It was a warm Friday evening in Zootopia, and the sky was a rich, darkening purple as the last of the day's sunlight dimmed. A calm had settled over downtown Savanna Central as residents returned from their commutes and bustled around inside their apartment buildings; silhouettes flitted past their bright windows as they moved to and fro, getting themselves ready for nights on the town.
In front of the downmarket Grand Pangolin Arms complex, one small figure was already waiting for her evening to begin. Judy Hopps sat perched on the front steps of the apartment block, wearing her favourite light casual outfit - grey and purple T-shirt over black vest and leggings - and was drumming her fingers her knees, bobbing her head to the music playing through her headphones. Her large purple eyes were fixed in the matching shade of the early evening sky as she hummed under her breath; she didn't, therefore, notice the reddish brown paw hovering closer and closer to her head, gently removing her ear bud.
"Boo."
With a violent shriek, Judy leapt several feet into the air, landing on the stone banister of the Grand Pangolin Arms' stairway in a combat posture, her chest heaving up and down from the sudden adrenaline spike.
"AAAAAARRRGH! NICK, NO! DON'T. DO. THAT. Do not sneak up on me, I hate it, hate it, hate it!"
Nick Wilde was bent double, howling with self-satisfied laughter, clutching at his loose-fitting green Hawaiian shirt as he struggled to recover some composure in the face of Judy's furious gaze. As she climbed down from the banister and marched over to him, she gave him a firm shove in the ribs, still staring daggers; she tapped her foot in angry agitation as she waited for him to regain control of his hooting laughs and mould his face into the best approximation of an apologetic look he could manage.
"Ahahahaaa! Haha. Ha. Sorry. I am so sorry, Carrots, I couldn't resist. Do you know how hard it is to sneak up on you with those crazy sonar ears of yours? I've been wanting to properly get you like that for as long I've known you. The closest I got before was like, what, 10 feet away? This was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It will not happen again. You'll see to that, I'm sure."
He held his paw up to signal his oath. Judy shoved the fox again, albeit more playfully this time, and gestured slightly with her head, motioning for them to begin walking together down the street.
"You're darn right I will, you unbelievable jerk. Try anything like that again and I'm putting you in a chokehold until you black out, then bundling you into the nearest dumpster. You're lucky I don't just march right back inside and lock the door."
"Aaah, come on, Fluff, you know I only try to terrify you with the very fondest feelings in my heart. And you wouldn't be so cold as to stand me up on our long-awaited playdate, would you?"
Judy raised her eyebrow and wrinkled her snout in mild disgust.
"Ugh, Nick, don't call it that, that's weird."
"Haha, you don't like that? But that's what it is, right? School's out, homework's done, I bounce down to Judy's house down the road and see if she's free to come play. Feels like I'm in kindergarten. But hey, maybe that's just me getting used to being under an authority structure again. Scratch that, actually - getting used to BEING an authority structure now. Weird, right?"
"Well, you'd better get used to it quick! Cops and authority issues… eh, they tend not to mix too well. But, yeah, it's been a while since we actually got a proper night off…"
Nick snorted. "Tell me about it. Feels like I've not had an actual honest break since ZPD training started, what, almost a year ago? Given I was living out of a van and working three-hour days before that, yeah - it's been a culture shock."
"I get it, sure. But hey! Bogo said we did a great job overseeing the Skunk Pride Parade this week, and he knows you and I are buddies outside of work, so he gave us the same evening off. See, I've sussed Bogo out now. He likes you to think he's this ogre, but he secretly cares. He usually gives you the stick, but sometimes he gives you the carrot. Or in this case, the Carrots, right? HEEEEEY!"
Delighting in her own pun, Judy punctuated it with a toothy grin and some vigorous jazz paws. Nick let his head loll wearily to the side and fixed Judy with a look of stone-faced, slack-jawed disapproval.
"Oh, no. No, no, you knock that off, that's not your style. See, I can pull off a lame gag like that, it's charmingly ironic coming from me. When you do it, it's just straight-up lame."
Judy elbowed Nick hard in the side.
"Hey, give me a break, that was funny. I am, in fact, very funny, I'll have you know. You just have terrible taste."
"Sure I do. Look at the company I keep."
