Twisted Fates

"Thanks, Ben, I'll see you on my way out." Judy, an anthropomorphic grey-white rabbit in her early twenties, waved at the obese receptionist, who was like rooted to his poor chair in the middle of the Zootopia Police Department's foyer. She only had to check out her equipment in the armory and head home. It wasn't the best first day, but it was an acceptable one the least.

"Ah, cute little thing. She'll get eaten in no time… Such a shame…" Her tall ears managed to catch the rogue words of the obese cheetah, and her trod was reduced in intensity, as she hadn't expected to hear such from the only mammal in the department who was friendly towards her. From Bogo, from McHorn, from the citizens who she had ticketed during the long day, sure. But from him… Her stomach gurgled with a sort of bubbling pain. The negatives were starting to overwhelm the positives, but with pure determination, she kept on moving and passed the armory door, heading down the armory corridor with deep breaths that felt steamy and acidic.

Her bright expectations about how much different it would be in the most prestigious police department in the city of Zootopia were broken on just the first day, yet she was reluctant to back down. She always went against the odds, as the odds were against her all her life, and there she was, at the job she had dreamt of being at. Tho, ticketing parking meters wasn't what she was picturing.

Just as she was about to go around another corner, a weasel and a coyote got in her way. The brown-furred weasel was slightly taller than her, not taking her long ears into account. He was in police blues like the rest of the officers in the precinct, but his badge was nowhere in sight. In a way, his slender build looked unhealthy around the creased clothes that dishonored the job he was entrusted.

His whiskers were long and some of them even bent, his tail was ungroomed and scruffy; and he had bloodshot red eyes, eyes that looked tired of age. If he wasn't wearing a police uniform, she would have thought that he was a hobo in a stolen uniform. The wackiness that his expression spoke, it was tugging on her nerves, and there seemed to be some sort of toothpick between his mustard teeth.

His white-furred companion was a coyote with a bushy brown-tipped tail. At least his badge was present. But what more was there was the cunning in his umber eyes. Cunning that festered in the calmness around his tidy existence, unlike the body of jitteriness next to him. He was evaluating her obviously and thoroughly. Judy, she was somehow shocked at these two new faces, and felt a sense of danger in front of herself. Amidst that, she saw the old and deep scar on the coyote's nose, but she was interrupted from her observations by the harsh and jeering voice of the weasel.

"Hah, look who we have here, if it isn't, Flopsy the Copsy. And here I thought that the morning presentation was just a fat joke, tck-tck." The weasel chuckled and looked at his companion for a confirmation, but his smile crashed as no reaction was given to him. That visibly annoyed the unkempt officer.

The words managed to jolt energy into her, getting her to frown at the attempted bullying from the weasel's part. "Excuse me, but my name's Officer Hopps, not Flopsy th…" She couldn't even finish as the weasel interrupted her abruptly.

"You're EXCUSED. And you're who I say you're, hickity-hick" -he crushed the toothpick that was between his teeth and swiftly pulled another one from out his pocket- "and you'll address me as Lieutenant Weaselton or Sir when talking to me, do you understand, cottontail?"

Bewilderment. Her whole day was filled with bad surprises and each time she thought it couldn't get worse, it did. From her morning public humiliation, to her personal in front of her boss, Chief Bogo. The workday with the happy Zootopian civilians was even worse. She even found out that Ben, the friendliest mammal she had ever met doubted that she would succeed in any way, shape, or form.

And now, now she encountered an officer, who was her superior and seemed like he liked power too much, sounding and acting like a total piece of filth. If she didn't play along, she could get into trouble, which by the looks of things and her current situation with the Chief, just wasn't going to do her any good in the long run. And how did this scruffy-looking weasel get to such a rank with such an attitude, it was beyond her.

"Y-yes, Sir," she replied, slightly stuttering with a lightly twitching nose because her nervousness was getting the better of her and making her marginally to lose control of herself.

