A/N: According to online sources, Prince John had actually became the King of England after the death of Richard the Lionheart, but of course I won't be so stiff in following historic facts. Instead, the basic setting of this story will be a mix between facts, Disney's Robin Hood and my own stuff.
And please ignore the review I supposedly posted on this story, because it wasn't me. It was a small prank my friend played on me recently and now I have no way to remove it. So, yes, go on with the story and I hope you enjoy it. :)
The computer screens blinked, and blueprints were spread all over the wooden table. A lone animal was reclined in the large armchair, his eyes narrowing as he observed the many codes that ran through the monitors. Meanwhile, a dull emerald snake entered the large room.
"Sir, the experiment was a ss-success." The slithery snake hissed as he slipped up next to the mammal.
"Oh! Ah, what a perfect piece of news. Slicker, tell that old goat Fletcher to start the last phase of experimentation." said the mammal in a scratchy voice.
"Yesss Sir. Have you been in contact with Bellwether, Sir?" asked the snake.
"Bellwether? She's stuck behind bars, I've no more business with her." snorted the mammal. "We may have worked together for a bit, but her ideas are totally different from mine. Right now I have someone else that I have my eyes on."
"That." He pointed a trembling finger towards one of the many computer screens that were displayed in front of him, before he growled. "Is who I'm awfully interested in."
Slicker turned to look, and his thin tongue shivering in excitement as he spoke, "Oh, oh, he doesss look like that tricky thief. That sly smile and all, just like that Robin Hood!"
"SILENCE!" roared the mammal, who pounded the table heavily. Slicker stiffened a little, before he scooted away from his master.
"Don't ever speak that scoundrel's name! That fox who dethroned my ancestor, Prince John of England! If it weren't for that brat, my life would not be like this!"
"Sir, this is the 21sssst century, surely what happened to your great-great-great-great-I don't know how many greatssss-grandfather will have no effect on you!"
"No effect? How many times have I said this, you slimy snake! If Prince John remained King, I would have been the mayor! Not that blasted Lionheart!"
"Mayor? England would have fallen first." muttered Slicker under his breath.
"Did you say something, snake?"
"No, no, of course not, Sir."
"Now look at me, I'm just a mere minister! I will never stand for this, Slicker! Mark my words! I'll make sure that no descendants of that fox will ever exist after my plan is completed!"
"Here we go again." sighed Slicker.
"And Zootopia shall be mine!"
And so, the lion laughed.
"Alright, alright, now-SHUT IT!" yelled the cape buffalo as he glared at all the officers in the room, who went quiet instantly. "And Wilde, no smarty pants remarks."
"Oh, why, yes, Sir, I thought you'd never ask." said the fox, earning chuckles from many and an irritated glare from the Chief. Bogo then shifted his attention to the sheet of paper in his hooves.
"Assignments: Delgato, Spitz, reports of a burglar in Rainforest District. Higgins, Snarlof, patrolling in Savanna Central. Francine, Link and Fragmire, gang fights coming up in Tundratown, clear the whole lot."
The buffalo carried on for quite a bit, and Judy and Nick were one of the last ones to remain.
"McHorn. Parking duty."
The rhinoceros tried to protest, but a sharp look by Bogo made him walk out of the room reluctantly. The Chief then turned to the last pair.
"Hopps, Wilde, there have been complaints by residents in Nocturnal Nightspot about noises underground, go and investigate."
"Yes, sir!" replied Judy enthusiastically, while Nick simply whipped out his sunglasses from his breast pocket, wore it suavely and sauntered off. Judy then jumped along, and the pair of cops walked along the second floor corridor of the ZPD headquarters.
"Nocturnal Nightspot. I've never gone there before." remarked Judy, as she checked the map of Zootopia on her PawPhone. "It's pitch dark there, ain't it?"
"You better get ready a pair of night vision shades, Carrots." said Nick as he started licking on a Pawpsicle that magically appeared out of nowhere.
"I could just use my torch."
"And you can get ready for news articles about owls having their eyes burnt by a blinding light. Plus a bonus jail term."
"Right."
The two then hopped onto the ZPD police vehicle and shot towards their destination.
