Foreword: If you haven't read the prequel, I highly suggest it. You can probably get through this chapter, but a lot of the elements won't make any sense. You can find it under my works, since I can't link it here. New cover art courtesy of Bosstwin, thanks for that! In addition, the title is subject to change; this is the best I could come up with. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them.

However, if you don't want to deal with 300k words of novice writing, or if you want to brush up, I'm going to include a complete plot synopsis at the bottom of this chapter. There's also a character glossary at the bottom.

Sahara Square
Two Months Later
Noon

A leopardess was sitting along with an arctic wolf on a bench, just before the dunes; both in police uniform, they were panting from the heat. The officers were on their lunch break, but only the wolf found any will to eat, and even then it was in the form of lapping at a small block of plain ice on a stick, purchased from a street vendor.
"It's hot as hell," the wolf piped up, hiding in the shade, which did little to help. "Say, Leora, how much do you think the city spends in heating every year?"
"Too much," the leopardess responded, fanning herself with her paws.
"I swear, Bogo sent us here, me especially, just because he enjoys seeing us roast."
"Rufus, your conspiracy theories aren't anywhere near up to par."
"Why do you think we're not on SWAT anymore?"
"To keep us safe." Leora leaned back and closed her eyes. "But hey, I can't complain. Pay's still good."
"Not that any of us need it," Rufus grumbled.
"But you haven't quit yet."
"What would my wife think if I just straight up quit? She still thinks it's strange that I got such a large bonus. She suspects I'm a thief."
"Speaking of your wife, how come none of us have met her?"
"You never go to Tundratown. She also doesn't go out much."
"Sole moneymaker?"
"No, my pup works a job at Pawson and Jace."
"Whoa, hold up. Just how old are you that your pup works?"
"Forty-five."
"How young were you when you—"
"Alright, unpaid internship. He's turning twenty in April. It'll be a real job soon enough."
Leora stifled a laugh.
"Oh yeah? What about your boyfriend?"
"You mean Garrett?"
"Rumor on the street is that he straight up ditched you."
"He didn't ditch me, he went on a 'business trip'."
"To where?"
"Around the world."
"Sounds like a vacation to me."
"He's looking for more of his kind. If he made it, there's a decent chance more did, too."
"Why didn't you come along?"
"He said it would be cold. Of course, I reminded him that I work in Tundratown, but he promised it would be colder."
"I could sure as hell go for some cold right now."
"Speaking of cold, that ice pop looks pretty good."
"It's flavorless."
"Yeah, but it sure beats a hundred degree weather. I think I'm gonna go get one, too."

The leopardess stood and walked across the road to the vendor, fishing out several bucks from her wallet. As she waited in line, she heard Rufus call out to her.
"Get me another one, please!" he shouted. She retrieved several bucks more.
Before long, she made her purchase, and returned to her partner's side. As they sat, licking their treats, she saw a coyote double over and vomit.
"Oh, great," Rufus remarked. "I just wanted half an hour—"
"Come on, we have to help." She walked up to the heaving canine and bent over to look him in the eyes. "Everything alright?"
He only breathed heavily in response. A crowd quickly began to form around her.
"Alright, give us some room," she shouted, turning back to the coyote; the predator was now on all fours, growling. "Uh, Rufus?"
"What's wrong?"
"You brought your—"
Before Leora could finish the sentiment, she felt a sharp pain in her neck. She grabbed at it with her paw, before looking to see a smidgen of blue liquid on her pad. She immediately began to feel nauseous and weak.
"Rufus!" she shouted, stumbling. "It's the shooter! Clear the area! Get me—"
The coyote pounced, pinning her to the ground; Leora's partner socked her attacker in the jaw, before dragging her to cover. He quickly administered his Night Howler field antidote before radioing for backup.

Leora slowly got back up, carefully sticking to cover. Blue began staining the sand as more mammals fell ill. She quickly tranquilized anyone that was hit to remove the threat of a surprise attack. She slung one over her shoulder and took a second in her arms before making a break for safer ground. A pellet whizzed by her head, grazing her ear, before splashing onto the building beside her. She had heard the sniper's aim was good, but this was unreal.

She entered the first shop she could find, and dropped them both into chairs before running back out. She took another two mammals, running for the same shop. This time, a second pellet hit her in the arm. She fell over and felt a horrible pain growing in her stomach; she nearly passed out, but barely managed to jab herself with her own antidote.

Police cruisers began pulling up, but the officers couldn't run into the clock tower without risking themselves. Instead, they ran along cover to take the hostages from her and to safety. She waited for a gap in the shooting and once more made for the trapped victims. She continued to ferry them, carefully timing the shots. However, on the last mammal, he caught a third pellet in her neck. At this point, the pain in her abdomen was excruciating.

Despite having two vials of antidote flowing through her veins, she only felt more dizzy, and doubled over. From the corner of her eye, she saw Rufus run up to her, before dragging her to cover. Her consciousness slowly faded, and the world went black.

Siberia
Three Days Later

Kai trudged along the frozen tundra; the wind bit him in the face, while the snow made it impossible to see. He turned over his shoulder to see that his pilot had managed to land without crashing the jet. Regardless, he continued.

He stopped before a tall rock face, and sized it up and down. Satisfied, he walked along it until he came to a door.
"Still here," he radioed.
"Alright, want me to come with?" his pilot responded.
"Nah, I'm not too hopeful about this one."
Kai threw the vault-like door open, and entered. The inside was pitch black, and even he had a hard time seeing. The extreme cold provided nearly no infrared light for his eyes to catch, but also indicated that the heating had long-since died. Regardless, he turned on his flashlight and continued down.

The stairs weren't nearly as extensive as his own bunker; he knew for a long time that other shelters had nowhere near as much funding. Eventually, he reached the bottom. There was still no light, and although the temperature had dropped by another ten degrees, it felt warmer, as the howling winds could not reach that deep.

He searched the depths of the complex; the first room he entered appeared to be the original food store, although it had been picked clean. The next few rooms were nearly barren, and he guessed that they were once bedrooms, evidenced by four scuff marks where a bed would have been. He continued along the narrow corridor, checking every room, but still found nothing.

At the end of the hall, he entered a large room. In the center, he found an enormous pile of ash, along with several unburned articles of clothing and a few intact beds. Surrounding the pile, huddled and leaning on each other, were twenty somewhat rotten corpses. He inspected them; flat faces, thirty-two teeth in most of them. Humans. Among them, two children; one of them was firmly clutching a rather torn teddy bear. He shook his head in sadness, before sitting down. Given the extreme cold and their very minimal decay, he estimated that he was six hundred years too late.

He slammed his fist into the ground, shattering a ceramic tile. Despite the fact that there was nothing that could be done, he felt a sense of shame and disgrace. Their predicament indirectly stemmed from his actions, and he felt responsible for their downfall as well. He arranged them in a single row and draped the last of the unburned sheets over them, giving a moment of silence as he looked to the ground.

Eventually, he began scouring the bunker for anything. He perused the last scraps in several nearly empty rooms before finding a console. It was unpowered, but a small module lay atop the keyboard, along with a written note:
This is the logbook for the past thousand some-odd years. I already know that we aren't going to make it, but I can't have the others lose hope. I suppose we'll burn the furniture to cook the last of our rations. Perhaps I should have left when that visitor offered, but it's to late for that, now. There's not enough food, either way. As for the log, I couldn't export it without encrypting it, so I left the cipher on the backside of this note.
Kai thought it was suspicious that the bunker would have visitors, but nonetheless pocketed the module, continuing his search. Finding nothing else of value, he returned to the surface and called his pilot.
"Not this one either, although I did find a logbook."
"What's it say?"
"It's encrypted, I'll have to decode it back home. Could be promising, though. Mentions visitors."
"Alright. How many more places do you want to check?"
"There are still forty or so bunkers left."
"Alright, you know where the jet is."
He hung up and returned to the plane. The rear door opened to reveal a young tiger in a flight suit.
"Ready, sir?"
"No, I want to sit in this frozen wasteland for a few more hours," he responded sarcastically.
"You do realize I'm only here because I want to be."
Kai sighed, entering and closing the door.
"Forgive me. We've already checked out around eighty percent of the places that humans could be, and so far, absolutely nothing."
"Lighten up. I'm sure if you made it, at least a hundred more could have."
"Could have is the key word. Let's go touch down in Mongolia."
"Right away."

The multimillion dollar VTOL jet and its pilot were a gift from Arcturus; once Kai announced his 'business trip' to find if any more humans survived, the entire Court stumbled over itself to assist him. Granted, finding more humans was a very long shot, but if there was a chance, he had to take it. He knew where the bunkers were, but not whether any of their inhabitants had made it. Although he wanted to take Leora with him, the regions were much too remote and barren, often dragging through the freezing wastelands of the North.

Kai looked out the window, and saw the spotted lakes of Northeastern Russia. As most things, the spots reminded him of Leora; he hadn't seen her in nearly a month. It took a lot of convincing for her to stay behind. More deception than convincing, as he practically left without her while Sirius had her distracted. She called every night save for the last three, but he felt she still hadn't forgiven him for his trickery. He found it strange that she stopped calling so suddenly; something was off.

He pulled his phone out and dialed her. It rang six times before going to her voicemail. He dialed again; this time, it was answered after four rings, by a male with a scratchy voice.
"Sorry, the patient isn't with their phone."
"Patient?" Kai inquired. "What happened?"
"I can't say, I only work in deposition. You know, you're lucky I was passing by, usually this stuff is—"
"What hospital?"
"Zootopia University Hospital."
Kai hung up without another word, dialing Sirius instead.
"Yeah?" Sirius spoke.
"How is my favorite wolf?"
"Favorite? Really?"
"Yeah, it might not stay that way unless you tell me why Leora's in the hospital."
Sirius was quiet for a very long time.
"The Court asked me not to tell you."
"And you listened to them?"
"Look, we have a big problem. There's a serial killer, calls herself the 'Night Howler Killer'."
"Herself?"
"She's a doe. Is that bad?"
"Nearly all serial killers are male. It's highly unusual."
"Well, Leora and this shooter just so happened to be in the same place at the same time."
"If Leora's cut up, I don't even know what I'll do."
"No, nothing like that; no, this killer uses a pellet rifle. Very concentrated Night Howler toxin."
"How concentrated?"
"Well, a hundred and seventy are dead, if it's any indication."
"You managed to dodge the question."
"Alright, it makes mammals drop. They bite if anyone comes close, but other than that, they can't move."
"And the treatment?"
"Other than the regular anti-toxin, none."
"And Leora—"
"I don't know. All I know is that she was hit while trying to evacuate the area."
"God forbid she suffered permanent damage."
"I hope not. Listen, I need to go, we still have to catch this killer."
"You mean the Court didn't hire her to begin with?"
"No."
"I guess I'll have to sort this mess out."
"You're… coming back?"
"Yes. Oh, and one last request?"
"I'm listening."
"Don't tell anyone that I'm on my way."
"I—"
Kai hung up again, before walking to his pilot.
"Change of plans," he spoke. "Take us back to Zootopia."
"Sir?"
"Pressing matters call my attention."
"Only if you say so. ETA four and a half hours."
"This is a supersonic jet, easily mach three."
"There are laws governing air speed."
"If the standard avoidance procedure on this jet is to speed up and outrun the missiles, I'm sure no one can stop us. Be there in two hours."
"… Yes, sir."