"Ah-ha-ha" he slapped his knees from laughter, "you just got here and you're already shitting your pants?" -he looked at the coyote for a second- "what, you thought that when you join, you were going to get greeted with hugs, flowers, and overflowing support? Guess again, Cottontail," he spat the last words with such ferocity that it caused spit to fly out of his mouth and hit Judy in the eye.

She stumbled back, not knowing what had happened and tried to regain her balance, while attempting to remove the gruesome spit that was now going down her silver cheek, staining its purity. She wasn't going to let him talk her down and do as he pleased. "Sir, could you not spit at me when talking, I would appreciate it," she affirmed firmly, while looking directly at his twitching red eyes.

"And I would appreciate it if you kept your mouth shut, country girl." He spat again at the last words, this time intentionally, but Judy was ready and dodged it with ease. That didn't anger the weasel tho, he actually grinned and moved his jaw left and right, thus repositioning the stick on the other side of his maw.

"Now, now, who knew you had hidden talents within you, Officer Hippity-hop," he jabbed in a mocking and sardonic tone. "Maybe after you get fired, we can find a job suitable for you. You'll do pretty well considered you'd be exotic goods. Maybe me and you can work something out, fluffbutt," he finished with drool falling off his mouth and a very suggestive look.

Judy understood immediately at what he was hinting, feeling disgusted by the weasels words she retaliated in an instant, not wanting to let him win and think that she was some good for nothing, meek prey. "I would never ever do that. Even if you were the last mammal on the planet" -she saw his smirk turn into a very foul grin and that made her to lose her temper as well as manners- "I would rather sleep with a corpse than have anything to do with you. You are vulgar and also disgusting but not only from the outside but the inside as well, Lieutenant Weazelton."

The things that Judy said managed to anger the weasel, but the thing that made him lose control was the mispronunciation of his name. The weasel's whole body started twitching, and he started grinding his teeth. "It's WEASELTON you dumb cunt. And oo-ohh, we can make that part with the corpse a reality, just you wait!" he yelled and began walking towards her with clenched fists. Judy immediately knew what was happening, her academy training kicking in, making her take a battle stance and readying herself for the oncoming obvious attack.

The coyote that had not moved nor said anything during the entire conversation, who looked calm and collected, now had an extremely serious expression. To her surprise he stepped in and grabbed Weaselton by the shoulder, stopping him dead in his tracks. She thought that the weasel would go haywire and attack his companion at any given second. What surprised her most was that the weasel actually calmed down and his shoulders sagged.

There were some awkward seconds of silence and then the coyote uttered something for the first time since their encounter. "Now, now Duke, that cute little bunny didn't mean to offend you by saying that. She is a rookie and doesn't know her way around yet. There's no need to do anything irrational right now as she is our colleague. Even if we don't want her to be" -he gripped his shoulder and the doe could see his sharp claws digging into the weasel- "we can let her have a pass for now and just give her a warning to be careful next time, don't you think so, Duke?" he spoke very calmly and to his question the weasel only nodded and gulped, which didn't go unnoticed by the grey doe.

What in the name of carrots is going on here? How did this day go south so fast…

"Now, Officer Hopps, I am Sergeant Thane Songdog and as we can see, you've greatly insulted my partner here."

Before he could continue, she intervened, "I insulted him? Didn't you hear what he said to me before I even uttered a sound. He even…" she couldn't finish as the coyote raised his paw, gesturing her to stop.

"I understand that maybe… he may have gone overboard with his comments" -the doe crossed her arms in dissatisfaction- "but we've had a rough day and I hope that you can understand and forgive him for his attitude. We haven't played around all day like you have, so it's reasonable to be a little edgy" -the coyote started smirking lightly- "don't you think, Officer Hopps?" He tried to downplay the situation, paying her small insults but still keeping a respectable tone. The doe wasn't content with what had been explained because it wasn't going to cut it for her.

"Reasonable? He offered to pay me for my body and downright threatened to kill me. Do you think that's minor and within reason, Sergeant Songdog?" She was irritated and mad at the coyote that tried to cover for his partner, not knowing how he could defend such an individual like Weaselton, such an abominable, hateful, and vile mammal. First impressions always mattered.

