Chapter 3: The Littlest Giants
A/N: There was supposed to be a song where Judy and Spots are jewelry shopping and that was the plan for a long time, but sometimes when your writing scenes, you don't realize how long they are and I like to keep my chapters between 3,000 to 4,000 words just because it's easier to get them out that way. So sorry, no song this chapter.
Michael's last line is a little tribute to the Nostalgia Critic.
Summary: Chief Bogo goes back to work in a happier mood than usual and makes a bargain with Batrov. Nick takes the little ones to see his even littler ones, Chris and Cindy, the mice-pups, but Michael causes chaos in the city.
9:00am ZPD Headquarters
Chief Bogo strutted into the ZPD headquarters with confidence. He had officer Pennington at his side.
"I'll see you later dear." He said as he kissed her hand and walked away. Pennington headed to her desk as the new dispatcher. Everyone saw the kiss on the hand and were shocked. You could hear everyone muttering to themselves as Bogo headed to his office. He didn't care what others thought. He would soon have the Big Cheese in his grasp, so what did it matter if he was dating a co-worker? What business was it of theirs? He's divorcing his wife, so it's not really cheating is it? He was starting not to care what others thought of him. His life had been hell as of late and he just wanted some happiness.
He met lieutenant Swinton in his office. She wasn't exactly pleased with what she saw. "Well THAT was a sight! Care to explain yourself?"
"No, I do NOT!" Bogo fumed. "My personal life is my business."
"Only you're now making it public. Speaking of the public, how do you think they will feel about this? You're now dating some one who not only JUST broke up with her boyfriend two days ago, but works under you! You also have a divorce case coming up!"
"I...don't...care!" Bogo yelled. "Just for once, for...ONCE! I want to be happy. Is that too much to ask? Now PLEASE!...Back off on this."
Swinton raised her hooves in defeat. "Okay, okay. No skin off my snout."
Bogo let out a big sigh as he plumped down on his chair. "I'm sorry for the outburst. Have you talked to the mayor about Batrov?"
"Yes. We did chat for awhile. He says get him to talk by any means. You're free to give him what he wants."
"Heh! To get the Big Cheese, I'd plant one right on his tiny, bat-butt! Has he been behaving himself?"
"Yeah. Grizoli's watching him now. The bat's currently snoozing."
Bogo stood up from his desk. "Time for me to wake him up."
Swinton stopped him. "Just a moment sir. Have you given any more thought to my idea?"
"Of Graduating the recruits from the academy early? Never."
"But sir!"
"SWINTON! As police officers it is our sworn duty to protect and to serve. Our position gives us great power over the citizens we have sworn to protect. It's incredibly vital that these new recruits understand how important it is not to let the power go to their heads. It's why they go through rigorous education and training. Otherwise, all you get are bad cops who abuse their position. This conversation is over. Have a good day."
Swinton glared at Bogo. "Let me warn you sir."
"WARN me?!"
"Your career is hanging by a thread. If the mayor decides he wants you gone, I'm not going to fight it. You need to watch your as-errr.. actions."
Bogo glared back at the pig. "Good...day Swinton." He then shut the door behind him as he left.
Meanwhile...in Nick's van.
"You're leaving me again?!" Michael sobbed.
"Only for an hour." Judy replied. "Me and Spots have to go shopping for...some things. But I'll be back right away. Don't worry honey. You can be with mommy the rest of the day. I'm not on any case today, just doing a little shopping."
"SNIFF! Alright."
"When I see you again, tell me about any wonderful things you've seen, okay?"
"Okay mommy!"
Judy and Spots left the van and headed into the mall. Nick then spoke up. "Well kids! You're about to meet the kids I almost had before I had you guys!"
"You had...%$# ! You had kids before us?" Petey asked.
"Yeah! Kinda. The mice pups, Chris and Cindy. Didn't I tell you about them?"
"I think I remember!" Cotton said.
"Well, I'll give you kids and the readers a refresher. You see, me and Judy had crashed two cop cars recently and were put back to meter maid duty in the old clown car. But there was also a missing mammal case going on. Millionare mouse, Mr. Squeakington of the popular 'Mousey's' store chain was kidnapped along with his wife. The kidnappers were looking for their two children, but they had gone missing. It just so happens yours truly found them in his bedroom or rather, what's now Judy's room."
"Is that where that hole came from?" Petey asked.