Zootopia
University Hospital
Three Hours Later

Kai entered the room given to him by the front desk; inside, he found Rufus sitting in a chair by Leora's bed. His arms were bandaged, but aside from a few pads of gauze, he seemed alright. She was asleep, and had dozens of tubes and wires connected to her.
"Rufus, what a pleasant surprise."
"Ah, if it isn't our mutual friend. You look different."
"I change the disguise regularly. What are you doing here?"
"I haven't spoken to her since she went out," Rufus responded, eyeing him suspiciously. "Where have you been?"
"She must have told you. Traveling the most barren corners of creation."
"What?"
"Looking for more of my kind. How is she?" He pointed to Leora.
"Alive, barely. She's a hero."
"She always was one."
"No, you misunderstand me. Pellets sailing through the air, sand stained blue, and yet she still runs back and forth to evacuate civilians. Took three shots before she was downed." Rufus produced a smirk and a sad chuckle. "Granted, she had two shots of the anti-toxin, but still. You know, she took a sizable chunk out of my arms when I tried to drag her away."
"What's the outlook?"
The wolf stared at him momentarily before closing his eyes and shaking his head.
"They say she needs a new liver, and even I know that leopard livers are far and few."
"You should go home. There's not much you can do for her."
"I have a few words that I want to say to her."
"And you can say them tomorrow, when she's all better. Do me a favor and fetch a doctor on your way out."
"You're not gonna… Prance her, are you?"
"No, nothing like that."
Rufus stood slowly and left. Several minutes later, a leopard in a white uniform stepped in.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Hu. You asked to speak with me?"
"What's the prognosis?"
"We put her on the transplant list, but it's a long list."
"How long can she go without one?"
"Well, liver dialysis can keep her alive for several months while she waits."
"You don't have to lie to me."
"I… A week, perhaps."
Kai scoffed.
"Some anti-toxin."
"It only enables the liver to clear out the Night Howlers, it doesn't do much on its own. Seeing how her liver is shutting down…"
"How long is the transplant list?"
"Three hundred, give or take, but she's at the bottom, and there are practically no feline livers to go around."
"Would another liver do?"
"That's—no, they're practically incompatible."
"Tell me the specifics of a leopardess' liver."
"Well, the liver clears out—"
"I know what a liver is, tell me about hers. Input and output volumes per minute, what vessels lead to it, and so on."
"I wouldn't have that information on paw, but most larger feline livers can process about a liter and a half per minute. The veins and arteries are pretty standard between most mammals. Why do you ask?"
"How fast can you prep an operating room?"
"What for?"
"I can get her a liver."
"Wolf livers are incompatible with—"
"I know that. No, a proper liver. All you have to do is make sure that there's a supply of renal painkillers, like Rofecoxib."
"Rofecoxib was pulled from the market years ago due to the risk of heart attack; you don't use drugs, do you?"
"No; I can save her."
"I can't consent to black market organs."
"I'm sure you read medical journals. Let me know if this sounds familiar: antelope, twenty-three, hypothermia; spent an hour in a river in Tundratown, but he made a miraculous recovery; minor nerve damage in his leg, but otherwise alright?"
The doctor began to snap his fingers.
"In… Insa, was it?"
"Prance Insa, yes. That was my doing."
"What proof do I have of that?"
"I can give every detail of the procedure, but I don't want to bore you. If you can get her into an operating room, I'll do the surgery myself."
The doctor stared blankly at the floor, deep in thought.
"You can take the credit as her attending," Kai offered.
"It would be unethical for me to allow the surgery at all."
"And I'm sure ethics are your biggest concern."
"Are you insinuating something?"
"How about this." Kai fished in his coat and threw a stack of bills onto the nearby table. "A hundred thousand in unmarked, non-sequential bills."
"I should call the police."
"But you won't. A hundred thousand is a lot of money, and the fame of performing the impossible transplant is far too much to pass up."
The doctor deliberated.
"Two hundred thousand."
Kai withdrew another stack of bills and tossed them to the doctor.
"I'm glad we could do business. Get that room prepped, I'll be back in twenty minutes."

Two Hours Later

Leora opened her eyes. She felt a horrible pain in her abdomen, as well as in her head.
"How are you holding up?" she heard from behind her.
"Not well," she muttered, clutching at her temples.
"I have good news and bad news."
"Can't be as bad as liver failure," she quipped.
"The good news is that you won't be poisoned again."
"I already knew that. Garrett, is that you?" She turned to face him. "Why didn't you say you were here?"
"The bad news is also that you won't be poisoned again."
"Cryptic as usual. Come on, give me a hug." She pulled him close. "Now, what did you mean by that?"
"Nearly every medication, alcohol, narcotics, and most organic compounds are processed by the liver. You just got a new one. A very good one."
"You donated?"
"Yes and no. It's not my liver, but it's nearly identical. I should offer my congratulations, you're the first non-human mammal recipient of an artificial liver, ever."
"Lucky me."
"Anyways, I imagine you're in a lot of pain right now. I had them give you a medication called Rofecoxib because it's processed by the kidneys."
"I assume I can't have any medications processed by the liver because of the transplant?"
"No, they just won't work. Watch."
Kai took one of two needles from the table and put it through her IV line. She felt a brief sense of lethargy which subsided after a couple of minutes.
"What was that?"
"Ten milligrams of sodium cyanide."
"Why would you poison me?"
"Just to prove a point. You're un-poisonable."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"Well…"
He took the second needle and injected its contents as well. This one induced a sense of relief, which also quickly subsided.
"And that one?"
"Morphine."
"The painkiller?"
"Yep. That's why we have you on the other med, since anything that goes through your liver will do so very fast."
"So alcohol…"
"You'll win any drinking contest." He pondered for a moment. "Well, maybe not against me."
She smiled, before leaning back.
"Wanna lie down with me? I could go for some cuddling."
"I'm not sure that bed can support the both of us."
"I'm sure if these beds can carry obese elephants they can carry the both of us, too." She began pulling down on his arm. "Come on, they say cuddling is the best medicine."
"I'm pretty sure it's laughter." He sat on the edge of the bed, before lying down alongside her a minute later.
"Didn't break yet."
"You're awfully cheerful for someone that just went through surgery with only mild painkillers."
"My jaw hurts more than my abdomen."
"Well, you did bite the hell out of Rufus' arms."
"I thought that was a dream."
"Nope; he was here, told me all about it. I had him leave so I could bribe the doctor to let me do the surgery."
"What the cops don't know won't hurt them, eh?"
"Something like that."
She turned over and clung to him.
"So, any news on the serial killer?"
"Still at large."
"Damn, I thought for sure we had her." She sighed, wincing. "What were you up to on your trip?"
"I checked a lot of bunkers. Anything on the maps that I had."
"I take it that you didn't find anything?"
"A lot of bones, but I did get a logbook. It might be an interesting read, at the least."
"What'll it tell you?"
"Births, deaths, food stores, any possible visitors."
"Visitors?"
"The text on the note was a little strange in that regard. I'll have to decode the log if I want to learn any more."
There was a peaceful silence as he stared at the ceiling fan.
"I hope you didn't forget that Chief Bogo still owes me a month of paid vacation time."
"I'll see if he can stretch it to three."
"I doubt he'll give it, even to you."
"I have been known to be very persuasive."
She nuzzled up to him a little closer.
"So, what are you planning?" she asked.
"For starters, I promised to take you to Tokyo. After that, I guess we'll see."
"I really enjoyed the mountains."
"You weren't cold?"
"Freezing, but now that you made me a good pair of winter boots, I think I'll be a little better."
"I'll start planning a route."
"Oh, and if there are any more hideouts along the way, could we stop by?"
"I don't see why not. Why, though?"
"I wanna be a part of history. I'm sure we'll find at least one survivor."
"Except we can never tell, even if we do find anyone."
"All that matters is that I know." She clutched at her abdomen, shifting uncomfortably. "Any chance you can get me a drip of morphine?"
"I'll see what I can do."
He stood and went to the door, but it was opened before he could reach the handle. He nearly ran into a doe, staring at a clipboard and muttering obscenities.
"The one patient I ordered not to have surgery, and…" The doe looked up. "Can I help you?"
"Oh look, a doe. Leora this wouldn't happen to be—"
"Can I help you?" the doe reiterated, annoyed.
"Patient requests a morphine drip."
"Absolutely not. You're not a doctor, and she's suffering liver failure. Please leave before I call security."
"Technically, you're not a medical doctor either."
She pointed to her badge.
"Well, I'll be damned," he continued. "They let the university regent practice medicine in her own hospital."
"I have a medical degree. I'm calling security."
"You know, it's almost nine. I'm pretty sure you have somewhere to be, Rigel."
The blood slowly drained from her face.
"I'm not headlights," he remarked. "You can stop staring."
She shook her head.
"No. Why are you here?"
He held the door open.
"Get a morphine drip, and come on in. Don't make any phone calls."
"Or what?"
"The good Leora is in pain; please, fetch the morphine. A thousand milligrams on an IV drip."
"A thousand? What, is she an addict that doesn't need a liver?"
"What do you think she was in surgery for?"
"Leonard didn't say."
"Artificial liver. Get her the morphine."
Rigel rolled her eyes, but left. She returned with an IV bag and attached it to Leora's line.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
"She hasn't answered her phone for three days. I had to call Sirius for an explanation."
"Any results from your trip?"
"Only a lot of corpses. Of course, I still have a few places to check out. Maybe I'll grab Leora this time. I clearly can't trust you with her well-being."
"Which reminds me, why didn't you let me come along the first time?" Leora inquired.
"I know you hate hiking, the cold, and hiking in the cold. The average temperature was forty below. Hundred meter drops, snowstorms… I wanted to make sure you were safe."
She shrugged.
"What's life without living a little, right?"
"I suppose there are only a couple more arctic bases. After that, it's mostly temperate."
"You also still owe me a trip to Edo."
"Alright. First, you have to get better, and I have to help these idiots get rid of their problem." He pointed a thumb over his shoulder to Rigel. "Anyways, Rigel, have someone monitor her. Replace the morphine whenever it runs dry. Let's go have ourselves a meeting."
"Actually," Leora muttered, sitting up. "Can I come along, too?"
"No," Rigel scolded. "Bed rest."
"Now now, she wants to come along," Kai began. "Liver failure was the only problem, right?"
Rigel checked the chart.
"Yes. Why?"
"No unbroken bones that I need to worry about?"
"We didn't check, but we highly doubt there would be any."
"Great." He withdrew a red vial. "And I started to think that I packed this for no reason."
"You were hiding that, and you hadn't used it yet? You just love ruining my day, don't you?" Rigel accused. "Now I have to deal with looking like an idiot in front everyone."
"Hey, she didn't ask until now. Besides, you can take the credit; I don't care. Get us a car, and don't tell anyone; I enjoy fun surprises."

