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Diesel of the Weasel

o0o

Evergreen Avenue is a part of Downtown and a hub for recreation and outings, particularly during night. But even in the day, this is a boulevard that sports various businesses and establishments and even a bus station where citizens go to ride public transportation, making this place not only known for its variety but also notorious for being crowded as well.

Squinting his eyes and darting them from left to right, Duke Weaselton made his way through the crowd carefully. At his small size, it was a breeze walking through the mob of mammals, tightening his clutch on the purse in fear of losing it.

His stomach grumbled loudly, as he still had no breakfast. The weasel was about to continue his way when the scent of something fully grabbed his attention.

Nothing like the smell of fresh dough and caffeine to make anyone's mouth water. He checked his pockets and managed to find absolutely nothing. He growled in hunger and disappointment, mumbling something while kicking the sidewalk with his bare feet and was about to leave, when he remembered he was carrying someone's purse all the time.

With a sinister laugh, Duke Weaselton searched the bag and found a black wallet with a couple of bills inside. Satisfied and content, the weasel proceeded to the stall, with a male elk as the vendor who was leaning his chin in his paw.

The elk noticed the weasel approaching, keeping his bored expression across his features, he asked the moment he identified him as a customer. "What can I have you, sir?"

Duke Weaselton looked through a selection of various doughs from the glass box. And after a moment, he eventually pointed on a glazed doughnut. "I'll have that one."

"Comin' right up." The elk stated with lack of interest, taking his order out from the steaming glass box with a pair of clippers and placed it inside a white plastic bag that was big enough for the doughnut to fit in.

"Flavor of your coffee?" the elk simply asked nonchalantly, a white styrofoam cup on his hoof with the other one resting on a coffee machine at the counter.

"Classic." Duke Weaselton answered, drumming his fingers on the counter while observing the surroundings if ever there were law enforcements nearby.

The elk proceeded on his job, pouring the dark liquid into the disposable container until it was almost full, as steam began to rose right from the cup. He then calculated the cost of his orders with a calculator. And after a few seconds of pressing buttons, the elk offered the calculator closer to the weasel. "That would be a dollar fifty."

Duke Weaselton took the wallet out from the purse and before he could pay, he heard a faint sound. Even though it was probably still faraway, his whole attention was now focused to the direction of the sound. He was so very sure it was the sound of a siren.

He looked over to the elk, who was reaching the items he ordered towards him. He then looked back where the sound was coming from, as he made out flashing lights of blue and red at a distance, the siren now much closer. Being a con artist at heart, he knew exactly what to do in this type of situations.

"Thank you!" Duke Weaselton blurted out loud as he snatched the plastic bag from the hooves of the elk and then ran off. It all happened so fast, it took a moment for the elk to realize what happened. And when he figured it out, he knew he was a dollar and fifty cents short this day. And also short of a doughnut and a cup of coffee.

"HEY! COME BAAACK!" the elk called out from the top of his lungs, leaving his stall to chase the thief even though the weasel was now nowhere to be found. Just a few feet away from his booth, he frantically looked around if somebody could help. And then he saw this large vehicle, its size and color, standing out from the rest. He knew they may be able to help him.

o0o

"Okay, Carrots. Let's take this nice and slow." Nick said, observing Judy's actions while still not letting go his paws off his seat. The car they were in was driving slower than usual, in fear on crashing on to someone in a very busy street. The drivers behind them honked several times impatiently in the cause of their vehicle's pace.

Judy just ignored Nick and instead focused on driving, reaching her paws for the wheel and her feet for the gas and the brakes. She was very aware of her skills in driving, but what she wasn't aware about how reckless her driving was, even though she remarked that her driving was "one of a kind" , with Nick stating that her driving was just like her personality. Energetic but stubborn.

They were about to pass an intersection, with only a few seconds before the lights go green until they can finally proceed. They were the first in line and when only a couple of seconds were left, they heard someone scream.

"HEELLP! SOMEBODY HEELLP! THIEEF!"

Judy immediately slammed her foot on the brakes and the car quickly stopped, throwing Nick and herself forward as their vehicle lay at the middle of the intersection, with countless honking of horns from numerous furious drivers.

Recovering from the fall, Judy's ears shot up and pivoted towards Nick, who was just as shocked as she is.

"That clearly wasn't me." Nick said in pain, regaining back to his seat while holding his head with a paw. Judy placed a paw over Nick's shoulder worryingly, gesturing him that she was sorry for it. She immediately scanned the envinronment, distinguishing where the voice was coming from.

"Move over!"

"You're making me late!"

"Just because you're officers doesn't mean you control the road!"

Those were just a few of the insults they received from the drivers in the vicinity, with some even waving their fists at them. Their sudden halt almost made a traffic jam and if things got worse, someone can even be injured due to their actions. With a quick but heartfelt "Sorry!" from Judy, she quickly stepped on the gas and sped off to the other side of the street, as another lane of heavy traffic welcomed them.

"We'll have to go on foot!" demanded Judy as she parked the cruiser to the side of the road. She then killed the engine, unbuckled her seatbelt and hopped out from the vehicle. With no other choice left, Nick did the same and soon enough, they participated into the massive herd of animals in the street.

Moving swiftly through the crowd was an easy job for Judy but not for Nick, who had to keep his bushy tail from shrugging into others and his body, which was twice as larger than Judy's.

