It was a normal evening for the animals of Starwing City.
Various classes of animals hurried down the street, going home from their various jobs. Many others were choosing to relax at a nearby bar with friends. Cars crawled along the streets to their destinations. Lights in offices went out as their occupants retired from their daily duties. Essentially, nothing had changed for the city's citizens.
Unless someone were to look up towards a certain abandoned building, that had yet to be destroyed. If they did, they would spot a solitary figure, watching the mammals retire from work. Completely motionless, like a gargoyle. The sight of it would surely unnerve them.
And then he was gone. Almost like he disappeared into the nighttime air.
Other than that singular oddity, it was simply a normal night for the animals of Starwing City.
"So Carrots, did you enjoy your first weekend in Starwing?" Nick asked, pulling his aviator sunglasses from his pocket. Both animals walked out from a restaurant that had some good feedback on Yip; dinner did not disappoint them.
"Did I have fun in a city hanging out with my favorite partner?" Judy said, giving her partner a grateful look. "Yes, yes, I did."
"That's my job," the fox chuckled. "Make sure that my partner against crime has a good time. Strange that of all places, we chose to come here. To Eagland, a place filled with hunting birds."
"I know, I know. But the discovery of another country, one populated by a whole other race of animals intrigues me." She looked around her, taking in the sights of large birds travelling by ground, in a "No-flight" zone, an area that prohibited flight; if the birds ignored it, they would be shot down by turrets disguised as fire hydrants. They all walked past her, one or two stealing a glance at the purple dinner dress that she wore.
"Intrigues you? If that's the way you want it, then I should take you to more dangerous places."
The rabbit shot him a glare, more amused than angry. "Sly fox."
"Dumb bunny," came his reply. He tousled her ears, making her duck away. "Although I must admit the suit fits me nicely." He chose a sleek black tuxedo for the occasion, along with an emerald bowtie. He readjusted it, feeling a new sense of charm come forth.
"I'll say," Judy laughed, playfully punching him in the side. "You're sure to charm some vixens with that."
"Actually," Nick scratched the back of his neck, "I'm not looking into dating any vixens at the moment."
"Why not?" Judy tilted her head and frowned.
"Carrots, I'm really not in the market for any vixen right at the moment. I am on break. Right now, I'm inclined to kick back and relax, enjoy the view."
"Think there's enough space for me to join?"
"Absolutely," Nick grinned, holding a paw out to her. She accepted, giving him a genuine smile, one he returned as they began walking down the street.
The buildings around them were made of glass, the lights of the multiple stores brightly shining. The animals around Nick and Judy were all talking on their phones in loud voices, as disco music blared out of nearby nightclubs. Said nightclubs had birds and animals of ages- ranging from teenager to adult- waltzing in and out. The ones exiting looked tipsy.
"Want to head in there?" Nick pointed to a colossal club, one with a bright green sign. Sharp diagonal lines formed the word "Furdant", underneath a big, glowing capital F.
"Ugh, no thank you," Judy recoiled from the entrance, seeing several eagles leaning against the wall for support. "I would rather not walk into a place that serves alcoholic drinks."
"Why not?" Nick raised an eyebrow. "Would you rather go in there and arrest them for the possession of those alcoholic drinks?"
"Ordinarily, most likely. But since Eagland is a place where alcohol is legal, we're forced to watch from the sidelines while they get themselves drunk."
"True words, Carrots," Nick chuckled, "though I'm pretty sure that nightclubs don't just serve alcohol."
Judy scowled at him, one mixed with skepticism and unamusement. Nick's casual wit wilted beneath the look, and he fumbled with his pockets as he tried pulling his phone out.
"Well, it doesn't hurt to take a look on Zoogle, will it?" he asks, pulling the app up and typing in the question, "Do nightclubs only serve alcohol?"
"Excuse me?"
Judy turned, to see a tall black bird, twiddling his feathers as he took a step towards them. He wore a white copy of Nick's clothes; the only difference was that the bow tie replaced with a long black tie. His beady eyes flickered between the two of them, resting on the rabbit as the fox was occupied with searching for an answer to his question.
"Yes sir, can I help you?"
"Not to interrupt your night out," he asked with hesitance, in a Birdish accent, "but would you happen to have the time? I've forgotten my pocketwatch at home, a silly mistake I've made as I have an important meeting tonight."
"No trouble," Judy dismissed the question, lifting her right paw to check her watch. "It's 9:32."
"9:32," the magpie muttered, scratching the underside of his beak. "So if Dawson lands the job right, and the others arrive at the rendezvous point..."
It was then that another bird that was passing by stumbled into Nick. The fox looked up from his phone to see the bird regain his composure, make an apology, cursing himself for not being more aware, and pocket something that suspiciously looked like a wallet.
