Justice League: Zootopia's Flash of Lightning

Chapter 8: Zootopia Bio Labs

While Nick, Barry and Judy were receiving their next lead, Chief Bogo was in his office reviewing the case file. The buffalo had considered putting on the Gazelle app to provide some background, but decided against it. This case was one of the most unusual the ZPD had ever dealt with, and it needed his full attention. He was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Come in."

The door was pushed open by Grizzoli who was closely followed by Wolford, the pair snapped to attention in front of their boss.

'"At ease, you're not cadets,' rumbled Bogo. "Now, as you are here I can presume that you finished interrogating our suspect.

"Yes Sir, and he's given up some information about where he's been for the past two years," replied Wolford.  Bogo motioned for him to continue.

"From what he recalls, Spike blacked out after the gas explosion and woke up in what he thought was a hospital, but when we checked that against a patient list from medical facilities in the city and surrounding boroughs, there was no record of a porcupine that matched his description.

"Which means he was probably taken somewhere off the grid," replied Bogo.

"Exactly what we thought, sir," said Grizzoli.
"From what Spike has told us, his spines had been completely burned away, along with most of skin.

"Really, because he certainly doesn't look like a burn
victim." Bogo said.

"Agreed sir, we asked Honey and the lab to test a few skin samples and...... well, the results aren't normal."
Bogo gave the officer a stern look.

"What did they find?"

"That's the thing sir," replied Wolford. "Spikes
enhancements weren't limited to his spines, when Honey tested his skin cells; she found they were a mix of natural and artificial material. She also found they hadn't been grafted on like in traditional surgery, she thinks they might have been sprayed on, like from a can of dye."

"And it didn't stop there," continued Grizzoli. "She re-examined his X-rays and discovered his bones had been altered as well. She said it was like they had been made to grow in ways that reinforced them, making them tougher to break and possibly able to handle to launching system she found in his back muscles."

Chief Bogo leaned back in his chair digesting the
information. Nick had phoned in the information from his contact, which supported the initial confession gleaned by Grizzoli and Wolford. With this new information, it was clear that 'Sawbones' had access to experimental or more likely, illegal, medical technology. It could also mean he would be hard to take down, especially if he had more mammals like Spike.

"Did he say anything else?"

"Yes sir," said Wolford. "Apparently someone spoke to him, he couldn't see what species they were, and he was made an offer, either work for him and live, or refuse and be left to die."

"That might be how he recruits, find a mammal in a
desperate enough situation and offer them a way out."

"Our thoughts exactly," replied Wolford. "But there is one more thing we should mention.

Bogo saw the two grins that the mammals were trying to hide, they had something significant.

"Go on."

"Apparently the bank job was part of a larger operation, Spike didn't know all the details, but he was supposed to meet a group of other mammals close to an address out near the edge of Sahara Square. We did some research and found out that it used to be a medical storage facility.

"The perfect place to hide if you want to enhance a few mammals," concluded Bogo.

"We thought so too sir, but the address is registered to a company affiliated with Mr Big."