She didn't know very much about the duo but they looked like shady policemammals, and the hints from Duke made her question their motives and agendas. But that was for later to think upon, now she had to deal with them and not get into trouble as they were still her superiors, and she was just a rookie. Her train of thought was stopped when her ears registered that the coyote had started to talk again.

"Yes, as I said this is just a big misunderstanding, we are both on edge after today's activities, aren't we, Duke?" He looked at his partner with a cold glare and the weasel only nodded again, not peeling a word from since the coyote intervened. "And about the threat, it was just in the heat of the moment, Officer Hopps, he didn't mean it. But when you mispronounced his name" -Thane tut-tutted- "he got a little emotional and with today's events… he was just bottling it up for far too long. Which as you saw resulted in him saying things he didn't really mean to say. Now, will you be able to forgive him?" He asked but didn't let her answer and did that himself. "Of course you will, and you'll say you are sorry that you've caused him to lose his cool and everything will be a-okay." The last sentence made the doe's black-tipped ears to droop heavily behind her as she became wide-eyed.

The way the coyote said that sounded more like an order to Judy more than anything else. And seeing his body language, he was showing signs of impatience. She was exhausted and didn't want to push further, so she just humored them so it would end sooner. Her dissatisfied gaze moved towards the weasel's red eyes and she began with a monotone voice, "I'm sorry, Liuetenant Weaselton, for making you lose your temper."

For the first time since the coyote's intervention the weasel spoke, "And ya better be careful next time, Flopsy, or you won't be able to get away with it like today," he threatened her again, making a shit-eating grin on his face but she knew she shouldn't do anything at this very moment, so she just let it go and sighed quietly.

The coyote laughed and patted the weasel on the back with the paw that had been holding him back till now. "Now, now, Duke, enough jokes for today or Officer Hopps won't be able to sleep because of your twisted humor. Say, Judy, can I call you Judy"-she opened her mouth to answer-"of course I can, let me ask you something. Where are you from?"

She hesitated before answering while being slack-jawed, the coyote managing to talk over her and steer the conversation very fast. But she decided to answer anyway, not seeing any harm in doing so. "I'm from Bunnyburrow… Sir."

Thane snickered and moved away from Duke. "Ah, that rabbit infested land. Pretty good produce it makes, must I say. Why are you here tho, if I may ask?" He gave her a questionable look and she could see his focused attention.

"I'm here because I want to make the world a better place as it has been my dream since I was a kid," she shoved her usual answer which she gave to any mammal that asked her about her motives. And oh were those mammals many. She started doing it when the point was no longer seen in giving different arguments to mammals who slipped the topic forward, so she just went with a simple and direct answer.

"Oh, what a difference you are making," he lashed, mocking her reason and position. "The reality tho is this cutesey. You are in the wrong place to be making a change, and I'll give you a tip for free. No services will be required of you, don't worry," he quipped smirkingly, while glancing at Duke and sending him a wink.

"Stop trying to make a difference if you don't want to end up on the other side of the law. Keep your head down and just do what you are told. If you go against that, well, it won't be a pleasant experience. The same is with change, if you go and initiate it, there will be consequences you naïve overenthusiastic, cute little bunny." She couldn't understand where this was coming from and if he had said it to mock her or was being honest about it but when she saw the weasel's shocked expression, she guessed that the coyote was speaking truthful and serious.

She noticed his smirk to fall down as he developed the same cold expression before the intervention. "We've stayed here way too long and must be going. We've got work to do unlike some mammals," he looked at Judy with scorn for a brief moment and started walking shortly after. "Come now, Duke, we're wasting daylight." Duke grunted and followed suit while giving the doe a very hostile glare. He winked at her just when he was almost out of sight and laughed very vilely.

Judy stayed there, paralyzed, and confused like hell. She saw that even if Duke was Thane's superior, he didn't act like one. It was the other way around but she guessed that it was unofficial, therefor she took note to avoid those two mammals as best as she could or until she had enough evidence to prove any wrongdoings on their part and get them off her back. Her first impression on both of them being an incredibly bad one but maybe they were just like that and could be good cops, who knew.