The ZPD car halted right before the entrance of the Nocturnal Nightspot, and the left window was rolled down. Judy stuck her head out and stared at the tunnel that led to the underground district. Pedestrian walkways disappeared into the inky darkness of the tunnel and warning signs decorated the outer walls of the entrance, all having big block letters that yelled: Any form of bright light is strictly forbidden.
"It's really dark."
"Really? I can see quite a number of houses in there." said Nick.
"Oh, shut up. You and your night vision." murmured Judy, before she steered towards the visitor's car park.
"Nature's gift."
Suddenly, the vehicle came to a stop, causing Nick to bang his head against the front.
"Oww! Quit it."
"No, there's a long line before us. Look." Judy pointed, not feeling apologetic at the least. "What's the guard doing? Just let all the cars go in already."
"I'll go take a look." said Nick, and the fox climbed out of the car and swiftly dashed up to the guard post in a jiffy. He coughed to get ready his authoritative voice and spoke, "Excuse me- Oh Flash, Flash, hundred yard dash! Buddy! How nice to see you."
The sloth slowly moved his head sideways, made a small smile that was formed in fifteen seconds, before he answered slowly, "... Nice... To... See... You... Nick..."
"Do you mind speeding up a bit? Like how you did during the street racing. My bunny partner's getting impatient."
"... Will... Do..."
"Well, good luck." waved the fox as he turned back.
"... My... Best..."
Nick then opened the car door, just to find Judy squinting to try to get a good look into the tunnel.
"No point trying, Carrots. Just use your night vision glasses."
Judy let out a long sigh, and her ears drooped as she wore her glasses.
"At least you have your ears."
"Yeah, yeah. So? What did the guard say?"
"Oh, he said..."
"Said?"
"... Will..."
"Will?"
"... Do..."
"Uh huh."
"... My..."
Judy Hopps then let out a cry of shock, before she slapped both of her paws on her face. She groaned agonizingly, and finally uttered, "A sloth.
"To be more accurate, the fastest sloth you know in all of Zootopia."
"Urghhhh, Flash. I'll tell Bogo, we won't be coming back till next evening." breathed Judy as she took out her PawPhone. The screen lit up the bunny's face as her fingers ran through her contacts.
"Clawhauser, tell the Chief we won't be returning until tomorrow... Uh... Yeah... You see, the guard is a sloth."
Very quickly, she was done with the call, and she sank deeper into her seat, her face creased with lethargy. "It's going to be a long day."
"Yes indeed." agreed Nick. "How do you suppose we pass the time?"
"You know, there's this app everyone's been talking about. It was released a week ago." said Judy as she fiddled with her phone. "Here, this one."
Judy passed the phone to Nick, who looked at the screen curiously. The app's title and design were very simplistic, buttons "Play" and "Options" in black and white boxes and a common title font was used for the letters "PJE".
"You are to role play as a character in medieval England, and get the story going. But what's really odd is that only one character can be played, while the rest are locked." explained Judy.
"Huh. Weird."
"That's not the end, Nick. No matter how many times you try, no matter who play it, the character you choose will always have one ending. Well, I tried it three times and it's not working."
"A prank game, huh? So, what's the ending?"
"Death. That's why everyone's buzzing about it. It's just so weird."
"Wow. I'll give this a shot."
"Go ahead, it'll take another 30 minutes for that one car at the front to pass through the parking gate."
Nick then pressed the "Play" button, and the main page faded to white.
New Game?
Nick went for the "Yes" button.
Choose a character.
He scrolled horizontally, and let out a small laugh, "There's really only one character to choose."
There were plenty of characters, such as a rooster called Alan-A-Dale, a badger called Friar Tuck, a bear called Little John, vultures called Nutsy and Trigger and many more, however, all were unavailable. He then scrolled back to the only choice, which was a fox.
"A fox?" exclaimed Nick as he stared at the black silhouette. It was definitely a fox, with a pointy snout and bushy looking tail. The character held onto a distinct shape of a bow and arrows.
"Oh, I forgot to mention. The game's plot was based on Robin Hood." said Judy, who was having earphones stuffed into her ears. As expected of her wondrous sense of hearing.
"I've heard that name before. Or maybe not. I'm horrible in History."
"You know, that infamous outlaw from late medieval England? Sherwood Forest and Nottingham? He robs from the rich and gives them to the poor."