"Well then, I believe I must be off. Thank you for helping me out; I think I can make it in time," the magpie said.
"No problem," Judy said, waving at him as he hurried off. Nick eyed him suspiciously, as he joined the other crow. The latter pulled out a wallet dyed maroon, like Nick's. Exactly like Nick's. He reached into his pocket, to find it empty.
"Such a polite bird," Judy sighed, before turning to Nick. "So, what does Zoogle have to say about-"
"Carrots, my wallet's gone."
The rabbit's ears shot up. "What?"
"It's gone," he repeated, looking up after the twin birds. "That was part of their act; distract the victim while the other goes in for the kill. The magpie was a distraction!"
Judy leapt into action, sprinting after the birds while calling out, "Stop! Thief!"
Both birds froze, then took off running. Their pursuers quickened their pace, following them into the stream of moving partygoers. As they were shorter than the other animals, the fox and the rabbit had to rely on the indignant yelps and exclamations made by the animals being pushed aside by the birds.
The crowd suddenly began to thin out, providing Nick and Judy with a clear vision. They looked ahead to see the crow and magpie duck into an alley ahead.
"Just up there, Carrots!" Nick stated, triumph in his voice as he sprinted towards it. "Five bucks that it's a dead end!"
Judy was about to reply when movement from the building above them caught her attention. She looked up; a tall animal leapt from the rooftop onto the one ahead of them, drawing closer to the alley. She blinked, unsure of what she just saw.
"Carrots, come on!"
She shook her head to see Nick bolt into the alley. She scolded herself for being distracted, and ran after her partner.
She arrived at the entrance of the dark passage. She wrinkled her nose as the smell of old garbage greeted her, making her want to gag. She pressed through, nonetheless, careful to not step in the puddles formed from the storm yesterday. The sounds of Starwing City dimmed as she progressed through the alley.
"Over here Carrots," she heard Nick call. She turned, her large ears pinpointing his location. She saw him, and the two thieves; the latter were holding their wings behind their head as Nick pointed his in-case-of-emergencies baton at them. She arrived at his side, and retrieved her can of pepper spray.
"Okay, let's see here," Nick said, directing the two burglars. "Taking a wallet is one thing. But taking a wallet, from an officer, right under my nose?" He chuckled; "Well, I'm impressed. Couldn't have been more proud."
"Nick!" Judy scolded, directing her partner's focus. The birds looked up at him, momentarily confused by his words.
"Right, right," Nick said, shaking his head. "I'm going to arrest you for stealing a wallet. So, hand it over and I'll bring you in for petty theft."
"Yes sir," the suit-wearing magpie said, as he raised a wing. "But first..." He snapped his feathers. All of a sudden, shapes moved from the windows above Nick and Judy; they glanced up to see birds climbing out of the abandoned buildings and flying down to the ground. As they landed, they pulled out a weapon from their coats; most had a knife of varying shapes, but one or two had a pistol.
"Hand over your belongings," the crow commanded, turning and looking at them with a triumphant smirk. "All of it; jewelry, wallets, weapons, whatever."
"You dirty little-" Judy growled.
"Ah ah ah," the crow stopped her talking, as he pulled out his own dagger. "We wouldn't want to have our tongues removed now, would we? No, no we would not."
"Threatening an officer, robbery, and resisting arrest?" Nick sighed. "Getting difficult to negotiate and drop the charges on you."
"Oh, we aren't going in, Officer," the magpie sneered. He had pulled out his pawgun, a .44 Wagnum. "The members of the Black Talon are known for avoiding the law. Aren't we, lads?"
The circle of beaked bandits laughed scornfully. The black bird, presumably the leader on how he acted with his fellow thieves, pointed his dagger at the fox and rabbit. "Now then, as I said before: all of your valuable belongings, in a pile at my talons. Now."
Nick hesitated for a moment; he looked like he might comply to their wishes. Judy, on the other paw, frowned up at him and elbowed his side. He glanced down at her, and she nodded firmly. He nodded back, reassured as he glared at the bandits.
"If you're not going to back down, then we aren't either," Judy declared, holding her pepper spray aloft like King Pawthur held Excalipur in the children's stories she read. Nick held his baton now in the way Obi-wan Wrenobi holds his lightsapurr in "Attack of the Quails." It may have been just a boost in confidence, and wasn't exactly striking fear into the hearts of their adversaries, but it worked in steeling her nerves.
"And how exactly do you plan on fighting us?" the crow scoffed. "You're severely outnumbered, two against… hold on," he lowered his dagger and started counting the birds around him, "one, two, three-"
His words cut short; something whistled through the air, and an arrow abruptly sprouted from his wing. He shrieked in pain and dropped his knife, while his peers let out exclamations of alarm. The magpie turned to Nick and Judy, but both were transfixed by the metal shaft sticking out of the bird's upper feathers, which he was now trying to remove.