Judy stopped, turned on heel and crossed her arms, ostentatiously pointing her head away from Nick in deadpan mock-offence. "OK! OK then. That's it, we're done, this evening is over. I'm not taking this abuse from you or anyone, I'm going back home, and you can go dumpster-diving - or whatever it was you had planned tonight - on your own. I don't need this."
Nick snickered to himself, put his paws around Judy's narrow shoulders, and roughly shepherded the rabbit down the sidewalk, ignoring her half-hearted attempts to dig her heels in.
"Aww, Carrots, I jest. I jest. You know I've come to find your lameness very charming, enough that I brush off your frankly tasteless and insensitive remarks that I eat trash. Besides, you'll be pleased to know I have something at least 50% more impressive than dumpster-diving planned for this evening, you wait and see. You wanna blow off some steam, right? Well, I have just the place in mind…"
Situated downtown by the pier, the Wild Times indoor amusement park was an assault on the eyes, its gaudy flashing lights and exuberant tiki-inspired aesthetic clashing with the ageing industrial infrastructure of the nearby area. Built into what looked like a converted hangar, the domed roof of the structure towered above Nick and Judy as they weaved their way through parked cars towards the entrance, which was lit by oversized flaming torches on either side of the front gate, through which crowds of visitors were streaming in and out. Judging from the number and varying sizes of the vehicles in the car park, the attraction was proving a big draw among all sorts of different species that evening.
Upon catching sight of the building ahead, Judy paused for a moment to take it in, then looked to Nick with an expression of intrigued surprise. "Huh. Wild Times? I've driven near this place a couple times, but never actually been up close. I've heard… interesting things about it. Isn't it more of, like, a predator hangout spot?"
"Yeah, that WAS the case, but it's changed a lot in the last few years. Back when I was a kid, it was, for sure. I used to love it, actually. My mom would bring me down here for birthdays and special occasions - when we could afford it, anyway - and I would go 100% nuts in there. I mean... probably more nuts than was strictly sensible. The safety standards were ehhhh, a bit lax, they let you get away with a lot. But that was all part of the charm, y'know?"
Judy raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Soooo… is this evening gonna end with me getting my head taken off, or us shutting this place down, or what?"
Nick chuckled. "Oh, no, no! Well. I would hope not, anyway. Like I said, it's changed a lot since then; they renovated it properly about ten years ago, and they've been trying to attract a more diverse clientele, get more prey in, make it more of a broad-appeal family park. In fact, they actually have a promotion on Fridays where preds and prey can both get in half-price if they buy tickets together. Which is where you come in, Carrots."
Judy shot Nick a grin. "Aaah, OK! Now I get it. See, I thought this was you being generous, but it's actually you being cheap. There's the Nicholas Wilde I know and tolerate."
Nick gave the rabbit an admonishing look. "Look, now, Carrots, that's not fair. You say that like those two things are mutually exclusive. I like to think of this as me being generous AND cheap. I'm a very multifaceted animal, which is part of my irresistible charm-"
Judy rolled her eyes and grabbed Nick by the arm, dragging him in the direction of the Wild Times entrance. "OK, OK, you shush. Let's go on in there, and I can judge for myself whether the wildness of these times fall within acceptable legal parameters."
"Two adult evening passes, please! That's right, of course I'll be paying for both, yup. For me and my best buddy here… uh, you are still doing the Bring a Preydate two-for-one promotion, right? Yeah? Then yes, of course I'll be paying for both."
Nick turned around from the entrance booth, holding a ticket wristband in each paw, and gave Judy a self-satisfied smile that said "you're welcome". Judy rolled her eyes gently and leapt up to grab one from her companion's grasp.
"Gosh, you sure know how to make a lady feel special, with your discount evening passes to PT Bearnum's Carnival of Death."
Nick snorted with laughter, but looked slightly affronted all the same. "SERIOUSLY, Carrots, it's not that bad! Really, I've not brought you to some wackadoo duct-tape-and-plywood sideshow; it's legitimately a nice place now, and I think we're gonna have a great time, once we get insi-"
"WEEEEEEELLCOOOOOOME!"
