<p>It was not hard to get away from the place, once all of the animals in there seemed to be more interested only into watching Alex and company go on their way. Of course, they had to wait for another police car to come to take away that crazy lion, Grooms.</p>

<p>All the time he kept spitting insults at Alex, and telling everybody just how he is "dangerous and not trustworthy", and all of that stuff. Alex was glad when they closed the door and he could no longer hear his voice, and even more when the door of their own cruiser got closed, and they started to drive back to the hospital.</p>

<p>"Well, that could have went better." Said Jeff, as he was sitting in Linda's cupped hands as the gazelle was gently carrying him and his small baggage. The mouse looked up at Alex, who looked back at him, sighing.</p>

<p>"You think?" Alex asked, as he looked at the window, seeing the city pass by them in a blur as they went as fast as the speed limits would allow in direction to the hospital.</p>

<p>"What now?" Linda asked, and Bogo was the one who answered:</p>

<p>"Now we go back to the hospital, like we should have done from the beginning." The cape buffalo continued to look straight forward, as he continued to drive as fast and directly as he dared, the smaller cruiser of Hopps and Wilde following him close from behind.</p>

<p>"Well, I guess that you will have to explain to them about Jeff once we get there." Linda said, and Jeff looked up at her, and he nodded.</p>

<p>"I look forward to knowing the other scientists in there." He said simply, and Bogo simply snorted as he continued to drive, as he tried to imagine just how that meeting was going to go.</p>

<p> </p><hr />

<p>"…Jeffrey Small, at your service!" Jeff said to the bigger mammals who were around him. The mouse was standing into the nearby table, while the bigger animals around him looked down at him, some of them with interest, others with some surprise, but all of them with the same kind of interest on their minds.</p>

<p>"So, you are a meta mammal too?" One of the ones in there, a cheetah, asked him, "And you special quality is having a much greater intelligence than normal?"</p>

<p>"That's right." Jeff said, and the doctors shared a look among themselves, and the cheetah once more asked.</p>

<p>"I'm sorry, but having a great intellect is really to be considered something out of the ordinary? I mean, it surely is special, but does it constitute a (I'm sorry, there is no better term) a super power?"</p>

<p>The mouse looked up at the much bigger mammal, and he said, "Well, Mr. Tracks, I'm pretty sure that you will soon agree that my mental capabilities go far beyond the ones of most mammals you have known." The cheetah only looked down at him, still clearly not convinced, and the mouse looked at him up and down two times, and he asked, "By the way, how is it being for you to be sharing a room with a sloth bear?"</p>

<p>"What?" The cheetah asked, looking at him surprised.</p>

<p>"Your roommate. Well, I assume he is, since I don't want to jump to any judgements, but I must admit that there is a whole lot of fur from his in your clothes."</p>

<p>The cheetah had widen eyes as he looked down on his own clothes, as if to see the fur that the small mouse had talked about, while this, Jeff turned his attention to the rest of the doctors.</p>

<p>"Since we are at it, I guess you should talk to your wife, maybe you could convince her to stop making you sleep in the couch." He said to a nearby llama, who looked at him surprised, and he turned to an antelope. "You should avoid spending so many nights awake doing your research, your lack of sleep is going to be bad for your classes, you don't want to fall asleep while your students have their tests, right? And you…" He said, turning to a polar bear nurse. "This new diet you are making is not good for you, quit eating only vegetal proteins and go back to eating what you normally eat, otherwise, the dizziness is going to get worse and you are going to start fainting."</p>

<p>Each one of the mammals who he had talked to looked at him as if he had grown two extra heads, and they seemed to be from surprised to just shocked, and unable to form words. Meanwhile, Bogo had an eyebrow raised and Nick and Judy shared a look. Alex and Linda, on the other paw, just rolled their eyes, as they already knew that this was one of the favorite ways that Jeff had of proving his point.</p>

<p>After the moods had calmed a bit, the mouse simply looked up, and he said, "Well, since I already made acquaintances with some of you, I think that you all might have a few questions to me, but before you do any of them, I would like to make a few requests."</p><hr />

<p>Doctor Moosard was very helpful with Jeff, as much as he had been with Alex and Linda. He was able to provide the things that Jeff had asked for, which consisted into eight televisions with cable and four laptops with internet access, all of them right for his size, which was described as "rodent size".</p>

<p>As soon as they had it ready, Jeff turned they all on, and set each TV into a different channel, while the had the laptops accessing each one a different website. Then, he just sat in there, among all of them, and he had his head turned to the direction they all were, and he seemed to be paying attention to the TVs at the same time that he was scrolling into the computers.</p>

<p>And there he remained for nearly two hours.</p>

<p>"Is he really seeing them all?" Asked one of the doctors, who was still a bit skeptical about the whole thing.</p>

<p>Immediately, Jeff tuned the TVs on mute, and without moving his head, he pointed at each one of them. "Television series 'Paw and Order'. Documentary about the history of the development of the first Predator/Prey community. Culinary show named 'Wild Ovens'. Kids cartoon about teenagers stopping an alien lizard from taking the world and changing the population into mindless servants. Talk show with a lion host interviewing animals about sexual transmissible diseases. Movie about a weasel who is adopted by a tigress and learns not to be afraid of being himself. Sitcom about two tigers who have the same father and whose mothers are twin sisters. Fictional series about a sheep who was cursed and turns into a wolf during the night and back to a sheep during the day." Next, he pointed at the laptops. "Official website of the current dealings in Paw Street. Thesis about cultural development of mammalian community written by Giovanny Panterko. Official ZNN news website. Website full of fan-fictions of famous movies, series and books."</p>

<p>As soon as he said that, he turned the audio of the TVs back on, and went back into watching them, as if he truly haven't lost track of all that he was watching by having stopped to explain.</p>

<p>This seemed to be enough to make most of the ones in there be convinced that he <em>was</em> watching all of them. Alex and Linda could only chuckle to themselves, and Dc. Moosard could not avoid asking, "He always does that?"</p>

<p>"He says it helps him practice his attention." Alex said, and that was all that he was going to say. After all, knowing Jeff, he was most likely not only exercising his mind, but also trying to completely grasp the new world they were in. After all, he knew pretty well that once Jeff started to learn about a subject, he wanted to know all that there was to know. This new world was no exception, and now, TV and websites were the best way that Jeff could reach for new information in a short amount of time.</p><hr />

