"Being a lifeguard's a crazy job. 99% of the time you sit or stand around. 1% of the time you're saving someone's life."

Unknown

The scene in the theater was pure chaos, lit up bright and clear through the foresight of some unknown staffer who had been bright enough to turn on the lights. It was hard to tell whether they had stopped the movie as well. No one cared to look at the screen, and the noise was nearly deafening; the shouts of the officers, the bellowing of the elephant, and the screams of those still trapped in the theater either by fear or by overturned seats pinning them down.

"Flank him! Flank him!" someone shouted unnecessarily.

The officers surrounded the elephant, spacing their largest members throughout the ring to give him as little chance to break as possible. Every elephant, rhinoceros, and hippo on the force was there; some called off the clock so hastily they were still in plain clothes. Behind them stood the others, not tightly packed as one might expect but spread out in a staggered formation more like a net. Any press too close could prove disastrous if the elephant charged, leaving the ones first in harm's way with no place to run.

Judy noticed a cluster of rats hiding under an uprooted seat, trembling in fright around one of their own who looked to have been half-crushed. Her impulse was to go and get them out, but at the moment the whole force of the ZPD was focused on getting the elephant contained before he could hurt anyone else. Perched on Catano's shoulder, her paw slipped involuntarily to the weapon at her side. Her eyes, on the other hand, slipped to a metallic band around the elephant's tusk. She wasn't that much up on elephantine formalities, but she was pretty sure that was where they typically wore their wedding bands.

He paw shook even as training compelled her to try to grasp the firearm and her heart warred with all its might against the thought. Please don't make me use it, she thought frantically. Please, not today. Not like this.

The elephant swung his trunk, driving the cops back and thundering forward. Judy stared in shock and horror as the victim of the toxic flowers blundered about, thundering loudly enough that she and several other officers were forced to press their ears down flat with their paws. He swung to and fro, seeming torn on whom to try trampling first. Then all at once, he threw back his head… and something happened that changed everything.

"GET OUT! I HURT YOU!"

Judy started, as did at least a dozen of the officers with her.

"Did he talk?" someone asked. "How could he talk? They don't do that."

Judy's mind jumped to the possibilities. Either this was some new refinement of the Night Howler toxin, or…

Before her better judgment could stop her, she jumped down and darted forward between the feet of the other officers. Most of them didn't even notice her until a voice screamed from behind them.

"HOPPS!"

Ignoring Catano, Judy broke through the line and threw up her paws. "Hey, you! Stop!" she shouted.

The elephant paused and turned toward her as the other officers stared down at her. Rhinowitz tried to pull her back behind the line, but she slipped away from his grasp and focused on the elephant. Now that she got a good look at the pachyderm's face, it didn't look like a standard Night Howler victim. It was more like someone drunk than the bloodthirsty insanity stamped all too well in her mind.

This really is just crazy enough to work, she thought.

"Calm down," she ordered, raising her paws to show she wasn't holding a weapon and hoping he wouldn't notice the one still holstered at her hip.

Okay, deranged and disoriented mammal, she thought, recalling too late that the big Number One Rule for negotiation with anyone hostile was to only engage long-distance, preferably by phone. Skipping that step, she defaulted to the next major rule: speak calmly and slowly.

"Someone is messing with your mind. This is not who you are. You're better than this."

She went on, gradually going numb to the stunned stares all around. The elephant stared down at her, still clearly in a haze.

"Get… out…" he rumbled, but now it wasn't a thundering shout. He even sounded just a bit pleading. Judy could see his body shaking – either some side effect of the drug or, more likely, his battle with it.

Come on, come on, she thought.

Catano, who had been fighting to get through the line and retrieve her partner, now stood stock-still, staring at the spectacle. Part of her mind was still on full alert, eyeing for the slightest cue and the slightest opening to vault the others and grab Judy. She even had a paw reaching for her gun which, small though it was, had crippled and even terminated elephants before. She would not, under any circumstances, let Officer Hopps die.

Another piece of her mind was already preparing the riot act just in case, by some miracle, the lapine actually lived through this crazy stunt.

Judy stood, unaware of her larger counterpart's drastic backup plan. "Listen to me," she pleaded with the elephant. "Listen to the sound of my voice. This isn't who you are. You don't want to hurt us. We're here to help."