What did I get myself into… If I just stayed at Bunn—…

No Judith, you are not what they say you are, and you are going to show them. If you fail, it will only show them that they were right. And you cannot fail!

She sighed sadly and resumed her journey to the armory with a lot of conflicting thoughts.

"Come on, Fin, press on the gas. You're are driving like a mammal with Alzheimers," Nick, a red fox in his late twenties, jabbed at his friend and wiggled his brows with a shit-eating grin.

"Shut yo fuckin' face, Wilde, or I'll smash it so hard, ya'll look less ugly after I'm done," barked the fennec. For a small fox he had a very deep voice, a voice that would and did surprise a lot of mammals who'd hear him for the first time. Now, he and Nick were partners. They bought Jumbo-Pops and melted them, selling them afterwards for twice the price. It was a good way to make money, and it wasn't too much, thus the authorities really didn't pay them no mind because they just didn't attract attention to themselves or their spoils of sale.

They didn't anger any gangs because what they were selling were just sweets. The only thing Nick knew that Finnick hated was that he had to act as a toddler and listen to his antics all day. It was a big price to pay for the safe business they had. And oh-h, was the red fox happily eating it all up in satisfaction to the humility his partner was going through to get them what they wanted…

"Don't talk back to your daddy you ill-mannered little squirt. You are getting grounded when we get home, you'll see," Nick quipped and laughed out loud, getting Finnick to hit the brakes in that very moment and jump behind the seats. "Don't worry, pip-squeak, I'll let you watch your favourite cartoons and..." he couldn't finish, as he saw what his partner was wielding, which made him jolt from his seat and leap out of the van's open window, thus falling on the sidewalk with a small thud and tortured oof.

"H-h-hey, Fin, let's not do anything irrational. You know I was just kidding." The red fox stood up, dusted off his khakis pants and readjusted his hawaiian shirt's tie. "And we don't want to scare future customers if you beat up this handsome face. Don't you think?" After getting everything out, his smirk extended towards an unnatural angle, making him look quite disturbing.

"Shut the fuck up! I haven't beaten the crap outa ya caus' a coppa or civie might see me. Come 'ere so I can show ya who's daddy yа fuckin' son of a bitch," yelled the fennec fox, and despite the elephant costume that was hugging his body in the reactions of smirks to Nick, the danger was there without doubt. Nick understood that he had crossed the line, his friend visibly not being able to endure any more of his jokes and teasing for today anymore. Now, now he needed to defuse the situation before even the fennec's fear of being seen while beating him wouldn't stop him anymore. It was time to apologize, he guessed.

Nick stared at his feet, sighed and then turned to look at his friend. "Come on, Fin, you know I didn't mean to infuriate you that bad. I'll make you a deal… I'll stop with the teasing for today. Not even one tiny wittle bit, alright? We'll just finish our work without much talking and call it a day"-Nick tilted his head and attempted to look miserable-"come on pal, I'm sorry but you know me. I just can't help it sometimes," he finished with a small genuine smile.

"I don't give a shit if ya're sorry, ya red bastard… But we got work to do, ya'll get yo beatin' some other time." He threw his bat in the back of the van and went back into the driver's seat.

Nick knew that that was his friend's way of saying I forgive you, so he just replied without any snarkiness due to his promise, "Thanks, buddy." At that moment the van's engine shot to life and the vehicle started moving, making Nick to instantly understand that Finnick was going to leave him behind. "Hey, Fin! Wait, you aren't considering… wait… wait, Finnick!"

He sprinted, then jogged after the van, which was visibly keeping its distance at a considerable speed, but Nick wasn't going to let the midget fox leave him in the middle of nowhere. His legs were starting to prickle, but he persevered for quite a while, until the van finally stopped in the distance, with its doors loudly banging open. Nick spat the phlegm out of his throat and continued gasping loudly as he neared the perimeter of the tiny fox.

"Took ya long enough," sniggered the sandy fox with a drip of sarcasm in his voice and a small grin, but Nick could still see his displeasure that haunted him.

