Nick scratched his neck, he couldn't help but smile.

'Er, thanks. That means a lot to us, right Judy?" Nick replied, turning to Judy. She nodded and sat upright. She seemed a lot less irritable after hearing his compliment.

"That's right, Nick. We put a lot into our careers and we're glad that you feel this way towards us," she said, smiling. Blake returned the grin and nodded.

"Yeah. Most of us in my class were awestruck once that case was solved. It made me want to work even harder in my studies, and it was what convinced me to take up this co-op offer. To be honest, I was hoping they'd send you two, but I was convinced that you'd be too busy with things back home," Blake replied.

"Nope, we are happy to come out and be a part of this program," Judy said. Blake smiled and let out a lighthearted chuckle.

"Alright, guys, cut the act. You don't need to act all 'professional' when it's just us here. To be honest with you, it just makes it a whole lot more awkward than it needs to be," Blake said leaning forward in his seat. Nick and Judy flinched. They were a bit confused, as they didn't believe they were putting on any kind of persona. They exchanged confused looks before turning back to Blake, whose expression had returned to being neutral.

"What are you talking about?" Nick asked.

"I mean your tone of voice for example. It sounds like you're trying to impress your boss. Also, using 'we' in that way, it sounds as if you rehearsed this conversation before. All I'm saying is you don't have to talk that way." He paused. "For lack of a better term, loosen up a bit." Nick began to understand where Blake was coming from. After a moments thought, he did realize that his tone had become a little bit more reserved than he remembered.

Must be all those hours I spend talking with the higher ups, never wanted them to hear my voice and think 'Wow, that's one of their top detectives? Really?

"I think I get it now. And uh, sorry about that. Just used to speaking with my superiors, that's all." Nick replied. Blake's ears perked up, and he lifted his head. He raised his arms into a defensive position.

"Hey, don't apologize to me, just an honest mistake is all. Now that we hopefully have that all cleared up, gimme a rundown on what's going on today." Nick and Judy froze. They exchanged glances, unsure of what to tell him. They thought his professor had talked to him, or at least sent him an email, detailing that the first day was essentially just a meet-and-greet type deal, however it appears that wasn't the case. Nick opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated. Judy watched as he tried before she finally spoke.

"See, the thing is, Blake...there isn't actually anything happening today," she said softly. Blake barely heard what she had said. He leaned in closer, ears peaked. Seconds passed as he processed Judy's words. He sat back in his chair, expression flat.

"If nothing's going on, then why're you here?" Blake asked, confused.

"If it helps, your tour of the station is tomorrow after lunch," Judy replied, offering a weak smile. Blake nodded.

"I guess that makes a bit of sense-" Nick and Judy stared awkwardly at Blake. He seemed to have cut himself off mid-sentence. Blake's eyes narrowed, and he placed his head in the palm of his paw. Nick smirked, and rose from his seat and went to stand beside him. Once there, he knelt down to Blake's level, and assumed the same position as him, but instead of having a serious face, he still held his smirk. Upon seeing this, Judy cracked a smile.

Nick continued to mock Blake as Blake continued. Finally, after a few more seconds, Blake lifted his head and turned to his right. Nick was still there in the position that Blake was just in. Blake placed his hands on his hips and turned to face Judy. He took one last quick peek at Nick, still unaware of the situation, then turned back to Judy. Blake stared Judy straight in the eyes and mouthed the words 'What is he doing?' to her. With that, Judy burst out into a laughing fit. Nick turned around to see Blake was no longer in his chair, but rather standing in front of him looking at Judy. Nick stood up, and stopped next to Blake.

"Nothing gets past you, huh," Nick said.

"Yeah, but apparently that's not the case with you," Blake replied, chuckling. Nick offered a weak smile.

"Ha ha." Nick said sarcastically. Nick and Blake returned to their chairs. They all felt a little cheerier after having a good laugh. Blake smiled and sighed as he sat down.

"Alright, so before Nick here assumed the role of mime, I was thinking...if you guys don't have anything to do today, maybe I could show you around the city. So you have a better idea of where everything is and how to get there," Blake said, voice fading near the end.

Nick and Judy looked toward each other. Judy thought for a moment. She had to admit, it was a pretty compelling offer, as she was pretty much just offered a free tour of the city.

"I say we do it," Judy said, breaking the silence. Nick raised an eyebrow.

"You sure, Carrots?" Judy nodded.

"Yeah, it's like a tour. Plus, we'll be able to talk in between destinations," she replied.

"So that's a yes?" Blake asked, smiling. Nick finally replied after some consideration.

"I suppose so. I'm in."

"Sweet! Let's go, my car's just out front. Follow me." Blake exclaimed.

Blake rose from his seat and headed to the door, with Nick and Judy in tow. Blake grabbed a black windbreaker from rack on the wall and opened the door. He felt around the pockets of the jacket, finding his key in the left one. He took a step out into the hallway before turning back to face Nick and Judy, who had finished zipping up their coats. He stared with a small smile.

