The Fire Triangle -- Part II, Oxidizer

The Fire Triangle: Book II - Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Zootopia stories, characters, settings, and properties belong to the Walt Disney Co. This story is written under Fair Use Copyright laws.

----------------------------------------------------------------

The Fire Triangle

----------------------------------------------------------------

Part Two:

Oxidizer

----------------------------------------------------------------

I have stood here before, inside the pouring rain 
With the world turning circles, running round my brain 
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign 
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain

The Police

----------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5—Meet on the Ledge
(Cont'd...Part 2)

At this point, Conor finally understood something; he needed to stay the heck away from that lighting scaffold—but he also understood that just as necessity is the mother of invention, so too is desperation the mother of the Hail Mary.

While waiting in the restroom for the cops to depart—hoping they'd depart, if the truth be known—he had used his time to great advantage, keeping watch on their activities by way of their surveillance and body cameras. From this, he had deduced their strategy in trying to locate him. Instead of sweeping the theater from one side to the other, as in normal police procedure, they had started at either end and were working their way in towards the center. That told him yep, Tuffguy Tufts definitely thought he was here somewhere; it was exactly the right tactic for him to employ in such a scenario. The idea was that if the suspect tried to flee from either search group, he'd run right smack into the other one. And any lingering doubts that the ZPD thought he might be lurking in some hidden corner of the amphitheater were all too easily dispelled; did you notice that pair of police drones hovering over the theater seats?

"And how about those guys, at the edge of the lawn with spotter scopes?" the fugitive young silver fox lamented to himself. "Ohhh I was soooo wrong about those cameras covering the theater seats. They weren't put there to catch me sneaking into this place; Tufts is figuring to maybe nab me on my way out of here."

If that was true, it had been yet another smart move on the ZPD squirrel's part. Up until now, Conor had been holding that escape route in reserve, in case the tunnel entrance was compromised.

Not any more, he couldn't.

Puffing out his cheek, he let out a long, slow breath, once again fogging up the lenses of his gas mask. By this time, he had ceased to be amazed at his adversary's level of intelligence.

But foxin' A, how the heck had that bushy-tailed little jerk managed to dragoon THIS many cops into his operation? "All these guys...just for ME?" Conor shook his head in astonishment. The only thing he could think of was that somebody way, way up on the food chain must have that squirrel's back—somebody with a LOT of clout—and whoever that somebody was, they were about as easygoing as a drug cartel; 'Bring me the head of Conor Lewis!'