The red tod tried to chuckle but the need of air in his lungs was restricting him of doing so. He got close to the van and put his paws on his knees, breathing deeply as well as soundly. After he managed to recollect a bit of himself, he started with his sentences being chopped by sharp inhales, "Well, Fin… there were these two vixens… who stopped, heh… me, trying to get my… number, I mean… I know no one can resist me, even yo—…" Nick stopped himself before almost breaking his promise. "N-nevermind… I see you've unpacked… Pass… pass me that giant moneymaker."

Nick waited patiently. The fennec handed him the giant sweet and warned, "Try not to fall from the roof ya fool, don't wanna look after yo ass again like last time."

Nick turned in puzzlement at his friend and snorted from amusement. "Well it's good to know that even if you don't want to, you still will." Nick gave him a wink, heard a low growl, headed towards the roof of the nearby building and started climbing up the downspout, with the Jumbo-pop on his shoulder. He didn't have any problems because he had done it hundreds of times, and he was a fox after all, it just felt natural to him.

After getting to the roof, he put the giant sweet near the gutter, took out his sunglasses out of his breast pocket and sat on top of the red tiles, waiting the sun to do its sacred job and rework the giant sweet into liquid cholesterol.

Judy had stripped herself from her utilities, tho she had kept her kevlar vest on herself. She kinda enjoyed how it looked on her, eh, kinda a lot. The meter-maid vest had been chucked into her locker. That was the clothing she didn't want on herself at all. She was an officer of the law, not a maid of meters! But an officer needed food, especially after an encounter with Lieutenant Weaselton and Sergeant Songdog. She was in a sour mood and knew that the only thing that would make her feel better was food and food alone. All the bad things that had happened today, they just came one after another… Hope remained that there wouldn't be any more bad surprises, tho she didn't mind good ones. Good surprises would be good.

She thought that the worst was over for the day and started gathering her optimism back, even if it was a slow process. She was just going to go around the corner when she saw on the other side of the road the toddler fennec fox, who was still in his elephant costume, which got her interest. After all, she had helped him and his father to get a Jumbo-Pop from the prejudiced elephant clerk. The good she had done indeed had fueled her drive to push throughout the rest of the day, the feeling of righteousness and the defeat of those spiteful.

Heading towards him and crossing the road, she shouted, "Hey, little Toot-toot…" but lowered her voice and stopped moving, confused from what she was seeing. But where she had stopped was in the middle of the road. A loud car horn managed to spike her like electricity, and she jumped out of the way behind a parked car, her little heart starting to hammer against her ribs from the very expected event that had just transpired on the middle of the road. Well, for her, it was unexpected because she was in shock.

The fennec fox was filling jars with the liquid from the Jumbo-pop that was coming out of the downspout. On top of the roof, where the giant sweet was melting, lied Nick, apparently relaxing with his sunglasses on. She hid better behind that same car and kept watching, as she didn't know what was happening and wanted to understand, in the mean time trying to stay hidden while observing. There probably was an explanation to this, there had to be…

"Ey, Nick, get yo fat ass down here. We're done," shouted the sandy fox, which got the red vulpine's attention, and he got down the roof smoothly, sliding on some tiles and climbing down the downspout. When Judy heard the small fox's voice, she was disturbed and her nose started to act on its own. She couldn't believe such a small mammal to be capable of speaking so deep and loud, and was now sure that they were up to something. She was going to find out what. Especially after remembering how they had both appeared victims in that Jumbo-Pop shop. The small fox, Nick had told her that he was his son. No small kit on earth could have such a deep voice!

Feeling very angry and betrayed, she started pondering about how she would follow them without being seen, with a plan that needed to be improvised quickly, or she would lose them as they were now heading into the van and preparing to move out.

When she looked to her left, a relatively small vehicle caught her eye in which she could fit in, a vehicle that was heading her way as well. An idea immediately popped in her little head, thus she got her polished badge out her pocket and moved in front of the vehicle's path to stop it. "ZPD, halt!" she yelled and the driver complied. The bunny got to the car and entered it. "I'm sorry, Ma'am, but there is an ongoing investigation and I will need you to follow my orders and drive. The ZPD will appreciate your cooperation."

