Chapter Text
The night sky in all its starry glory twinkled down over the massive metropolis that was Zootopia, a land inhabitated by both mammals and now once again reptiles thanks to the efforts of a ragtag quartet consisting of a rabbit and fox cop on the run, a conspiracy loving beaver, and a fiend,y viper just looking to clear his family’s name.
While most of the diurnal mammals had settled down to sleep and the nocturnals had long since woken up to go about their business, a more isolated section of the Rainforest District remained relatively calm save for the distant ambience of chirping insects. Leaves danced quietly in the gentle breeze as artificial rain pattered down.
Though that peace wouldn’t last long as a plane-like object quickly zipped by through the underbrush as the woman in the cockpit laughed to herself.
”Now this is what I’m talking about!”
Ever since the end of all the Andross related chaos, the Great Fox had been repurposed as part of a greater mission to explore neighboring star systems. Two star systems in particular had caught their attention for worlds that contained advanced civilizations and she had practically jumped at the opportunity to finally get the chance to explore the surface much to the annoyance of her two fellow co-pilots of Team Falco, one of the two main freelance mercenary groups which had chosen to provide protective and exploratory assistance to the crew.
Who couldn’t blame her? Two weeks cramped up on the ship while those nerds took care of all their solar mapping stuff was boring. So getting an earful from Fey was gonna be all worth it in the end.
At least she didn’t need any of Slippy’s fancy tech to blend in given that a Cornarien could easily pass off as just another native of this world.
Miyu had honestly been more interested on flying around the city’s different environments moreso than what she’d actually been sent down to do which was to get an Ariel scan of two of the city’s districts using built in sensors on her Arwing, this one and part of the Desert Dunes. An easy enough job but one that would best be done at night as it did help to minimize the risk of being spotted despite the cloaking device she had engaged.
”Dang, this place reminds me of Fortuna a lot. A lot more developed but still provides the thrill of cutting around tight corners.” Oh how it brought her back to her training days. She’d always had a bit of a soft spot for barreling through things at breakneck speeds as her signature Light Arwing was built to do, even if it did get traded off for a lot less defense.
Area 95% Mapped
The map on her HUD flashed a notification that her job here was almost done. Just a small bit before the readout finally hit 100% as Miyu let out a “Let’s go!” in celebration.
All that was left was a small bit just closer to the more heavily populated areas.
”That takes care of the jungle joint. Next stop, north in that heathole Wolf asked me to finish for him.”
With a boot on the petal, she turned her engine around just as her ship jostled. Miyu just assumed it was from her maneuver as she took to the skies out from the foliage and right overheard across Savanna Central towards her intended target, not noticing that one of her wings had snagged a tree just moments before.
“Titania, 12 o’clock” She remarked to herself as the desert region came into view as she prepared to descend. Unlike the previous area which thanks to the foliage allowed her to get a bit closer to the ground, she’d have to be a little more careful here given that this place was a bit more heavily populated than the jungle area she’d been in minutes ago.
Yet strangely, Miyu suddenly found her ship wobbling. Before she could ask about what was going on, a bright red warning message began flashing on her hud.
Warning! Structural damage detected on the left outermost wing. Altitude dropping.
An overlay of her ship flashed the damaged part which while it would need proper repairs when she got back, wasn’t something she couldn’t patch up quickly just to get her out into orbit. The only problem was landing the craft to do so with how quickly she was loosing air.
Regardless of what she did, she was still going to crash into the side of a rather large brown fenced complex that looked much like a prison. Something that was bound to have consequences but as long as she minimized the damage to her craft, she’d be able to get out before anyone noticed.
Pulling on a protective helmet that she had for this very issue, Miyu now had all hands on the landing gear as she braced for impact.
Meanwhile
Tonight was another sleepless night as Pawbert tossed and turned on his cot in his now isolated cell.
It was an understatement to say that his relationship with his family, namely his father, had beyond deteriorated at this point. After all the shame he had brought upon the Lynxley name, causing them to basically loose everything thanks to that dirtbag fox and dumb bunny all in his desire to actually be accepted.
He’d tried apologizing. Showing his father a book on how they could work together. And even listening to his every request like a starry eyed Giselle fan who would do anything to get close to their idol. Yet all it had done was make Milton even more angry, culminating all in the elder Lynxley finally snapping one day during lunch as he was shoved aside.
“It was all because of YOU that we lost everything! You are NO SON of mine and unworthy of ever holding the Lynxley name! I should have gotten rid of you years ago if I knew how much shame to the family.”
A riot had broken out not long after that in which he’d been scratched across the cheek by the feline who he had once looked up to. Milton would be hauled off to solitary after that and he would be transferred to his own cell to recover as several of the prisoner had taken this as their chance to get their fair share of “payback” against his family by taking it out on him.
His entire world had essentially crumbled around him and Pawbert hated it. Why couldn’t he have been like his twin older siblings who were model Lynxkeys? Why did he have to be awkward loser who just had to exist to make everyone else’s life worse?
