Hey all, DLW here with a new story, this time a comedy of sorts. Consider this my Haloween contribution. Thank you to all my readers follows, fav's and reviews and for your feedback it makes writing all the more fun. More info at the bottom. Disclaimer: Zootopia and its characters are copyright Disney. (I own none of the characters in the story aside from the O/C's.).
ZPD: Zootopia Poltergeist Detainment
Chapter 1 Evidently Evil
It was a quiet day for the ZPD. Few calls and little activity early in the morning shifts. It'd be a record for keeping peace save for the sole arrest that was being processed. Such was the duty of the officers to never fail to uphold the law.
"For the hundredth time," A hoarse voice lashed out across the interrogation room. "That ring made me do it, it's evil!"
A large grizzly bear sat in a creaky wooden chair of the old room, panicked and obviously tired. His paws cuffed behind his back and a muzzle placed on him for his own safety. He had been complaining about a solitary gold ring safely sealed in a sandwich bag since he had been detained.
Officer's Anderson and Johnson, who arrested him, looked at each other quizzically before shaking their heads in unison. They had about enough of the crazed bears confession. This charade had been going on long enough.
Anderson sighed and pointed to the relic sitting before him. "You mean to tell me that this little thing made you rob a convenience store for coffee... on free coffee day."
His question was as straightforward as he could allow given the circumstance.
The grizzly bear hung his head in shame. "I didn't want to, it was whispering to me!"
It was Johnson's turn to show his frustration by rubbing his temples. "It's just a ring. It's not possible for it to speak."
With sound logic it should have been possible to get the upset bear to calm his nerve, but that would have only made their jobs easy. Keeping the peace was never that easy.
The bear simply growled at the statement. "It wanted more than coffee but I told it no!"
Fed up with the antics and thinking that they needed to detain the bear for a psych evaluation, Johnson huffed and looked down at the shiny ring and clutched his paw.
"Look." He addressed the bear before reaching out and grabbing the small plastic bag.
The moment he did so, the bears face was full of worry and horror. He tried to move, but the cuffs behind his back gave him little time to react.
"No wait, don't open-"
Ignoring the protest, the lion then took the bag and opened it. He dumped the ring out and onto the table with a small metallic thud. "It's just, a ring!"
The bear froze, staring unblinking at the ring. He shuddered, breathing heavy and slowly turned to the two officers that detained him.
"Y-you've doomed us all!" He said in a low and ominous voice.
As if on cue, the fluorescent lights flickered in the room and the table rattled.
The bear shuffled back, not more than a few inches as he couldn't go anywhere at all. "You see!"
Anderson and Johnson looked at each other and began to laugh.
The polar bear pointed toward the ceiling. "I see we need to replace the lights again."
"Yeah, and get some better legs for this thing." The lion added, placing his paw on the table and shaking it with little effort.
With the two officers merely mocking the grizzly, he focused his attention to the gold ring once more.
"I'm telling you, the ring's possessed!" He shouted through his muzzle, forcing the officers to cut their laughing short and sigh.
"Yeah, yeah. Save it for your court date." Anderson replied, walking around the grizzly bear and helping him to his feet.
"I'll take em' to the cells," Anderson called out to the lion, pointing to the ring set on the table. "You mind taking that to evidence?"
Johnson shrugged, it was a few minutes before their meeting anyways, but evidence took priority. "Sure."
As the two bears left the room and the grizzly muttered something before the door closed, Johnson shook his head. "Definitely needs a psych evaluation."
Alone, he looked at the ring, silently questioning how such a thing came into the grizzly's paws to begin with. Sure it was about the size of one of his digits, but when arresting him, they didn't see the thing on him at all.
Puzzled as to the event, Johnson reached for the ring to place it back in its bag before taking it down to evidence. The moment he grasped onto the ring to pick it up, he found his paws sliding off of it.
"Huh?" He questioned himself.
Again he reached for the ring, but it was no use, his paws would slide off of it as if it were stuck to the table. He mumbled to himself as he tried a different approach and slide the ring towards the edge, but it was to no avail as it refused to move.
"That thing's on there." He said aloud, scratching his head at the phenomenon.
Thinking back, he didn't know what happened to the thing since they got there; though the table had a thin layer of dust on it, compliments of the cleaning staff. He shrugged his shoulders and picked up the sandwich bag the ring came in.
"Probably just some glue or something." He assured himself, walking towards the door. "Time to get the pliers."