Court Lodge

Kai walked up the hill, holding Leora's arm. She was given a cane until the pain improved, and was supporting the majority of her weight on it.
"You really love a dramatic entrance, huh?" she asked, stopping to rest. He picked her up and carried her up the hill in his arms.
"I would hardly call this dramatic."
They reached the entrance; inside, Rigel was conversing with the concierge. They both paused to stare at him as he walked past, but otherwise didn't react. He threw open the second set of doors and entered the chambers.
"Well, well, well!" he shouted, proudly marching down the steps.
"Who are you?" someone inquired, getting in his way.
"You can't be here," someone else insisted, stopping him.
"Oh, calm yourselves, Aldebaran, Fomalhaut. I'm here on business." He carefully pushed them out of the way and proceeded to the stage. On the way down, he pulled a chair to the statue of Atlas, and sat Leora down. All eyes were on him. "Now, down to business. I understand you have a problem with a serial killer."
He stood and began slowly walking circles around the stage.
"When did this shooter first appear?"
No answer.
"Come on, I'm sure someone knows the answer."
Still no answer.
"Well, let's start with what we know. A doe with good sharpshooting skills takes down a hundred and seventy and can't get caught. Why?"
"Who is this, why do we have to put up with him?!" someone shouted angrily.
"No one spoil it," Kai spoke. "It makes it more fun for me that way. Sirius, my favorite wolf, care to give me my answers?"
"Every time someone gets up to her sniping nest," Sirius piped up, chuckling, "They find a rifle on a mechanically controlled tripod."
"So if you've confiscated six or seven rifles, and no one ever sees her, how do they know it's a doe?"
"Someone saw her fleeing the scene of the shooting several minutes before any actual shooting started; exact same room and everything."
"One sighting from an idiot and you think you know her identity?"
"I was the one who sighted her," someone yelled from the crowd.
"Exactly, an idiot. Now, has there been any pattern to the shootings?"
"No," Sirius responded, cutting off the insulted, angry mammal. "None that we can see."
"Get me a map of the city, and mark off every building that the killer shot from in order. If the buildings are conventionally numbered in any way, get me a list. Alphabetical, order of construction, the whole lot. I'll be in my room."
He helped Leora up, and walked out.
"So, that wasn't dramatic? Why not tell them who you are, I'm sure it'll expedite the process."
"It's much, much more fun this way."
He rounded the corner and went up the stairs.
"You have a room here?"
"Of course." He reached the second door, before swiftly picking the lock and tossing the door open. The inside of the room was overturned. "Ah, just like I left it."
He laid her on the bed, before going about cleaning.
"You left it like this?"
"Technically, no. I'm fairly certain they searched it for anything they could find when Jack tried to kill me." Satisfied with the state of the room, he also jumped on the bed. "In any case, I reckon we have half an hour until I get what I asked for. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, but what's the plan to nab the shooter?"
"We'll just find the next location, and we'll wait for her to show up."
"How can you possibly know that?"
"Well, the rifle setup means she's either very knowledgeable, or that she has a big sponsor. There's a pattern, we just don't see it yet."
"Sponsor?"
"Something tells me that someone in the Court is lying about their position in the matter."
"What makes you say that?"
"No one is this successful at mass murder, spitting in the face of this many mammals that collectively own the city."
"You did just fine."
"I'm special."
She rolled her eyes and pulled him down, hugging him tightly.
"You said we had half an hour?"
"You should still get some rest. That is, if you want to leave for Edo."
"Oh, you."
There was a knock on the door.
"At least you guys knock," Kai shouted. "Who is it?"
"Your 'favorite wolf' and guest," he heard from beyond the door.
Kai opened the door and let Sirius and Grace in.
"Here's the list and the map." Sirius handed the documents over. "Did you lose the eyepatch?"
"No, it's just invisible."
"Really?"
"Of course not." Kai Looked over the map, and then the list. "An odd ordering."
"What is?" Sirius asked, leaning in.
"One of these lists has buildings by birth year of architect, and then by last name, and then first name."
"Who the hell orders by that?"
"Who gave you this list?"
"Alioth, why?"
"Keep an eye on him until I nab the killer; very suspicious." He took another look at documents. "She'll hit Rainbow Falls in Rainforest District."
"How can you tell?"
"The buildings she already hit, ordered by the aforementioned list, all point to a default Mersenne sequence. Modulo the number of buildings in the city, and skipping the purely residential sectors, the random seed is two thousand and ten."
"How the fuck did you find that out?"
"I'm trained to see patterns. Like a monkey. Or someone who's trained to see patterns. Either way, I know where she'll be next, so all I have to do is show up."
"Do you know when?"
"Well, presumably sometime in the future."
"So you'll just sit and wait for however long it takes?"
"Something like that, yeah, but you won't have the luxury of sitting still. Get me a list of every doe in the city, breeding age plus eight, with an annual income less than sixty thousand a year."
"Why?"
"A suspicion. We suspect she's a doe; two thousand and ten must be an important date, perhaps the birth of a child. Granted, I could be wrong, but this is the most likely pattern through the killing. Can you get me the list?"
"Yeah, sure. Now, before you go running off to save the city again, do you think you could… You know…" He smiled and leaned his head forward, ever so slightly.
"I'll one up that." Kai went rummaging through the desk. "Now, I thought I saw… Ah, here it is."
He retrieved a nearly empty jar of peanut butter and threw it to Sirius.
"What's this?"
"A gift."
"Yeah, but what is it?"
"If you could read labels, you would know that it's peanut butter."
"And?"
"Authentic human peanut butter."
Sirius eyed the jar crazily, threw the lid off, and began licking the delicious substance from the walls.
"What happened to the rest of it?" Sirius inquired, between laps.
"What do people usually do with food? Anyways, want me to get you another jar?"
"I'd love one." He began licking the peanut butter off of the bottom. When he pulled away for a breath, Kai grabbed the end of the wolf's tongue and pulled down; Sirius struggled momentarily, before eventually giving up and sitting still.
"Pace yourself, you're slobbering all over my floor." He paused momentarily, narrowing his brow. "Since when is your tongue this long?"
"Why would it not be? I'm a normal wolf," he responded, nearly incomprehensibly.
"Yeah, but when you ate jerky from my hand and licked it clean…"
Grace and Leora slowly stared to Sirius, who produced an embarrassed grin, tongue still held out.
"I must say," Kai continued, letting go of the wolf's tongue. "Grace is a lucky gal."
Everyone laughed except for Sirius.
"Why's that?" he inquired.
They stared at him again.
"Ask her sometime," Leora piped up, dragging Kai out. "You have your leads, wanna go?"
"Hold the phone. You're staying right here."
"Aw, come on! Why?"
"You just had surgery not six hours ago. In any case, this is a job for a sniper."
"You're getting Neal?"
"Of course. Inform Regulus that I'll be borrowing him. Also, keep an eye on Alioth."
"Who, and who?"
"Sirius should be able to show you. Regulus is the black vixen, and I think Alioth was a rodent of some kind. A vole, maybe. Recently inducted, for sure."
"So what do you want me to do?"
"Make sure he doesn't disappear." Kai gave a half-hearted salute and nearly left, but stopped in his tracks. He withdrew a small PDA and gave it to Leora.
"What's this?"
"If the log gets decrypted before I get back, it might be good reading."

Tundratown
9 AM

Neal was drinking coffee and reading the paper when he heard a knock on the door. He stood, finished his coffee, and opened the door.
"Neal, how do you do?" inquired the white wolf who stood there.
"I'm sorry, I'm drawing a blank here."
"It's Garrett; I changed the look again. I have a job for you."
"A job, this should be good." Neal rubbed his paws together excitedly. "What kind?"
Kai retrieved a silenced sniper rifle from under his coat and assembled it, handing it to the fox.
"I need a sniper."
"I…" Neal held the rifle carefully. "I haven't done this in months."
"I thought you went back to do police work."
"Mostly paperwork. They wouldn't even dream of letting me near one of these things."
"Why not?"
"They're suspicious I'll go crazy and shoot someone, or that I won't be able to make my shots after the coma I was in. The story changes every week."
"You're the best sniper they've got, they can't afford to lose you."
"Messiest writer, too. Not that it makes a difference. Statistically speaking, tigers make better cops in every regard."
"Maybe after this, I'll put in a good word with Bogo."
"Well, paperwork is easy, and I still get SWAT pay."
"But you don't enjoy it, do you?"
Neal didn't answer, instead walking back to the kitchen to pour himself more coffee.
"Sometimes, it isn't about me. It's what the city needs."
"You could hit an owl from five miles with a railgun, who else has that under their belt?"
Neal smirked, staring at his coffee.
"It wasn't an owl."
"Your distance from dead center was no larger than one."
"It was a lucky shot."
"You humble yourself far too much. Your skill is the reason I'm asking. Were it not for you, I would have borrowed a military sniper instead."
"Military? I'm sure SWAT has a few that would be up for the challenge." He paused for a minute. "What is this challenge, exactly?"
"We, my friend, are going to catch a serial killer."
"Bogo's already tried. I would know, I had to fill out the paperwork."
"Bogo doesn't know that she'll strike in Rainforest District next."
"How do you know?"
"I analyzed the pattern of her shootings. I don't know when, but I know exactly where. Rainbow Falls Observatory Deck."
"It hasn't had any public entry for almost a decade."
"Are you up for it? There's a million bucks if you say yes."
"A million?" He looked over the rifle again. "What's the chance that I'll get hurt?"
"Basically none. Come on, if we're fast enough, we might catch her before she gets there."
"Alright, give me a second to change. Hold this." He handed the rifle, before going into the other room.
Kai waited in the doorway; very shortly after, Neal returned, wearing a shorts and a tee-shirt.
"You're dressed for the part, but where are you going to keep the rifle?"
"Oh, right. Can you hold on to it?"
Kai rolled his eyes.
"Let's go."
He exited and the fox followed. They exited into the frigid air, with bearing for Rainforest District.
"Aren't you cold?" Kai inquired.
"Not particularly. Why?"
"Only if you say so."

They took the train two stops over, before reaching a large lake at the base of a waterfall. At the top, a tower overlooked the surrounding scenery. A spray of mist and a rainbow obscured the base of the building. They walked around to the road leading up the observatory. There was a barricade, and a sign that read 'No Entry' blocking the path.
"Now what?" Neal inquired.
"We go in, of course." Kai lifted Neal over the barricade, and himself hopped over. Once they were out of sight, he gave the fox the rifle and an earpiece. "Now, pick a vantage point. I doubt you'll need to shoot, but there's always a chance."
"What's the plan?"
"I'll wait for her to show up. Have a little chat. If she tries to leave before I give the okay, take the shot."
"You do realize this is a real rifle, right?"
"Yes, and this doe has killed over a hundred and eighty. Man up."
"I take it that means 'just do it'?"
"Yep. Go on, find your hiding place."
The fox began scaling the wall adjacent, before disappearing into the foliage.
"Mic check," he radioed.
"Heard," Kai responded.
"Roger."
Kai entered the observatory and climbed the stairs to the top floor. He reached a table near the balcony, and pulled a box of blueberries from his pack, setting them down. He kicked his legs up onto the table, leaned back, and waited.

