The Fire Triangle -- Part II, Oxidizer

The Fire Triangle: Book II - Chapter 61

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

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The Fire Triangle

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Part Two:

Oxidizer

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Chapter 9: Conor's Story
(Continued...Part 12)

♪ "Welcome to the jungle, it gets worse here every day
You learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play
If you got hunger for what you see, you'll take it eventually
You can have everything you want but you better not take it from me

In the jungle, welcome to the jungle
Watch it bring it to your n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n knees, yeah eeh yes
I wanna watch you bleed!" ♫

Guns n' Roses - Welcome to the Jungle

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No one would ever mistake Vern Rodenberg and Erin Hopps for a pair of kindred spirits...

But never had the differences between them been outlined in such stark contrast as they were right now.

"This must be how Christine felt," the young doe bunny was thinking, "when she pulled the mask off of Eric, the Phantom."

It was an apt analogy, she thought. At the time of his escape from Granite Point, Conor hadn't cared much for his face either. Not only that; he was a Phantom of sorts himself, the animal the ZPD had been pursuing for... Okay, she didn't know how long the police had been after that silver fox kid. True, they'd thought him to be only the elusive loan-shark's errand-boy but still... Believing that once they had him in custody, he would lead them to The Phantom, the city authorities had spared practically no effort in trying to bust him. When Erin had first heard of it, she'd thought it was total overkill-even then, before she'd learned the truth.

But now, she wasn't nearly so certain. With every word he spoke, Conor was revealing himself to be even more of a menace to society than the authorities had initially thought.

It wasn't what he'd done to Wez McCrodon that was chilling her blood to ice-water; it was the look on his face while he'd recounted the story. Sweet cheez n' crackers, he'd practically dined out on his description of the betrayal-setting his partner up and then knocking him down like a skittle pin.

...And then leaving him to a fate worse than death.

Yes, it was true; Conor had said it himself. 'I'll die before I go back to The Point.' There was indeed a monster lurking behind that mask.

And yet...and yet...

It wasn't as if Charcoal Boy hadn't warned her. 'You're not going to like this...or me,' he'd said. He hadn't wanted even to remember his final moments with Crazy Wez; much less recollect them. The truth of the matter was, he didn't seem to care for that part of himself either-much as he might want to deny it.