"Excuse me. Coming through!" Judy pardoned herself as she pushed her way through with Nick trailing not far behind. Suddenly, a pair of hooves met contact with her arm, and she flinched as a reaction.

"Officer! Help! That thief took off without paying!" the elk exclaimed, pointing his hoof to the direction where the perp had headed to.

"Can you tell us what the suspect looks like?" Judy asked the stall owner as Nick arrived in the scene, gasping for precious air.

"He was a brown weasel!" the elk answered impatiently, as if in a hurry. Upon hearing his answer, Judy and Nick exchanged looks, thinking of who came up first in their thoughts.

"Duke Weaselton!" the duo exclaimed in unison while facing each other, leaving the elk staring at them in confusion.

"Don't worry sir, we're on it!" The doe reassured the victim, giving him a quick salute before going after the perp, hot on his tail with Nick gesturing a gun with both paws to the elk as he then following her pawsteps.

"Nick," Judy called as both of them raced through the sidewalk, with her on the lead. "You still remember Weaselton's scent?"

"Oh, I knew him too well, Carrots," panted Nick, who struggled to keep up with his partner's lead. His orange tail swaying every step he took. "And believe me, he smells like a walking trash can."

"Oh yeah? By the way, I have one more thing to say to you," the doe replied, breathing between words as she glanced over to the vulpine behind her with a determined face.

"He's mine."

And with those words, she accelerated like nothing Nick have seen before, with Judy becoming more distant from him every time a second passed, with his whole attention now focused on her white cotton tail.

"You're not really his type. But anyways," Nick grinned and in a sudden, his legs worked above the limit as he dashed through the alley. A moment he was behind her, and now he was beside her, with the doe shocked and amused. "Let's just see about that."

And for the first time ever, even though just in a short span of time did Nick outran Judy in a friendly race.

o0o

"He he. Lost em'." Duke told himself, looking back from where he was from. He had already made quite a distance away from his pursuers and was sweating like he just completed a 10 km marathon. Out of air and still hungry, his stomach grumbled loudly. He still have the coffee and doughnut in a plastic bag hanging from his paw, and all he needs was a place to gobble it all up to his heart's content.

With luck in his side, there were over a hundred mammals in the area, but he still managed to spot an empty park bench big enough for an elephant to sit in. He was just going there when he saw competition coming... a female african elephant was also approaching towards the bench.

In just a matter of seconds, Duke sped off like a racecar, heading to the bench. And when he arrived, he leaped up and landed himself into the wooden but sturdy seat, stretching his arms and legs in hopes on occupying the whole bench, just in time the gigantic mammal arrived.

"Mind if I sit beside you?" the elephant, who wore a pink elegant blouse that reaches just below her knees and having a purse of maroon color, politely asked the weasel with a kind smile on her lips. Instead, Duke just snickered and stretched his whole body more, yawning loudly.

"I would love too, but as you can see," Duke replied, placing both his paws behind his head and relaxed while smirking at the elephant. "There is no more space for you, sweetie."

The elephant raised an eyebrow at him, seemingly mocked at his attitude. But she was quick to hide it, keeping her soft smile across her face. "I'm sure you can move a little and spare me a seat. The walk was really tirin-"

"First of all, I don't care," Duke interrupted, crossing his legs in an irksome fashion. "Second, I was here first. So you can go away now, lady." The weasel finshed as he shooed the elephant away.

It was very clear that the elephant couldn't take anymore complaints from him, as she is now fuming in anger. With a quick "hhmph!", she walked away from him, with each footstep making the ground rattle a little bit.

"Talk about a walk in the park." jested Duke as he held his victory smile up high but ended right when his stomach interfered, letting a grumble out again. He wasted no time, checking the contents of the bag. He took out the coffee cup and a small box full of baked goods. He chose the glazed doughnut as he prepared his mouth to open to eat it whole.

"There he is!" came a feminine voice that startled him, causing the doughnut to fly off from his paw. He directed his head to the sound, squinting his eyes to focus on his pursuers, as he made out the two from the distance. He never escaped from a chase with a lone rabbit, so much more if the rabbit is bringing along a fox.

"Yikes!" Duke panicked, hurriedly looking everywhere. He hopped on the ground as he brought with him his coffee and left the bench, fleeing the spot. The advantage? He knew the streets better than anyone, thanks to years of hustling and scamming, and he can make use of small passages as escape routes. The disadvantages? It is two against one, the same rabbit who was able to catch him months ago is now after him again. And lastly, he was up against a fellow con artist, albeit formerly. If there were any chances of outrunning them, even though very unlikely, he would take it right now.

A/N: Ta-da! Chapter 2 is here, just as I promised you, my dear! :) This really took awhile because I was having a hard time putting things together in just one chapter. But still, I am grateful enough to release the second act.

Also, I am trying to keep the character's attitude on point. What I understand is that Nick is the pessimistic type. He is also flirty and funny and is very street-wise. On the other hand, Judy is the optimistic one. She is very dedicated, enthusiastic and very helpful. They have traits the other doesn't have, and I think that is what makes them very good together :)

Reviews are very welcomed and favorites or follows are very much appreciated :D

Keeping myself busy for the third chapter, and till' we meet again.

Have a good day!