Nearly three hours later, just past noon, his radio buzzed to life.
"Doe on approach, appears middle-aged, carrying several bags."
"That's her. Let her come up."
Kai withdrew his phone and placed a phone call.
"Sirius, I need you to relay to the rest of the Court that I have the shooter. She is under my custody. Have everyone else call off their efforts."
"Are you gonna kill her?" Sirius responded.
"No, we'll just talk. I'll even let her go."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll tell everyone else, then."
He hung up and waited. Another ten minutes passed before the stairwell door opened. The doe made it several steps in, set the bags on a table, and began unpacking, paying him no mind. She withdrew a pellet rifle and loaded it, before finally looking up. She panicked and shot at him, falling on the floor.
"Well, that was rude," he spoke, wiping the blue stain from his neck.
"How are you not…"
"I'm immune. However, your little stunt clears any suspicions as to your identity."
She immediately scrambled for the door.
"Neal, shoot the door," Kai radioed. Not a moment later, the center of the door splintered. The doe screamed and fell back to the floor. "Now, I have no interest in killing you. I merely want to talk. Come, sit. I brought blueberries."
She looked up to see him tossing a berry in his mouth. She stood and slowly walked, eyeing him, before taking a seat at the table.
"Let's see… How about we start with introductions? I am Kai."
The doe was reluctant to answer.
"I already know your name, I was just being polite. What would you like to be called?"
"Ida is fine."
"Alright, Ida. You're thirty-five years old, sixty thousand bucks a year as a nurse… but you still do this. It's obvious from your reaction when you saw me that you aren't mentally ill, so I'd guess that someone is paying you. Perhaps you needed the money to take care of your fawn. Eight years old, was it?"
"You don't know me."
"I wasn't wrong, was I? Someone is paying you to do this. Who?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Tell me."
"And if I don't?" She eyed the balcony.
"You could jump the balcony, but you'd splatter on the rocks below. That's a rough fall, even I might have a hard time landing it. You could make for the door, but my sniper will put a hole through you before you made it halfway." He stood and began pacing around her. "Besides, I have an incentive for you."
He pulled two vials from his pack and set them on the table.
"And these are?"
"According to the medical charts, your fawn has late-stage lung cancer. Inoperable. Thankfully, I already made one of these for lung cancer. The only difference is that it was for a raccoon."
"You're rambling. Get to the point."
"You're a nurse, Ida. You can appreciate that this is a virus, designed specifically to target lung cancer. It will eat away at the cancerous cells, leaving the healthy ones. In principle, that is. I'm no bio-molecular geneticist, so it won't stop on its own. That's what the second vial is for."
"So you mean—"
"This is a cure for your son. A couple rounds of chemo, maybe some radiation, and he'll be healthy as a horse." Ida reached for it, and he pulled the vials out of her reach. "It can be all yours, if you answer my questions."
"How do I know you're not lying?"
"For starters, I never lie. Second, I'm not calling the police."
"Who are you?"
"Call me a private investigator, if you will. Now, who is paying you?"
"Sam L. Warmer."
"The proprietor of ZNN?"
"That's the one. He never told me why, but I suspected he just wanted the money that the news stories would generate."
"Where and when did you make the agreement?"
"He had his son visit me in my fawn's hospital room. He invited me in to speak with his father regarding an offer I couldn't refuse. When I showed up, his secretary told me that he had to cancel, but his son offered to talk in his stead."
"Have you ever talked with him?"
"No, never face to face. Only over phone. I guess he was just covering his ass."
"I see. What were the terms of this agreement?"
"He would provide equipment and the location, and I would set it up."
"So that's why he always miraculously has cameras pointing in the right direction."
"Speaking of which, how did you know I would come here, if you didn't know Mr. Warmer? He assured me that these sites were random, absolutely untraceable."
"Pseudorandom. It's called a Mersenne Twister. Nigh untraceable, but I know how to calculate the sequence." Kai sat back down and ate another blueberry. "Help yourself, by the way."
Ida ate a couple, but sat still.
"So, you remotely controlled the rifle. How did you pick targets?"
"I didn't control it at all, someone else did."
"Who?"
"I'd assume he did."
Kai closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.
"Very well, you're free to go." He tossed her the vials. "They're labeled. Administer vial two an hour and a half after vial one. Monitor him."

She nodded, smiling, before heading for the exit. Just as she grabbed at the handle, a gunshot rang through the trees; the bullet tore through her back, and she collapsed.
"Neal!" Kai shouted through the intercom.
"That wasn't me! You gave me a silenced rifle!"
"There's another sniper. Find him." He quickly ran and pulled the doe into cover, before putting his mask on, and running back to the balcony. He scanned the ridge, before turning to look down at the crowd at the bottom of the falls. Nearly everyone was running around in panic from the gunshot, save for one, that was walking away, continuously checking over his shoulder. "There! The one who walks away slowly, the cougar in the trench coat."
"I… I can't make that shot!" Neal radioed back. "Too many bystanders."
"You've made harder!"
"Not this time. I'm sorry."
Kai withdrew and assembled his railgun, looking down the sights. As soon as the cougar saw that he was being aimed at, he took off running. Kai pulled the trigger. The projectile struck the feline through his left knee, taking off his leg.
"Neal, go down and secure him. I'll be right there."
He returned to Ida, who was gasping for air.
"I can't die," she muttered. "My son."
"Ida, look at me. You won't die," he responded, packing the wound. Two shots of painkillers later, and he was able to pick her up without protest. "You're only halfway through your life."
"Why?" she asked.
"Why what?"
"Why are you so kind to me? Even after what I've done?"
"Because you love your son. You would do anything for him."
"So?"
"I know the feeling."
"You do?"
"I flew here from halfway across the world to save my friend from liver failure. One of your victims."
"All the more reason for you to leave me here."
"You're not a martyr, stop acting like one. And stop talking."
She promptly complied.

By the time they made it to the road leading out of the observatory, Neal radioed back.
"Sir, how many shots did you fire?"
"Only one. Why?"
"He's got two holes in his chest, and one through his head."
"Damnit, there was another."
"Another what?"
"No matter. Where are you?"
"Still in the forest."
"Flee. The last thing I need is for you to be framed. Leave the rifle on the observatory's driveway. I'll meet up with you later, you'll have your million then."
"Got it."
The radio cut out.
"A million? I didn't think I was worth that much. Where are you taking me?" Ida inquired weakly.
"The hospital."
"They'll suspect something."
"Why?"
"A shooting near the observatory, equipment at the top for a shooting, and a doe getting checked into the hospital."
"You have hooves, it's not like you can leave prints."
"I'm sure we both left fur up there."
"I'll pull strings. Nothing will happen to you."
"But someone tried to kill me. How do you know they won't do it again?"
"You have my word that you will be safe." He chuckled. "Granted, I can't make that promise to a certain vole."
"You know Warmer?"
"I'm his boss." He picked the discarded rifle up, disassembled it, and stowed it in his pack. "Now, you have a fawn to cure. Let's get you patched up so you can see to it."
Although he couldn't see it, she smiled.

Court Lodge
9 PM

Kai was sitting in a chair before the statue of Atlas, when he motioned for Arcturus to start the meeting. After a few words from the grizzly, he stood to speak.
"Atria, Rigel, Alioth, and their proteges. Step forward."
The ewe, doe, and two voles came forward.
"Proteges?" he inquired of the former two.
"You know we don't have any yet," Rigel responded bitterly.
"Very well. I suppose I should start off by stating that I spoke with the killer in question. A doe named Ida; rather charming girl, but I digress. Of course, there was an assassination attempt and a cover up, which means that not only did someone here lie, they also ignored my command to cease the search."
"And you think one of us did this?" Rigel asked, amused.
"Alioth," Kai continued, ignoring the deer. "I asked for a list of every building in the city. How did you produce your list?"
"I had a committee, I'm not sure who came up with it."
"I see. Who was on this committee?"
"I called two mammals in charge of records at City Hall and the Architect's Union, respectively. I also had my chief editor, and my son."
"My money is on you being responsible. That's exactly the list used for the killer's itinerary. Given its unusual nature, it can't be an accident that you also came up with the list."
"No, you're wrong!" Alioth retorted, taking a step back and raising his paws in surrender.
"Father, how could you?" his protege muttered, shaking his head. "I expected better of you."
"As did I. Your parenting skills must be awful."
"Yeah, your—what?" his son responded, looking to Kai.
"Alioth, do me a favor and take three steps to the right."
The vole did so.
"You must believe me, I'm not responsible!" he cried out.
"The evidence says otherwise."
Alioth looked first to Rigel, then to the audience, then to his son, before finally looking back to Kai. He lowered his head in defeat.
"Do what you will, then. Just don't hurt my son."
Kai chuckled, cracking his knuckles.
"I would make that promise, but I can see your son smiling."
"What? He's wearing a mask, how can you—"
"It doesn't shield infrared." Kai raised his foot and crushed Alioth's son, grinding his boot slightly, before walking back to his chair. "I had my suspicions, but that proved it. Your son tried to frame you."
Alioth fell to his knees by the red stain on the stage, running his paws along it.
"No, that can't… That can't be," he muttered, falling silent.
"You just killed a member of the Court!" someone from the crowd shouted.
"It goes without saying that killing any member of the Court is wrong. I will not tolerate such acts of violence. However, I tolerate deceit even less. Yes, I killed him, and I'll do it again in a heartbeat if anyone here pulls the same stunt."
"I thought everyone here was equal, and yet Arcturus runs the show, six others are high and mighty, and you boss them around!"
Voices of agreement rang out. When they died down, Kai spoke again.
"I forgot maybe half the Court is new. Regardless, that is faulty thinking. You are not equal, least of all to me. Anyone who thinks that we are is welcome to take it up with me."
A buffalo stood and walked to the stage, throwing off his robe and mask.
"Are you a fool?" Arcturus shouted at the buffalo, getting between them. "You have no chance of beating him."
"I'm a black belt in kick boxing. He has nothing on me."
"Legend says," Sirius began, also walking to the stage, making slow circles around them, narrating to the audience. "Legend says that this wolf: Procyon, my protege, was only ever beaten once. The mammal that beat him was Arcturus, but it wasn't even a victory for him."
"He was unarmed, weighed down by ballistic plates, encumbered by his robe and mask, and still nearly beat me," Arcturus affirmed. "He wasn't even fighting to kill, his primary goal was shielding his identity."
"Identity?" the buffalo asked.
"None of your concern," Kai intervened.
"Legend says he also tore a rhino's heart, still beating, from his chest," Sirius continued.
"And I can attest to that," Arcturus continued.
"You must be very new to the Court," Kai mocked. "I should hope that you would like to stay longer than the month you may have been here."
The buffalo pushed Arcturus out of the way and swung his clenched fist, before being immediately stopped by Kai's arm plunging through his chest.
"Three major vessels connect your heart to the rest of your body," he spoke. "All it takes are a few cuts, but…" Kai withdrew his hand, pushing the buffalo over. "You're not even worth those three cuts. Rigel, Atria, I trust you can stop the bleeding."
"That can't be why you called us up!" Rigel shouted, quickly putting pressure on the buffalo's chest.
"No, it was primarily because I enjoy seeing your bright smile from so close. That, and to avoid Alioth's protege getting suspicious." He turned and walked up the steps. "Sirius, come with me. As for the rest of you, I think it would be wise you didn't inform the newcomers who I really am."