Making his way out he passed by the ZPD's main entryway, smooth stone floors, open space and dozens of officers making their daily rounds with early morning light cascading in. None more so at home than their very own dispatch officer Benjamin Clawhouser.
Johnson walked up to the desk and leaned over the counter to speak to his associate. "Hey Ben, you mind not letting anyone in interrogation room 6?"
The cheetah, mouth full of cereal and typing away at his desk computer looked up and smiled.
"Sure," He said, still munching on 'Lucky Chomps'. "Why?"
Johnson never understood how the cheetah could have a mouth full of food and still function on dispatch the way he did, but he never questioned it.
"I uh... got a ring on the table." He answered.
Finishing his last bite of the breakfast, Clawhouser gasped and leaned over.
"You finally decided to propose to Caroline?!" He asked with glee and a smile from ear to ear.
Several of the other officers now eyed them, some shouting or whistling. Johnson took a step back from the question he wasn't prepared for.
"What?" He waved his paws in front of him. "No, no, I need to get it off the table."
Clawhouser gasped again, worry strewn across his face. "You're dumping her?!"
Again, the cheetah's questions threw him for a loop. He heard boos and threats from all around him this time.
"It's stuck to the table..." He sighed, trying to get his point across.
Instead of either a smile or frown, the cheetah had dumbfounded expression painted all over him. He had no words for what his coworker said.
Not sure if any of that got through, Johnson walked away towards the tool closet. "Just don't let anyone in there until I can get the ring off, okay?"
Clawhouser watched as the lion darted off and away from the desk. He didn't know what to say or think about his co-worker, but didn't get a chance to as he heard the door open and it was his job to greet anyone there.
"Good morning Clawhouser." He heard before he had a chance to welcome the patrons in.
Recognizing the voices, he spun around to see the rabbit and fox officers walking or hopping in and towards him.
Smiling brightly, he waved at them. "Mornin' Wilde, Hopps."
Judy, bright eyed and jumpy, was the first to reach him. She hopped her way just enough to see him over the counter. Nick wasn't far behind with his shades still donned and a snarlbucks coffee in his paws.
"Anything new today?" She asked with a giddy voice.
Ben nodded furiously, he always enjoyed sharing any new info with Judy.
"Well, we have a new recruit coming in." He reminded her.
"Ah, that raccoon guy, huh?" Nick chimed in, sipping his coffee.
"Yep" the cheetah acknowledged, leaning back in his seat to have Judy disappear from view. "Aannnddd... I think Johnson's lost it."
"Huh?" Judy asked, her ears barely appearing over the counter.
Thinking back to what happened, Clawhouser leaned in and whispered. "He has a ring on the table in an interrogation room..."
He pointed behind him towards the row of doors that lead to the offices and rooms. Judy craned her head towards the hall, but Nick only laughed.
"Ah, the old 'arrest your fiancée' act?" He chuckled.
Ben was taken aback by the statement. "Well..."
As he was thinking, Judy checked her phone to see what time it was and tapped Nick on his shoulder. She gained his attention for long enough to halt their conversation.
"We're gonna be late," She exclaimed, stepping towards the bullpen. "Come on."
Shrugging, and waving to Clawhouser, Nick soon followed suit. He always enjoyed the mornings there at the station, not being on the receiving end of being arrested from his hustling days.
It was a joy to work with Judy, even if she was a bit... Hyperactive? Demanding? Amazing? Nick couldn't place a paw on it, but she was always fun to work with.
Nearing the room with a few minutes to spare, Nick slurped on his coffee and turned to his partner.
"So, what do you say we go to the bakery for lunch, Carrots?" He asked, passing by a few officers and greeting them.
Judy skipped along, much like she did when she was growing up in the burrows. Working with Nick was a blast and a breeze, aside from his constant bad puns and at times infuriating antics that she had to admit were exciting.
"Well, depends on our assignment," She replied, smiling at him when he pretended to pout. "But... since Gideon did want to catch up..."
Nick laughed. "I swear I've never seen you that jumpy for a doughnut."
She shrugged in response. "What can I say? He had carrot flavored sprinkles."
Reaching the door to the bullpen, Nick stopped before he pulled the handle.
"Y'know sometimes I worry about your little bunny liver." He teased.
Not even taking a moment to think Judy quipped back. "And sometimes I worry about your Fox-gone credit score."
Nick's jaw dropped and he faked having an injury by placing his paw over his chest. "Hey, I'll have you know I've never even had a credit card... for good reasons."
He opened the door, and casually walked in with a smiling rabbit behind him.