"A whole sentence without a swear. That's rare. Anyway, yeah! They were hiding out in there and it took me awhile to convince them to come out. Bogo assigned me to be their caretaker until their parents were found. However, when I went away on an emergency, the kidnappers came and shot Chris, then took Cindy! Chris' injuries were thankfully minor and together, with the help of mouse officer Brie, we were able to rescue them. I even had a huge clash with one of the kidnappers. A redneck fox named Jake. We battled like giants through the city. It finally took the efforts of me, Judy and Chris in a drone to take him out. Brie rescued Cindy from some mice kidnappers in an explosive battle. The citizens of Zootopia were so grateful for me saving the city from Jake that they named a day after me and there's a giant statue of me in their park!"
"So what happened to their mommy and daddy?" Cotton asked.
"Well, the police had been searching for a long time, but they were never found. I had gotten close to the mice over the three days I had them and decided that I would adopt them as their new father. However, as I arrived at the courthouse to sign the papers, their mom and dad had finally reappeared. I was both happy for them and incredibly heartbroken. However, there's a bit of a bright side. You see, I felt such paternal pangs afterwards that when Gideon was showing me his soon-to-be adopted kids at the orphanage, I decided to do some window shopping and that's when I found you Cotton! If I had adopted those mouse pups, I probably would have thought twice about adopting you. So in the end, it all worked out as it should have."
"That sounds like an incredible adventure!" Michael replied.
"Yeah!" Cotton bleated. "And if the readers want more detail, they should go to and search 'A Hole in the Wall'!"
"Excellent plug honey!" Nick replied. He then parked the van. "I called them on the phone so they should be near the front gates."
Nick walked the kids over to the front gates of Little Rodentia. "Chris? Cindy? You there? It's your godfather, Nick!"
Just then, a drone flew over nick's head causing the fox to duck. "Woah!"
A voice came from the speakers inside the drone. "Sorry papa fox!"
"Chris! Park the drone so you can meet my kids!"
The mouse parked the drone on a nearby roof from just on the inside of Little Rodentia, but close enough that Nick could reach him. To Nick's surprise, both Chris and Cindy came out of the drone.
"Cindy! You're here too! Great! Here, let me grab you to and put you down on the ground." Nick reached his paws up on the roof of the tiny building and Chris and Cindy climbed onto his paws. Nick then knelt down and set the two mice down on the ground in front of Cotton and the two bunnies.
"Chris, Cindy, I want you to meet my new kids. This little lamb is Christine. I call her Cotton."
Cotton waved. "Hi! It's nice to meet you!"
Cindy was staring at Cotton's head. "What is that on your head?"
"That? It's a special tiara a giraffe named Suzie made for me! It has small, rear view mirrors attached which allows me to see backwards. You see, I was born crippled because my knees are backwards, but I can walk backwards just fine."
"Oooh. Neat!"
Nick then introduced Petey. "Now this, is my son Peter. I'm gonna apologize in advance if he swears, because he has tourettes syndrome. It means he shouts out swears and he can't stop it."
"Is that really your. #$%!..your drone?!" Petey asked.
"Yeah! I helped Nick fight off Jake the fox with it when he was destroying the city. My daddy let me keep it. The mayor is planning on getting a dozen or so to have flown around the city so we can portect it if there's any riots."
"Sounds like a plan" siad Nick. He then went to introduce Michael. "And this one enjoying his first say of sight is Michael!...Michael? Where'd he go?!...Oh no!"
Nick could see Michael's legs as he was crawling under the gate into Little Rodentia. "Wow! This place is cool! Everything's so tiny!"
Nick was starting to panic. "Michael! Get back out here!"
Michael stood up. He was a giant inside of the city. He ran around the streets almost running into traffic. The tiny cars honked at him. BEEP! BEEP! "C'mon! Get outta here!"
Nick then tried to come up with a plan. "Petey! Crawl in there and stop him from doing any damage. Me and Cotton can't fit inside."
"You can climb over!" Chris said.
"Too risky. I don't wanna accidentally crumble a building and harm someone."
"The buildings are pretty sturdy Nick." Chris replied. "But that weasel and Judy proved they have a weak foundation."
Petey crawled inside and stepped over some mice. "Sorry! Sorry!" He said.
He saw Michael playing with a car like it was a toy. "Vroom! Vroom!" said the little bunny.