He walked side by side through the halls of the lodge with the wolf.
"You know, you were pretty scary back there," Sirius piped up.
"I should hope so. I am jocund because I choose to be. I can be a real heartless bastard to anyone who gets in my way."
"What if I get in your way?"
Kai sighed.
"I wouldn't hurt you. Not after all we've been through."
"What, then?"
"I might toss you around a little," he quipped, ruffling the fur on Sirius' head.
"So why do you need me right now?"
"I enjoy your company."
"So you pulled me out of the meeting for no reason?"
"Those meetings are boring, anyways. Besides, with one dead and one about to be, I don't think there will be much of a meeting tonight."
They walked in silence for a while.
"By the way," Sirius began. "Back there, when you said none of us were equal…"
"You should know by now that you, Arcturus, Regulus, Achernar, and a handful of others are with me in the penthouse of the hierarchy. Everyone else is down on ground level, or somewhere between."
"So it wasn't just some human view of superiority over mammals?"
"You're overly dramatic sometimes, you know that?"
They arrived at his room, where they found Leora lying on the bed, staring at a screen.
"Problem's solved, Leora," Kai quipped. She didn't respond. "Leora?"
"Hmm?" she muttered, not looking away.
"Anything good?"
"Surprisingly, yeah. The author of the log writes: 'Jul 6, Year 4150: A strange visitor arrived at the door. Entirely shrouded. We invited him in, since no one had ever seen a visitor in their lives. Previous log entries indicate visitors in the twenty-sixth century, but this is a first in the last dozen lifetimes. We offered food, which he accepted. When he removed his hood to eat, he had the face of a wolf! He gave his name as Jin-Roh, and told us that he could take us to a warmer land. A land with working farms. A land once called 'The Crescent of Niagara', whatever it means. The real kicker is that he told us that he offered the same thing to our ancestors, sixteen centuries ago. We inquired about his age, and he told us he was immortal. When we asked why he came back, he told us that our power supply was only designed to last one thousand five hundred years, and that we were four hundred years over budget. We voted forty to seven to stay put. However, two volunteered to go. Ivan and Svetlana each took a week of food, and left with him.'"
Kai took a seat in a chair, closed his eyes, and leaned on his clenched fist, deep in thought.
"What is it?" Sirius asked.
"Jin-Roh was one of the four generals that I had any respect for. Even more so because he refused augmentation. He initially grew up poor and couldn't afford them, but even when he became general he refused on principle. He was a regular human; although I spared him and sent him to his family, even if he survived the bombs, he couldn't have lived past a hundred and fifty."
"So that means whoever checked in with them was pretending to be him?"
"Either he came back from the dead and got a disguise projector from thin air, or an immortal with a knack for humor got their hands on a disguise projector."
"It couldn't have been an actual wolf who knew what to say?"
"Who would have told him what to say? Leora, could you check the log for any previous visitors?"
"I already did," she responded. "No 'Jin-Roh'."
"Who was there?"
"Let's see..." She tapped the screen several times. "Only two."
There was a pause in the conversation.
"Are you waiting for it to load, or is this for dramatic tension?" Kai inquired.
"One George MacClintholm, and... Vitya."
Kai shot up and looked at the screen in disbelief, before making haste to the closet and getting dressed.
"Wait, what about our trip?" Leora inquired, nearly whining.
He threw her a coat.
"We'll take a detour. Sirius, what's the fastest you can get us three hundred miles north-west?"
"Where, exactly?" the wolf inquired.
"Giant waterfalls, three of them. Although, I guess it could be one or two if they eroded enough."
"Oh, you mean Onyara Falls?"
"Is that what you call it?" Kai retorted with an air of annoyance in his voice. "Fine. How fast can you get us there?"
"I'm sure I could convince Arcturus to get you a flight there in a couple of hours."
"Do it." He dragged Leora by the arm. "We need to pack."
She was laughing the entire way down the halls. She was finally going on a real adventure.

A/N: First chapter of the sequel. Hopefully the kick-off is entertaining. I guess you could call it a prologue; it would probably make more sense split into two or three parts, but I figured it would be easier to read if it was only one chapter.

I've personally read through the entire chapter several times, and Jackofallfables and 33K121 also gave it a read (thanks again for that), and I think I've gotten rid of all of the typos, but I'm not sure. Let me know if you find anything.

I've decided not to do fun facts, since even when other people send them to me, I still end up putting repeats. However, I suppose a mini fun-fact could be that Alioth's name, Sam L. Warmer, is a reference to Sam Warner of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Plot synopsis of the prequel, for those of you that either don't wish to read, or want a reminder of the events that happened. I suppose now is a good time to mention that this story doesn't focus on Nick and Judy. In the prequel, they were supporting characters, and they most likely won't make an appearance until much later in this story. Note that this is going to be very long, since it's roughly 50 chapters, and approximately 300k words. Obviously don't read on if you don't want spoilers:

The Beast of Yesterday

Two and a half thousand years before the events of the story, humans ruled the world. The 23rd century was full of wars and conflicts, and the technology available to fight those wars had drastically improved; advanced missiles, super-soldiers, and things we could only dream of as 'future tech'. One such super soldier, Garrett, was born and built by a political figure only known as 'The Master', jokingly referred to as Ozymandias, because he would later be responsible for ruining his own kingdom and the world. Garrett did whatever the Master asked of him; in his youth, he was an assassin, targeting the Master's political opponents. Nearly perfect in his calculations, it was no hard task for him. Later in life, he became a soldier used to conquer the world. Well into his eighties, he commanded the largest army in the world; old age bore no burden to him, as he was designed to stop aging in his prime. His military conquests earned him the title of Kaiser, which he shortened to make his moniker, Kai. By the end of the 23rd century, he was relegated to bodyguard duty as his paranoid master realized what the world was coming to. The Master had commissioned a safe-house, a bunker to be built six miles beneath the surface. Not long after he and his bodyguard retreated to its safe confines, nuclear war broke out, ruining much of the Earth.

However, not all was lost; several years prior, geneticists worked on animals of all sorts, splicing human DNA into them in attempts to provide enough human organs to fulfill the demands of the previous wars. Their experiments only succeeded on mammals, given the genetic resemblance to humans. By pure chance (and the actions of several animal rights activists), several labs managed to lose their stock of mammals into the wild. Although the nuclear missiles targeted civilization, mammals managed to skirt the destruction by avoiding human settlement.

The world was cold and dark for nearly five hundred years, before a 'year zero' of sorts: dozens of tribes, predators and prey alike, tired of the endless conflict and hunting, held a meeting. Their leaders decided on a truce: no predator or prey would hold any more grudges from the past. The truce was enacted, and the first combined animal civilization began to blossom.

However, in order to ensure that their peace was lasting, the tribe leaders formed a secret council, and continued to make decisions that would guide the city: who would live where, who would do what work, and if there was dissent, who to kill. The seats on their council would pass from parent to child, occasionally jumping to close advisers if there was no suitable heir. In time, this council came to be known as the Astral Court, with one motto: as the stars guided their ancestors to safety and prosperity, they would guide their progeny to the same.

Nearly two thousand years later, modern-day Zootopia exists as a beacon for unity across the world. It is at this time that Garrett, now referring to himself exclusively by his prestigious title, grew curious about life on the surface. The entirety of human entertainment could only keep a man company for so long, and now that it was exhausted, he made the climb back. After overcoming the shock of mammals now ruling the world as the dominant class, he decided that he wanted to rule the world again. To him, the easiest way to do so was through fear.

After several close encounters, Kai managed to steal enough information to know that two years prior, a ewe named Bellwether used a poison to make mammals lose their minds. He designed his own brand of toxin, and began methodically killing criminals, faking them to look like savage maulings, leaving only a Night Howler as his calling card. Eventually, the media began reporting on the 'Night Howler Killer'; mammals were now afraid to leave their homes. Once he had finished with the first phase of his plan, he reasoned that raiding the headquarters of the police would make an ideal strategy. He hid in the night, and in the morning, faked a fire to force the officers inside to evacuate. Pretending that he had hostages, he hid in the office of the chief of police, stealing the files in their databases. He demanded that the smallest officer act as hostage negotiator; to that, Chief Bogo sent in Officer Judy Hopps, who in turn only agreed to enter with Officer Nick Wilde.

They held a lengthy discussion, before Nick realized that there were no hostages. Before he could relay the information back to the SWAT team waiting outside, he was darted with the man's serum. However, in a stroke of strange remorse, Kai tossed a vial of antidote onto the ground before absconding with his newfound data. Judy fought her partner in a lengthy struggle before she managed to grab the syringe on the ground and jab it into the fox.

Later, in the hospital, Nick wakes up to find heartfelt cards from his coworkers, and a rather injured Judy. Among the flowers at his bedside was a single Night Howler; among the cards, a plain box. Kai had been intrigued by their tenacity, as he had expected nothing of the sort from animals. He demanded that they play his game, to see just how far they would go. Unfortunately for them, he only gave them a pittance worth of time, and the box had been untouched in Nick's hospital room for nearly the entire duration.

When Nick and Judy returned to their apartment, they found the strange creature waiting for them. Judy managed to negotiate, giving them until morning. Nick looked inside the box and saw a single syringe; the note attached to it explained that, in order to begin the game, one of them must inject themselves. Judy insisted that they sleep on it, and in the middle of the night, Nick injected himself. He blacked out, and found that next morning, his injuries no longer hurt. They decided to take a walk through the park before they were due to meet with the man, but found an untimely mugger in their path. Nick tried to negotiate their way out of the situation, but before anything could happen, the man killed the mugger from above, reminding Nick and Judy that it was time for them to choose. Nick volunteered, and at the man's strange request to choose a number between one and ten, chose seven. The man then declared that, in his game, the fox would have to perform seven tasks. Nick managed to sneak out of the first task, insisting that the act of choosing the number constituted a task. The man shrugged it off, and asked Nick to meet him at the iconic Lion's Gate, the original point of immigration into the city.

Judy insisted on reporting the murder of the mugger and called for the forensics team. In doing so, they both got dragged down to the precinct to answer numerous questions about the identity of the murderer. By the evening, Nick got enrolled in a sting operation to nab the killer, once and for all. Wearing a stab jacket, he waited beneath the large pagoda at Lion's Gate for the man to arrive; he spotted the man near the ocean side of the building, and walked over. They discuss several matters, all while Nick tried to lure him into the snipers' lines of fire, but the man saw through his trick. Under threat of killing every officer in the area, he took Nick away, back to the fountain in the park where their game first began. He handed a folder containing incriminating documents for a badger who had paid his way out of a double murder trial, and demanded that Nick's second challenge was to kill the badger in any way he saw fit. He introduced himself to the fox as Kai, and left him to his own devices.

After a lengthy reprimanding at the precinct, Nick and Judy began to plan how they would go about the task. They decided that Nick would go early in the morning, kill the badger in his sleep, and make it back before sunrise. The next morning, he set out to the Burrows; he broke in relatively easily, and began searching for the badger. His search led him downstairs, where he found a hidden chamber containing numerous cubs and kits in various states of torture. All feelings of regret aside, he grabbed a knife from the kitchen and made his way upstairs. Before he could get very far, the badger attacked him, sending him tumbling down the stairs onto his knife. Crippled, the fight was very one-sided, until Nick managed to trip the badger and bite through his neck.