<p>While Small was in there with the rest of people, Bogo went to another part of the hospital, a more secluded one, and he dialed on his phone.</p>

<p>"<em>Savage talking.</em>"</p>

<p>Bogo sighed, before saying, "Another meta mammal has met with Hunter and Thompson."</p>

<p>"<em>Jeffrey Small, mouse.</em>" The mammal on the other end said, showing that he was already aware of the situation. For some reason, Bogo was not surprised by it in the slightest.</p>

<p>"Who exactly is he?"</p>

<p>"<em>I don't know</em>." Savage said, and Bogo wasn't sure if he should be shocked by some information actually escaping Savage, or relieved to know that he truly didn't knew everything.</p>

<p>"<em>But I intend to find out. Meanwhile you can keep an eye on him and on the others, and call me if the situation changes<strong>.</strong></em>" Savage said, and Bogo knew that he was about to hung up on him again.</p>

<p>"Wait just a minute!" He said, quite loudly, catching the attention of some of the animals around, and he quickly lowered his tune and talked on the phone. "Listen here, I have done a lot of things for you in the past, including in the past days. I called you to talk about this new meta mammals who just arrived, even though you seemed to already know. You seem to have a way of having information that doesn't entirely rely on me."</p>

<p>There was a brief silence in the line, before Savage spoke once more.</p>

<p>"<em>Remember when I said I would send some of my personnel to the city?</em>"</p>

<p>Bogo remembered that, and actually, that was something that he already kind of expected. "They are already here."</p>

<p>"<em>Yes.</em>"</p>

<p>"Will any of them come talk to me?"</p>

<p>"<em>Only if needed.</em>"</p>

<p>"Will I know that they work for you?"</p>

<p>"<em>If they are competent? No.</em>"</p>

<p>There was another moment of silence, and Bogo sighed, "There are times in which I really wonder why I even trust you."</p>

<p>"<em>Because we both want the same thing.</em>" Savage said to him, "<em>To make sure that good mammals will be safe</em>."</p>

<p>And with that, and no other word, Savage hung up on him.</p>

<p>Bogo looked at the phone as he already knew that Savage was not going to take more calls from him. He had already tried in the past, after all. He already knew that there was going to be no registers of this call, and that it would not be possible to trace it. After all, that was the way that Savage did things.</p>

<p>And Bogo, for some strange reason, still complied with most of the things that he was asked to. Sometimes he really hated it, and he would later on kick himself for letting some mammal to boss him around like that, but he knew that, on the bigger picture, and considering the past events, it was probably better to listen Savage. After all, that guy already proved to him in their first contacts that he had much more experience with it, and seemed to be far better into dealing with the situation.</p>

<p>"But still…" Bogo said to himself, "One of these days I want to be face to face with him to force him to give me some answers." He continued walking, going to resume his own activities, while he knew that, somewhere in the town, people associated to Savage were doing the same…</p><hr />

<p>
  <em>Arriving now! Iceberg Station! Tundratown!</em>
</p>

<p>The voice announced, as the train stopped into the subway station. All colored in shades of blue and illuminated by white lamps in the ceiling and in the walls. A thin layer of ice and frost formed into the walls, but was maintained clean from the floor, so to avoid the events of some poor mammal slipping into the ground and causing an accident.</p>

<p>As the train stopped, and the doors opened, many animals walked outside of the train, some of them shivering as they were received by the cold air of the area. It was hard to believe that this same section of the city was geographically located into an area of naturally warm climate. That was the magic of the special climate walls that were art of Zootopia's construction.</p>

<p>While some animals were received with shivers, others quite welcomed the cold climate, once it felt more at home for them. Zootopia was like the perfect place to move into if you came from a place with an extreme climate, due to the climate walls. So, it was not that rare to see animals of tundra and other cold environments to come to that area and quite welcome the change from the regular hot ambient to that one that was much more receptive for their species.</p>

<p>Animals who lived into cold climates felt hot and uncomfortable into warmer environments, and while they could even force themselves to last for a while with the heat for a few days, living in there in long term was just not an option. However, Zootopia had the climate walls, which made the temperature just right for the creatures of the tundra to live in there as comfortably as they would into other regions of the planet with the right climate. They came from a variety of reasons, like visiting the place as tourists, to visit some familiar who lived into the city, or even to come to live there themselves.</p>

<p>Anyway, the tundra-native mammals walked out of the train and they immediately let out relieved sighs, as if the cold, barely above freezing air, was like a gust of a cool breeze into the hottest day of summer. Among them, a polar bear who nearly moaned as he felt the refreshing cold feeling, which relieved the heat he had been following for days on end and that had nearly driven him crazy.</p>

<p>He even allowed himself to stop and sigh as he let that cool feeling wash over him, and he even opened a little his arms, letting the cold feeling spread to his naked, furry arms. He was wearing only very light clothes, which consisted into an armless white T-shirt, and light blue colored shorts. This made clear to others that he had just came from an ambient outside of Tundratown, where the climate was far too hot for him, even with that little clothing.</p>

<p>He stayed like that for a few moments, until someone bumping into his shoulder snapped him back into reality.</p>

<p>"Sorry." Said the one who bumped into him, who was a reindeer. He just looked back at the horned animal, before he spoke:</p>

<p>"No problem."</p>

<p>The reindeer nodded, and started to walk away, and the polar bear only looked at him, before he sighed, and started to walk too.</p>

<p>He took the stairs, and he walked up, until he came up to be met with a sight that was truly admirable to the ones who just arrived into the city.</p>

<p>The ground was covered into a layer of snow and a thin layer of ice, as all kinds of tundra animals walked across the streets. Polar bears, reindeers, arctic foxes, artic hares, and many other mammals traditionally found into the cold environments. The polar bear only wasted a single moment looking at them, before turning his attention once more into the road, and starting to walk.</p>

<p>He walked, and passed by many places as he did. He passed by some houses, buildings, fast foods, restaurants, some stores. Neither of these places held his attention too long. He passed by a newsstand, which was selling newspapers, some candy, and cigarette packs.</p>

<p>The polar bear looked at them, and he casually passed by the stand as he simply grabbed two packs and started to walk away.</p>