The mouse inside was not amused. "Put me down! I'm gonna be late for my job interview!"
Michael picked up the car. "Now your car can fly! Wooosh!"
"Wooooaah!" Yelled the mouse inside.
Petey ran over to Michael. "Mike! What are you #$&*! ...you doing?! You're gonna get in big trouble!"
"Look at this place Pete! Isn't it cool?! We're giants!"
"Well yeah, but..." Petey looked around. He couldn't help but find the fun in the situation. He grabbed another mouse's car and pushed it around. "Race you around the block Mike!"
"You're on!" Said the half-blind bunny and they started pushing the cars around with the drivers inside.
Nick watched the whole thing from the other side of the buildings. "Looks like I don't have a choice. Hang on to my neck Cotton!" Nick climbed over the building without doing any damage. With cotton around his neck, he ran over to the bunnies.
While running with Cotton's arms around his neck, he had to laugh. "Heh!-Heh! Looks like I got a nice, wool scarf!"
The boys were pushing the cars around, but got stopped short in front of Nick. "Stop right there!"
"Sorry daddy!" Peter replied. "We were just...#$% ! just playing with the little cars."
"There are people in those cars!" Nick shouted back. Petey could tell Nick was angry. His ears were pulled back and he had a bit of a snarl.
Petey's ears dropped when he saw the expression on his dad's face. "I-I'm sorry daddy. Mike! Put the #$%! car down!"
"Awww! Okay." Michael set the car down.
Nick was still upset. "Michael, I am VERY upset with you! What were you thinking?!"
"I'm sorry! This place just looked so neat, I wanted to play!"
"Wait 'till I tell your mother what you've done!"
Just then one of the cars was honking. BEEP! BEEP! "HEY! You're little brat just made me late for a job interview! I have to be there in ten minutes!"
The fox apologized. "I'm so sorry sir! Just hold on! I got an idea!" He picked up Michael and set him in an empty area in the tiny center park. He then sat Cotton on top of Michael. "Keep him from going anywhere!"
"Okay daddy!" Cotton replied.
Michael hugged Cotton. "I kinda like this punishment." Cotton giggled.
Nick went back over to the mouse driver. "Sorry about that sir. Where is the building you need to go to?"
"It's on the corner of Cheddar and Swiss! Just down that street and left."
"Got it." Nick replied. He grabbed the car and ran down the street, dodging other cars along the way. He finally reached the building and set the car down. "There you go sir. Which floor?"
The mouse was a bit surprised. " 'Which floor?!"' Umm...the fourth floor room two?"
"Let's see...One, two three..four! Annnd one over." He tapped on the glass window gently with his claw. A mouse in a business suit answered.
"Hell-WOAH!" He was very surprised to see Nick's giant head at his window.
"Pardon me sir, but this gentleman is late for an interview and it's my boy's fault, so I thought I'd help." Nick lifted the tardy mouse into the window to climb in. "Here you go sir."
"Hey thanks!" Said the mouse. Now I'm five minutes early!"
The boss mouse was impressed. "Wow! You not only arrived early, but in style! Any mouse who knows Nick Wilde this well has the job! You're hired!"
"Hooray!" Cried the almost tardy mouse. "Thanks so much Nick! You're the best!"
"No problem sir!" Nick replied. He then headed back over to the park. Chris and Cindy had already arrived with their mother and father. A crowd was forming.
"Sorry about all that commotion Mr. Squeakington." Nick said.
"Think nothing of it! Ha!-Ha! Whenever you're around, something exciting always happens."
Petey was curious about the statue in the center of the park. "Daddy...is that a statue of #$%!...of you?!"
"Yup! I told you, remember? It's a statue to commemorate the great battle I had with Jake last week. Y'know Mr. Squeakington, I was undercover in jail a few days ago and Jake really has changed his ways."
"Well, the ZPD warned us he would be doing some reconstruction labor here in a few days. I hope your right. The monorail is still busted!"
Nick and the kids stayed a little while longer in the park. They chatted it up with the mouse pups, their parents, even the Mayor and officer Brie came by. After awhile, it was time for Nick and the kids to leave.
"Thanks for having us!" said Nick. "Sorry again about Michael's excitement."
"It's alright." The mayor replied. "I'm glad he just finds this little place so...'fun'. Anyway, you're always welcome here Nick." Nick left with the kids. Once again, he had to climb over while the bunny boys crawled through the arched gates.