"Sounds like a mighty vigilante to me. But still, I've never heard of him."
"You should have! All foxes should have! He might just be your ancestor!"
Nick snorted derisively, "Ancestor? A thief as an ancestor? I'm a cop, Carrots."
"Robin Hood was a good thief. His stories were inspiring."
"Oh, so now thieves can be good, huh? Good try, Carrots, but a thief is still a thief no matter what he does." retorted Nick, the fox cop pressing onto the silhouette of Robin Hood in the game.
"Con-artists can be good too, am I wrong?"
The screen faded to white again, and Nick felt himself sinking deeper into his seat as well. He was a con-artist too, so saying that Robin Hood was a bad...
"Sorry, Carrots."
"Nah. Go play the game." Judy waved her right paw, before she stepped onto the car pedal, moving the ZPD car slightly forward.
Nick gave a grateful smile, and then proceeded on. He controlled the black figure of Robin Hood throughout the game, where the starting stage was to steal something from the rich Sheriff of Nottingham. Along with Robin Hood was the bear Little John, an accomplice. Then he distributed the rewards from the first stage to the poor. Complete a stage, distribute the money. This cycle continued for quite a number of stages, and most were fairly easy, with the targets often the Sheriff and a Crocodile Castle Guard Captain.
He checked for the time on Judy's phone. 3.30 pm. He had played for a full hour.
The next four stages introduced some characters like Friar Tuck, the priest of Nottingham church, Alan-A-Dale, who was just some rooster musician and a few baby bunnies that did absolutely nothing.
Then at stage thirty or so, a vixen named Maid Marian entered the story, with her biography reading that she was the love interest of Robin Hood.
"You're at Maid Marian already? That's pretty quick."
Nick ignored Judy and continued to move on for another eleven stages. Yet another character was introduced, and for some reason, the lion was fully colored in gold and red.
"Oh, oh! Prince John of England! He's supposed to be an evil guy in the history books, but here, he's portrayed like a saint of some sort."
"Hmm..." muttered Nick, as he directed Robin Hood to go up the steps of the castle. Upon reaching the royal treasury, he completed yet another stage.
The story for the next stage was disturbing, when Robin Hood appeared to be one-legged, and all the previous characters from before seemed to be antagonistic towards the fox. And for the first time in the game, dialogue came up.
The first speech bubble by Alan-A-Dale popped out, "Begone! You vile fox!"
Nick froze.
The second speech bubble by Friar Tuck, "Usurper! Thief!"
Nick felt his throat going drier and drier.
The third speech bubble was by the colored lion, "Die, you sly fox!"
The fox cop was by now, sweating profusely. All Robin Hood's previous allies were surrounding him, their black figures inching closer, with spears in hand.
Was this the last stage? After playing for forty plus stages, Robin Hood was done in by a lion who only had screen time for two stages?
Suddenly, another speech bubble appeared. The character who supposedly spoke was none other than Maid Marian.
"Please don't kill him!"
"Hey Nick, which stage are you at now?" chirped Judy after she had driven the car a few centimeters forward. "Oh... no, no, no, how could I forget? Did you read those..."
Nick nodded solemnly, and Judy gasped.
"Sorry, I-I forgot to warn you... I-I didn't mean to.."
"Carrots, I'm fine. Just let me continue the game, okay?"
Judy Hopps's ears drooped, but after seeing the look on Nick's face, she kept quiet and observed quietly. Nick then pressed the screen, and the story continued, with Prince John having a speech bubble, "Kill the vixen and the fox!"
Immediately after, a long sword was brandished by the silhouette of Little John and the blow was sent directly onto Robin Hood. A strangled cry screamed from the phone's speaker and then the screen faded to white, before returning to the homepage.
"That's the end?" asked Nick incredulously.
"Yeah. But of course, what really happened was a happy ending. Robin Hood was celebrated as a legendary and famous outlaw who married Maid Marian, and Prince John of England was removed of his crown."
"PJE. Prince John of England. Whoever made this app was definitely a fan of that lion, and a Robin Hood hater."
Judy snickered in response, and grinned when she looked out of the windshield.
"Finally."
And soon the two drove through the parking gate, with Flash waving an extremely slow goodbye.