"Wha-?" Judy managed, before movement from the rooftops above made her turn around and look up. A figure, clad in deep green and holding a bow, stood on the edge of the apartment building, silhouetted by the lights of the city. Steam curled from exhaust vents on the roofs, giving them the look of a spectral archer.
"It's him!" one of the birds shouted. The phrase sent the others into a panic; they began yelling and shoving each other out of the way as they tried running out of the alley, into the dark path. The magpie was trying to restore order to them, snapping orders that went unheard. All the while, the green-clothed figure rained more arrows down; instead of simply impaling the victims however, wires burst from them and wrapped around the targets, or exploded in a white flash upon impact. The crooks went down, struggling against their bonds, or dazed from the flashes of light.
"Carrots, do you even know what's happening?" Nick asked, bewildered at the spectacle. She shook her head, similarly confused.
"Stand your ground!" the magpie snapped. "The vigilante is no match for us!"
His words were in vain, the alley was almost empty. The emerald archer leapt from his spot, plummeting down to meet them. At the last second, he extended his wings, slowing his descent to land between the crooks and officers.
"Get out of here pal," the magpie ordered, but Judy could hear the panic in his voice. "This is our playground."
The hooded bird didn't move. Now he was closer, Judy could see the suit he wore was made of kevlar, dyed like the hood he wore over his head. A quiver was slung over his back, filled with multiple arrows. He was tall, taller than Nick and probably reaching Bogo's height.
"I said, leave now," the magpie commanded. But he said nothing, again. At that point, the crow, after removing the arrow from his shoulder, yelled and foolishly rushed the archer. Faster than Judy could see, he drew an arrow from his quiver and nocked it in his bow, firing it in a total of just over a second. The arrow embedded itself in the chest of the black bird, who cried out. He started to shudder violently, like he was hit by a taser. He crumpled to the floor, occasionally twitching.
"Well then," the magpie said, "that's my first bird down. So, how will this go down, Mr. Arrow?"
"Mr. Arrow" didn't make a verbal reply.
"Come on then, that's your name, isn't it? What they've been calling you on the news, correct? So tell me, Mr. Arrow, will we have another battle with guns and bows, or will we fight with our bare wings?"
The bird they called Mr. Arrow studied the magpie, as he put his gun back in its holster and flexed his end feathers. The archer lowered his bow, before he threw it over his shoulder. He copied the actions of the magpie, as he took a stance.
"Well then," the magpie smirked. "Wing-to-wing it is."
He leapt at him, while Mr. Arrow stepped forward. The black bird made to grab the emerald clothed bird, who intercepted with a punch to the face. As the magpie recoiled, Mr. Arrow grabbed the side of his face and gave him a series of chops to the torso. As the magpie backpedaled, in an attempt to escape the onslaught, the green robed bird grabbed him by the wrist and brought him over his shoulder; he slammed his target into the ground, making the two onlookers wince.
He regained his composure, and exhaled. Nick spoke up, "Well, that was… exhilarating-"
The archer whirled on him, bow in his grip and arrow nocked. Nick held his paws up in surrender, eyes wide. "Hey, whoa whoa whoa. We're just the innocent bystanders here, victims of the crimes that these bandits pulled."
Mr. Arrow gave no indication he heard his words, but he lowered his bow.
"You shouldn't trust strangers who ask for help," he spoke, his voice garbled and deep. "Especially in Starwing City."
"What, you're offering us advice?" he drawled, "after we watched you take down a group of criminals?"
"The Black Talon has a reputation for attacking civilians," the archer said. "I have a reputation of protecting those civilians."
"In a really radical method," Judy quipped. Nick stared back at her, a look of protest visible. Mr. Arrow turned to her, allowing her to take a glimpse under his hood: he wore a small mask over his eyes, colored just like his clothes. His beak was thin and long, making her think of an owl. A growth of stubble rested on his chin.
"Judy, he just saved our life," Nick said, "and my wallet. You're going to criticize him for what he did?"
"Not what he did," Judy answered, "but how he did it." She shot him a glare, which he returned with a stony gaze. "You think you can leap from building to building, putting arrows in criminals?"
"I have my ways of protecting this city," he answered. "Just as you have yours, officer."
"How do your ways- wait," she blinked at his statement. "How do you know that I'm an officer?"
"Your friend mentioned that they would be arrested for threatening officers. And his wallet holds a badge." The vigilante held up a maroon wallet, opened to reveal the gold badge inside. He tossed it to the fox, who caught it with both paws. "Zootopia Police Department?"
Judy nodded.
"First rabbit and fox officers. First time for everything."
Judy started to say something, before the sounds of sirens cut through the night air. She glanced around, surprised to see flashes of red and blue on the street drawing closer.