Once the deed was done, Nick called the police, and escaped. He made it back to his apartment mostly unseen, where Judy pulled the knife from his back and cleaned up his wounds. Several hours later, Kai barged in and informed them of a change of plans. The officer in charge of the previous night's sting operation was suspicious of them, had correctly deduced (albeit on flawed logic) that Nick was secretly conspiring with the Night Howler Killer, and pulled a few crooked cops to break into their home. They insisted on dealing with the problem by themselves, but Kai set up a sniper's nest on the opposite rooftop just in case.

When the crooked cops arrived, a struggle ensued: Judy got shot, the lead cop got his arm torn off, and his two lackeys were killed. Kai kidnapped the surviving crooked cop, and throws a syringe filled with a shimmering red liquid to Nick on the instructions that he should only use it on Judy if she died, and to destroy it otherwise. Kai interrogated the cop in Chief Bogo's office, insisting that no one would expect to look for him there. He eventually managed to get the officer to give him a name, that of a raccoon who was his handler. Kai dials Bogo, demanding that he hear the officer's confession for himself.

Bogo arrived much later than the man had wanted, as he was getting reinforcements into position. Bogo listened to the confession, talked briefly with the man, and fought, before eventually coming to a settlement: on the condition that the killer no longer kill, he would get a squad of Bogo's officers to command. Kai tells Bogo to expect a wolf in several days; he then smoked the room out and escaped through the window.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Nick has the mysterious red substance analyzed, only to find that it was virtually unidentifiable. He waited for hours by Judy's bedside, only to have a visitor; a strange wolf, unlike any wolf he had ever seen. The wolf took Nick back to his apartment, and revealed that he was the killer. He also revealed that he wasn't a wolf, but instead something called a human; he only managed to maintain the appearance of a wolf through modifying very advanced military technology, which was why he looked different from normal wolves. He tells Nick all about humanity, their accomplishments, and their downfalls. Their discussion lasts many hours, until Kai needs to leave.

The next morning, Bogo is extremely worried; he was supposed to be approached by a wolf, but had not yet met with the killer. Instead, Mayor Lionheart entered and announced that a foreign diplomat was visiting. Bogo sent one of his lieutenants, former soldier and leopardess named Leora, to give the diplomat a tour. During the tour, he managed to upset several officers, incapacitate two, and sneak into the police armory, all under the guise of diplomatic immunity. Midway through, he asked that Leora have one of the rec rooms set up for fighting, and told Bogo to call in five of his finest officers from every precinct. Afterwards, he went to the underground firing range; despite besting the finest sniper there, he asked for the sniper to join his team.

Before long, Kai, Leora, and Chief Bogo are overseeing the combat in the rec room. He eventually had his victors: a gazelle named prance, a polar bear named Bjorn, and a snow leopard named Felix. Instead of accepting the fourth victor, he opted instead to choose the victor's opponent on the grounds that he fought dirty, an arctic wolf named Rufus. Together with the sniper, the arctic fox called Neal, he had his five. However, Chief Bogo insisted that he take six; the last would be Leora. Kai demanded that she prove her worth, and challenged her to one on one combat in the ring below. Although she lost, she fought well enough that he agreed to take her.

After lengthy evaluations, Kai ordered his team to drive towards the fields before the mountains, where he would train them up to his standards. However, before he could join them, he finally received word that Nick gave away the mysterious compound for sampling. He found Nick, and citing it as his third task, raided the hospital's lab to retrieve and destroy any samples, as well as the data that the technicians had collected. He revealed that the substance was Panacea, an unbelievably expensive medicine from his time that was purported to cure all physical ailments.

Once the loose ends were tied up, Kai joined his team outside of the city; before their training began, Leora revealed to him privately that she was dishonorably discharged from the military after a scandal where her superior officer sexually assaulted her. After asking why she became a soldier or a cop in the first place, she admitted that her parents both suffered from very early onset dementia, and became senile before she could start at university; in order to make ends meet, she received a military scholarship and joined the academy. Eventually, they began their training. After several days, Nick receives a troubling visit from Chief Bogo, who was suspicious of his actions. After lying his way out of the discussion, he went home, only to be arrested by a detective. Kai found out through Judy, and gave his team its first assignment: to break into the precinct and steal the fox back.

While his team worked on securing Nick, Kai and Leora paid a trip to Bogo. He explained to the Chief that Nick was under his protection, and that he didn't like being disobeyed. Bogo challenged the man, asking if he would do anything about it. As a demonstration of force, Kai launched a nuclear missile many miles off of the coast, and told a dumbfounded Bogo that if the buffalo dared to defy him again, he would turn his weapons on the city. Once they had left with Nick in their possession, the fox chastised Kai for using the very weapons he claimed brought his civilization down, puzzling the rest of his team. He sent them back to their training camp, and informed Nick that his fourth task would be to find the raccoon that the crooked cop spoke of.

Nick talked with Judy, who happened to ride the same train as the raccoon until she moved in with Nick. She gets discharged from the hospital, and began their search on the same train that she used to ride. When they reached the center of Sahara Square, they noticed a rather mangy raccoon, dressed far too warmly for the climate. They approached her and discovered that she was, in fact, the mammal they were searching for. After an uncomfortable conversation, and her admitting the was responsible for Judy getting shot, she invited them to her home. There, Nick and Judy discovered that she was fired from her previous work, and only took her new line because she had to pay for cancer treatment. Upon finding out, Nick called Kai from his training, and told him that she would divulge any information in exchange for a cure. He promptly arrived, and after a tense argument, agreed to treat her. Once the treatment was over, she informed him that she worked for a panda that they could find in Sahara Square, where she had been earlier that day.

Kai rounded up his team and had them accompany him to Sahara Square. After getting past the panda's security, they talked to the panda himself, who told them that he would rather speak about his more illicit business partnerships in the privacy of his manor in Tundratown. He was the owner of one of Zootopia's premier food and wine publications, and was a collector of sorts; he only agreed to speak with them if Kai divulged the location of ancient human relics, and brought him an exotic food to sample. Kai sent everyone, save for Neal and Leora, with the panda to his manor. He instead had the latter two arm themselves more adequately in the event something went wrong, and himself went to fetch a bottle of fermented, carbonated mare's milk, the only food he was sure the panda had never tried.

When he arrived at the panda's manor, he had Leora seek a back entrance, and Neal take a sniper's roost, in case his negotiations went sour. He entered, and only found Rufus, who sat silently at the very large dinner table, along with the panda, and several members of his security team. After providing the panda with what he asked for, the panda reneged on his deal, claiming that Kai had lied: Kai had already come into possession of the relics when his Master had died, and the location he had given was false. The panda then revealed that Kai couldn't take any action, as the rest of his company was imprisoned and would be killed had he tried resisting. As he was taken away with Rufus by the security detail, Kai noticed that Rufus nearly had his tongue cut out, and that Prance's antlers were mounted above the panda's fireplace.

When they were taken to the rest of his team minus Prance, he killed most of the security detail before freeing his squadron. He initially left the head of security alive so that he could relay the message to his employer, but later allowed the mammal to run free when he told the man what his employer would do to him. They barely manage to escape, and upon finding a body floating in the river, Kai sends everyone save for Leora to the hospital. He had her dive into the river so that she could cut the shackles around the body's ankles, and to pull the body ashore. Now ashore, he reveals the body to be that of Prance, and takes him to the hospital.

Everyone else received treatment for their injuries, and Kai bribed a doctor to perform a procedure of his design on Prance in secrecy. He went to speak with Chief Bogo, who lambasted him for his poor decision-making and relieved him of his command. He exited the office, only to find that his team had heard their discussion, and resented him for leading them into what he knew would be a tough situation. Bogo addressed them and offered his condolences, and everyone left, save for Leora. She got into an argument with him, since he couldn't prosecute the panda for killing Prance.

The next evening, Leora entered a pub and ordered a drink. When she returned, she discovered a wolf sitting at her table. He gave her an address, and told her the phrase 'Lex Talionis'. She traveled to the docks, and found the rest of her team waiting by the designated warehouse. They entered and found the panda strapped to a chair, bloody and beaten, and Kai standing over him. Kai left to arrange their payment, and the panda told them that Kai tortured his only child, pointing to the mutilated body hanging from the chains on the ceiling. Pitying the mammal, they tranquilized him to death. When Kai returned, they demanded an explanation, and he revealed the panda's deception, but brushed it off, paying them the panda's life savings, split six ways. When asked about the sixth bag, he told them it was for Prance, and asked them to meet him at the antelope's home the following morning. They reconvened at the home, and found Kai waiting with an elderly, unkempt antelope. They paid their respects, only for the latter two to laugh at them. Kai revealed that the operation he wanted performed was successful, but with very prominent side effects. After explaining himself, Kai left them to celebrate.

In the evening, Kai left to meet with a senator for dinner, a young, popular wolf named Ian Cynewulf. However, he found that the meal set out for him was poisoned, and demanded an explanation. After an unsuccessful attempt on the senator's part to kill him, the senator relented and revealed that he was in charge of the crime syndicate including the panda, and that he was a member of the Astral Court, before extending an invitation to Kai. After he accepted, the pair drove off to the Court's Lodge, not far from the city; on the way, the wolf explained the inner workings of the Court: every member is named for a star, as the original founders felt that it was poetic. In the senator's case, he was named Sirius, and as per tradition, Kai was to be named Procyon. Once they reached their destination, other parties revealed that Kai was the wolf's third protege, and not his first, as previously implied.

When Kai questioned this deception in private, Sirius revealed that he was terminally ill, and had only taken him on as protege to keep a closer eye on him. After Kai's first meeting, Sirius instructed the man to accompany him along his day's routine: several charity functions, seemingly random errands, and lawmaking. Eventually, after Kai gave him medicine to relieve some of his symptoms, he correctly deduced that Kai was, in fact, a human, and took him back to the basement of the lodge to reveal the truth. When they arrived, Kai was shown thousands of artifacts from the time of humans. Most of it was useless junk, but there were books, gadgets, and various knick-knacks among them.

In exchange for keeping his identity a secret, Kai agreed to help the giraffe Achernar, the lead historian, in cataloging the thousands of articles. In the process, he gets visited by the kangaroo Achernar and the vixen Vega, daughter of Regulus, who provided Sirius' medical records. Kai deduced the wolf's illness, and eventually gave him the proper medicine. He also found out that Vega secretly had a crush on Neal, who was her neighbor after she moved away from her father. Kai called Neal and convinced him to date her as a gesture of goodwill. He then finds out that the members of the Court that regulate the drug trade have set up an opium farm, and have started to distribute heroin in the city. In charge of it all is the lion Denebola, protege to and adopted son of the grizzly bear Arcturus, who heads the Court meetings.

Elsewhere, Leora and the rest of the team, now promoted to SWAT, are sent to raid the opium farm where an officer was nearly killed on routine patrol. They find Denebola, whom Leora recognized as the commanding officer who sexually assaulted her while she was still in the military. She cuffed him, maced him, and beat him, before finally submitting him for arrest. When he made it to the precinct, the Court ordered Kai to serve papers releasing him from custody, but Kai negotiated for Sirius be placed in charge of the drug trade, and for Denebola to be sent back to the military base away from Zootopia. Until then, Denebola was forbidden from leaving the Court lodge, and was to be under the watchful eye of Antares. However, Antares failed to watch the lion, who managed to sneak away early in the morning. In an act of revenge, he and two of his underlings found where Leora lived, beat her bloody and broken, and raped her, before framing it as an attempted suicide.