<p>"Hey you! Wait!" Said the owner of the stand, but the polar bear barely gave him any attention, as he simply opened one of the packs and pulled out a white colored cigarette, as white as his own fur. He stopped, and after a few moments, he walked back.</p>

<p>The owner of the stand saw him coming back and he looked at him. "Yes, two packs, this makes 7.54 zoolars." He said, but the polar bear completely ignored him, and instead, he simply picked up a lighter from the stand, and he walked away once more. The owner tried to call him again, but it was to no use.</p>

<p>Walking away, the polar bear simply flicked the lighter, creating a small, but solid flame, which he then approached of the cigarette, which he had put into his mouth already. He let the tip of the cigarette be lighted while he took in puffs of the cigarette, until he was sure that it was lighted, and then he turned the lighter down, but the tip of the cigarette was lighted.</p>

<p>The polar bear held the cigarette firmly into his mouth, and sucked in a deep breath of the smoke, before sighing and releasing the smoke from the cigarette from his nostrils.</p>

<p>God, he needed that! His last one had ended two days ago, he had smoked all of them to be able to cope with all the crazy things that had happened in the past week. A good puff at a quality cigarette was enough to make him relax and to help him have strength to face the problems.</p>

<p>That cigarette was not exactly of the best quality, but still, it was better than no cigarette at all.</p>

<p>The polar bear sighed as he continued to walk, taking a few more puffs at the cigarette as he walked, looking around at the city, and after a while, he met another place in which he felt like he could take something else to help him get distracted.</p>

<p>The sign above it said that it was some short of club, and this was the kind of place in which he could find both drinks and women. Both of them were things that could truly help him to have a relaxing evening.</p>

<p>He walked into the place, as he passed by two polar bear securities, both of them a little bigger than he was, and both of them gave looks at him as he walked inside. Probably they were paying very much attention to the clothes he was wearing, but he barely even minded. He just wanted to go inside and have a good time, if possible.</p>

<p>He walked into the place, and saw that there was already some other animals inside, talking and having drinks. There was a good number of females in there, even though the place seemed to have little people inside. It was probably going to have more people during the night.</p>

<p>Anyway, it seemed to be good enough for him, once he could spot some cute individuals who he could approach. Starting with a very attractive female polar bear who was wearing some suggestive clothes.</p>

<p>He smiled to himself, as he approached the girl, and he said, "Hey there." She looked at him as he sat by her side, a smile on his face as he looked at her. "You seem a bit lonely in here."</p>

<p>"Yeah, you can say I am." She said to him, and she added, "And I'm also looking for other mammals who are lonely."</p>

<p>The way that she spoke it confirmed the suspicious of the polar bear, and he could only smirk a bit wider at this. "So, if I happen to be lonely, would you mind making me a little company?" He asked her, already looking forward at a possible evening of fun.</p>

<p>"It depends." She says to him. "Can you pay for this company?"</p>

<p>Dammit.</p>

<p>"Well… what about we make some of a test run, and then I can decide if I'll go for a few more times and pay you accordingly?" He said, and the smile vanished from the female's face. "You know, the first one for free?"</p>

<p>She made a scornful sound as she got up and walked away, leaving him behind, sitting and not feeling good for having been turned down for a hooker. He growled, and pulled another cigarette, and lighted it and started to take fumes.</p>

<p>"Hey, buddy." Said the reindeer waiter, who pointed at a plank on the wall, which said that it was forbidden to smoke inside. The polar bear only looked at him, and he approached him slightly. He put the cigarette on his mouth, sucked deeply, and then breathed the smoke right on the reindeer's face.</p>

<p>The reindeer coughed a little at this, and he shot a glare at the polar bear who had just deliberately puffed smoke on him.</p>

<p>"Do I have to call security?" The reindeer said as he waved away the smoke, and the bear only looked back at him, before saying:</p>

<p>"I wouldn't, unless they are heavily armed."</p>

<p>The reindeer looked at him, and he looked around, before waiving at two securities. "Billy! Moe! In here!" As he did, the two polar bears walked in his direction, and once they were close, one of them said:</p>

<p>"Malcom, what is going on?"</p>

<p>"This guy in here is posing quite a problem." The reindeer said, gesturing to the smoking bear sitting on the bar. He simply looked back at them, and said "Hey."</p>

<p>"Sir, it is forbidden to smoke in here."</p>

<p>"Oh, give me a break!" The polar bear said, and continued to smoke as if he had all the right to do so. "I really need this, I'm having a really bad week."</p>

<p>The two security polar bears looked at each other, and they were already sensing that this guy was probably going to be a problem. One of them was actually already reaching out for the dart gun inside his suit, which caught the attention of the polar bear who was sitting.</p>

<p>"You better be reaching to a pack of cigarettes to offer me. Or a card of apologizes." He said, as if these two were the obvious options for the things that they were reaching for.</p>

<p>"Listen here, mister…" The security said, and the polar bear sighed, letting out a cloud of cigar smoke, before saying:</p>

<p>"Pollard."</p>

<p>"Mister Pollard." The security continued. "You re invited to get out of this club right now."</p>

<p>He looked at the two securities, both who were slightly taller than him, and none of which looked happy. He took another puff of his cigarette, as he got up, and stood in front of the security, "What if I don't want to?"</p>

<p>The security looked at him, and he said, "Then we will have to insist for you to leave." He said, and he placed a clawed hand into the arm of the other polar bear, who reacted quickly. He grabbed the wrist of his hand and twisted it, and as the security doubled over, he gave him a punch in the jaw, making him stumble back.</p>

<p>Now there was a number of the other patrons of the club, who were now looking at what was happening in there. The two securities were having a thing with the polar bear who was not exactly willing to follow the rules of the club. The look in the face of the guard he had just punched told that the guy was in for a lot of trouble.</p>

<p>The security only massaged his jaw where he was punched by that other bear, and he looked back at him. "Okay... if that is the way you want." He said, and closed his hand into a fist as he approached the polar bear, who continued to smoke calmly at his cigarette, as the other bear was getting ready to punch him in the face twice as hard as he had been punched.</p>

<p>"You don't want to do that." The bear said to him, but the security barely minded him, and threw his arm back, only to bring it back at full force, his fist connecting with the face of the other polar bear hard.</p>

