Zootopia 2: Animal Planet

Chapter 02: A Wild Child

Later, outside of the studio following their interview, Judy was quick to confront Nick as she paced back and forth whilst Nick sat on a bench watching her. A frustrated look was on her face.

"I-I can't believe you SAID that Nick! I mean….w-what if my PARENTS were watching that?! We never told them about us adopting a child!" Judy shouted in frustration.

"Whoa. Whoa. Hold your carrots there, darling. You know that question was as uncomfortable for me as it was you. I had to say SOMETHING." he explained. Judy stopped and turned to him, pointing a finger at his face.

"Yes. And that answer SHOULD have been "We have no plans to do so". Ugh. You just made me SO embarrassed today….I just want to…..d'oh!" she groaned, turning away with a facepalm. Nick stood up and approached her from behind, setting a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey. Maybe adoption would be a good thing though. I mean, remember what you said to me the day of my inauguration into the police academy? You said that "species difference" shouldn't stop ANYONE from enjoying life in Zootopia. And, from what I can probably picture, there's a poor kid out there who doesn't know just how great a place this big city of ours is because, well, they're cooped up in some orphanage somewhere." Nick said. Looking over her shoulder, Judy glanced up towards Nick's eyes.

"Y-You're right Nick. I did say that." she said. Nick nodded.

"We don't have to do it right away, but what if we just checked out the orphanage and see what kinds of kids are there?" Nick asked. Judy nodded.

"Okay then. I'm game if you are." she replied, to which Nick nodded.

"Besides, do you know how AKWARD it would be to tell everyone that there's no such thing as a "fox-bunny hybrid" yet? What did they expect me to say? That we were gonna have a "natural offspring" or something?" he rambled, trying to make Judy laugh. She lightly chuckled.

"Good point." she replied.

~ Zootopia: Orphanage ~

A while later, we rejoin Nick and Judy as they approached the doors leading into the Zootopia Orphanage. As Nick started to approach the door, he noticed Judy was not at his side, looking back to see her looking up at the sign above the doors.

"Hello? Earth to Judy." Nick asked, snapping Judy out of it.

"O-Oh. Sorry Nick. Spaced out a bit there. Guess I'm just….a little nervous." she said. Nick looked on puzzled as she joined him at his side.

"What's there to be nervous about? It's like you said. We don't have to adopt anyone right away. We're JUST here to meet the kids. I'll be right there with you the whole time." he explained. Judy sighed, letting out a deep breath.

"R-Right. Anyway…." she said. When they opened the door, the two looked inside to a reception room leading into a large play area where children of different species were seen playing together with one another, bustling full of energy and laughter. At the reception desk was a young female elk, who quickly noticed the pair.

"Welcome to the Zootopia….hmm? Well, isn't this quite the surprise. Zootopia's most talked about police officers visiting our humble orphanage." she said. Judy quietly waved as Nick approached the counter.

"Yep. That's us for sure." he said "Anyway, let's cut to the chase, shall we? The miss and I are interested in meeting with the kids. Is there a free spot available?" The elk nodded.

"Yes actually. It's the children's playtime. Feel free to go meet with anyone you might be interested in." she said. Nick nodded before adjusting the collar of his shirt.

"Well, shall we?" Judy asked, approaching Nick's side. Nick looked to her and nodded.

"Yes. Yes we shall." he replied in a sly tone.

~ Later That Day ~

After meeting with all of the children at the orphanage, we find Judy seated in the lobby as Nick continued playing with the children in the play room. As she watched them, Judy grew a small smile across her face.

"Who knew Nick could hit it off so well with kids? Maybe this won't be so bad." she thought. Just then, the elk attendant approached Judy.

"Excuse me, Miss Hopps? Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering how things went with the children. Did you meet anyone interesting?" she asked. Judy sighed.

"I don't know really. See, this was all Nick's idea to be frank. When we were an interview earlier, he stupidly blabbed to the reporters that we were planning to adopt a child and, after meeting them, I honestly cannot decide on anyone." she said "I don't want the press to be down our necks about this later….but I also feel bad about the children who call this place home. Maybe I think we aren't ready yet or such." The elk looked on with a worrisome look on her face.

"Well, there is no rush to decide. That is for sure. But….looking again, I feel you and your husband haven't quite met….EVERYONE yet." she said. This perked Judy's attention.

"What do you mean "everyone"? Is there another child not here?" she asked. The attendant nodded.

"Yes. Well, if you and your husband are interested, please follow me." she said. Judy nodded before calling Nick to join her. Together, they followed the attendant to the children's bedrooms down a nearby hallway. As they approached, Judy looked at the drawings hung on the wall, each drawn by one of the children, with a smile on her face.

"So…who's this "mystery child" we haven't met yet? Someone shy I take it." Nick asked. As they approached the bedrooms, there was suddenly the sounds of something crashing from behind the door.

"W-What was that?" Nick asked.

"What you just heard….is our orphanage's "special case" child. Have a look." the attendant muttered. As she slowly opened the door, Judy and Nick peeked through the crack. Inside, they saw a child tearing around the room like a wild animal, with chew toy in its mouth thrashing about. The child appeared to be a young timber wolf, coated in thick white fur.

"Energetic little scamp, ain't he?" Nick muttered.

"I don't get it. From what I've seen, most timber wolf children like playing with toys." Judy whispered "Why did you call him your "special case"?" Turning to the attendant, she lightly sighed.

"Because, unlike the other children here, young Scruff doesn't yet know how to control his wild emotions yet. Sometimes, he plays too harshly with the other children, he scares away potential adopters with his wild energy or he's tearing the laundry up because he's bored." she said "I try the best I can to find someone who can hopefully tame his unbelievable amounts of energy." Judy and Nick looked on at Scruff inside his room, tossing around all sorts of items while darting around the room. Nick then looked down to Judy.

"Well, you wanna make the first move or should I?" Nick asked. Judy nodded before she slowly pushed the door open. Hearing the door creaking, Scruff came to a complete stop before he saw Judy and Nick.

"PEOPLE!" he yelped, hurrying over before he tackled into Nick out of excitement. Judy gasped as Nick was pinned to the floor and licked without end.

"Whoa! Whoa! Easy there kiddo!" Nick shouted, bombarded one after another. Finally pushing Scruff off, Judy bent down to Nick's side.

"Hello….Scruff. My name is Judy Hopps. And I see you've already met my husband, Nick." she said. Scruff smiled with tail wagging.

"Hiya! My name's Scruff and I'm a timber wolf! Hey! Come on! Come on! Let's play! Let's play!" he shouted, grabbing Judy's wrist. Before she could get pulled away, Judy slipped her hand free.

"Okay. Okay. Not quite yet. First, why don't we get to know one another?" she asked. Scruff yipped happily before he rushed off to grab a toy. Meanwhile, Nick wiped the slobber from his face.

"Spunky little guy, ain't he?" he asked.

TO BE CONTINUED…