"The police have been informed that the Black Talon would strike again tonight, and their targets were officers from another region. However, they did not know where, and would've spent the night searching the city for the location."
Judy turned around, to see the bird fire an arrow upwards. A metal cord trailed from it as it flew up and into the wall. When it struck, the archer suddenly flew up, still holding the bow in his wings, leaving Judy and Nick staring at where he was. He landed on the fire escape on the third story of the building, before he climbed up the ladder and disappeared.
"That," Nick stated, "was… AWESOME!"
Judy shot him a look, but he seemed to dismiss it. She rolled her eyes at his excitement, saying, "Whatever."
"Freeze!"
Both animals jumped at the sound. As they looked around for who made it, a voice said, "Down here pal."
Nick looked down to see an armadillo tugging at his knee, taser in one hand. An officer's uniform covered his petite figure, a badge visible on his left breast pocket. Despite his small size, he fiercely glared up at the taller animals.
"Problem, Officer?" Nick asked. "Something amiss?"
"Shut up," he snapped. "SCPD received a tip-off; two foreign officers threatened by a notorious gang."
"Ah, yes," Judy sighed, relieved that actual law enforcement had come. "It was the Black Talon, sir; their leaders are over here-"
"Quiet, miss," he waved the taser at her. "Or it's behind bars for the both of you."
"Excuse me?" the fox raised an eyebrow. "What did we do?"
"Threatening members of the force, attempted larceny, and multiple cases that aren't suited for civilian ears."
"What? We never-" understanding dawned on Nick as he discovered what he was saying. "No officer, you've made a mistake. We're the victims here-"
"I said shut it!" he gripped his stun pistol harder. "I've been waiting a long time for-"
"Armadreer."
The voice interrupted the armadillo's words; all three animals looked at the alley's entrance, now lit up with flashing red and blue. An antelope, wearing a uniform like the armadillo, was making its way towards them.
"Captain Prance," the armadillo saluted the animal as he arrived, "I came just a minute ago. As you can see, I was about to apprehend the suspects."
"I think you might've got the wrong animals," Captain Prance said, removing his navy blue hat. The tuft of fur on his head was shaved in a buzz cut, short and black. His eyes looked tired, like someone who had been working on a job for so long. He nodded to Nick and Judy. "ZPD?"
"Yes, uh, sir," Judy said, giving him a salute. "Officers Wilde and Hopps, sir."
"Please, Quentin's fine," he waved a hoof aside. "How are Zootopia's finest officers, if I may ask?"
"Before tonight," Nick said, "just fine. Aside from the close encounter with this 'Black Talon,' Starwing's a pretty pleasant place."
"Sir, why are you socializing with the suspects?" Officer Armadreer asked, confused at his Captain's actions.
"These aren't the suspects, Armadreer. And before you ask how I know," he put a hoof up, seeing the armadillo start to speak, "one: the Black Talon is a bird-only gang. Not claw, or fang, just talon. Two, if they were members, they'd have an arrow in them like the others around us."
"What?" the armadillo glanced down, apparently not seeing the dazed and/or unconscious birds on the ground around him. He lowered his taser. "Oh."
"Sir, you wouldn't believe it," Judy spoke up, "there was a bird, tall and in green. He came in, with a bow and arrow, and just shot birds around us-"
"It was crazy cool!" Nick cut her off; she scowled at his eagerness. "He rained those arrows down on the thugs; it was like watching Robin Hoot in real life! And when he came to fight them, it was all of a sudden just-"
"Please, Mr. Wilde, I don't need your explanations," Captain Prance silenced him calmly. "We already know who did this."
"You know?" Judy gasped, wide-eyed.
"Of course. You've just been payed a visit by Starwing's vigilante, the Arrow."
(Author's note: YAAAAAAAYYY! It's done!
This was something I had on my mind for a while now; since I watched Zootopia again, I've wanted to incorporate birds into it. But I couldn't find how to, until I started Arrow again. The solution hit me as I watched Oliver take some bad guys out: make him a bird. So now, Oliver Preen lives in Starwing City as the Green Arrow, taking down foes like Count Purrtigo and Clock Kingfisher with John Beakle and Felicity Crowk.
(...Need help with names; PM me if you have any ideas, please)
And if you're wondering about my previous story, Keeper of the Beasts, I'm working on it. I'm giving my OC more backstory, and changing his personality. Be warned: he's going to be a jerk. As the story goes on, he'll ease up on his mood, but he's a huge jerk in the beginning.
Anyway, reviews on this appreciated; may return to this later. Then again, three AP classes, an Honors class and 2nd Spanish is going to make it challenging... bleh.
Zootopia and Arrow belong to their respective owners; I don't have any right to their property, blah blah blah, you know the drill. Anyway, see ya!)