Both Nick and Judy leapt back a little in shock, the fox assuming a karate stance and the rabbit reaching instinctively to her hip for the stun gun she usually carried. Undeterred, the teenaged donkey greeter who had just brayed at them pushed on with his canned sales pitch, a rack of merchandise rattling in front of him as he spoke in his lilting, stilted voice.
"Good evening to you, Sir and/or Madam, and welcome to Wild Times™, Where Your Inner Animal Comes Out to Play™! Are you ready for an experience like no other? A roaring good time awaits you and your loved ones here at Wild Times™, and what better way to get your wild adventure off to the perfect start than by taking one of these free maps of the park! You can find your way at any time by following the yellow signs back to the entrance. Can I also interest you in some of our merchandise? It's sure to help put you and your loved ones in just the right mood to enjoy the ferocious fun Wild Times™ has to offer."
The young donkey finished reciting his rehearsed pitch and looked at Nick and Judy expectantly, rattling his merchandise rack again. Judy remained in her defensive posture, but Nick's eyes were lighting up at the sight of the garish souvenir junk.
"Awww, man, I've not had my paws on any new Wild Times collectibles since when I was a kid… oooh, the T-shirts still look the same! Do you still have the baseball caps with the teeth on 'em? Ooh, how about…"
A few minutes later, the pair were walking into the park's entrance plaza area, Nick positively laden with merchandise; he had donned a gaudy red Wild Times T-shirt over his signature green shirt, and a baseball cap shaped like a tiger's head now covered his brow, its foam teeth protruding around the cap's brim. In his arms, he carried a pile of branded water bottles, sketch pads, giant novelty pens and keychains; his eyes glinted with bright lights and childish glee as they darted around the park's interior, his ears twitching in all directions, trying to take in as many sounds as they could. Judy, by contrast, was entirely free of Wild Times paraphernalia other than a red ticket wristband, but even she couldn't help but smile indulgently at Nick's visible delight. It was certainly an impressive park, with every horizontal and vertical inch of its spacious interior filled with ride architecture, colourfully illustrated signage or neon-lit palm trees that reached all the way to the roof. Everywhere they turned, they could see the names of attractions illuminated in bright lights - Roar-a-Coaster; Otter Slide; Wind Tunnel; Jump 'N' Stick - and could hear the whoops and howls of happy animals enjoying themselves. Nick was looking feverishly between the directional signposts and the map in his hand, plotting a route; Judy, however, couldn't help focus instead on the fact she was one of only a handful of prey animals there, with the majority of the clientele being predator families, couples or teenage friends. She was watching a group of young ocelots jumping into the Ball of Yarn Pit, making undignified purring sounds as they rolled around in tangles of string, when Nick shook her by the shoulder.
"C'mon, Carrots, let's get moving, there are so many things I wanna do in here! You are gonna have a GREAT time, just you wait, I forgot how much I love this place…"
They walked through the park for about 20 minutes, passing by merchandise stalls, small dining areas and yet more attractions. They shielded their ears from the Howl Along singing stage, watched the progress of the small mammals zooming down the spiralling Otter Slide, and shuddered as the cars of the park's centrepiece Roar-a-Coaster passed overhead, its bright red iron tracks coiling across the entire breadth of the interior, looping out of the roof into the open air.
"Hey, Fluff, ya hungry? You wanna grab some of the stall food here before we get started on the rides?"
Judy took her eyes off the Roar-a-Coaster to look at the row of refreshment stalls stretching in front of them. There was an array of predator-oriented stalls offering bug skewers and fish kebabs, as well as a colourful tiki hut serving tropical drinks. To her surprise, the longest queue was for a small, slightly rickety-looking shack shaped like a banana, which was being manned by two gawky-looking young foxes.
"Huh. I wouldn't have thought a little banana stand like that would be so popular in a place like this."
Nick glanced down at her. "You kidding? There's always money in a banana stand, especially this one; it's kind of part of the Wild Times experience, been here since before I was even born. You get a frozen banana, dipped in chocolate and nuts… you know, I actually used to help man this stall, kind of a summer job I had to pick up some change. It wasn't a bad earner for a cash-strapped kid; y'know, until I found, uh, more lucrative, legally-adjacent avenues for earning…"
Judy raised her eyebrow and shot him a knowing look, prompting him to clear his throat.