The elephant trumpeted, ducking his head and revealing the splotch of blue on his scalp near one ear. Judy prepared to jump clear in case he was about to charge, but instead he raised his massive forefeet to his head as if in pain.

"It's okay," Judy repeated, trying to sound reassuring in spite of her raised voice. "Just hold still, alright? Hold still."

Two elephantine officers decided to take advantage of the opportunity Judy bought them. Stretching a net of steel cables wrapped in Kevlar, they approached their target from behind. As the net lifted, the afflicted pachyderm tensed and turned around, trumpeting towards the ceiling at this perceived encroachment.

"No!" Judy shouted.

With shocking speed, the two large officers lunged forward just as the darted elephant moved to attack the one on the left. With a force like a small tidal wave, they landed bodily on him net and all, driving him to the floor and crushing dozens of seats as the officers across from them scrambled back. All three thrashed and shouted, with the two officers trying to get to either side of the net while simultaneously keeping it tight. Their quarry thrashed and bellowed afresh with force enough even to jostle the multiple tons that they bore. Judy had to cover her ears against the noise, and was so deafened that she almost missed what came next: virtually every officer on the scene. As one body they lunged forward from both sides of the pincer maneuver, literally hurling themselves onto net, officers, and victim all at once.

The game was over. Judy caught her breath and stared in a mix of pity and awe as the weight became too great for the darted elephant to move. She had little time to think of the ramifications of her success, though, for out of nowhere she suddenly found herself yanked skyward as if in the talons of some predatory bird. Startled at the abrupt change, she looked up into the half-relieved, half-furious face of officer Catano.

"Officer Hopps, are you completely insane?!" demanded the cheetah.

With the elephant down and under relative control, procedure took over. Since there was no easy way to extract him right away without potentially destroying evidence or for that matter a rather expensive movie theater, it was decided that the photographers should get their evidence shots ASAP. Medics moved in to treat and extract those who had been injured, carefully marking where and how each one was positioned. To everyone's relief, there were few patients and most of the ones present were more shaken than hurt; a family of mice under an uprooted seat here, an otter kit wailing for her misplaced mother there, and the like. Judy ended up escorting the mice out once she had loaded the injured rat onto a stretcher the size of a typical playing card. Catano took the otter kit, and to Judy's surprise cradled her against her chest with surprising tenderness for someone so cold and distant. Equally surprising was how quickly the kit quieted after a whisper too hushed for even Judy to make out.

"What did you say?" she asked.

Callie shrugged. "That I'm pretty sure her mother's out in the lobby looking for her."

It was hard to say whether this was accurate or just a rational lie. Looking around, Judy didn't see any otters among the injured. On the other paw, it was hard to think of any other reason for the slight and very uncharacteristic catch she noticed in Catano's voice.

Leaving only the largest and strongest officers to hold down the fort – or in this case the elephant – the rest of the response teams were ordered out of the theater, watching carefully where they stepped. It was hard to say whether any evidence would have survived intact through that kind of chaos, but no one wanted to take any chances. Not a gum wrapper or kernel of popcorn was to be disturbed if at all avoidable.

Out in the lobby, the officers were at once put on new assignments as crowd control or helping medics tend and extract the injured. The mall's PA system was asking, in and out of the building, for anyone who could do so to move their cars as far out into the lot as possible so there would be more room for response vehicles. Both the system and the responders urged everyone not to leave, as the police would be asking around for information shortly.

In a brief moment of sunshine amid the gloom and chaos, Judy saw Officer Catano wade through a patch of shorter mammals towards a crying voice. A couple of loud calls later and she stooped, rising empty-pawed and quickly turning away to rub her eyes like one who was very tired.

Judy sighed, taking the moment of joy where she could in the midst of so much chaos. At least a mother and child had been reunited, and the elephant was under control with minimal damage, but still, mammals had been hurt in the rush to get out. Looking around she saw EMTs tending to several who had dragged themselves out with bruised ribs and crushed or fractured limbs.

Then, too, there was the odd look on Catano's face.

"Are you okay?" Judy asked, joining her feline compatriot.

Callie nodded. "Still not used to daytime hours," she admitted, dipping into a pocket and pulling out a shot-sized energy drink. Swiftly downing it and winging the empty bottle almost viciously towards the nearest recycling bin, she surveyed the crowd. "We'd better keep on the alert. If you get on my shoulder we can look around more easily."