The driver was a white sheep and she looked extremely terrified. Judy knew she was off duty and didn't have the authority to do what she was doing right now, but she was angry and wanted to know the truth or even detain those two foxes if she could. The rabbit hoped that the sheep would buy her bluff and not ask too many questions.

"Do you see that orange van over there?" Judy asked and pointed forward to the now-in-motion van, van that was blowing dark smoke from the old and rusty exhaust, to which the sheep only nodded.

"Okay, now I want you to follow it but carefully as to not to be seen, okay?" The sheep nodded sheepishly again and pressed on the gas.

That bunny was very determined. Nick couldn't believe that she was using somebody else's car to follow them. She could turn into a fine hustler… given the right circumstances.

"Ey, Nick, get yo stinkin' brain outa the shithole. That bunny cop is on our tails, are we gonna do nothin' 'bout it?" asked the small fox, sounding a little panicked and very aggressive. Well, he sounded aggressive almost regularly.

"Don't tell me you're scared, tough guy. And why should we? She doesn't have any dirt on us, so the only thing she can do is follow us around."

"And when she do, she'll see what we're doin', dumbass," barked the fennec.

The red vulpine sighed lightly. "Yes she will, but it doesn't matter. I've got it all covered, Fin, don't sweat it" -he gave the fennec a thumbs up- "it'll be a good experience for her as well. She isn't going to be a problem, don't worry. Just trust me on this, ok, buddy?" he explained confidently, which managed to reassure the small fox but his lips were still curled, which exposed his sharp teeth.

"If anythin' happens, I'm ditchin' ya, so ya know. I don't care if ya promise to suck me off. Ya got us in this mess, ya get yoself outa it."

Finnick stopped the van at their usual spot and went on to prepare the merchandise. Their spot was on the southwest part of the Tundratown wall, where temperatures were lowest because of the giant snowblowers positioned inside of the walls, which were blasting cold air and snow into the air constantly and only stopped if there was a malfunction or maintenance.

They both went on to work, creating pawprints in the snow, putting wooden sticks behind those fresh pawprints and filling them with the liquid, which was soon to be frozen-Jumbo-pop. After the product was ready for harvest, having taken the form of pawprints, they collected the treats and put them in a small refrigerator inside the back of Finnick's van. After finishing loading the product, they removed any leftover snow from their clothes and feet, entered the van and drove towards their next stop, that being Savanna Central.

The two foxes then stopped between Savanna Central and Downtown, near a Lemming's bank where they put their product. They managed to sell all of their pawpsicles that were devoured by most of the bank's lemming employees.

Then, they collected the used sticks that were thrown into the nearby trash bins and headed towards Little Rodentia, which was located in the southern part of the district close to the docks and Happytown. After arriving there and finding an active construction worksite, Nick managed to sell the small wooden sticks, saying that it was red wood to which the mouse foreman didn't ask too many questions and just took it, and with that Nick then went back to Finnick who was waiting for him in a rather clean alley outside Little Rodentia.

"Everything went smooth as ice. Let's see how much we made today." The red vulpine started counting the money and while doing so, his ears twitched, as they had detected steps behind him. He knew who that could be and that she would confront him at any given moment and oo-ohh was he going to give her a piece of reality. "Alright, we made 250 today. That's 125 for you, as you've been a very good boy." Nick handed him the money which the small fox took harshly and jumped straight towards the red fox, hitting him hard in the stomach and making Nick grab it in surprise and pain.

"Ya broke yo promise shitface! Be glad I didn't have me bat with me, Wilde. Ya're a fuckin' walkin' circus, ya know that?"

Nick rubbed the spot where he was hit, stood up, and grinned madly with a swooshing tail behind him. "So no bye, bye kiss for daddy?"

He could see the attempt of his friend to try to look untouched by his teasing but his face was just priceless and the reactions were obvious that he was getting to him. He saw the fennec start walking away from him with a grunt but the small fox stopped for a moment and looked back. "Ya kiss me tomorrow, I'll bite yo face off!" he promised with uttermost sincerity, entered his van, flipped his finger towards the laughing red tod, and sped off with a few bangs that came from behind the old van in a manifestation of black and eye-stinging smoke.