Judy Hopps took a tentative step forward, and her paws blindly felt for anything that was in her way. Even with her night vision glasses, she still felt lost, since everything looked so green. Meanwhile, Nick coolly walked past her, unfazed by the darkness.
"Nick! Where's our first destination?"
"Mr Howler's. He lives on Street 74. Bogo said he was the first one to file in a complaint."
"Okay, you lead the way."
"Will do, will do." smirked the fox, before he purposefully leaped a few steps faster than Judy.
"Hey!" Judy called out, the bunny irked by Nick's actions.
"Nature's gift." he replied with a chuckle.
They went through twists and turns on the dark pathways, and without any warning, Nick stopped abruptly and Judy crashed into his back.
"We're here, Carrots."
Judy spotted the green shadow of a house sitting upon a stout tree with curly branches, and she tip-toed and reached for the high door. Few knocks later, a large Tawny Owl emerged.
"Kah! Annoying, annoying, annoying! Who are you brats?"
"Mr Howler, we're from the ZPD." Judy said as she took out her identification card. "We've received complaints from you that there have been..."
"ZPD!? Oh yes, yes, yes! Mind clearing up those wretched whirring sounds from under my house? I can't sleep at night because of it!"
"You mean, morning." corrected Nick.
"Shush, Nick. Sorry, Mr Howler, can we get more details about these "wretched whirring sounds" you mentioned?" Judy inquired as she scribbled onto her notepad.
"Well, it always starts at around nine in the morning, all the way till eleven, then it stops for quite a while before coming back again and again in intervals of... I guess, around twenty-"
The ground started vibrating in a fraction of a second, and Mr Howler started howling angrily, "See! Here it is again! It's knocking my brains out! Please, just go and stop it!"
"Yes, of course, Mr Howler. Do you mind showing us a way to go down there?"
"Harumph. Come, follow me." The owl then swooped down from his house and flew to his left, with Judy and Nick following him closely.
They were soon led away from the main streets and ended up in a small alleyway. It did not take long for Mr Howler to direct them to a small hole that smelled of sewage water. Judy scrunched up her nose, while Nick cringed in disgust.
"This is the only entrance. Good luck and good riddance to those sickening sounds!" Mr Howler cried out. "I'll be going back to sleep, so if you have any problems, don't bother coming to find me!"
The owl left swiftly and soon it was only the pair left to their own devices.
"Ladies first." Nick offered as he shuffled further away from the stinky spot.
"Nuh-uh. You go first." denied Judy, as she extended her paw out.
"You're the cop."
"You're a cop too!"
Letting out a sigh of resignation, Nick dragged his legs over and after turning backwards, he slowly climbed down the rungs of the rusty ladder that reached deep into the hole. Suddenly, his paws slipped and down he went, straight into the dirty sewage water. The fox shouted in surprise, and Judy tried to hold in the urge to burst out laughing.
After the bunny cop went in, she fortunately reached the cemented ground with no issues, but the sewage water was still as high as her waist level.
"Oh... I feel faint." she complained as she covered her snout, before she turned to look at Nick, the poor fox drenched in smelly water. Judy then started laughing, while Nick flicked the back of the bunny's head.
"Let's get going."
They trudged through the sewage waters, the smell of dirty trash, urine and anything disgusting they could think of permeating through the large sewage pipe. The metal walls were grimy and utterly vomit-able. To both cops, the journey through this place was hellish. They continued to move forward for another twenty minutes, until the same whirring sound reverberated throughout the space. It continued to ring, and both fox and bunny wasted no time to run towards the source.
Judy's ears perked up and she beckoned Nick to follow as she found a metal door. After turning the hatch, she swung it open and hurriedly crawled into the tunnel.
"Nature's gift, eh, Carrots?" remarked Nick as he followed suit.
The duo traversed through the tunnel, and after quite some time, Nick groaned, "This smell's going to last on my fur for days."
"Nick. Focus."
"Yep, yep."
"Ah, here we are." said Judy, after her paw hit another door. Pushing it slightly, the door hinges creaked and after checking that the coast was clear, she hopped out. Nick was out in seconds and the two scanned the area.
"Déjà vu~" slurred Nick. "Carrots, does this feel familiar?"