"...ahem! Well, no sense dwelling on the past, when we've got all sorts of fun to look forward to in the present, right? You wanna frozen banana?"
"No thanks, Nick, I'm not waiting in that queue! And I don't want to fill my stomach if we're going on rides, especially not if you're going to try and drag me on that thing up there; what is it, the Roar-a-Coaster?"
Nick glanced up at the red iron track above him as the cars screamed past on another loop. His hackles seemed to raise as he looked at it, shuddering slightly.
"Ooh, ah. Hmmm. Yeah, no, we, uh, don't have to go on that one, I've, uh… never been a big fan of the ol' rollercoasters, honestly. Why don't - why don't we do one of the sideshow games to warm you up, huh? There's a target range just over there, let's go see if we can't win ourselves something nice."
Bustling away from the food stalls, Nick and Judy ambled over to the shooting gallery, where a weasel wearing a red-and-white striped jacket and a straw boater was trying to get the attention of passersby. The attraction seemed to involve shooting slow-moving targets shaped like the weasel's own toothy, grinning face using a foam gun; cuddly prizes lined the walls of the small wooden stall, ranging from tiny plush mice to a stuffed elephant about the same size as Judy.
"Hoy there, folks! How's about one of you step up and play Pop the Weasel? It's real simple to learn, real simple to win! You there, mister, what say you grab a gun and win a prize for your cute little girlfriend there?"
Nick snorted. "Ahahahaaa, actually, buddy, she's-"
Judy pushed in front. "-Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD, and this is my partner, Nicholas Wilde. Hand ME the gun; I can win my own prizes, thanks very much."
The weasel, already taken aback by her frosty tone, did a double-take at the name. "H-Hopps? I heard about you on the news, you're the one that… my- my apologies, ma'am! I didn't mean to imply any... uh, right! The game. Yeah! The game is simple; it's one dollar to play, you get five shots. Three hits wins you a small prize; four a medium; five for a big one. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, it's deceptively difficult, let me tell-"
"Nick, you got two bucks to hand?"
Nick blinked, then reached into his pocket, pulled out two bills and handed them to Judy, who slapped them down on the stall counter. Picking up one of the guns on the table, she lined up its sights, then fired five shots; the first three sailed astray, but the fourth and fifth hit the weasel-shaped target squarely between the eyes. She then reloaded the weapon and shot five straight bullseyes in a row, as Nick and the stall operator watched with wide eyes. Setting the gun down on the counter and leaning against it, she turned to the stunned weasel and folded her arms.
"So, I figured you probably weren't gonna be playing totally fair with this game and that the sights on the guns here would likely be deliberately miscalibrated, so it'd take me at least three shots to learn how to compensate for that. So I paid up for two rounds, used the first set for practice, then used round two to win that adorable elephant right there at the back - no, the purple one, not the pink one - yeah, that's the fella. Thanks! Here, Nick, you keep him, it was your money I used. Let's keep moving, shall we?"
Judy pushed herself up off the counter and strode off into the park, leaving the weasel staring blankly at the back of her head. Nick took a moment to consider the weasel's slack-jawed face, the heavy plush elephant in his arms and the sight of Judy marching away, before giving the weasel a curt nod and scurrying off in pursuit of his friend.
Nick and Judy continued to explore Wild Times for the next hour, taking part in whichever games and attractions they both decided might be fun. Nick's bubbling enthusiasm for the park meant he was able to plan an itinerary that took in the most popular sights at a brisk pace, so as not to miss out anything good; however, as time wore on, he had to admit that his nostalgic effervescence was starting to wane in the presence of Judy, who seemed either unwilling or unable to fully enter into the spirit of the occasion.