Sorry, Fin, you're sometimes too much fun, I just can't help it. He had almost forgotten that there was a crazy grey bunny stalking him just a few meters away, due to the heated teasing with Finnick, which made him jump in surprise when he turned around and saw a very angry-looking doe that had her paws on her hips and a right foot that was thumping the ground hard, which was kinda diminishing the angry effect she was probably trying to sustain.

"Well. I stood up for you, and you lied to me. You… you liar!" exclaimed the doe and Nick was baffled that she didn't utter a single curse, even after she had found that he had used her.

He grinned maniacally and retorted slickly, "It's called a hustle sweetheart." He wanted to see how determined she really was, knowing full well that she had followed him for 3 hours straight. But could she take more of it, now that, that he wanted to test and see. It seemed that there was some sunlight remaining, so he decided that he would head home, not minding if the bunny trailed him.

"And I'm not the liar, he is!" He pointed to his left which made her head to turn instantly at the deceptive direction, therefor he darted to the opposite one silently without her noticing.

He was almost behind the towering building, when he faintly caught her mutters, accompanied with rapid footsteps, which made it next to him in no time. That managed to impress him of her agility but he didn't bother to look at her until she declared, "That was pretty rude of you, Slick, but don't think you are getting away from me, because you are under arrest."

That made him stop and his heart to skip a beat, making his ears to fall slightly but just for a short amount of time, because he looked at her and saw that her badge was nowhere in sight, which meant that she was off duty and couldn't detain him legally. And even if she was on duty, what could she charge him for?

He saw her expression turn to one of satisfaction and that made him to grin and get her eyebrows to go up in confusion. "Oo-hh, really? Care to tell me for what I am being detained?" he implored and resumed walking, showing her that he wasn't buying her bluff.

She was again next to him and from the corner of his eye, he could see the look of incredible determination that was manifesting all around her. That actually made him curious and interested for a second but he smoldered those emotions. "Ge-ee, I don't know. How about selling food without a permit, transporting undeclared commerce across borough lines, false advertising..."

Nick pulled out of his pocket a certificate and put it in front of her face which made her stop talking. "Permit, receipt of declared commerce" -he flipped it both sides and put it in his pocket again- "and I did not falsely advertise anything. I see you did your homework, but that won't be enough," he deadpanned while still grinning and licking the sides of his mouth from time to time while his tail swooshed around with every step taken.

"You told that mouse the popsicles sticks were redwood!" she exclaimed, which made him snort and stop slowly.

"First of all, they are called pawpsicles. Get it? Because they look like paws" -he opened his paws widely and showed their insides- "and second…" -he handed her over the pawpsicle stick he was playing with the whole encounter- "I told that mouse that it was red wood. With a space in the middle. Wood that is red."

They were both at a crosswalk. On the other side of it there was a herd of wildebeests, a pretty big one. Nick looked to his side and saw an old porcupine. The decision was made that he was going to walk behind him, knowing that the herd on the other side would go around the walking quill pig and not trample him, not that they would care if they did while Judy was speechless, and he could see that she was still trying to gather her thoughts but what was there to probe more for. At that moment the light changed to green and the vulpine walked behind the porcupine, while Judy was still standing there, visibly thinking. He managed to brake her stupor when he added teasingly, "You can't touch me, Carrots. I've been doing this since I was born."

"You're gonna refrain from calling me Carrots," she returned angrily and unamused from behind him, getting him surprised again at her speed but then he swooshed his tail left and right, visibly taunting her but she didn't respond to that, so he slightly turned his head to her, while still walking behind his mode of safe escort.

"Now why would I do that? Aren't you from some little carrot-chocked Podunk?" he jabbed and was sure that she was indeed from somewhere out of the city. No one in their right mind would go after him after all if they were from the city.

"Uu-hm, no? I grew up in Bunnyburrow and it's a very significant place, as it produces a lot of food for Zootopia," she retorted grumpily, and he snickered because his observations were spot on.

