Chapter 2 – Unexpected obstacles

Judy ran happily in her small apartment, threw her hat, utility belt and body armor over the chair, then danced around singing: "He's coming home, he's coming home, he's coming, Nick's coming to my home…", when a loud knocking on the wall interrupted her. "Hey, bunny! Cut it out! Your voice makes us sick!"

With the broadest grin Judy repeated the refrain at top of her lungs, adding an even louder "Whoo-hoo!" at the end. "It's your fault she has no more respect for us, Bucky!", she heard Pronk say. "You got that damn right, Antlerson!", Judy shouted. "It's Oryx-Antlerson!", Pronk shouted back. "Whatever!"

She was so excited. Finally Nick had asked her! She was a bit angry of herself, because she had wanted to invite him for weeks, but always bailed out last minute. She opened her drawer and took out the book she had bought two months ago: "Cooking for Foxes". She never cooked for a predator before. Of course she knew that they eat no real meat anymore but the so-called surrogate meat made from insects. The book she bought has a chapter explaning the basics, but she had no time for this. Judy planned to made carrot casserole for herself and found a recipe in the book that didn't look too complicated: "Pomeranian Stew, a basic dish for European Red Foxes". She checked the ingredients list – great, she had everything in her little fridge, except, of course, the meat surrogate, a mix of 26 different insects squeezed together. The book said that she could prepare it herself… "Ewww…" she said, looking at the pictures. No, thanks. She read aloud: "In most pred stores you will have that special mix ready as it is used for a lot of common dishes – ask for Canine Mix No. 433." That seemed to be easy.

Judy checked the clock – 125 minutes to go, the supermarket was round the corner. Would she get that mix there? Supermarkets were the only stores she had seen in Zootopia where prey and pred food were sold side by side. But the book recommended buying the mix fresh from a predator butchery. She used her smartphone to find out that there was one only two streets away – great! She hopped down the stairs and ran quickly to the address. Strange, she passed here twice daily but never noticed the shop before – as a vegetarian she was obviously blind for butcheries.

She entered the store and was in a different world. The smell was pure horror in here. She breathed flatly thru her mouth and waited in line. An old lioness just got what looked like half a ton of insect goo in a plastic bag. When she had left, a young cheetah bought something called "Fake antilope" – then it was her turn. The friendly smile of the huge puma behind the counter turned into a disgusted frown as soon as he laid eyes on her.

"Get out – the flower shop is o'er the street!" he grunted. Judy tried to look as friendly as she could, "Excuse me, sir, I would like…" – "I told ya, there's nothing in here you would like – next!" He turned to the lady behind Judy, "What can I do for you today, Miss Gellert?" Judy's nose twitched, her foot stomping rapidly on the tiled floor. "Canine mix No. 433 – please!" she said quickly before the lady could answer. The butcher smirked, "Whaddya want with that?", he asked. "What do you think?", she replied angrily, "I want to cook for a friend who happens to be a predator!" – "Pah, li'l hares don't have pred friends." Miss Gellert ignored Judy and asked "Is it my turn now?" in a high pitched voice that made Judy wish she had brought a gun. "Sir, first I'm a bunny, not a hare, second, it's still my turn as I have not gotten what I asked politely for and, third, I will definitely not leave this shop WITHOUT THAT STUPID CANINE MIX NO 433, IF – YOU – PLEASE!"

She had shouted the last words as loud as she could looking directly in the eyes of the puma towering above here. Miss Gellert looked like she would have a heart attack right now as she stared unbelievingly at the small mammal in front of her. "Janine!" called the puma back into the room behind the counter, "Call the police!" Judy grinned bitterly, "Oh, sir, not necessary…", she flipped her batch, "I'm officer Judy Hopps, ZPD, at your service – would you please state your emergency?" she asked with a voice as sweet as honey. A young female puma – supposedly Janine – appeared behind the butcher, whispering "Hey dad, that's her!" – "Who?" – "That hare cop from the newspaper – and she was on TV with the savage preds an' all, bringing that assistant mayor goat, Bell-, Bell-what's-her-face in jail – that was so cool!"

Judy sighed. At least, the girl had called her "cool". "That's about true, except I'm still a bunny, not a hare. And may I get my Canine mix No. 433 now? I need one kilo, please" Total silence. Then the butcher vanished in the back room, his young daughter still gawking at Judy with a dumb face. He came back, throwing a package to her. She managed to catch it, but it was heavy and had hurt her. "What do I owe you?", she said through gritted teeth, "25 bucks", he replied. "But the price tag reads 3.99!" – "Wow, it can read!"

