Animals

Chapter 5

March 18, 2017

The city was falling into darkness as the van made its way towards the apartment complex. It was Asher's car, a perfect fit for storing gear and other items. While Rocket already had his gear set up, the rest of the team needed to adjust their gear for the new mission. Tranq weapons, pistol models for both Asher and Fenrir while Sam had a pump-action shotgun. They needed this guy alive for questioning.

While Rocket had grumbled about this requirement, he still had something to compensate for it. A giant gun, one that had to be lifted over his shoulder like an RPG launcher. This was meant to be a taser, meant to work with larger mammals. When Fenrir asked how it works with a smaller mammal, he shrugged. "It adjusts automatically. Won't fry him... too much."

At 10:00 pm, the rag-tag group was now at the weasels location. They stepped out of the van, stretching their legs out.

Fenrir looked over the place. It was a modern 10 floor apartment complex with concrete structure and glass windows. It seemed barren, looking almost abandoned if not for the few cars around.

He turned back to the team. "We don't know what to expect in there. Could be anything in there, so stay on guard."

Fenrir could hear the raccoon scoff. "Yeah, sure. This guy is totally dangerous. I bet I could fight him with my arms behind my back."

The wolf's eyes narrowed. "Don't be cocky, Rocket. You need to treat this with a serious face. This weasel is a tech dealer. He's probably going to be protected by at least some professionals." He could see Rocket roll his eyes in an annoyed manner.

Rocket sighed. "I can handle this shit. Don't worry your little tail, big guy."

"Is he really this smug?" Fenrir had separated the teams into two units, him and Sam looked over the first 5 floors while Asher and Rocket sweeper the top 5.

They were now going down a carpeted hallway, mostly empty rooms along with the few that actually had mammals. They checked every room, making sure to find the most obvious exits in case the target tried to run.

Sam shrugged as the two made their way to the elevator. "You should be asking Ash. He's the one who knows Rocket the most. I've only talked with him like three times. But I do agree with you, he just has an aura of... smugness."

Fenrir laughed at that as he pushed the up button. "Exactly. The guy wants to be the one ahead of me. Seems too cocky for me." The two remained silent as they entered the waiting elevator.

The radio screeched out in the silence. Fenrir reaches to answer it. "What's the problem?"

He could hear a sense of worry in Asher's voice as he spoke. "We found him on the 8th floor. But you're not going to like this."

Darius Lovell was dead. As dead as any weasel could be. The place was in shatters, furniture everywhere along with specks of blood. The weasels dying face showed he didn't expect his attacker to take him out. Like Victor, he was cut along the stomach, though Asher could see there were smaller marks along the wrists and chest. Possibly as an attempt to defending themselves that failed.

"That's... fucked up." The raccoon looked a lot less bold than he was before. For once, Fenrir could agree with him.

Another lead was lost. The team now stood at yet another murder scene.

Asher put his paws around his face. "We need to look around. Find out why he was killed. Fen, you know what to do."

The wolf nodded. His sense of smell was once one of the best on the force when he was an officer. Now he had to use it to find who killed this mammal.

Digusting as it would be, he had to look over the dead body. He went up to the weasels crumbled body, having a quick sniff. Then he noticed some wrong.

"I don't smell anything." Fenrir sniffed again, confirming the odd scent of nothing.

Asher's eyes looked over the body. "What the hell do you mean, nothing?"

The wolf paced along the small room. "It's not like nothing. It's like... absence of it. Like it was removed."

Asher sighed. There was nothing there. Not even a scent of the murderer. Unless...

"If it's a removed smell, can you still track it?"

Fenrir stood still as he took in Asher's statement. He put his paw to the front of his head. "That sounds impossible. But..."

He went back to the body, letting himself take in the smell, then seeing if it was anywhere else. And it was, a mix of "nothing" and regular smells went out the hallway, right up to a room a few doors away.

Rocket looked surprised. "Didn't think that could work. If was anyone else, they would just think they erase themselves from the scene. But you follow the eraser and..."

They now stood at room 831, protected by a hickory wood door with a lock. Fenrir cracked his knuckles. "Let's get this guy."

Motioning for the team to stack up on the door, he attached a small device to the lock. It made a "ping" sound, then a light went green as the door unlocked. Fenrir grabbed the handle, then thrust it open, aiming his gun into the room.

Inside, the room as sparingly furnished, with a great view of the city in the back. And at that end of the room was a fox. Fenrir could smell that "nothing" smell on him, like an anomaly in a set of code. Like it should not exist. The team breached the room, checking the corners as they moved up towards the Fox.

The fox was wearing a black turtleneck, his arms exposed. Fenrir could see his arms had scars on them, not recent but ones that stood out over years of fighting. The fox turned towards them, dark brown eyes staring back at them.Part of the left side was heavily burned, along with a single scar across his right eye.

The fox grinned. "And here you are. Freelancer."

Fenrirs blood went cold. He could see out of the corner of his eye that both Bowmans had also stiffened but keeping their guns on the fox.

The fox kept his smirk, looking over the approaching group. "The... raccoon was an unexpected variable, but I can manage with that."

Fenrir could the raccoon begin to start up his gun, but Asher told him to stop with a worried look in his eyes. And so the raccoon did not fire but waited for the fox to mess up just so he could waste him.

Fenrir had barely taken another step before the fox glared at him. "Stay still. I'm not finished yet."

Asher sighed before leveling his pistol at the fox. Before he could do anything, it suddenly shattered, gun pieces and glass going everywhere. The coyote yelped as he fell, the shock of the gun exploding forcing him down. Thankfully, the shrapnel did not hit him, leaving his hand hurting. Sam looked back at the fox in anger as she picked Asher up.

The fox's expression remained neutral as he looked over at the two coyotes. "Unfortunately, the next shot will go into his head if you try anything. Including you, raccoon."

Rocket's expression dimmed as he realized what the fox meant and let his weapon dropped with a loud crash.

Fenrir was the only one who had kept his pistol on the fox, and he knew why. He was testing them.

The fox sighed. "I am truly sorry. But I do need your undivided attention. But first, my introduction."

He did a mock bow, before looking back at the team.

"I am Redd Ishi. And this is where your investigation ends."