"Nick, did you ever pay your taxes?" Judy questioned, half jokingly and half serious.
She could pull the files any time she needed, but decided it best to leave Nick to do good on his own. Despite his forward progress, he did have a few mishaps that weren't completely lawful.
"Hmm?" Nick hummed, fully knowing what Judy asked him.
They walked in to the rowdy room, full of their fellow officers who were to receive their daily assignments. Wolves were howling, bears were growling, tigers were wrestling, and the elephant was trumping anyone who dared to challenge her.
"Nick?" Judy called him again.
He placed a paw against his ear as they made their way to their shared chair. "Sorry, Carrots, can't hear you over the commotion."
He was the first to jump up into the seat as per their daily ritual of getting there. Though Judy usually beat him to the chair, she found that it was easier for her to land if Nick wasn't trying to awkwardly hop at her.
"Niiiick?" She chided, jumping next to him and pulling his tie down to meet him eye to eye.
Despite his size and stature, Judy was usually the one to make arrests and try to pin down any manner of mammal. Nick was more of a pacifist.
Nick grinned a toothy grin, he enjoyed messing with Judy. "I think the Chief's about to start."
He then reached over to Judy's ears and folded them over. Somehow, it always worked in getting her to release his tie. She told him it tickled. Sensitive ears were a weakness.
As he did this, their fellow officer, Higgins, stood at the front of the room and saluted.
"Atten Hut!" He addressed them before they erupted in a chant.
Nick and Judy as well as the others stood and waited for their chief to enter.
The floor shook, the lights dimmed and the door to the room creaked open. A buffalo, larger than the door itself walked in, ducking as to not get his horns caught. Their chief, a massive mammal even by most of his species standards, had arrived.
As the cheering continued, much without Nick and Judy to add, the chief stood at the podium and scanned the room. He clutched in his hooves a few papers and a folder to read from.
"Alright, quiet!" He shouted, rumbling the room and silencing the officers. His word was law.
Each of them took their seats, save for the two smallest, but only because they wouldn't see otherwise. The room calm, he donned his glasses and looked down to the paper.
"First order of business..." He started to read when a certain absence caught his attention. He lifted his head to see who dared skip the meeting. "Where's Johnson?"
The whole room looked towards where the lion usually was, but his partner Anderson pointed towards the door.
"Evidence sir," He informed them. "He'll be up soon."
Nodding in agreement and mumbling something about slacking, he focused on the paperwork once more. "As I'm sure you all know, we have a new recruit with us today. Our first raccoon officer."
Many of the mammals turned to see a mammal overlooked sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. A bushy ring-tailed rookie stood up and waved at them. Many of them waved at him or shrugged and downed the last bit of their coffee's.
Inevitably, as Bogo did, he returned to his paperwork. "Don't care."
The perky predators smile dropped in an instant as the room burst into laughter. Judy knew how it felt, and didn't chime in with the joke. Nick, however, started to but soon received a friendly elbow from his favorite bunny.
"Second. As I'm sure you all know, former mayor Bellwether has been out on parole for a week now." Bogo stated gruffly.
He dropped the papers to look straight at the two officers effected the most by this news. Nick remained his usual casual self, but Judy sighed and tapped her foot on the chair.
"Is it fair that she only got two and a half years." She asked, fully knowing the answer as she had been in the trial.
Nick looked down at his partner. He felt the same though he rarely ever showed it, but despite that, he worried that the sheep would try to strike again. Officer or no it wasn't easy to shake the feeling that Bellwether would plot something for him and Judy soon.
Bogo peeled off his glasses and sighed. "I understand your concern, Hopps, but the court decided on her sentence after the evidence and her confession landed heavier on the others involved. The fact that she didn't directly harm anyone influenced their decision."
Judy was quick to protest. "Well, I did get a cut on my leg."
Bogo, however, shot it down. "Not directly from her."
Knowing he was right, Judy huffed. There was nothing she could do to put the conniving sheep back behind bars, but she hoped that the justice system was going to do its job.
Nick, picking up on the tension, placed his coffee down on the table. He wasn't going to let 'Carrots' leave upset.
"Sir, with all due respect." Nick began, he could feel the buffalo breathing on him. All due respect meant nothing when it usually meant the opposite. "I felt injured after she attacked me."
His statement caused an uproar in the room, even Judy couldn't help but smirk at his statement. It's just what he wanted.
Bogo, however, wasn't amused. "Wilde..."