"Very." admitted Judy. "A lab."
Through her night vision glasses, Judy discerned the shape of a giant machine that towered all the way to the ceiling and had thick fat wires extending out from the bottom to multiple power sources. Their surroundings were looking sinister enough.
"Come on, we're gonna snoop around." Judy said in a hushed tone.
Then the fox and the bunny slunk off, sneaking around the parameters of the lab, until Judy paused.
"What did you find?" whispered Nick, and Judy was now pointing a finger towards a small tottering figure. Nick then spotted the target: a goat staggering around as he tended to the machine. The goat wore thick glasses, an overly long lab coat that was stained by chemicals or paint, thinning hair and a long goatee that seemed to strike a laughing chord in Nick's nerves.
"What is he doing?" muttered Judy.
"Who knows? He looks plenty weak for us to tackle and arrest him." suggested Nick.
"I guess you're right, okay, you'll give the countdown."
"Okay, 3, 2, 1, 0."
"Do you even know how to give a countdown?"
"Uh huh." replied Nick lazily.
"That was way too fast!" said Judy in annoyance, although her volume was enough to raise the attention of the goat scientist.
"Who's... There?" called the goat in a panicked and feeble voice.
"Grrr, you did this on purpose!" Judy glared at the fox who simply smirked, before she dashed off to get the goat.
"Halt! This is the ZPD! We'd be bringing you back to headquarters for an interrogating session, please come with us." commanded Judy, who showed off her gleaming police badge. Meanwhile, Nick moved up next to her, standing as smartly as the bunny.
The goat was evidently ruffled and he suddenly scrambled towards the machine at a speed unlike his age. Judy shouted a "hey!" and jumped forward to prevent the scientist from doing anything funny, until the goat brought out a taser, zapping the bunny straight on the arm.
"Argh!" she yelled, her nerves paralyzed and she could hear Nick shouting something inaudible. Struggling to look up, she found her fox friend grappling with the unexpectedly strong old goat. The taser was suddenly thrown onto the ground, right next to her, and she heard muffled crashes and thumps.
Until a loud beep made her opened her eyes saucer-wide, as a bright blue light was emitted from the machine, juddering noises roaring, giant gusts of wind blowing the light-weight goat away, while Nick held on, the fox desperately trying to reach out for the stop button.
Initiating time travel mode. Passenger, One. Time travelling in...
Judy gasped, and started screaming at the top of her lungs.
"No! No! Nick! Get away from that thing! Nick!"
Her fox partner could not hear her words at all, and he did not seem to have heard the digital voice as he continued to fight against the gale.
3.
"Nick!"
2.
"I said, get away!"
1.
"THAT'S A TIME TRAVEL MACHINE!"
0.
The wind acted in the opposite direction, immediately sucking Nick in, the blue light dissipating into a whirlwind of light. And when the noise died down, all the blueprints and documents and goat that were sent flying all dropped onto the ground. Judy breathed raggedly, her eyes half-closing.
The zap was getting to her, trying to force her into an unconscious state. Her head flopped to the ground, her ears perking up a little before it drooped against her back.
For a moment there, she thought she heard Nick saying,
"So, that's how you do a countdown, Carrots?"
The fox grumbled in pain, eyelids heavy and after minutes of whimpering, he pushed himself up on all fours, his arms weak and tired. It almost felt like a jet-lag, like he had been travelling for a long long time. He remembered the lab, the machine, and Carrots mumbling about something.
And then that blue light.
"Ugh..." He groaned, before he fell onto his face. He felt useless and sick. Then he slept. For how long, he was unsure, but by the time he was ready to go up and about, it was late morning.
Nick stretched himself, more refreshed and ready. He dug into his pockets, checking for his identification card, gun, pawcuffs, torch and of course, his sunglasses. Swishing his bushy red tail about, he started wandering around. He was certainly not in Zootopia, since he had never seen such a dense forest that was deprived of any concrete roads and houses. The woods were deathly quiet, still and a dangerous aura surrounded the thick canopy.
Nick dared not move brashly, lest he lands himself in deep trouble.