<p>Everyone expected the polar bear who received the punch to go to the ground, bleeding from his lips and nose, maybe even spitting one or two teeth. That security guard, Moe, was famous for having been a boxer on his early days, and he still was able to patch quite a punch, enough to make the likes of that polar bear to back down and know their place. He still was able to give quite a good punching if you deserved it, and it was quite a painful punch, if you didn't fainted.</p>

<p>However, what happened in the moment Moe's fist connected with Pollard's face, was a series of things that normally you would not expect to happen if you used the common sense, and they all happened in the space of only one second.</p>

<p>In the moment Moe's fist connected, immediately, all of the fur of the face of the other polar bear seemed to meld together in the surface of his skin, and to change color to a rusty shade of yellow, with a certain metallic sheen. Right them, instead of the regular sound you expect to her when a fist connects with a face, there was a sound as if the fist had collided with something much harder than a face was supposed to be, followed by the sickening sound of bones cracking.</p>

<p>The next thing that was happening, was that Moe was on his knees on the ground, crying out in pain as he was holding his hand, two of his fingers were bent into an unnatural shape, as if broken.</p>

<p>All the other mammals around looked surprised at this, and even more as they looked up at the polar bear. Including Moe, who was able to look up at the bear he had tried to punch, and he had very much the same look of surprise and shock as the rest of the ones in that club as they looked at the polar bear.</p>

<p>His head had changed. It still looked like the head of any polar bear, but now, instead of white and furry, it was of that tone of rusted yellow and smooth. His eyes, which previously were black in color, now became dull and empty, the same color as the rest of the head, and they looked down at Moe.</p>

<p>As the polar bear continued to look up at him, Pollard reach down to grab him, and as he did, the same thing that had happened to his head seemed to spread to his arms, making them become smooth and yellow in the same way. By the time he reached his fingers around Moe's neck, his arms were completely transmuted, and Moe wheezed as that strong, cold hand squeezed on his neck, and raised him from the ground.</p>

<p>Moe was slightly bigger that the other polar bear, still, he was able to raise him from the ground with just one hand as if he had barely even half his weight. Moe squirmed as he tried to claw on the arm of the other polar bear, but he was unable to scrap his skin with his claws. The next thing he did was try to grab on his shirt, and that was when the polar bear got feed up and threw him away.</p>

<p>Moe flew fifteen feet in the air and landed heavily on the ground, and as he did, he tore the shirt of the other polar bear, which was now left with a naked chest. This allowed everyone to see that this strange change seemed to have happened not only to his head and arms, but to his whole body, which was now yellow, smooth looking, and now even seemed to shine a little bit under the illumination of the club.</p>

<p>The ones in there looked at the polar bear, as he looked at Moe, who now was on the ground, immobile, when a sound called his attention.</p>

<p>The other polar bear, Billy, had pulled out his dart gun, and had started to shot darts on the bear. However, the darts only hit his body with a metallic sound and fell to the ground, broken. The bear noticed it, and simply looked at the darts and back at Billy, who was immobile as he looked at him.</p>

<p>The bear walked on his direction and before Billy could react, he grabbed the dart gun, snatching it from his hands, and crushing it to bits with his hand. Billy let out a surprised sound as he stumbled backwards. He washed in astonished as his dart gun was destroyed, and he quickly scrambled back, until his hand came in contact with one of the chairs of the bar.</p>

<p>Billy wasted no time thinking as he just grabbed the chair with both hands and swung it with all of his force.</p>

<p>The other bear did nothing to stop him or to try to dodge, he only stood in there and took the blow. Said blown had no effect on him, but the chair was completely ruined by the force. The chair was made of metal, and it crumpled as it hit the head of the polar bear, becoming useless.</p>

<p>Billy looked at the chair, shocked, and then back at the other polar bear, how looked back at him with a scowling face, before backslapping him. Said backslap had a metaling sound, and it was so hard that it sent Billy straight to the ground, unconscious, and with blood and a few teeth coming out of his mouth.</p>

<p>The polar bear looked down at the unconscious ones, and he looked at the other patrons, who were all staring at him. "Someone else wants to say something?" He said, with his voice much different from before, stronger, and much more metallic. Everybody retreated a step as they stared at him, and the bear noticed that a few of them were actually recording it.</p>

<p>He cursed under his breath, as he decided that he probably had stayed in there for long enough. He looked at the unconscious bears, as his body once more changed, becoming once again white and furry, as he knelt in to search on their wallets, and took off some money that they had in there.</p>

<p>Since he was at it, he also took of the shirt that one of them was wearing beneath the suit, and he fixed on his body. It was a bit big, and also a bit loose on him, but it would do. He lighted yet another cigarette, and he was still smoking it as he walked out of the club, and no one tried to stop him.</p><hr />

<p>"How long will he keep looking at the screens like that?" A llama nurse said to another, referring to Jeff "He has been like that for around an hour now."</p>

<p>Jeff only continued to look at the screens, seeming to be at full attention to all of them, as he did, Alex and Linda were just close by. Alex was just sitting on the chair, with his chin resting on his arms, while Linda was reading a book that the hospital staff had provided to her a few days ago. It was a romance, and while she still had some trouble to understand that at one moment or another, she found it to be quite catchy and a good read.</p>

<p>"Is anything of what you are seeing good?" Alex asked Jeff, who didn't turned to him and continued to look at the screens, as he said, "Yeah, you know how the drill of tv usually is: hundreds of channels, and nothing that is really good. Still, there are things that are quite worth the time. This movie of the weasel and tigress is really touching."</p>

<p>"Yeah, I bet." Alex said, and Linda simply continued to read her book while the boys talked, and as they did, someone came into the room.</p>

<p>"Hello, I hope I'm not interrupting." Said the familiar voice of doctor Moosard as he walked to the three mammals in there, and the nurses who had been in the room walked out. Alex and Linda both stopped to look at him, greeting the doctor. Jeff, on the other side, didn't even moved his head, but he raised his arm and his voice in a brief greeting to the doctor. The moose looked at him, and at his two friends.</p>

<p>"Sorry about that." Linda said, casting a glare at the mouse, who wasn't even looking, "When he is too focused on something sometimes he is a little rude with people."</p>

<p>The reprove for his actions was clear in her voice, but Jeff either didn't noticed or didn't minded it, as he continued to look at the screens in front of him, and the small mouse said, "Well, I just assume that it is clear that I'm hearing people when I respond to their greeting." The mouse said with his high-pitched voice, and Linda simply rolled her eyes. She didn't knew if she should feel annoyed or amused that, even by changing into a mouse, it seemed that Jeff had actually changed nothing at all.</p>