Nick snickered. "Really, I was plucking the blueberry juice out of my cheek that afternoon. It hurt, worse than whatever she said at the time."
The few that were laughing continued, but Bogo eyed each and every one of them. He leaned over the podium and looked straight at the fox.
"I've seen how you eat, Wilde," Bogo replied, hearing a few other officers burst into laughter, as he then pointed to Judy. "And I'm surprised Officer Hopps doesn't run or vomit."
The whole room had their eyes on him and laughter bouncing off his more than red ears. Judy had to place her paws on her mouth to stop her from laughing at her poor partner and his habits.
Nick rolled his eyes and sighed. "That was one time!"
"Yeah, which was why you were banned from the break-room for a month." A voice shouted from the back of the room.
Nick remembered the time well. He didn't mind though, he always liked eating lunch outside anyways. Rain, snow, or heatwave.
Bogo picked the papers back up and reorganized them before continuing. "Besides, with Bellwether's... condition, they decided to parole her as she was better off outside and monitored."
To this end, Nick shook his head. "Yeah, now that she had to face her judgement, she decides she's crazy."
Judy couldn't disagree. It always seemed when a guilty party is about to be sentenced, or is sentenced, that they fall apart at the seams. Bellwether did the crime, but didn't get full time for it.
Before she could reply, she heard Bogo laugh, a sound that is rarely ever heard from him. "She did get into a few prison fights from her report."
Judy's ears stood on end. "Really?"
"Yes, with invisible rats that took her food," Bogo nodded, never taking his eyes off the paper. "She ended up biting a wolf, last I heard."
She couldn't believe what she heard, aside from Nick laughing and nearly falling out of their chair. If Bellwether was insane, then why would they let her out? The state did crazy things, but this certainly was the worst.
"But anyways," Bogo continued. "As for your assignments-"
He stopped reading as the lights flickered on and off for seconds at a time. It wasn't an uncommon thing to happen, but power-outages in broad daylight were a rare occurrence.
Nick, however, chuckled at a stray thought. "I guess someone forgot to pay the light bill, hey Chief?"
He grinned at the buffalo as the lights fully came back on, but Bogo smiled back. "Maybe we should put that on your tax form, Wilde."
Nick stared at the chief, horrified that he may know. He felt Judy's foot tapping the seat and knew she was staring at him intently. He refused to acknowledge her for now, he'd pay his taxes soon... maybe.
Hearing no form of protest, Bogo picked up the paperwork to read off any assignments.
'Get out!' A low gruff voice echoed throughout the room.
Annoyed, Bogo replied. "Cut it out Wilde."
Nick quizzically looked at the chief as well as Judy and several others.
'Get out!' The voice called again.
Angered, Bogo slammed the papers down and stared at the fox. "Wilde!"
His voice shook the room and shorted some of the already worn lights, but neither the fox nor the team knew what was happening.
"Sir," Nick answered, raising his paws up as if he were a cub-scout. "That's not me."
As he said this, the voice shouted past them again, causing several of them to shudder. Seconds later, a screeching noise erupted from a nearby chalkboard spelling it out for anyone too deaf to hear before.
"Hmm..." Bogo hummed to himself, knowing full well what was happening. "It would appear that we may have a poltergeist."
With that being said, he picked up his paperwork and shuffled it together.
The room recovering, and eyes darting to and fro, several of the officers had terrified expressions on their faces. Nick remained calm, cool and collected, but Judy nervously eyed the board.
Out of all the officers, Wolford seemed the most excited of them all. The grey wolf was nearly on the verge of standing on his seat.
"Poultry?!" He asked, licking his chops and wagging his tail.
Bogo sighed and pointed to the chalk board. "No, Wolford...a ghost..."
His eyes traced to the board, his joyous expression turning grim.
"GHOST!" He shouted, reeling back and looking towards the door. "Excuse me."
He then proceeded to walk towards the door at the back of the room, calm and easy going. As the whole room watched him, he turned and pushed against the door to open it, but it was no use. He continued to jitter the handle and push the door for a second or two more before flat out using his shoulder to force the door open.
"Wolford?" Bogo called to him, but the wolf ignored him and continued to try and break free.
Panic consumed the wolf moments later. "Lemme out!" He shouted, banging on the door to try and make his daring escape.
Some of the officers looked at him as though he were crazy, but others couldn't help but laugh. Nick, being one of them, hopped up on the table for a better view. Judy, however, didn't know what to think.