"One more thing." He paused. "What's with the 'Carrots' thing? You guys have nicknames for each other?" Blake asked.

Judy turned to Nick, expecting to see him all flustered, shying away from Blake's gaze. But instead, she saw him staring Blake right in the eyes, with his signature smirk plastered on his face.

"Nah, I just have the one for her," he said coolly.

Blake alternated between Nick and Judy. He sucked a breath in, and turned around.

"Right then," he replied, his tone hinted a bit of disappointment.

The three of them marched down the hall into the lobby and out the front door. There it was again, the whipping, howling winds, strong enough to pierce even the thickest of coats. Nick immediately pulled his hood over his head. Judy was already shivering. She felt that the wind was the worst part of cold weather. She turned her attention to Blake, who was still trudging forward down the walkway, seemingly unfazed by the cold air.

"Blake, aren't you cold?" she called out. Blake looked back at Judy, and he shook his head.

"Nah, I've lived here all my life, I'm well acquainted with the cold. It might also be worth mentioning that I'm and arctic fox, so it doesn't really affect me anyway," Blake replied, facing forward again. Judy didn't reply. She was focused on trying not to freeze. They arrived in a small parking lot not far from the building. It was filled with vehicles of varying sizes and colours. Nick and Judy scanned the lot as they walked, while Blake continued forward.

They stopped in front of a small, black hatchback. It was in relatively good condition, looked almost brand new. Blake fished out a keyring from his pocket. On it, a remote starter. He clicked one of the buttons and the doors of the vehicle made the trademark 'click' of being unlocked. Blake motioned toward the vehicle.

"Well, hop in," he said, opening the driver door.

Nick swiped the passenger seat, and Judy was forced to sit in the back. Upon sitting down on the material, Nick instantly felt how cold the fabric was. It was just as unpleasant as he'd remembered. Last time he felt this was a few weeks back, when they had to go meet with a client in Tundratown over a break-and-enter case. Nick shivered. He looked back to see Judy wasn't faring much better. He turned back to face the front as Blake started the engine.

"Sorry 'bout the cold seats. Haven't gotten used to having remote start, my old car never had it. I got that car for my eighteenth birthday from my grandparents. It quit on me a few months back, and I was able to lease this here new one," Blake said as he cranked up the heater. The heater hadn't had time to actually warm up yet, so it was just blowing cold air from outside, making their situation temporarily worse.

"That's fine, don't worry about it. Everyone forgets something sometimes," Judy said, trying to be as comforting as possible.

"Yeah, anyways, where do you wanna go first?" Blake asked, leaning to face Nick and Judy.

"I wanna see the Peace Tower!" Judy blurted out quickly. She quickly covered her mouth with her paws and apologized for the outburst.

Blake blinked. "Alright, Peace Tower it is." Blake turned back to face the steering wheel and he shifted the vehicle into drive. He manoeuvred the vehicle out of the parking lot and onto the street. They began picking up speed, and the campus disappeared behind them.

They had been driving for about two minutes and the silence in the car was absolutely unbearable, especially for Blake. He turned on the radio, but it didn't seem to help too much. Blake thought for a moment as he stared at the road ahead.

"You guys want a bit of trivia on the thing?" Blake asked sheepishly.

Judy snapped away from the window and scooted into the middle seat. Nick withdrew his attention from the road and looked at Blake, who looked was smiling awkwardly at the road ahead.

"I'd like that, go ahead," Judy replied, leaning in as close as the seat belt would allow.

"Sure, hit me," Nick replied as well. Blake's expression returned to a more lively state. He reached for a knob on the dash and turned the radio's volume all the way down. He returned his paw back to the steering wheel and gripped it tightly.

"Alright, so, Borealis was founded a few years after Zootopia, right? Pretty much the same premise as well, y'know, predator and prey agree to live in harmony, etcetera, etcetera. For the city's hundred-seventy-fifth anniversary, a monument was proposed to commemorate the milestone. Originally, it was supposed to be a bronze statue in front of the municipal building, but somehow, they just kept talking and talking until they finally agreed on making the monument the tallest structure in the area, standing at a modest six-hundred-seventy-five metres. It was named the Animalia Tower of Peace, and soon after that, construction began. Took 'em four years to complete. They had to pour the concrete in a continuous stream to avoid creating weak points in the structure," Blake said. Judy had been absolutely captivated by Blake's impromptu history lesson. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and her mouth was slightly agape.

"Wow! That's so neat! Now I really wanna get there!" Judy exclaimed, sitting back in the seat properly. Nick nodded, satisfied with Blake's little paragraph.

"I remember reading up on the Tower before coming here. Apparently it cost upwards of two-hundred-fifty million dollars when adjusted for price inflation," Nick said. Blake slapped himself in the forehead.

