreat with his sword already in mid-swing. Jack’s muscles tensed and his paw tightened on his dagger when Nick was too slow avoiding the blow, the blade swiftly dropping into his chest.

Thwipcrack.

   The new sound was so out of place, Jack didn’t know where it had come from until the blade that should have been lodged in the fox’s chest came to a stop before reaching its mark, tumbling from the grip of the wolf. An almost comical pause followed, enough time for the blade to strike the ground before Nick was set into motion again, moving with the speed Jack had expected to see to begin with.

   But even as the wounded wolf howled in agony and clutched his broken paw, the fox was moving past him towards the unwounded wolf. Wounded or not, it didn’t matter. The orange fur was almost a blur as the fox closed the distance and swung his baton. The larger assassin, surprised but using the length of his sword to his advantage, prepared to counter. Even Jack half believed that the counter would succeed again, only to lean forward when the wolf let out a startled yelp of pain when the baton, now more than a foot longer than it had been before, smacked across his muzzle. When that muzzle yanked to the side, the exposed neck was met with another blow from the baton, resulting in another sword striking the pavement, followed swiftly by the wolf himself.

   Even as the body hit the asphalt, the black wolf growled low in his throat and motioned for the wolf beside him to join the fight.

   “You worthless mutts! If I am the one to fulfill this contract, none of you are getting your percentage!” he snarled through clenched teeth, as the final of his subordinates charged into the fray.

   Jack was perplexed when the Todd, walking backward, simply passed by the wolf whose paw he had broken without finishing him. Even as he walked past, the white wolf was reaching for his sword with his off-hand, a pained snarl on his muzzle as he drew himself up just as the other wolf dashed past him. The newcomer slashed his sword forward, but rather than dodge as he had been doing, Nick met him head-on with the baton brandished like a sword.

   And suddenly, it was like watching an entirely different fox fight. Now the baton had become as effective as the sword, and Nick wielded it very much like one. Jack had seen this type of baton fighting before, had trained and fought against it, but even skilled assassins like the wolves below were hard-pressed to adjust to the sudden shift in combat tactics. The Todd wielded the baton in one paw with every bit as much skill as the wolves had their swords. Quick, sweeping strikes and strong guards prevented the wolves from getting close to him in much the same way they had kept him from getting close to them. It didn’t take the wolves long to adjust to the change, even if it was obvious that they were being more careful.

   But it was just as they started to move in unison to counter the swordplay that the field was changed again. As the wounded wolf clashed his sword with Nick, the baton very suddenly and forcefully shrank again, causing the wolf’s balance to hesitate. That hesitation was more than enough for the fox to revert to his former quick, low method of attack, to much greater effect this time. Jack was familiar with the move - and his ribs with the feeling - as the fox dropped under the larger predator’s guard and drove the blunt tip of the baton into his chest with the full weight of his body. Because the wolf was larger and his body broader, the blow clearly wasn’t intended to be fatal, but the wolf still dropped to his knees hard with his paw clutching his chest as he drew in ragged, desperate, and shallow breaths. There was no fight left in him when the fox placed his paw on his shoulder and shoved him sideways, letting him crumble and roll onto his back as he tried to gasp in enough oxygen to remain conscious.

   “Enough!”

   The final wolf, who had been ready to press his own attack while Nick was distracted, paused where he was when the Alpha of the Foxhounds stepped forward. The expression on his face and in the set of his muzzle was nothing short of insulted rage as he walked towards the last standing member of his team, drawing his sword as he went.

   “Give me your sword,” the black wolf demanded, holding his paw towards the other.

   There was a moment of hesitation, as anyone would have when told to hand over their weapon in the middle of combat, but it was brief before the smaller wolf lowered his ears and turned his blade to offer the hilt to his Alpha with a slight bow. The Alpha was not as courteous when he snatched the blade away, so quickly that Jack was certain the other wolf had a cut on his paw-pad. He showed no sign of it, however, as he backed away from the enraged wolf with his ears kept low and his tail very nearly tucked between his legs.

   Nick, from Jack’s perspective, had not moved a muscle. While he couldn’t see the Todd’s expression, he imagined it was either hard and focused… Or smugly amused that he had dragged the Alpha into the fight before all his pack was down.

   “You’re not Yūrei,” the black wolf growled low as he faced the smaller predator. Jack resisted the urge to perk his ears as someone else mistook Nicolas for him. An interestingly common error, it seemed, but one that only worked in Neveen’s favor. “If you were, you wouldn’t be showing mercy.”

   “I never claimed to be,” Nick replied, shrugging his shoulders slightly, a motion that seemed casually bored to the point of insulting.

   This only served to cause the Alpha’s fur to bristle as his lips pulled back in a snarl as he adjusted his stance, brandishing both swords, with one held at a high angle with the other low.

   “Then I will make you one, so then you can tell the real Yūrei that I’m coming for him next.”