Bogo tried to reason with the wolf. "Wolford, if you would just pull the door open you-"
The panicked wolf began to hyperventilate and in his oxygen deprived thought, he raced back to his chair, ignoring the shouts of the others in the way. Chair in paw, he ran back the door before throwing it at the glass; shattering it and making a window of escape for himself. Not wanting to see the aftermath of his decision, he leapt through the window and dashed down the hallway.
The room was speechless, the officers dumbfounded, and the chief didn't care.
"That's coming out of his paycheck." Bogo stated, putting his glasses away and bringing the officers out of their stupor.
"But sir," One of them protested. "The dents in the wall are from your shoulde-"
"Out!" Bogo shouted. "Of his paycheck."
Deafening silence ensued from the chief's shouts, but the officers remained still. With a potential ghost on the prowl, they silently hoped their assignments would take them out of the precinct for the day.
"Well, since there haven't been any calls from the other precinct's, and they're assisting our patrols," Bogo smiled and proceeded to walk to the door closest to him. "I expect you all to handle this."
The room was in a silent uproar, but none dared to say no. Though, at least one of them volunteered to try something else.
"What about parking duty?" Francine asked.
Bogo turned around, scanning over them all and pointed to the raccoon recruit. "The rookie can handle that."
His voice gruff and stern, nearly every officer sighed.
The raccoon, however, stood up and replied. "The name's Rocky, sir."
Bogo shrugged. "Don't care. Get to it."
The small predator sighed and walked towards the door at the back of the room. Window smashed and still processing the event on his first day, he shook his head and leapt out into the hallway.
With his hoof on the door, he swung it open, smiling that he'd have few calls about anything today. Though a certain voice called his name, forcing to turn and answer.
"Chief, sir?" Judy addressed him as she stood on the table. "What do you expect us to do?"
The other officers, aside from Nick, expectantly waited for an answer.
He sighed and instructed them. "I expect... that ghost gone sometime today."
Judy couldn't believe what he just said that.
"But sir, we're police," She protested, motioning to everyone in the room and earning nods of approval. "Not paranormal investigators."
A few claps and cheers resounded before a gruff huff from Bogo silenced them all.
"Doesn't matter. Ends up on my desk anyways." He said flatly before smiling and terrifying half of them. He walked out the door before any more nonsense could be heard. "Do be careful."
As the door closed, the force of his effort cracked the glass partially. Hopefully this one would be coming out of his paycheck this time.
For a moment, nobody spoke. They stared at each other, minds racing at what to think or do. While doing so, the board creaked once again. Every eye falling on it, the name 'Johnson' was written in fine chalk.
Taking no second thought, the polar bear, Anderson, smiled and stood up.
"E-excuse me." He said, calmly making his way to the door and pushing on it.
To no avail did his plan work to exit the room. If there were ever a time for him not to loose it, this would be then. Needless to say, however, he panicked just like his wolf co-worker.
"Lemme out!" He screamed at the open window, banging on the door.
Nick sighed and shouted back. "Anderson, you need to pull-"
He never got the chance to finish his statement as the polar bear took a few steps back, and then charged at the door. In an instant, the structure came crashing down and Anderson continued to run down the hall.
Now with an open door, the remaining officers began to file out of the room. Some took their time, and others hurried out in terror. Nick and Judy, however, remained standing on the table.
Judy looked at the other with concern and caution. she hadn't seen them act this fearful of any criminal, but a ghost was another thing entirely.
Nick simply sipped on his coffee, grinning at the others and swishing his tail as he wasn't even the slightest bit moved.
"Hey, Carrots. You think the chief will give us time off if I plea insane?" He asked his partner, having never taken his eyes off the door.
Likewise, Judy watched the others shove their way out. "I could make that plea from having you as a partner."
She turned to look at him with a cheesy grin of her own, but he doubled over as if about to fall over.
"Oh Hopps," He said mockingly, hopping down to the chair and onto the floor. "You wound me."
Judy smiled and jumped down as well. The room clear and the others racing down the hall, she sighed. "So, how do we nab a ghost?"
The two left side by side, Judy with worry, and Nick with a sly grin.
Hello there, and welcome to the end notes! I wonder how Johnson's doing with that ring?
New Nick and Finnick as well as Zootopia AU: Predation comig soon.
And I hope you get a chance to read this and the other at your leisure. Also, these stories can be found here as well:
fanfiction:
~dancinglunarwolves
deviantart:
dancinglunarwolves
archiveofourown:
users/DancingLunarWolves/works
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Till Next Time
-DLW