Someone started to giggle. Jody fumed, threw a five dollar bill over the counter and hissed "Keep the rest – for the friendly service!" When she left the shop, she heard Miss Gellert say: "I can't believe it – hares becoming cops and buying pred food – what will be next?" – "BUNNY!" she yelled in the shop and slammed the huge door. She ran home, tears were running from her eyes.

She stormed her apartment, slammed the door, threw the package on her bed and yelled "What – a – stupid – PRICK! What did I do wrong? I'm gonna kill him! And his dumbfuck of a daughter! Why isn't there a law that prevents those idiots procreating?" She beat both fists on the table. Knock, knock, "Hey bunny, what the hell…" – "SHUT THE FUCK UP, ANTLERSON!" shouted Judy. She was sure, she'd never been that angry in her life, "When I hear one more word, I swear to God, I'll come over and kick your fat butt out of this galaxy!" She threw herself on the bed, crying in her pillow. "Man, she adapted to city life quickly!", she heard Bucky say in a hushed voice to Pronk, "Yeah, man , I like her!", his partner responded. Judy giggled in the middle of crying. She took a look on her watch: 7:22 pm.

"Fuck!", she jumped out of bed, took the pred food package she fought so hard for and stormed the kitchen. The cooking went well and her mood improved. She opened the pack with the surrogate meat and added it to the other ingredients that sizzled in the pan. It had a green-brownish color, a gooey consistence and smelled like roadkill three days out in the sun. Quickly she put a lid on the pan and checked the recipe. Okay, 15 minutes time now – enough for a shower. Five minutes later she looked at her reflection in the small mirror, her fur still damp. She was always a bit embarrassed about her legs, being so short and muscular and her large feet of course. Her breast were quite small, even for a bunny, but she used to like her flat belly with the sixpack she got in Academy training.

At least – until two weeks ago when she walked out of the shower at ZPD and found some five other female officers, including Kitty MacMahon, gawking at her. "Wow!", Kitty had screamed, "are these real?" Judy had been quite sure that Kitty was not referring to her tiny breasts. Well-endowed Kitty was in underwear and looked like a super model – in fact, she had been a model, but had changed to becoming a police officer, "because of action – modeling is soooo boring. All good looking guys are gay and all other models are stupid bitches!", the cat officer used to say.

No, of course she was referring to her sixpack. "Lassie, you look like you've been chiseled out of a block of granite! Attention, girls, here comes bunny Terminatrix!" The others laughed and Judy had laughed with them. She was sure, Kitty tried to compliment her, but she was a little unsure now. Was she not female enough? Would Nick like her body? The last thought confused her – he was a fox, for crying out loud, how could he ever liked a bunny like her? Why did she like everything about Nick so much? His tall size, his ruffled fur that feels so rough compared to her's, his enormous, bushy tail, his cute emerald eyes, his scent, his grin, his soft and tender paws… "Stop it, Judy!", she scolded herself, "I… I like him, yes, he's quite funny… and nice… and soooo handsome! Oh my gosh…", she sighed. No use pretending, she was head over heels in love with him. But what chance did this love have? Not only they were different species, no, he was a predator, she was prey. What would happen, if she would confess her love to him? Would he really care? Or did he just like joking around with her, but has no feelings for her?

She sighed again and walked in the kitchen to check the food. Her casserole was in the oven, looked good. She lifted the lid of the pan. A sharp, pungeant smell came out of it. "Ewwww…" She quickly checked the book, but the stew looked exactly like the picture. She stirred and out of habit licked the spoon before thinking. "Yukk!" She ran over to the sink, spat out and washed her mouth with water. "I really hope he likes it… why have we to be so different…" She was on the verge of tears again. No, not yet, he would see it. "Geez, he'll be here in five and I'm still in underwear!"

She checked her clothes. Her jeans looked to much hillbilly, her black pants were far too elegant. Jogging suit – no way. Hot pants? Looked good on her, but maybe a bit too slutty for a first date. She settled with a light blue leggins ending just above her knees. And a belly free white T-shirt. She checked the mirror. Yes – sassy, but not slutty. She quickly set the small table, moved it to her bed, as she had only one chair, that was too small for her. She would sit on the bed, he could have the chair.

8:30 exactly. A knock at the door. "Wow, I'm impressed!", she giggled silently. A last deep breath – now or never! She opened the door.