<p>"What is it, doc?" Alex said, and the moose looked back at them.</p>

<p>"Well, it is just that the others are interested in reassuming the testing from where they stopped." The doctor said, and Alex had to hold back a groan. These things were starting to annoy him seriously.</p>

<p>"I just hope they don't make me waste hours just create sparks in between my hands again." Alex said, "I'm getting tired of that."</p>

<p>"Also…" The doctor added, and this time he was looking at the small mouse. "They'd also like to see you, if possible, Mr. Small."</p>

<p>As he said that, the small mammal chuckled, "Yeah, of course they want." He spoke, and the doctor looked down at him.</p>

<p>"They seem to all have gotten an interest in you, and they actually want run a few tests with you, mostly to verify your claims."</p>

<p>"Don't tell me." Jeff said, "They want to make interviews, make IQ tests, and also make some resonances of my brain to see if it has more activity than regular." The mouse said as he continued to look at the diminutive televisions and laptops in front of himself. "Well, I can already tell what they will get, I'll make out perfect scores in the IQ tests and they see that my brain works in full steam, unless the working of my anatomy has changed in the past days."</p>

<p>The moose looked at him, and then at his two friends, but both the cougar and gazelle simply shrugged, and the doctor sighed, as he looked back at the small rodent. "Mr. Small, I can really assure you that I'll only have your best interests in mind."</p>

<p>The rodent this time actually turned his head away from the screens, and looked straight up at the moose, as if he was trying to evaluate if he was lying. Doctor Moosard only continued to look down at him, and he said: "If you agree, I assure you that there will be the same conditions that are present to Mr. Hunter and Ms. Thompson. You will have complete freedom over the course of the tests, and you will be able to refuse or stop them at any moment that you feel uncomfortable. There will be no invasive procedures of any kind. I can give you my word on this."</p>

<p>Jeff looked up at him while the moose looked back down at him. This only lasted a few moments, before the mouse speak up. "Okay." And he simply turned around to turn off all of the televisions and the laptops, this, of course, left the moose a bit startled.</p>

<p>As Jeff turned around, the moose was looking at him with a bit of surprise, and the mouse simply said. "Alex and Linda both trust you, and after the days that they had passed in here, they seem to be fine and not to have been harmed in any visible way. So, I can assure that you will extend this trust to me and keep your word to save me from any unpleasant experience that I could face in here. Besides, I kind of like your face, you seem like a decent fella." He spoke that, and he smiled, "I guess I can confidently take a chance by trusting you to keep your word."</p>

<p>Moosard blinked at him, and looked at his two friends, who simply smiled at the moose, and they both shook their heads. Yeah, that was just Jeff being Jeff.</p>

<p>"Well… I'm glad that you put your trust in me so promptly." Said the moose, and the mouse just nodded at him.</p>

<p>"Yeah, I guess you can say so, now, would you mind giving me a ride? I'm still not very confident walking around in a place where someone can step on me by accident." Jeff said, and he gestured to the moose. The doctor only took a moment to understand, as he lowered his head into the table, and the mouse quickly hopped on his hand. The doctor was careful as he raised it, and soon he was guiding Jeff and the other two outside.</p>

<p>As they walked outside, they attracted a few looks from the hospital staff as they looked at them and whispered among themselves.</p>

<p>"Is it them?"</p>

<p>"Yes, the meta mammals in the flesh!"</p>

<p>"The new one just arrived today. They say that the mouse is like a Ewestein."</p>

<p>"Being smart is a super power?"</p>

<p>Jeff chuckled to himself as he heard the others around him make their commentaries and assumptions. One of the first things that he had observed as he changed into a mouse, was that his senses seemed to have become sharper than they were when he was a human. His hearing in particular had increased a lot, and his sense of smell was also better than it was when he was a human, and it was already good. Jeff sure took a while to get himself used to the new sensations that he had as a mouse, but as he did, he found that these senses were coming to be very useful to him, as they were to help him smell the soy milk into the shirt of the big buffalo police chief. And now it was helping him to hear the things that these guys were saying all around. This was still going to prove to be very useful to him in the future, of that much Jeff was sure.</p>

<p>"So, Mr. Small, I'm surprised that I never heard of someone like you." Doctor Moosard said, "I mean, someone who is clearly as mentally gifted as you, I imagine you would have made a little name for yourself into some scientific fields."</p>

<p>"Yeah, I thought about that." Jeff said as he looked up at the moose. "But I didn't felt like having a lot of attention on myself, even though I made some very interesting suppositions and also a few very good projects. I value my privacy, though, I don't want everybody coming to me asking me to solve their problems or asking me to create something like a teleporter or an antigravity device."</p>

<p>"You can?" Moosard asked, looking surprised at the mouse, but Jeff only waved dismissively.</p>

<p>"Nah, I'm sure I could, but it would take a very long time, and honestly, I'm not sure if I want to do these things, they would require some technology that the world is not ready for yet, and it could take a few years of work." He spoke that as if he was talking about a regular topic, like why he didn't choose to eat cheese in the morning. "But I already did a few very interesting things, like that attempt at a death ray when I was thirteen."</p>

<p>"You built a death ray?" Moosard asked.</p>

<p>"No, he <em>attempted</em> to build one." Alex said, as he walked right by Moosard's side.</p>

<p>"It was supposed to be a sonic death ray, aimed at canines. You know, there was one in our block that was really mean to me." Jeff said, "I never had attempted that before, and sure, I might be smart but I'm still prone to failures."</p>

<p>"So, this ray didn't worked?" Moosard asked, wondering if he should feel glad about it.</p>

<p>"Yeah, kind of. I mean, no canine died, but in the moment I turned it on, a family of elephants who lived nearby went bananas until I turned it off." Jeff said, as he thought it to be somewhat funny, what made the doctor feel unease.</p>

<p>The event the mouse was describing had really happened. That thing that Jeff had built was aimed to affect dogs, more particularly, one that was rather viciously and had chased him home more than once. Jeff's family happened to live very close to a zoo at the time. Alex and Linda knew because Jeff had already told this story to them on one occasion, just like he was now telling to the doctor, but of course, changing a little to avoid talking about the subjects that would recall to the human world. Jeff knew better, after all.</p>