As they walked, Nick began to find himself annoyed by how many of his favourite attractions - including the Ball of Yarn Pit and the Otter Slide - were being dismissed by his companion as "too silly" or "just for cubs"; by and large, she seemed to gravitate only towards attractions with some kind of physical challenge element, and even these she approached more in the manner of a drill sergeant evaluating a training exercise, rather than a person earnestly enjoying a theme park. Nick had thought she might have fun on an attraction called Upstream, which saw them balancing on a plank rotating in water, triggering plastic salmon to shoot into the air to catch; when they got on, however, he was taken aback by Judy's hyper-aggressive approach, the rabbit bounding between different combat stances to take down the salmon as though they were suspected arms dealers, while he and the other patrons simply enjoyed splashing in the water. Their experience on Laser Tag was similar, as Judy single-handedly doubled the score of an entire team of opposing felines, most of whom spent the bout chasing the red laser dots across the walls rather than aiming at anyone. Judy also set high scores for the day on Fetch the Stick, Whack-a-Bug and the Wild Times Water Obstacle Course - partly because her level of physical fitness far exceeded that of a typical Friday night theme park patron, but also because she seemed to be the only mammal there treating "winning" as the point of playing the games.
After an unsatisfying experience in the Wind Tunnel - an attraction simulating the experience of travelling at high speed with your head stuck out the window, which Judy had bailed on after two minutes because her ears hurt - the pair found themselves ambling back along the path near the food stalls. Judy had bought popsicles for them both, and they wandered along in silence, Nick carrying bags of merchandise and cuddly toys, while Judy remained largely empty-pawed. The fox licked his popsicle silently and pensively, prompting Judy to regard him with concern.
"Hey, what's the matter, did I not get the right flavour? You're looking kind of agitated, and it's… sorta weirding me out. Are you not enjoying yourself?"
Nick shot Judy a sidelong look and sighed sadly. "Honestly, Carrots, I was gonna ask you the same question."
"...huh? O-of course I'm enjoying myself! It's, uh, great here. A real cultural experience. I've had loads of fun!"
With that, Judy gave Nick a forced, hasty smile that didn't reach anywhere near her eyes. Nick turned to the rabbit and raised his eyebrow appraisingly.
"Yikes. I don't know what bothers me more: the sheer, staggering fakeness of that smile just there, or the fact it was still the most convincing sign of actual enjoyment I've seen from you all evening."
Judy's back straightened as she went on the defensive. "What? Hey, come on, Nick, I'm trying my best, it's just… I mean, I played all those games with you when you asked, didn't I? That was sorta fun, right?"
"Well, yeah, except for any war veterans who had PTSD flashbacks from watching you combat-roll your way through obstacle courses designed for children aged six and up. And let's not be overlooking the fiasco I just witnessed on the bumper cars."
"What was wrong with what I did on the bumper cars? I kept a steady speed in a clockwise direction and avoided hitting anyone, just like the guy said!"
Nick placed his fingers to his temple and gave a gasp of exasperation. "Carrots, you… you're not supposed to do what the guy said. Even the guy knows you're not supposed to do what he said. You're supposed to bump the other cars: they're bumper cars, for Pete's sake!"
Judy seemed at a loss for words. "Well, I… look, Nick, I'm sorry, I have to be honest with you. Maybe you're right; maybe I don't get this place? My instinct is to do things by the book, push my limits, be the best. I can't let my standards drop and just … goof around in public like I'm five years old."
"OK, number one: ouch, that hurts me. Number two: that's not even true. That whole Zootopia's Finest thing we both do? That's trained habit, not instinct. Don't get me wrong, it's a good habit! A great, life-affirming habit! But instinct is different. Instinct is what this place is all about, that's why I've always loved it. It's about the wind through your fur, the grass under your paws, the simple thrills of just… of just… OK, hold up, watch this."
Without a second's further hesitation or explanation, Nick ran straight across Judy's path towards the Jump 'N' Stick Velcro Wall, still carrying all of the evening's winnings and purchases. He gave a great leap off the springboard and somersaulted through the air, colliding with the wall with a huge thud as the various knickknacks went flying everywhere. Judy clapped her paws to her mouth.
"NICK!"
The fox was splayed upside down on the velcro wall, his necktie dangling across his face and his popsicle now stuck to the red fur of his leg. He was giggling gently to himself as he shifted his weight around, feeling the pleasant scratchiness against his back; moments later, a bored-looking panda stall worker shuffled along with a long wooden paddle and slowly prised Nick off the wall with a loud ripping sound, and he plopped face down on the cushioned surface beneath. As he walked back, shaking the fragments of shattered popsicle from his leg hair, Judy gazed at him with goggle-eyed incredulity.
"What… what the heck was that? You're a mess, and you dropped all your stuff! What was the point of that?"