”Damn you Pawbert… Damn you… You’re a disgrace to your family.” He grumbled as he buried his face into his pillow, taking the uncomfortable frame with his claws as he tried his best to hold back tears. “All thanks to those stupid cops… If only I would have… then maybe…
…
Oh forget it. Daddy still wouldn’t have accepted me. Maybe things would have been better if I had just run away or if I was never born.” His ears pinned down as he looked up from his pillow into the wall. His mind wandered to the few good memories he had, namely about his mother.
Her smile. Her kind eyes.
It was such a shame on how quickly she had left this cruel cruel world.
Perhaps she was somewhere up there in the stars, smiling down upon him as he looked out into the desert night. He still remembered those nights fondly when they’d go out in the manor’s balcony and look up at them. Some mammals even made wishes some that shot across the sky.
Sure it seemed childish now as an adult, but a part of his mind was hoping that something would happen. Something to give him purpose now that his whole life was basically over.
”I wish that… Something could happen. Something to… …give my life meaning now that I’m a nobody.”
And well, there was a rather bright shooting star tonight. One that looked to be getting closer by the second.
Straight for his cell wall.
Crash!
A pile of brick and metal rubble was strewn everywhere where the wall once stood. Some of it still clung loosely as Pawbert slowly pulled himself off the ground and out of a small pile as he let out a cough at the dust, brushing off his bright and now slightly torn orange jumpsuit as he tried to process what in Zootopia had just happened.
He swore he was going crazy but the moonlight streaming in through where what seemed at first to be a bad driver had basically blown a hole right through his cell. Yet the more he looked did he realize that this wasn’t just any normal car.
A jet-like vehicle with blue highlights and a silver body sat with its front end pointing a large way into his room. Yet unlike a normal jet, this one looked more like something out of a comic book or video game. A sleek, futuristic flying machine that only that crackpot beaver would be raving about on her podcast.
And not but moments later did the front hatch raise up. Pawbert froze in shock as the strange vehicle’s pilot got out, removing from what he could make out of their silhouette to be a helmet before they turned to look at him with a pair of blue glowing eyes.
”Hey you! Are you okay there?”
”I um…” He pinned his ears down as he froze with shock as they stepped into the light, revealing what was no doubt another Lynx. A female Lynx. “Suppose.”
His momentary shock quickly wore off as he now had questions.
”Wait. What in Zootopia just happened? Are you trying to break somebody out of here. Because the guards…”
”Can it, Orange. Now’s not the time for asking questions.” Miyu quickly shut him down as she quickly got to work looking her ship’s damage.
”But you just crashed into the middle of my cell…”
”Shh…” She motioned a gloved hand as Pawbert quietly nodded, not really wanting to provoke this stranger who might just be a chance to get out of here.
After a few seconds of staring, she eventually turned to face him with a serious look.
”The good news is that it will still fly. Bad news is that I’m gonna need your help here.”
”Okaaaaayyy.” Pawbert nervously tapped his claws together as Miyu directed him to grab her repair kit from beneath her seat. It took a moment but Pawbert quickly handed it to her as she swiftly got to work on her hack job repair work.
”I’m gonna need some metal to stabilize the frame. Can you hand me those bars?” She mumbled as Pawbert stumbled over the rubble. He could already hear the distant sounds of footsteps as the prison’s alarm systems were starting to go off.
”Miss… I think you need to work a bit faster. The guards are coming.” He was starting to sweat as he shifted his feet at the thought of what would occur if they found him like this. Surely a longer sentence and some time in solitary were in the books which he wasn’t looking forward to.
“Almost there….. Annnd BINGO!” Miyu beamed as she finished her wielding. Sure it wasn’t the best job but at least the Arwing would now fly. Just in time too as the sounds of stomping hoofs signaled that it was time she made her leave.
But not before she did one final thing
”I guess this means you’re leaving then. I-I know we don’t even know each other but would you maybe consider…”
”Come on, Orange. Get in. We don’t have much time!”
Pawbert was at a loss for words as she motioned for him to follow with a worried look in her eyes. This had to be some sort of joke. Right?
“Wait are you sure?”
”Yes I’m not pulling your tail. We need to get out of here.” After all, he’d already seen too much as it was and plans for First Contact were still much later down the line which she didn’t want to risk getting into deeper trouble than she already likely was with bringing what was no doubt a convict with her. Sure she didn’t know him either but she could sense a bit of a good heart in him that she was willing to trust him. “Look, I don’t know what you’re in for but I need you to trust me. I promise that I won’t judge you and that where we’re going is leagues better than this dump.”
She held out a gloved paw as Pawbert hesitated for just a moment before the guards entered their view. Seeing Pawbert and this strange Lynx woman caused them to shout as she quickly seized him and shoved him behind her seat.
”ZPD FREEZE!”
”Sorry. No-can-do buckaroo.” Miyu simply smirked as she lowered the hatch just as one of the guards tried to fire a dart at them. The projectile simply broke its tip as the Arwing simply backed out of its crash spot and turned its attention to the stars, vanishing in a flash.
All that was left behind was a broken wall and a herd of confused ZPD Officers left to wonder just what on earth they had just witnessed. An elaborate escape attempt or some close encounter with the zoo-kind abducting a high risk prisoner for whatever purpose.
”Well this is going to be a mess to explain to Chief Bogo.”