<p>"Well, it wasn't supposed to kill anything, to be honest." Jeff admitted to the moose who looked at him as he guided him across the hallways. "It was just supposed to be like a sonic stun gun to incapacitate canines and other animals using sound waves instead of electricity."</p>

<p>Moosard nodded, and as he walked, they coincidentally walked into Bogo, who nearly bumped into the moose as he walked.</p>

<p>"Oh, sorry!"</p>

<p>The buffalo sighed, and he was about to turn around and leave, when Jeff looked at him and asked, "What happened?"</p>

<p>The buffalo stopped to look at him, and the mouse said, "By your expression, and by that vein on your temple, I would say that it is something serious."</p>

<p>Bogo looked at him for a few seconds, and at the other animals.</p>

<p>"What happened?" Linda asked, and Bogo looked at her, right before sighing.</p>

<p>"I just got a call from central. Apparently there is a brawn into a bar in Tundratown, and the witness claim that the offender was another meta mammal."</p>

<p>"What?" Alex asked, as the four animals looked at the buffalo, who sighed, and said:</p>

<p>"According to the one who made the call, the two securities were attacked by a polar bear that seemed to be made of gold. I'm going there to see how it goes on." He just turned around to leave, when Jeff's voice was heard.</p>

<p>"Can I go with you?"</p>

<p>This made Bogo stop and blink. Had he just heard that?</p>

<p>The cape buffalo slowly turned around, and he looked at the mouse on the hands of the moose. The moose had a surprised look on his face, while the mouse simply looked up at him expecting.</p>

<p>"Excuse me?" Bogo asked, looking over his shoulder at the mouse, and the small rodent simply repeated:</p>

<p>"I want to go and see what this is about." He was saying it as if he was asking something simple and like it was something that he was supposed to ask now that he had the chance, around the same way that his son asked for ice cream when they were having a walk in the park and passed by a vendor.</p>

<p>Bogo turned to him, his finger raised, and he had his mouth open to speak, but before he could, the mouse interrupted him by talking first:</p>

<p>"Okay, you are probably gonna say that this is not my business and that you can't allow someone who just arrived to meddle into affairs that clearly belong to the ZPD. However, I have to say that my singular skills could be of great use for you into the investigation, besides, I guess that since a meta mammal is involved, the opinion of a meta mammal could be of great use for you in this kind of matter, right?"</p>

<p>Bogo looked at him, and he opened his mouth again, but before he could produce a single sound, the mouse chimed again:</p>

<p>"And you don't have to worry about my own safety, I can assure you that despite my small size I can very well fend for myself, and besides, is not like we will find trouble in that club you talked about, right? The meta mammal would obviously be away from there by now, and I guess that my presence could actually prove to be useful for your investigations."</p>

<p>Bogo looked at him in silence, and he internally fumed as he looked at the small rodent, who seemed to almost be able to read his mind. However, the small rodent was just smart. TOO smart. He was able to counter anything that the buffalo could come up with, and he seemed that he was not going to give up until he was able to get what he wanted.</p>

<p>"Jeff, are you sure?" Linda asked, and the mouse looked over at her.</p>

<p>"Yeah, don't worry. I'll be fine, you know that I've always cared for myself."</p>

<p>"But now you're-"</p>

<p>"I know that I have not been doing my exercises as I was supposed to, but I can assure you that I still can fight my own battles." Jeff intermitted, before Linda could say something that would be harder to explain later on. Linda only looked at him, seeming to be worried, and Alex looked over, and he said:</p>

<p>"I'm going too."</p>

<p>Bogo looked surprised at him, and the cougar simply said, "Well, I proved that I could help with Rhinehart. I guess I can be useful now."</p>

<p>Bogo looked at the cougar, and back at the mouse, and at doctor Moosard. The big bovine groaned as he pinched the bridge of his snout. "For the love of… Fine!" Bogo finally said, throwing his arms up in defeat. "You two can come, just don't make me regret it." Bogo said, and he turned around and started to walk away, and the cougar looked at his girlfriend, who looked back at him, and she seemed about to say something.</p>

<p>"I'll be fine." Alex said to her, "I'll be fine and I'll come back safe. I promise."</p>

<p>She just looked at him, before sighing, and nodding. Alex nodded back, and he walked forward, being side to side with doctor Moosard, who looked back at him. Alex simply nodded at him, and stretched his hand, allowing Jeff to jump from the moose's hand to his'.</p>

<p>"Well, looks like we'll have to change our plans." Small said to the doctor. "Please, tell the others that Mr. Hunter and I are sorry, but other things appeared, and we'll have to try it later on." He waved to him as Alex moved forward, carrying Jeff with him, and leaving behind a slightly stunned Moosard and a worried-looking Linda…</p><hr />

<p> </p>

<p> In the club of Tundratown, the police officers were taking notes on the statements of the witnesses. All of them claiming pretty much the same thing: the securities tried to put another polar bear out of the club, and this bear turned into gold and beat the crap out of the two securities.</p>

<p>Said securities had already been taken outside to receive medical care. Moe had a broken knuckled and he had to be taken for a concussion, and Billy was said to have suffered some trauma on his head, a few lost teeth and maybe a fracture on his muzzle. They both seemed serious, but luckily, none of them was in risk of dying.</p>

<p>Though the area was priority of the police precincts of Tundratown, there were two teams of officers who were from precinct one and were in there to serve as support. They were Fangmeyer and Wolfard, a tiger and a wolf, and our favorite duo of bunny and fox officers, Hopps and Wilde.</p>

<p>"So, they guy turned into gold in the moment the security tried to punch him?" Nick asked to the witness, an arctic fox around his own size.</p>

<p>"Yeah, he just tried to punch him and broke his hand." She said to him, and as she did, Judy, who was right by the side, took notes. "It was kind of scary, I mean, how often that happens? And that guy could very well turn on us! This make me really insecure." She continued, and then she added, "Good thing that now has a cute little cop here to give me protection."</p>

<p>She smiled seductively at Nick, who blinked surprised at her, and Judy's ears fell flat as she simply raised her look, demonstrating an annoyed expression as she looked at her. "Ma'am, I think it would be better if you just related the facts that occurred." She said, and the fox simply looked at her with kind of a dirty look.</p>