"The point, Carrots, is that sometimes there is no point. Sometimes, you just gotta be, and I don't think you let yourself do that very often. When it's just you and me hanging out, you're a goofy little fuzzball, but when you're being Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD? I dunno. I just thought that maybe you wind yourself a little tight sometimes, and I was sorta hoping this place would… eh, help you forget some of that stress. Like it did for me when I was a kid."
Nick glanced over at a pair of young wolf siblings who had just gotten off the Roar-a-Coaster and were now happily chasing their own tails in a circle, while their parents looked on fondly. Judy felt a sharp pang of guilt, and placed her paw on Nick's arm.
"Ah, Nick, I… I'm sorry. I really am, I do appreciate you bringing me here, and I never wanted to spoil this place for you, but honestly, I just… being a cop is more than a habit for me. It was a lifelong calling, it was all I ever dreamed about and worked towards for years and years and now? I don't think I CAN just separate it from my identity and, like, not be a cop for an evening, especially out in public. I… I'm sorry, Nick."
The fox gave a deep sigh. "Yeah. Bad call on my part, I guess. I'm the one who should be apologising for the choice of venue. I guess we should just head-"
"STOP!"
Nick and Judy's melancholy funk was suddenly pierced by a loud yell coming from further down the row of food stalls. Both of their ears pricked up to attention, and they whirled around to see a muscular brown kangaroo bounding towards them at full speed, the hood of her dark grey hoodie pulled right up to cover as much of her face as possible. They had only seconds to react: Judy bounded deftly out the kangaroo's path in a single reflexive motion, but Nick was only able to barely sidestep the onrushing marsupial and was caught square in the chest by her powerful tail, sending him barrelling backwards, off the springboard and back on to the velcro wall. The shock of the interruption meant it took both Nick and Judy a moment to process the fact that a trail of money littered the ground in the kangaroo's wake, and that a wheezing old capybara was waddling as quickly as he could after the fast-moving animal, to little avail, shouting as loudly as his gasping breaths would allow.
"That… CROOK! That great bounding THIEF! Knocked over the banana stand ... made off with all the money! Aaaargh, that's our entire Friday takings; she overpowered the kids I had working the stall and stuffed all the cash in that pouch of hers! Someone call park security, someone help, do something!"
Judy's mind snapped into focus. "Don't worry, sir, I'm Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD, and I will make sure that money is returned to you. Nick! Come on, we've gotta move, we've gotta… Nick?"
She registered for the first time that Nick was stuck to the velcro wall and gesticulating wildly to the panda stall attendant, who was gawking at him with an expression of total bewilderment.
"Hey! HEY! Bamboo! I know, I know, I'm gorgeous. Now put your eyeballs back in their sockets and pry me off this wall, I've got a perp to catch! Hopps, you go on ahead, I'll catch you up!"
"Uh, right! Right!" Judy took off at full speed, following the trail of money along the path, her adrenaline pumping. As she ran, she found herself flanked by two members of the Wild Times security team - a ram and a polar bear - who were running in the same direction, yelling instructions into their walkie-talkies as they moved.
"Uh, ma'am, we'll have to ask you not to get involved in this, we-"
"Don't worry, I'm Judy Hopps, I'm a police officer and a witness, I can help with this! My partner and I saw the thief escaping. Has your team secured the exits?"
"They have, Officer Hopps. Don't worry, we've got this one covered. It's an indoor park; there's no way she can get out without a member of security intercepting her. And if this money trail is any indication, she's heading towards a dead end right now."
Sure enough, they were soon face-to-face with the hoodie-wearing kangaroo, whose pouch was overflowing with currency. As predicted, she had backed herself into a corner, surrounded on all sides by stalls, attractions and the interior wall of the building; the only path away was now occupied by Judy and the two security guards, who were advancing on the thief slowly but imposingly.
"End of the line, ma'am. We're gonna have to ask you stop running, turn yourself over and wait until the local police come and pick you up."
The kangaroo glanced around and gave a devious little smile. "Nah, I don't think so, mate."