Seeing the logic in this, Judy allowed herself to be picked up and put in the aforementioned spot. Expertly keeping her balance, she watched and listened as if from on top of one of the old-time fire towers for any sign of trouble. None current… but plenty recent.

A thought occurred to her as she perched there, and the opportunity seemed as good as any. "Hey, back there in the theater, you said something about the world already being broken."

"Yes?" asked Catano in a weary sort of tone. Evidently the drink still had to kick in.

"Chief Bogo said something like that to me once." Judy paused, not sure how to put her question next without sounding accusatory. It wasn't as if she thought Catano had been listening in on that talk or anything.

The cheetah murmured something like a "meh," evidently in lieu of the shrug she couldn't give with Judy perched as she was. "He says that to most of us at one time or another. You might say it's the precinct's unofficial slogan."

At that Judy winced. Truth be told her memory of the scene in ex-mayor Bellwether's office – already sullied by knowing Bellwether had schemed the whole mess – was further sapped now by knowing that this had not been a strictly personal word from the Chief. On the other paw, it was strangely comforting to know she wasn't the only cop on the force to ever hit rock bottom.

She shook aside this thought, dismissing the self-centeredness of it and focusing on the situation. Firstly they had to keep this situation under control. The sooner they could get the crime scene photographed and the bystanders safely gone, the sooner they could find whoever did this and bring him or her to justice.

She noticed a cluster of officers in a line across the exit, taking statements and then letting the witnesses file out. It occurred to her from training that witness interviews should be conducted not only as quickly as possible, but also as separately. The longer eyewitnesses had to talk among themselves, the longer even the best-intentioned ones could become homogenized and lose crucial details. It seemed counter-intuitive, but it came down to the fact that there was no such thing as an unimportant eyewitness view.

Sure beats standing around doing nothing, she thought to herself.

"I'm going to help with the interviews," she announced, slipping down Catano's shoulder. Dropping towards the floor, she briefly caught the cheetah's paw to break her fall and then landed in a crouch to catch the impact. Tossing off a salute, she slipped through the masses towards the other officers.

"Excuse me. Coming through. So sorry," she offered as she made her way towards the exit. Most of her apologies went unnoticed. Four mammals out of five were on their phones doing everything from blubbering incoherently to telling bosses they'd be late for work or families they'd be late for dinner.

Happening to overhear one guy apologize over a missed date, she couldn't help thinking of Nick. I hope his date pans out better than this, she thought to herself.

Then she caught another snatch of information. "It came from the ceiling," someone said.

Her ears shot up and she whipped towards the sound of the voice. Zig-zagging through, she quickly locked onto a kangaroo joey talking to his mother. "What'd you say?" she asked eagerly.

He turned to her and paused, surprise briefly stifling his response. "I was just telling my mom I heard a popping sound right before the elephant went nuts," he explained. "I think it was the shooter firing their dart."

Judy's mind slammed the pieces together like a bolt on a door shooting closed. The splotch, she thought. It was on top of the elephant's head!

"Thanks! Thank you so much!" she jabbered. She started to dash off, then doubled back and waved the pair to come with her. "This way, please. I need your statements right away."

Catano could hardly have been more confused as Judy came back with the marsupials in tow. Judy was fairly breathless with excitement.

"Got a lead. Talk to Mrs… um…"

The mother kangaroo, seeming a bit dazed at this abrupt seizure, looked blankly at her before her mind clicked into place. "Oh. Kanga."

"Right. Get her statement. I'll get one from-"

"Rudy," the joey answered readily. He seemed almost excited by the whole thing.

Mrs. Kanga looked slightly unsure, but Catano quickly persuaded her that everything would be fine and it would go much more smoothly if they could interview them simultaneously. So with rather less trouble than one might expect, Judy managed to move the youngster over to a slightly less crowded part of the lobby.

"Okay, name?" she asked.

"Rudy Kanga," he replied.

"Rudy Kanga," she repeated, writing it down. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Her mind was running so rapidly that the interview ran by in a nearly blind haze. She had to check herself mentally at least five or six times to make sure she got everything, and in the end it was only by looking back at her notes that she was sure she had asked all the right questions. Unprofessional as it was, her mind raced to lock onto the critical detail that the shooting had come from overhead. As soon as she had everything she needed, she rushed Rudy back over to Officer Catano.