<p>"Excuse me!" Said a strong voice, as a familiar form was opening space into the crowd that was into the place, and soon was attracting the looks of others as he made his way into what now officially a crime scene. The eyes turned to Bogo, the police chief of precinct one, and soon another big form came on his meeting.</p>

<p>"Bogo! Nice to see you here." Said the big polar bear with a claw mark scar over the right side of his muzzle, as he shook the hand of his fellow police officer. Chief Reuben Ursini was the police chief of the ZPD at the main precinct of Tundratown, and he was an old friend of Bogo while they both were in the academy.</p>

<p>"Ursini. What do we have here?" Bogo asked.</p>

<p>"Apparently a polar bear who can turn into gold. One of these 'meta mammals' everybody talks about now." The polar bear said as he looked around, "Since you and your folks seem to have the more experience with them, I thought it could be nice to contact you." He said as he looked over, and soon, there was a commotion in the entrance of the crime scene.</p>

<p>"Hey, you can't come in!" Said a reindeer police officer as he stood in the way of the cougar who was trying to get pass. Some looked at him, and it didn't took long for that feline to start being recognized by the ones who were in there. Chief Ursini was among them, and he looked at the cougar, and back at the buffalo, who just sighed as he looked at the officers, and said, "Is okay, they are with me!"</p>

<p>By hearing that, the officer who had stopped the cougar on his tracks looked at the buffalo, and then at his own chief. Ursini looked at him and nodded, and the reindeer opened way, allowing the cougar to pass. As Alex moved on, a small voice on his cupped hand said, "I'm sorry for your divorce!"</p>

<p>As Alex approached, Ursini could see a small rodent into the hand of the cougar, and this one looked up at him as the feline stood in front of him. The polar bear looked at him, and then at Bogo, who simply said, "They insisted in coming, said that they could help."</p>

<p>"And indeed we can! Well, I know that <em>I</em> can." The mouse said, and Alex simply looked down at him, before rolling his eyes. "Jeffrey Small at your service! Now, if you would be kind enough to let us into the club, I might be able to analyze the scene and help you come up with a conclusion."</p>

<p>The bear simply looked down at the rodent, and could only think that the small thing had some nerve. Arriving into a place and already asking to see the crime scene as if he was a police officer or another authority of the matter. Ursini simply looked at Bogo, and he said, "The cougar I can understand, but the mouse?"</p>

<p>"He has some skills." Bogo said simply, "Besides, if you don't let him he might come up with something to try to convince you. That is why they came with me, in the first place."</p>

<p>The polar bear looked at him, and at the two mammals who had just arrived with the buffalo, and he sighed, before saying, "Follow me. The forensic team is already inside, try not the get on the way and neither ruining the crime scene." He said, and he gestured them to follow as he walked inside, passing by the police band on the local, and soon, Bogo and the other two were going into the place.</p>

<p>"Man, this place is chilling." Alex said in a low voice as they walked into the place.</p>

<p>Jeff looked up to him and he said, "Well, it <em>is Tundra</em>town, right?"</p>

<p>Yeah, Alex had already realized that, still it amazed him that the same city that could have such a warm climate like the one he faced into Savannah Central for the past week, could also have such a cold climate like that. Alex couldn't help but wonder how they actually managed to pull that one out…</p>

<p>As they walked inside, there was already teams of forensic scientists into the place, and they were taking pictures, analyzing the scene and even collecting samples from the counter and of the ground. Some were even trying to collect samples from a crumpled-looking metal chair on the ground.</p>

<p>As they walked inside, someone quickly acknowledged them, and it was a snow leopard who greeted Ursini. "Chief, we have been trying to find DNA samples in here, but it seems like that bear didn't actually touched anything, but we the rest of a cigarette, and we hope to be able to take some DNA from it." He said, as he noticed the other animals coming with him, and the other feline called his attention.</p>

<p>"Wait a minute, aren't you-"</p>

<p>"So, the suspect was smoking?" A squeakily voice asked, making the snow leopard look at the mouse, and he simply looked at the rodent, with a little surprise, by the way.</p>

<p>"Please, answer the question." Said Ursini, and the snow leopard soon was answering.</p>

<p>"Y-yes, he was smoking in here. That was what started the turmoil in first place." The feline said as he gestured around. "According to the bartender the polar bear continued to smoke even after being warned that it was forbidden inside. That was when he called the securities and the whole thing went south."</p>

<p>Jeff listened to him, and he looked over at that crumpled chair into the ground, and he was able to notice something about it.</p>

<p>"Alex, put me down." Jeff said, what surprised the cougar and the ones who were near.</p>

<p>"What?"</p>

<p>"Put me down! I want to see a thing!" The rodent insisted, and Alex looked at the others, who seemed as surprised as him. Eventually, Alex decided to simply do what Jeff had asked at him, and lowered his hand until the mouse could comfortably hop from it to the ground, and he immediately dashed into the ground in direction to that chair.</p>

<p>"Hey!"</p>

<p>"What?"</p>

<p>"What the!?"</p>

<p>Many got startled as that little rodent moved past them as fast as his small legs could carry him, and soon, he was arriving into the chair, which was already marked with a number plate as an evidence. As he arrived, he immediately surprised the forensic professional who was taking pictures of the chair. "Hi! I'm Jeff, and I'm going to climb in this chair now!" He said with a smile to him as he immediately moved over the chair and started to climb it in the best of his skills.</p>

<p>"What is he doing!?" Ursini said surprised, and Alex was unable to answer, soon, the three animals were rushing to the place. Jeff had reached an advantage point into the chair, and now he was on all fours over it, as if he was analyzing it closely.</p>

<p>"Hmm, like I suspected." The mouse said, and as he did he sniffed at that spot he was keeling over, and he even put his tongue out and licked it a bit. "Interesting…"</p>

<p>"Hey, mouse!" Said the strong voice of Ursini. "Didn't I told you not to ruin the crime scene!? What are you even doing?"</p>

<p>The mouse looked up at him, and he said, "I might have just gotten an important clue… Can I talk to one of the witnesses?"</p>

<p>"What!?" Ursini said, and Jeff turned to the cougar, "Alex, would you please take me outside?" He said, and Alex hesitated just for a moment, before putting his hand near the spot he was into, and the mouse hopped in. The mouse even turned to the forensic guy and said, "You might want to take a sample of that area. Oh, and if you find rodent DNA it is mine." Soon he and Alex were moving outside.</p>