Several hours later, Kai was looking to purchase raw materials from a wholesaler in the Court, when he got a call from Bogo to check up on Leora. He arrived in time to cut her from the noose she was hanging in, and managed to resuscitate her. After getting her cleaned up, he went after Denebola. He shot the lion through the knee and kidnapped him, driving far away from the city to a hill in the fields, with a lone tree on top. After forcing the lion up the hill at gunpoint, Kai tortured him for Leora's amusement. They left him on the hill with a single bullet, which he chose to fire at the duo who were escaping.

When they returned, Kai wanted to take Leora to the hospital, but she insisted on seeing the Court, as they were responsible for Denebola getting away with his previous crime against her. They sat in the meeting, until Arcturus found out that his son was dead. He demanded a trial be held against Kai, but Kai invoked the ancient rule of trial by combat; he sent Sirius to the hospital with Leora, and came down ready to fight the grizzly. However, in his attempts to keep his identity concealed under the Court's traditional robe and mask, he was badly injured. Outraged, he threw off his disguise and nearly killed the bear, before escaping to his bunker.

Although he barely survived, the Court was scrambling to find the mysterious human from the night before. Kai broke his disguise when he fell down the central stairwell, so he rebuilt it, ensuring that it was as close to the real thing as could be. He called Nick and gave his fifth task as traveling to the hospital and checking on Leora. Nick did so, and relayed back that Leora was gone; she had been checked out by 'a friend'. Kai suspected the Court of taking her, and returned to the building. There, he shot several members, and demanded her release. The doe, Rigel, cut him a bargain: in exchange for giving himself up, they would release Leora. However, once they had a shock collar on him, they then revealed that they didn't have Leora, but agreed not to chase after her.

Leora had instead been checked out by Felix. Fearing for her life, she begged Felix to smuggle her out of the city, and so he sent her across the ocean to his birthplace in the Himalayas, now called Sagarmatha. Over the next two months, Kai was imprisoned by the Court. He was kept company mostly by Sirius, but received visits from Achernar, Vega, and the rabbit Jack Savage, known to the Court as Altair. On one visit, Vega revealed that her boyfriend and Kai's former teammate, Neal, had fallen ill after being bitten by a rabid fox, despite being treated with an antidote. Kai instructed her to ask her father, the head of disease control and virology in Zootopia.

After Regulus came to yell at him, Vega returned; now physically beaten by her father, she was willing to break the Court's decree and free Kai, so that he would save Neal. Once he was free, he went to Regulus' Tundratown campus, where they were keeping him. When they found him, they were forced to hide when Regulus came to check on the fox. Expressing his disgust for his daughter's choice in a mate, he threatened to incinerate the contents of the room. Hearing this, Vega entered the room and proclaimed her love for the fox, kissing him on the mouth. She posed an ultimatum: either let Kai use the advanced antivirals that he brought, or burn them both. Regulus apologized, and hit the button on the room. On Vega's request, Kai rushed to the gas shutoff, and barely managed to cut the lines before the three minute pre-burn cycle was up.

When he returned, he found that he was too late; although the room hadn't caught fire, the gasses that flooded it were poisonous, and both foxes inside were dead. He demanded that Regulus open the door so that he could give them panacea, but Altair arrived and tried to arrest him. Defeating the agents, Kai took a vial of Neal's blood as a bargaining chip, and followed Altair at his request, leaving behind the panacea and antivirals for Regulus to use in their resuscitation. Altair took him to a bar, where they came to a standstill of assured destruction: if Kai left the city at all, if he sent one of his own after her, or if he gathered them together, Altair would kill them; on the other hand, if Altair harmed a single hair on them, Kai would spread the weaponized strain of rabies all across the city.

Since their agreement was settled, Kai returned to the Court lodge, where he negotiated a permanent residence at the lodge so that he wouldn't have to stray from the city. Early the following day, Kai traveled to Bogo's office, where he convinced the chief of police to send Nick, Judy, and Felix abroad after Leora; the Court didn't know he had connections to the fox and the rabbit, and seeing how they would be honeymooning soon, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for them to travel, and it was plausible that Felix could be merely visiting family.

Later in the morning, Nick proposed to Judy in the same park where they had first met the man. On the way, however, he encountered Bogo in casual wear, who covertly asked that they travel to the East; their only objective was to find Leora. The rest of the time was theirs, all expenses paid. He also passed on the message from Kai that it would be his sixth task. After a lengthy conversation between the couple, they decided that they would take him up on the offer. While they prepare, Kai gets permission to travel to his bunker to obtain more medicine for Sirius; he takes the wolf with him, and offers him rare delicacies, which he readily accepts. Once he obtains the medication, and some extra food for Sirius, they return to the lodge.

Nearly a week later, Nick and Judy manage to board their flight, along with Felix. After a long journey, they eventually make it to Sagarmatha Port, where Felix warns them about the locals, and tells them not to be open about their relationship. The following morning, the trio traveled to visit Felix's family, where Nick and Judy received flak for wearing matching rings, despite fervently denying their relationship. When they finally received a car with which to travel, they set out for the monastery several hours away.

Back in Zootopia, Altair ran into Kai's room and berated him for sending one of his squad abroad. Kai denied the allegations, but Altair responded by hinting that Leora was no longer at the monastery Felix sent her to. Kai then covertly went around the city to ensure that the rabbit didn't break his word and harm his crew, before he realized that he was being followed by Altair's agents. After a confrontation and a fight, Kai revealed to her that he wasn't an ordinary wolf to force the rabbit's hand. She called Altair, and the rabbit showed up to tranquilize her, again berating Kai for revealing the truth to outsiders. Kai gave Altair a choice: that he make her his protege, or that he kill her, of which Altair chose the former. When Kai continued along his search to find Neal, he couldn't. He instead traveled to Vega, who was crying her eyes out; she told him that Neal was cremated, and that Kai's drugs had no effect. Outraged at the deception, he demanded that she take him to her father; they boarded the train to reach the small city Mapleton, not far from Zootopia which housed a little over a million mammals, most of which worked in the medical tower in the city's downtown. Once they reached the top office in the tower, they confronted Regulus, who tried to justify taking the antivirals. Kai demanded to know the location of the antivirals, and Regulus told him that they were in the basement labs. After getting everything he wanted, Kai force-fed Neal's infected blood to him and left. When they reached the bottom of the tower, they found that Regulus had intentionally jumped; when he pointed out that his blood splattered across all of the nearby mammals, and that they would likely also catch the infection, Kai grabbed Vega and ran to the top of the building, calling Arcturus.

Meanwhile, Nick, Judy, and Felix reached the monastery, before being told that Leora had since left. They stayed the night at the monastery, where one of the monks gave them a tour; along the way, they passed a large mosaic depicting humans, to which they were informed that humans were merely above mammals in the cycle of reincarnation, and that the only reason there haven't been any in recorded history is because mammals simply did not have good karma. At the end of their tour, they met the head monk who told them a parable; using a pond to demonstrate the universe, and rose petals floating to demonstrate living mammals, he compared the set to life and consequences. However, an earthquake interrupted his parable, and caused all of the petals to sink to the bottom. After they ate, they went to bed.

Not long before, however, on the other side of the world, Kai and Vega managed to escape the tower on a helicopter with Arcturus. They discussed what to do, and he and Arcturus settled on destroying the city with a nuclear missile to prevent the spread of the disease. Although Vega was very disappointed in his actions, Kai launches the nuclear missile regardless, wiping Mapleton off of the map, causing the earthquake which ruined the head monk's parable so very far away. When Kai inadvertently heard that Leora's parents' dementia had ties to one of the members of the Court, he fetched Bogo and together went to the asylum where they were being held. They spoke with the parents, who told marvelous tales of Feudal Japan, and of the origin of intelligent mammals. Once Bogo dismissed it as nonsense and left, Kai interrogated the head of the facility. He learned that their dementia wasn't a coincidence; it was caused by a viral collaboration between Regulus and Altair, who were instructed by the Court to find mammals that knew the truth, and to dispose of them.

On the way out of the facility, he stumbled upon the same wolf that Altair had sent to spy on him nearly a week ago. In her explanation, Altair decided that he didn't want a protege, and tried to give her memory loss drugs. Kai broke her out and sent her to the military base, where they were to keep her safe until his return. When he returned to the Court lodge, many members were furious about Mapleton, but Altair especially. However, upon realizing that the virus would have spread had it not been contained, and that Kai not only possessed the firepower to wipe a city off of the map in an instant, but that he could do it countless more times, they came to side with him. When Kai revealed what Altair did with his ex-protege, the Court instructed him not to retaliate against Kai, as he was no better. Kai then received the Court's permission to fly to Sagarmatha, and traveled to the military base, where he asked the wolf to be his pilot; they took off later in the night.

On the flight over, the wolf told him her name: Grace. During the flight, she coerces him into revealing his true face; she already knew his identity from her brief time as Altair's protege, but wanted confirmation nonetheless. When Grace flew over the monastery, Kai jumped from the plane, landing several miles from his mark. He eventually made it to the monastery, where on a misunderstanding, the head monk had several of his underlings attack Kai. Eventually, the head monk remorsefully quipped that, based on Kai's actions, he would never reincarnate higher than a mammal, which prompted him to remove his disguise and his mask. Seeing his mistake, head monk insisted that they hold a feast in the man's honor; Kai was unable to decline due to their persistence, and dined with them. Before he went to bed, he received a phone call from Sirius; the wolf was suspicious of Altair's actions, and asked that Kai return to Zootopia, but the man declined, saying that he had to finish his business in the East before he could go back.

The following morning, he set out along the same trail as Nick, Judy and Felix, and Leora before them. Before long, he heard a loud boom overhead; looking at the source of the noise, he recognized it as a military cruise missile. Worried, he dialed Arcturus, but to no response. He eventually managed to reach Sirius, who informed him that over the course of the past few hours, Altair had launched a coup against the Court. Sirius insisted that he cut their discussion short, as he had gone into hiding and wished to conserve his resources, including his phone's power. Kai then dialed Altair, who taunted him, telling him that he didn't have anything else to worry about in the East, before hanging up.

Kai sprinted down the path until he came upon Felix, who held Judy in his arms, and the monk that was accompanying Leora previously. When he asked about Nick, Felix told him that the fox was swept away by an avalanche caused by the missile, which narrowly missed its mark. Kai proceeded, followed by Felix, as the monk took Judy back to the monastery. They eventually reached the site of the avalanche, and after careful listening, Kai managed to pull the bloody fox from the snow; he had a piece of missile casing stuck in his leg, but was otherwise unharmed. They stopped in a nearby cave to clean up the wound as best as they could, but settled on binding Nick's leg with the shard still in it.