Without warning, she leapt off to the side of the pursuing law enforcers and landed squarely in the middle of an inflatable castle, disturbing a group of cheetah children and an inebriated couple of college-age otters who were bouncing merrily. The weight and impact of the kangaroo's powerful legs was enough to knock the other patrons off their feet; using all the leverage she could muster, the criminal launched herself 20 feet into the air, bouncing the innocent bystanders completely off the castle. As the security staff rushed over to attend to the crying children, Judy stepped back to see where the kangaroo had landed, and spotted her hanging by her arms from a metal gantry attached to the track of the Roar-a-Coaster. The drop below was perilous, but the kangaroo's grip was strong, and she was regaining her balance and clambering up on top of the walkway. At that moment, Nick finally caught up, panting and looking dishevelled, with small patches of fur missing from the back of his neck after being hastily ripped from the velcro wall.
"Agh… sorry… I'm late… Carrots. What'd I… miss?"
"Nick! What we're missing is the crook! Up there on the Roar-a-Coaster's maintenance gantry, look - she jumped up from the inflatable castle, and… oh my gosh, Nick, she can get out that way! They've got security guards on the exits, but the Roar-a-Coaster track loops out through a gap in the roof of the building; she can follow that walkway and then just escape from the roof outside… I've gotta get up there! Like, now!"
Nick's eyes flicked rapidly around the area, his ears twitching in all directions as he searched for inspiration. "Hmmm… nope, I'm not seeing any quick way up there. There's a ladder, but we'd have to circumnavigate a bunch of stalls to get to it, and Mrs Bananagrabber up there will be long gone by the time we do. Uhh… hmmm. Long shot, but do you think you could bounce up there, the same way she went?"
Judy glanced over at the inflatable castle, sizing up the weights, angles and speed involved. "Like you say: it's a long shot. But there's only one way to find out…"
The rabbit took a run up, launching herself at the inflatable castle. Following the same trajectory, she landed in the centre, wound her muscles tight as a spring, and shot upwards… ten feet into the air. She could see the kangaroo above her, claws scraping against the metal as she scrambled up on to the walkway, far out of reach. With a frustrated yelp, Judy began bouncing up and down on the castle, trying as many physical tricks and techniques as she could to gain more height. She tried redistributing her weight and bounced off the sides of the castle, but nothing she did helped her any higher than 12 feet, and she noticed - with growing agitation - that the kangaroo was now standing properly on the gantry, busily collecting up some of the cash she had dropped as she prepared to make good her escape.
"Nick! Get up here with me!"
"What? Me? I can't jump as high as you…"
"I know, you don't need to! Come up and act as a counterweight. If we do alternating bounces, I can get the height I need to get up there! And watch your claws, we don't wanna explode this thing!"
"Oh! Right, good call..."
Nick bounded into action, clambering up on the inflatable surface and taking a moment to get his bearings, before starting a rhythmic sequence of jumps with his partner. Each alternating bounce propelled Judy higher and higher, which only made her more anxious to reach her target.
15 feet… the kangaroo was gathering up the last of the money…
17 feet… the crook took a look back at Judy getting closer and closer, and blanched at the sight…
19 feet… the thief started to make a run for it…
"NICK! PUT IT ALL INTO THIS BOUNCE, SHE'S GETTING AWAY!"
Nick - who by this point was reaching at least 12 feet into the air himself - gave his partner the quickest nod, curled himself up at the apex of his bounce, and then launched himself downward like a red spear, sending Judy shooting up a full 25 feet. She sailed upwards in a graceful arc and down towards the fleeing thief, who turned just in time to see a grey blur arrowing towards her. Judy heard the kangaroo exclaim "Crikey!" before she was roughly tackled against the surface of the metal gantry, cash spilling from her pouch and raining down on the stalls and Wild Times patrons below.
"I can't thank you enough, officers, you've really gone above and beyond! Quite literally, in a sense; Officer Hopps, I saw how high up you had to go to chase that thief down, it looked incredibly dangerous."
The old capybara who ran the banana stand was wringing Judy and Nick's paws over and over again, giving them a succession of hearty shakes. Behind them, their colleague Officer McHorn had arrived on the scene, and was speaking to the park security staff while the thief sat sullenly in the back seat of his police cruiser. His business concluded, McHorn gave the pair a little salute and a smile, which they returned before he drove off.