"There goes one of the greats." said the mayor.
"You said it!" Mr. Squeakington replied. "He almost flipped when I donated 10 million to his 'Preds for Peace ' cause. I see a great leader in that man."
"Me too." The mayor replied. "Saay! That gives me an idea! I'm gonna have a town hall meeting at 5pm sharp today!"
"About what?" asked Brie.
"You'll see!"
Meanwhile, Nick got everyone seated back in the van. "Okay, we'll meet back up with Judy and Spots. Cotton, is there anything you have to keep Michael busy before he gets into more mischief?"
Cotton dug around in her seat and found a bubble wand in a tube. "How's this?"
"Perfect."
As Nick drove, Cotton dipped the wand in the soapy liquid inside the tube, then pulled it out and blew bubbles around the van.
Michael never saw bubbles before and it blew his mind. "Oooh...my...God! What the hell is that?!"
"Language!" Nick shouted.
"They're bubbles!" Cotton cheerfully said.
"They're just...floating in the air!" He went to grab one and it popped. "On no! I broke it!"
Petey chuckled. "They pop!"
"Really?"
Cotton showed him how to hold one. "Just let it rest in your paw. It will still pop, but not right away."
The bunny let the bubble rest in his paw. He looked at it and marveled at the swirling colors inside. "It's clear, but colorful. This is amazing!"
Nick couldn't help but chuckle. "Spots is right. You ARE easily amused."
Cotton blew some more and Michael tried to grab them. "It's beautiful and like magic, but then it's gone too quickly. Kinda like life."
Nick's eyes bulged out. "Woah! That was deep."
"Do you want me to blow some more?" Cotton asked.
"YEAH! F #$ing bubbles!"
"LANGUAGE!" Nick yelled.
Meanwhile, at ZPD headquarters
Bogo turned on the lights and entered Batrov's holding room. "Good morning Batrov! I have good news for you."
The bat covered his face with a wing. "GAAH! Turn down the lights! I am a nocturnal creature you know! I'd call you a dingbat, but that might be an insult to my own kind."
"Oh! Sorry." Bogo dimmed the lights. "You'll be happy to know that we talked to the mayor and he's willing to give you whatever you want as long as you spill the beans."
"Oooh! Is that so? You can have me under house arrest, but I want my own place and with round the clock security."
"Done."
"And cable TV."
"...Okay."
"...And all the streaming channels AND all the fruit I can eat!"
"FINE!" shouted Bogo. "We just need to get everything set. That can take a few hours."
"That's fine. I need to get back to sleep anyway. Try to get a hold of my lawyer as well. If everything goes well, you'll have the Big Cheese's identity tonight."
Batrov fidgeted a little. "Bogo...I do have one question."
"Yes?"
"Under the list of casualties during the fire on the church, was there a Gregory Chiropteras?"
"Let me check." Bogo had Francine look up the names of those bats they couldn't save. "Sadly, yes. He's on the small list of the deceased. Was he your friend?"
"An ex-boyfriend. We had just broken up a few months ago." He started to weep. "I still had feelings for him!"
"I'm sorry for your loss" Bogo replied. "I didn't know you were..."
"Gay? Yes. And please, no 'fruit bat' jokes. I get that so much"
"I wouldn't think of it!" Bogo then got a hold of Swinton on his cell phone. "Swinton! We need to accommodate Batrov with a safe house. Any ideas?"
"Hmmm...Oh! Judy was mentioning leaving her apartment as she constantly goes over to Nick's place. Maybe she'll let us use that."
"Great suggestion! Then we'll have two extra officers next door should something go awry. Still, we'll need at least two guards to watch him at all times."
A wicked grin came over Swinton's face on the other side of the phone. She'd been wanting to see Bogo go down in flames after constantly rejecting her ideas and she may have found the perfect opportunity. "I think I know just the two guys that can do it!"
"Excellent! Contact Judy and then get those security guards."
"I'll have them report to me right away."
Moments later, two wolves stood in front of lieutenant Swinton. "Gary and Larry reporting for duty Sir! I mean, ma'am!"
Swinton knew what failures these two were and chose them on purpose. "We're going to be moving a very important prisoner to a safe house in which he'll be placed under house arrest. You two will take turns watching him around the clock. Can I count on you?"
Larry saluted Swinton. "You'll live to re-...I mean, you won't regret it ma'am!"