They traveled for a few more hours before eventually coming upon another cave, and decided to take the night to rest. Inside the cave, a figure in white held them at knife point, before Felix recognized her as Leora. She was furious with them for seemingly abandoning her, but Kai explained everything from the beginning, including his imprisonment, and the fight, before revealing to them that he wasn't what he said he was, and that he was human. Although they were forgiven, Leora insisted on continuing to Japan, where she was told that her parents were born. Kai relented, and the four of them continued along the path in the morning. Before long, Nick's condition vastly got worse, and they had to instead turn to the nearest mountain village.

There were medical supplies there, but the village elder refused to part with them, as they were being terrorized by a local warlord and needed them more. Kai then inspected and treated the wounded villagers, in exchange for being allowed access to their supplies. While he treated Nick, the warlord barged in with two of his thugs and demanded fresh grain from the villagers, as they had previously given him moldy grain. He attempted to cause Kai trouble, but the man stole a shotgun from one of the thugs and killed the lot of them. Surprisingly furious, the village elder informs him that he had just sealed their fate; the warlord had a band of thugs, all of which were no better than he was. Kai negotiated a night's stay in exchange for killing the thugs off. When he returned, the group agreed to return to Zootopia, as matters seemed to be getting worse by the day.

Back in Zootopia, Altair visited Vega, now the new Regulus, and asked for the virus her father had concocted to induce dementia. She initially threatened him, but when he promised to take her to Neal, who he insisted was alive and well, she agreed to come along. However, when he was looking the other direction, she jabbed him with a syringe of unknown contents, and told him that she would only cure him when she saw Neal. They first pay a visit to the Court lodge, but Chief Bogo's unfortunate timing causes her to get arrested.

In the following hours, Judy woke up in the military hospital. Altair asked to recruit her, citing her dead fiance as a reason, but she refused. When he left, she attempted to escape, but her attempt was thwarted. Altair, whose condition was progressively worsening, visited Regulus in prison, and begged for her antidote. When he revealed that he arrested Sirius, and that Sirius bit him ergo getting himself infected with whatever she gave him, she responded by smirking and telling him that the virus only affected rabbits. Satisfied with the knowledge, he had the guards beat her, before returning to Judy. From Judy's hospital room, he video called Regulus, and again asked for the antidote, showing off the newly sick Judy as his bargaining pin; however, Regulus still refused to part with it. Altair then resumed his regular matters, seeking his cure in another way. After unintentionally destroying the Secret Service Headquarters by attempting to dismantle a piece of human technology, he woke up in a hospital, surrounded by the Court's finest doctors. It was then that Altair received a phone call; Kai had returned to Zootopia, meaning he no longer had need for either Regulus or Judy. However, he kept his word that no harm would come to the latter, and began treating for the poison he used on her to fake the symptoms of his illness.

(At this point, I wrote a chapter for Altair's backstory, before he was inducted into the Court. I can't summarize it very well, so I'd recommend just giving it a read. I believe it's Chapter 41: Savage Times. It's not actually plot essential, but I think it's a good read.)

Kai made several demands before agreeing to cure Altair: first, that he release everyone he imprisoned in his coup, and second, that he step down from his position as the director of the Secret Service, ceding his position to Grace, instead. Altair takes him to the prison, where he talks with Regulus, and then Arcturus. After hearing that Neal was alive, Kai demanded to be taken to the fox. Altair initially hesitated, before agreeing. Kai left everyone except for Grace with Chief Bogo, before continuing on. However, before they could reach Neal's hospital room, Altair collapsed, nearly dead. Kai treated him, on the condition that he still uphold his bargain. The rabbit then showed them the white fox in the room, but before Kai could verify that it was Neal, Altair attempted to shoot him with a bullet made from plutonium. The bullet struck Grace instead, but before anyone could escape, Altair sealed the door to the room and set it to burn. After a lengthy monologue, he left them to die.

Kai managed to break out of the room, barely saving the other two as well. He was forced to perform emergency surgery on Grace to remove the bullet fragments, and plotted his escape. He got them out and onto a military truck, ordering Grace to drive to Chief Bogo and tell him of the events that had transpired. Kai then returned into the hospital to retrieve Judy, as well as Sirius, who was heavily injured during his arrest. He eventually succeeds, and takes them back to his bunker, before giving them proper medical treatment. Satisfied, he returned to the precinct to collect the rest of his team; there, he found out that Altair had arrested Lionheart, pinning the explosion at the Secret Service headquarters as a terrorist attack on him. Kai took his team to the bunker as well.

From there, he planned a trip to the Court lodge with Sirius. Using a new disguise, he attended the meeting, and discovered that the Court had built nuclear bombs on Altair's orders, with the intent to rule the world. The duo managed to get the potential location from Achernar, before returning to the bunker to plan. The following morning, Kai took Felix and Leora to the nearby military base, where Chief Bogo sent the rest of Kai's team to keep them from Altair. The commander of the base, and new head of military following Arcturus arrest, informed them that before his mentor's arrest, he was made the new Denebola. He reunited Kai's team, and tried go give them import records on the neighboring bases. However, he was denied access for only one base, which was the same that Achernar hinted at.

With their target now in sight, Kai equipped his team and set out. They managed to sneak in and rig the bomb to fail, but the basewide alarm went off. They escaped the building, but found themselves face to face with numerous gunners and a tank. Kai and Leora were injured, but the team managed to make it back to the bunker, their mission having been completed. However, during the raid, Kai was struck by a tank shell, and began feeling strange; he recruited Leora to perform surgery to remove a damaged microchip from his spine. Once removed, he began feeling emotions once more, and became significantly more amicable.

Now cured, Kai rallied his team once more to break into prison. He enlisted the warden's help in faking a fire drill, and managed to steal away the entire maximum security block. In addition to the imprisoned members of the Courts, he also released Former Mayor Dawn Bellwether. He then assembled everyone at the Court lodge, where he confronted Rigel. Rigel divulged that there was more than one bomb, which Kai destroyed with a precision missile strike.

Afterwards, Kai took Leora back into Zootopia, and together with Chief Bogo crashed the gala at City Hall. They incapacitated several agents, and Bogo stayed behind to ensure that they didn't die. Kai and Leora confronted Altair in the mayor's office, where Kai sustained minimal injuries and took the rabbit into custody, injecting him the same drug that he used to give dementia to so many of his political opponents.

After a lengthy press release, Kai took Chief Bogo to the Court lodge, where he got inducted as a member; Grace was also named the new Altair, and was proposed to by Sirius. When the meeting ended, Arcturus asked to be taken to his son's final resting place. Kai agreed, and with the rather insistent Leora, took the grizzly to the hill with the lone tree. After a brief argument between Leora and Arcturus regarding his son's death, Leora proclaims her love for Kai.

Weeks later, Nick and Judy finally got married. They were paid a visit by Kai, who had a gift and a seventh task for the fox: to raise a family of his own. Inside the gift was a device that would allow him and Judy to conceive a child, despite being two different species. Kai then visited Bellwether, who promised to be more open and to give second chances. Afterwards, he visited Jack Savage in the asylum, who now owned a room next to Leora's parents. The three were having tea, and invited him and Leora to stay. After a long conversation, but before the duo left, Kai promised to find a cure for the three mammals.

At the very end of the epilogue, it was revealed that Dawn Bellwether broke the rabbit out of the asylum, promising him a second chance at life.

(There was also a gaudy Christmas chapter, but I won't summarize it. I also think it's a worthwhile read, if you have a minute.)

Character Glossary:

Note: Some members of the Astral Court have only been referred to by their Court name. If I ever decide to give them a real name, I'll update the chart. Until then, I'll just use what they've got. If a character isn't mentioned here, it's probably because they're not very important to the plot, or have a very minor role. In addition, these descriptions aren't too in-depth. For instance, I could have written that Prance joined the force to save his family name (as his father was a serial killer), but I find that motivations in character descriptions aren't actually that necessary. If I made a mistake and I missed a major character, please let me know so I can fix the chart.

Garrett "Kai" Sinclair: human, soldier, and assassin. Has strong ties to the Astral Court, and was previously Procyon before giving up his title to travel the world. He usually tries to get straight to the point, but occasionally enjoys a joke.

Leora: leopardess, SWAT officer. Former member of Kai's team. Has a troubled past, beginning when her parents, Arina and Taro, were rendered insane by the machinations of the Astral Court. Currently gallivanting around the world with Kai.

Neal Snowburrow: arctic fox, former SWAT sniper, and former member of Kai's team. Mate of Lyra Karahan, attempts to uphold a rather humorous personality.

Rufus Icehowl: arctic wolf, SWAT officer, and former member of Kai's team. Married, has a pup, and is generally content with his way of life.

Felix Shingis: snow leopard, SWAT officer, and former member of Kai's team. Rather crude, but extremely skilled at fighting.

Prance Insa: antelope, former police officer. He was a member of Kai's team, but an injury caused by a plan going awry led him to quit the force and begin investing and stock trading.

Bjorn Bjornson: polar bear, SWAT officer, and former member of Kai's team. A gentle giant, who lives a family life when he's not working.

Maximillian "Ian" Cynewulf: timberwolf. Member of the Astral Court, known as Sirius. He has a rather jovial personality, despite his line of work as a senator. He also manages a crime syndicate, and controls the heroin drug trade in the city. Married to Grace Cynewulf. After being spoiled by Kai, he enjoys beef jerky and belly rubs.

Grace Cynewulf: timberwolf. Member of the Astral Court, known as Altair. Director of the Zootopian Secret Service, and a top notch spy. Married to Sirius Cynewulf.

Lyra Karahan: fox. Member of the Astral Court, known as Regulus. Despite having achieved her doctorate specializing in advanced virology at a phenomenally young age, Lyra is often naive to the grim reality of things. Mate of Neal Snowburrow.

Aloysius Paddington: grizzly bear. Member of the Astral Court, known as Arcturus. Current head of the Zootopian Military. Nearly exclusively referred to by his Court name, as his given name is considered by many to be outdated and silly by modern standards.

Jack Savage: rabbit. Former member of the Astral Court, and was the previous Altair. After his attempted coup and attempt at world domination, Kai infected him with a virus that causes dementia and memory loss. Currently under the care of Dawn Bellwether.

'Rigel': white-tailed deer. Member of the Astral Court. President of Zootopia University, and a practicing doctor in both medicine and advanced physics. Rather vain attitude, and considered untrustworthy due to her past affiliations with Jack Savage.

'Denebola': coyote. Member of the Astral Court. Second-in-command of the Zootopian Military. Quiet and imposing, he played an instrumental part in stopping Jack Savage's coup.

'Atria': sheep. Member of the Astral Court, and head of the General Hospital in Zootopia. Although her sheepish nature often deters other mammals from speaking with her, she has earned everyone's respect by consistently being kind, regardless of species or social status.

'Achernar': giraffe. Member of the Astral Court. Chief historian of the Zootopian Archaeological Society, and head of human studies at the Court. While working, he is extremely professional, but informally between friends, he is very blunt and to the point. Good friends with Sirius.

'Antares': kangaroo. Member of the Astral Court. Owns a pharmaceutical firm.

Doctor Viverin: Member of the Astral Court, known as Alcor. Head of the Tundratown Asylum for the Mentally Ill. Despite seeming selfless, he is more often than not motivated by fear of punishment, rather than his own volition.