"I think I've got something," she told her partner. Then, to Rudy, "Stay here, and you can go once Mommy's done. I have to run."

"Can I get your autograph?" he asked, but she was already away.

Mrs. Kanga looked at Officer Catano. "Was that Officer Hopps?"

Catano nodded, inwardly frowning at her partner's rapid-fire behavior. She was all about speed herself, quite naturally, but this rabbit was in a class by herself on several levels.

Someone has to teach her about coordinating plans, she thought to herself.

Ducking through a sort of fence of crime scene tape laced at different heights for different-sized mammals, Judy raced back into the theater. The staff had turned on all the lights and shut off the screen to help the investigation along, and Bogo was overseeing their darting victim's removal out the back way. Even in her excitement, Judy noticed that the net had now been totally wrapped around and laced tight, so that the elephant looked rather like a cross between a caterpillar and a manatee. He still struggled vehemently, but by all appearances the net wasn't letting him go anywhere.

"Chief!" Judy exclaimed.

Bogo turned around, and for a moment seemed ready to chew her out for re-entering a crime scene while it was still being cleared for examination. Then he stopped himself and simply asked, "What is it, Hopps?"

Judy pulled out her notepad ecstatically. "I just got a report of where the shot came from."

He took the pad with a stone-faced expression. "Good. As soon as everything's photographed, we can-"

"But it came from the ceiling," she cut him off.

He paused and regarded her quizzically. "What?"

"The eyewitness heard a popping right overhead just before the elephant acted out," she explained. "That can't be a coincidence. I think whoever darted him was either a bat, or…"

Bogo looked up, following her gaze. The entire ceiling was painted in a very un-glossy black to minimize reflection and keep the theater as dark as possible during shows, but it was still possible to spot a duct overhead.

The Cape Buffalo snapped his hoof and pointed to two ferret photographers. "You two. Find out where the nearest entrance is to that duct and get up in there. Now!"

Snapping off salutes, the ferrets darted off towards the back of the theater.

"Hopps, go with them," Bogo added. "Stay behind them and don't disturb any evidence, but make sure nothing happens to them."

He didn't have to tell her twice.

Whoa. Talk about your high-stakes standoffs. I don't mind saying it was a heck of a time writing this chapter, and I wanted to make it a bit longer. This seemed, however, to be a good place to break off, and besides, I had been keeping you guys waiting.

Two side notes, by the way. One is that I'm considering an added detail in the next chapter. I've read about some relatively new tech that lets you record and re-create smells using a collection of stored essences (kind of like the olfactory version of mixing ink colors, I guess), and it occurred to me that tech like that would be 1) much more prevalent in the Zooniverse and 2) very useful in their law enforcement. So I might be weaving that into the next chapter.

The other side note is that I'm in the process of switching to a better-paying job, so this may be the last time I can easily use direct police information in a chapter. I thank the security staff at my (soon to be former) workplace for all their information, and also wish to thank J. Warner Wallave for his deep insight into eyewitness interviews. I know a lot of you guys aren't religiously minded, but if you have any interest in police process – especially murder and cold case investigations – I definitely recommend his book Cold Case Christianity, the inspiration for the scene where Judy questions young Rudy. If nothing else, it will give you a whole new perspective on how crimes are solved and how critical it is to approach evidence with an open mind.

Easter Eggs:

Winnie The Pooh (this one should be pretty easy)

Easter Egg Answers:

Chapter 34:

The overloaded vehicle with a clumsy singing driver is a nod to the very aptly titled A Goofy Movie. Congratulations to Mr. E for catching that one.

The history references are Mary Surramm, a play on the name of another Mary allegedly involved in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the fairly obvious Hindenburg/Howldenburg, an infamous zeppelin which exploded when its hydrogen gas caught on fire.

Finnick's remark about his pursuers sending whoever they wanted is drawn from the words of Tim Kennedy, a famous/infamous American sniper who, after learning terrorists had put a fatwa on him, said "They can send whoever they want, as long as they don't want them back."

Chapter 35

Nick's thought about life being more complicated than the slogan he sees on a bumper sticker is an admittedly very obvious nod to Judy's speech at the end of the movie.