"Oh, it was nothing, sir," said Judy. "Well. OK, it was something, but for a ZPD officer it's all in a day's work! Or, uh, in this case, all in a night off."
"You two really are the ZPD's finest, I can see why the newspapers spoke so highly of you! I'm lucky you happened to be walking by when my stall was robbed. If there's anything I can do for you, anything at all-"
"Well, now that you mention it," interjected Nick, smirking, "the newspapers might not mention this too often, but Hero Cop Nicholas Wilde, ZPD - as they call me down at the precinct - actually used to work at your banana stand back in the day! And much as we enjoyed tackling that robber, I think you and I can agree, sir, that the real crime here is that my partner, Officer Hopps, has never actually tried one of the delicious frozen banana treats, with the hot fudge and chopped nuts, that have made your stand such a beloved family institution for so many decades. Surely you must agree that this wrong needs to be righted?"
The capybara laughed wheezily. "Ha, you are a natural salesman, aren't you? It'll be my pleasure, and my treat, of course. Have a good evening, officers!"
Minutes later, Judy and Nick were strolling back along the length of the park, their frozen bananas digesting comfortably. As Nick glanced around at the lights and the sights, he laughed wistfully. "You know what, Carrots, I guess this shows you were right. It's been nice coming back here and all, but… you never do stop being a cop, do you? And neither do I, I guess. It was just… good to come back and see a little bit of my childhood again. Even if it probably does have to be from the outside looking in… uh, Carrots? Hey. Judy! Are you listening to me?"
Judy was gazing off in a different direction, her mind clearly elsewhere. As Nick called her name, she seemed to come back to herself. "Oh… oh! Nick, argh, I'm sorry, I did hear you, I was just a million miles away. I was… uh. Hmmm. I was thinking, actually - before we go, do you… do you think we can go back to the inflatable castle? Just for a little while?"
Nick blinked, and tilted his head quizzically. "You want to go back on the inflatable castle?"
Judy suddenly seemed shifty and scattered, her paws tugging at her own ears nervously. "Uh… yeah! I was thinking, while we're still here and we have these evening passes, I just thought… because we were jumping up and down on it before and it was crazy and hectic, but it was still… kinda fun, I guess? Maybe? Like, I've not had a chance to really just bounce around like crazy since my dad got us a trampoline back on the farm when I was little, and it broke after the first day, because you know, rabbit families, right? So it was kind of a fun thing to-"
Nick stared at the stammering rabbit, a smile playing across the corners of his mouth. "Officer Judy Hopps of the ZPD wants to go and play on the inflatable castle."
Judy shot a peevish look at the smirking fox and punched him in the hip. "All right, fine, we'll do this the humiliating way, then, because you're horrible. Yes. I want to go and play on the inflatable castle. Officer Judy Hopps of the ZPD, Zootopia's top cop, wants to go and play on the inflatable castle. Are you happy now? Is that what your tiny shrivelled heart needs to hear to make you feel fulfilled?"
Nick grinned broadly and patted Judy patronisingly on the head, ignoring her efforts to bat his paws away. "You know what? It sort of is, Carrots. Maybe you learned something from old Nick this evening after all."
Judy rolled her eyes, but gave a warm smile at the same time. "Well, thank you, wise sensei. Come on, let's head over there before all the kids get back on it. And then after that, we're going on the Roar-a-Coaster."
Nick's grin faltered. "Wait, we're what?"
"We're going on the Roar-a-Coaster," said Judy, narrowing her eyes and smiling in a calculating manner. "I wanted to go on it from the moment we came in here, but I was too self-conscious to mention it directly. But thanks to your teachings, I'm over that now, so that's great, isn't it? Plus, I got a great view of it when I was up on that gantry, and it looks SO RAD. So I'm going on it, and you are going to accompany me like a gentleman. I'll even let you hold on to my arm if you're scared, and cry on my shoulder afterwards. Deal?"
Nick looked up at the intimidating spirals of the Roar-a-Coaster's red iron track, grimacing, but after glancing back down at Judy's bright expression, he adjusted his tie and straightened up. "You drive a hard bargain, Carrots, but I accept your terms. I just wish you'd told me this before I ate the damn banana; between the bouncing and the rollercoaster, my stomach is not going to thank me later. Wild Times, indeed..."