Crouching down, the fox sniffed a little, and sharpened his hearing, but he sensed nothing. The unfamiliar underbrush was hindering him from getting any information about anything. He softly scratched the soil and rubbed the brown lumps between his fingers. Wet. It rained not long ago. Even the ferns were holding droplets of rain within their bosoms.
The cop continued to amble through the forest, occasionally tripping over a root or two.
By noon, he was thirsty and hungry, and finally he found a berry tree, and fortunately, a blueberry one. He plucked off a bunch, and continued shuffling forward. Then he found a small lake and waterfall. Suddenly aware that his clothes were horribly smelly, he made sure that no one was around, and wasted no time to use the place all for himself. He washed his uniform near the waterfall and left it hanging on a tree branch to dry. After ensuring that his belongings were safely placed at the bottom of the thick oak, Nick dipped himself into the water
"Ah, life." He said, and closed his eyes, deciding to relax for a bit. Everything felt surreal and Nick could not ask for a better opportunity for him to get away from a hectic city life.
Suddenly, he heard incoming heavy footsteps of someone. He perked up his ears in alert, and tried to sniff out the scent of whoever it was.
A bear. Who seemed to be bounding towards here. Nick hurriedly took in a big gulp of air and went underwater.
His sense of hearing may not be as good as Carrots, but he could at least detect where the bear was going. And sure enough, the heavy footsteps stopped at the edge of the lake. Nick tilted his head up, seeing the blurred shadow of the bear who was shouting something.
Then the thing he dreaded happened, when a giant furry paw was thrust into the water, and Nick fervently hoped that the bear would not grab onto him.
But that did not happen. Nick was instead grabbed by the collar, forcefully pulled out and sputtering, he blinked and looked at the bear. The fella before him grinned joyfully, his eyes twinkling. He then shouted, his voice almost rendering Nick deaf.
"Rob! I've been searchin' for you! It's not even bathing time!"
"Ahaha, yeah, ahaha." Nick replied dryly, he felt exposed, since his whole naked body was just revealed to this weird bear. "Now, now, put me down, put me down."
"You sound weird, pal. Got yourself a cold or somethin'?"
Nick shook his head and quickly gestured towards the water, really wishing that the bear would just let him go and let himself get clean. The bear complied and soon Nick was in the water again. The fox knew that he had to get out of here. Any longer, he'll get stuck with this bear.
"What're those clothes?" piped the bear, who skipped towards the branch and held his uniform up and started examining it.
"No, no! Wait, um, don't touch that!" said Nick frantically as he swam forward.
"These are strange, pal. Yours, eh?"
"Y-Yeah, pretty much. Just leave them hanging, please."
"Huh. Alrighty then. I guess I'll join ye, I need some washin' up."
Nick felt his face contorting in horror as he witnessed the bear getting ready to strip. He was familiar with all the naked animals in the Mystic Springs Oasis, but this still felt so wrong. This bear stranger was about to jump into the same lake. Naked.
The urge to scream stop rose and Nick was about to open his mouth until a smooth voice interrupted, "Johnny, what're you doin'? Too eager to take a bath?"
The bear's jaw dropped open and his eyes darted from Nick to the animal who just spoke.
Curious, Nick took a cautious glance at the animal behind. A slender red fox stood behind, his black shiny eyes looking down at Nick's green lazy ones. His ears were tipped black and were as big as Nick's, and even his snout was as long as his. The fox wore a Lincoln green shirt, light green pants and on his head was a yellow hat that had a red feather sticking out.
"Woah, by golly, who's this fella over here?"
"R-R-R-Robin! H-H-He looks exactly like you!"
"Johnny, I can see that." stated the fox as he slowly squatted down, bringing his face closer to Nick. "But his eyes are green. Strange, I never would've imagined that another fox existed in Sherwood Forest!"
Nick had no response as he stared at the fox before him. Judging from the fur's color, this fox was around the same age as himself. The names these two animals mentioned reminded him of many things, and a flood of information gushed through his mind.
Sherwood Forest. Little John. Bear. Robin. Fox.
"It cannot be." Nick breathed.
"What can't be?" asked the fox before him.
"Robin Hood." Nick blurted out. The fox blinked in surprise, and chuckled, before he stood up. Tipping his hat, the fox smirked a smirk so similar to his own, and said,
"Well, Robin Hood's here, says I."