They managed to cross the road without any incidents. "Okay, tell me if this story sounds familiar," he trailed off as they were nearing a food stand, that was on the sidewalk in the open, from which he sneakily took a few blueberries and plopped them into his maw, a decision that activated his receptors all around his wet tongue from the sweet feeling of the mind-melting nectar.

The stand owner didn't notice, the blueberries being out of his field of vision, thus Nick continued his stride confidently and without any worries. He heard the doe stop for a moment when he ate the blueberries and knew that she was about to try and stop him but the deed had been done and she couldn't do anything about that, which made him chuckle from her failed attempt.

He turned to look at her again and resumed, "Naïve little hick with good grades and big ideas decides: 'Hey, look at me, I'm gonna move to Zootopia, where predators and prey live in harmony and sing Kymbaya" -he made a rainbow motion above himself with his two paws- "only to find that we don't get along at all" -a look of scorn was sent at the doe- "and that dream of becoming a big-city cop? Hah, she's a meter maid and nobody cares about her or her dreams. And soon enough those dreams die and our bunny sinks into emotional and literal squalor, living in a box under a bridge… Not that I have anything against that, mind you."

"Till, finally, she has no choice but to go back home with that cute fuzzy-wuzzy tail between her legs"-he brushed his long and bushy tail against the ground to emphasize his point-"to become…. You're from Bunnyburrow, is that what you said" -he stopped before a dead-end where a fence was and turned to look at the speechless grey doe- "so how about a carrot farmer? Does that sound about right? It does sound pretty much like it to me," he finished and went through a hole in that same fence in front of them, thinking that would make her quit and let it go.

That should do it, I didn't lie to her, just told her the truth. She needs to know what she's getting herself into. It hurts, but it's better than being delusional.

But it seemed that the bunny was just not the usual mammal, not at all as he heard her go through the fence and jump around to which he turned around and saw a big elephant that almost crushed her but she was quick, very quick, and managed to get out of the way. He could see her madly twitching nose and just couldn't hold himself, "Be careful now, or it won't just be your dreams getting crushed," he quipped teasingly and began laughing wholeheartedly. In a matter of seconds he again felt her presence on his side but then she moved right in front of him, walking backwards and slowing hers as well as his pace.

"Hold up! No one tells me what I can or can't be" -her dissatisfaction at his ability in getting under her skin was very visible to the vulpine- "especially not some… jerk… who never had the guts to try and be anything more than a pawpsicle hustler," she continued her trek backwards and behind her, behind her was a worksite with wet cement as the small area was being repaired, and Nick saw that as an opportunity to embarrass and make her leave him alone. He kept on moving slowly, trying to make her step into the sticky trap.

But right before success was to be achieved, she just stopped abruptly but that didn't mean that he was going to stop as well. He took a step against her but she didn't budge. He knew that he could push her, but he wasn't such a mammal, not liking violence and knowing that she wasn't a mammal that really deserved it to begin with.

Someone doing it to themselves was fine by him. But him doing it to them was just not his thing, thus he sighed heavily, put his paws on his knees, and leaned closer to the grey doe, whose eyes were burning with incredible energy. "All right, look, everyone comes to Zootopia thinking they can be anything they want. Well, you can't. You can only be what you are," he explained and pointed to himself, "Sly and cunning fox," then to Judy, "dumb bunny."

"I'm not a dumb bunny," she huffed and glared daggers at him, not backing up from her seemingly immovable spot.

She indeed looked more… cemented, in the meaning he was disappointed in.

Author's notes:

Hesitance jumps around your mind,

Grooms decision thus chosen blind.

Your thoughts most succulent of snack,

All delivered by luscious feedback.

So don't hide like a tiny shrew,

Thus share that belovable review!

Social Links:

- Twitter: InletReal

- Tumblr: inlet-oc

- Youtube: Inlet

- Deviantart: markovas

- MisterSmail's AO3 Page: Mister_Smail

- MisterSmail's FanFiction Page: Mister Smail