<p>"What are they doing?" The polar bear demanded of Bogo, who was slightly dumbfolded by what was happening, and the forensic professional was taking a closer look into the area that the rodent had just pointed at him…</p>

<p>Outside, the cougar and were looking around, and seeing if they could find a witness to talk to. Jeff was the one who pointed at one they could talk with. A reindeer dressing like a barman.</p>

<p>As they approached, the mouse said, "I'm sorry, my friend, but by your outfit I can assume that you are the barman of the club. This is a little confirmed now that I'm close and I can smell your scent. Would you mind telling us what happened in there?"</p>

<p>"Who are you?" The reindeer asked, and the mouse simply insisted.</p>

<p>"We are two mammals who might help get the guy who hurt those poor lads if you would kindly give us a little information." He said that with a confidence that left the reindeer a little stunned, and that must have been because of it that the reindeer decided to cooperate.</p>

<p>"Is like I said to the cops. I saw the guy talking to Trixie, she is usually there, and she walked away and he started smoking. I said to him that he should not and the guy just blew smoke on my face! Do you believe it? I just called Moe and Billy expecting them to kick his ass and throw him out. But the guy actually send they both to the hospital! Moe broke his hand trying to punch him and Billy swung a chair at him and it had no effect! After that he took their money and Billy's shirt and walked out while he smoked another."</p>

<p>"Didn't you tried to stop him?" Alex asked.</p>

<p>"Are you kidding me?" The reindeer said to him, "Try to stop a guy who turned into gold and kicked the butts of two of the strongest polar bears I know as if they were nothing? I'm not crazy! The guy would have broken me in half!"</p>

<p>"So, Billy hit him with a metal chair?" The mouse asked.</p>

<p>"Yeah?"</p>

<p>"What sound did it made?"</p>

<p>"What?"</p>

<p>"When the chair connected with the 'golden bear', what sound did it made? It was just a brief sound of metal on metal or the sound resonated?" The mouse asked, and the reindeer looked at him a bit unsure, as he thought about it.</p>

<p>"Well… you see, it was not like when you hit a metal ball into another… no… it was more like a sound… it was like…"</p>

<p>"Like a bell?" Jeffrey asked, and the reindeer stopped a little, and after a while, he said:</p>

<p>"Yeah, it was somewhat like that. The sound just happened and continued for a moment, like the bell of the church near my house!"</p>

<p>The mouse nodded, and he asked, "And the polar bear said anything about himself? His age? His name?"</p>

<p>"When Moe talked to him, he said that his name was Pollard."</p>

<p>"Hunter! Small!" The booming voice of chief Bogo called their attention and almost made the reindeer jump out of his own fur, and they all looked at the approaching buffalo, who did not looked happy, and neither did the polar bear who was following him.</p>

<p>"What was the only thing I asked of you when I agreed that you could come!?"</p>

<p>"I believe it was for us not to make you regret it." Jeff said, while the reindeer was now discreetly moving away, as if knowing that problem was coming.</p>

<p>"Did you came here only to get on the way of the investigation?" Bogo inquired to the mouse specifically, but Alex still felt like he was somewhat into the line of his anger. Jeff only looked back at him.</p>

<p>"I'm sorry, get on the way?"</p>

<p>"You walked straight into the scene and messed with the evidence! And now you are talking with a witness without our consent!" Bogo demanded, "It seems to be that you are getting on the way of the investigation!"</p>

<p>Jeff looked at him, seeming offended. "Well, excuse me for discovering important information regarding the suspect and his powers."</p>

<p>"What?" Bogo asked, eyeing him.</p>

<p>"In the moment we were inside, I was able to notice a slightly shine in that crumpled chair." Jeff explained to the bigger animals. "Upon coming closer, I was able to take a good look at it. It seems that Billy, the security polar bear, has swung the chair with enough strength that, when it connected with the suspect, it was able to cause some material transference, much like the paint transference that happens in car impacts."</p>

<p>The bigger animals all shared looks as they took the information that the small mammal, and the rodent only continued. "The residue indeed had an yellow color consistent with what would you expect from gold. However, once I was able to touch it, I was able to notice a keen difference. You see, upon the contact with skin, many metals let out the familiar metallic smell, in this case, the smell I could sense and taste with my keen senses was of something that I surely didn't recognized as gold."</p>

<p>"Gold has a smell?" Ursini asked, and the mouse simply ignored him and continued.</p>

<p>"Once I was able to get this information, I immediately searched for someone who was in there and that could tell me what happened. Luckily, that bartender just fulfilled this function. He was able to tell me what happened in the very moment of when the suspect was hit with the chair. More precisely, he was able to tell me what he heard."</p>

<p>"Heard?" Bogo asked</p>

<p>"He said he heard something like a bell." Alex said, and Jeff pointed at him with a smile.</p>

<p>"That's right! Different metals have different kinds of properties, and there is a metal that, when hit, vibrates and resonates just like a bell. This metal is copper, and this particular vibratory characteristic tends to extend to the alloys that are made by mixing cooper with other metals."</p>

<p>"Now, what kind of metal is a form of copper alloy, vibrates like a bell when hit, and has a yellow color that is very similar to gold?"</p>

<p>There was a silence as he asked that, and the bigger animals only looked at each other, none of them really knew what they were supposed to say. Since they didn't gave any answer, Jeff decided to answer his own question.</p>

<p>"Brass, my friends." Jeff said, much like a professor speaking to his students. "Brass is this particular alloy, made of cooper and zinc." He looked up at the other animals, and he concluded. "We are searching for a polar bear who has the power to turn his own body into brass."</p>

<p>Bogo and Ursini only stared at him. "You concluded all of that after a few seconds in there?" Ursini asked, not knowing if he should laugh or feel completely baffled at this. The mouse just looked up at him, and he said:</p>

<p>"Well, I just did my stuff. By the way, the information of his kind of power allowed to also discover his identity."</p>

<p>"Wait, you know the guy?" Bogo asked.</p>

<p>"Not personally, but I heard about him. The ability to turn into brass, and last name Pollard. I can say that I know the guy only for his reputation, but I can say that, if half of the things I heard about him are true, then it is very likely that he will have more fights as the day moves on."</p>

<p>As he said that, the bigger animals all shared a look…</p>