"Ah, right. How could I forget the cost?" Blake said. He looked into his rear view mirror, and looked at Judy's reflection. "Yeah, sorry about that. Super expensive project. But it seems to have paid off, considering it's Borealis' largest tourist attraction," Blake continued. "You'll love it, trust me."

They continued down the city streets. They had just entered the Financial District, meaning that they weren't too far off now. A few minutes beforehand, Blake had turned the radio back on. At first, it was eerily quiet besides the music playing, but after a song by Gazelle came on, Judy couldn't help herself. She began to sing along with the radio, garnering a lighthearted smile from Nick. Blake was admittedly confused at her actions, he wasn't used to his passengers bursting out into song at random. Nick leaned closer to Blake, and whispered loud enough for him to hear, but quiet enough for Judy not to hear.

"Whenever I'm driving the cruiser back home, the exact same thing happens. If it's Gazelle, she's gonna sing regardless," he said.

Now a little bit calmer, Blake turned his attention back to the road. The buildings towered overhead, casting light shadows onto the city streets below. It was now around the time where most mammals are out of school and where some are finishing work, so the streets were much more crowded. The sidewalks were just as, if not more crowded. On the bright side, their destination wasn't to far off now.

They drove another five minutes down the road before getting stuck in gridlock traffic. Blake slapped the steering wheel in frustration. He leaned around in his seat trying to find the cause, but his search turned up nothing.

"Traffic's never this bad, what's going on here?" he asked aloud.

"Maybe something happened up ahead," Judy suggested, her face showing concern. Blake furrowed his brows and crossed his arms as he leaned back in the seat.

"That's very possible, but I really hope it's just some tourist who doesn't know how to drive in the city."

Right as he finished his sentence, the traffic seemed to be flowing again, and they were back on their way. Blake turned off the main street to avoid future incidents and continued down one of the side streets. This proved to be beneficial, as they were approaching their destination quicker than they would have if they continued on the boulevard. Blake pulled the car into a parking spot on the side of the road. They exited the vehicle, and Blake put an hour's worth of money into the parking meter.

Even from where they were standing, the Tower of Peace dwarfed all nearby skyscrapers. It was tall enough that it hurt their necks to look up so sharply. They began walking down the sidewalk. They walked about fifty metres before turning a corner down another street. As they rounded the corner, they were greeted with about five police cruisers and another large vehicle belonging to the P.D. Blake's expression fell, as well as Nick's and Judy's.

"Oh, no," Blake said, sprinting up to get a better look. Nick and Judy followed closely behind. Barriers were set up on the street and the sidewalk to stop any citizens from getting too close to the scene. Standing in front of one of the blocks on the street keeping watch, was Chief Maxwell. He held out his hoof in front of Blake who had just arrived in front of him.

"Sorry, no pedestrians allowed through here at this time. You're gonna have to take the detour around Mountjoy." he said, staring Blake down with a glare that could kill.

"What's going on?" Nick asked, walking up behind Blake. Blake turned around to see them standing behind him.

"Nick? Judy? What're you doing here?" Maxwell asked.

Nick sighed, and scratched his head.

"Heh, well, we were gonna do some sightseeing with Blake here, but apparently there's a situation going on," he replied. Maxwell nodded, putting his outstretched arm down.

"So you're Blake, eh?"

Blake nodded. "Yes, sir."

"You're the co-op student, aren't you. Sorry, I didn't recognize you with that jacket on. Also, sorry about us having to meet in these circumstances. I'm Jeremy Maxwell, Chief of Police," Maxwell continued, holding out a hoof. Blake took it, and he was pulled into a tight shake with the moose. After Maxwell released him, Blake rubbed his now aching paw.

"Nice to meet you, sir," Blake said.

"I'd still like to know what's going on here," Nick said, interrupting the Chief.

"It's a little difficult to explain. I think it'd be better if I just show you," Maxwell said solemnly. Maxwell stepped over the barricade, motioning for the trio to follow suit. They walked a few metres into the sizable plaza in front of the entrance to the Tower of Peace. An ambulance was parked on the paving stones. Inside, the paramedics were treating a small brown hare for what seemed to be minor cuts, scrapes, and . . . bite-marks?

Further down the plaza, two officers, both brown bears, were wrestling to get control over a Grey wolf, who was thrashing about in his restraints. The wolf was cuffed and muzzled, and was having no luck in getting away from his captors.

Judy gasped at the sight, and Nick's eyes widened. Blake simply watched intensively as the officers hauled the wolf off the premises and into the back of a truck.

"Witnesses say that the wolf just- suddenly attacked the hare. It seemingly came out of nowhere, and we don't know what caused it," Maxwell stated.

Nick stared solemnly at the ground, and kicked a bit of bunched up snow around.

"I'm certain I know what happened, Chief," he said quietly.

"What? What happened?" Maxwell asked frantically. Nick took a moment to collect himself. He took a shaky breath in, and stared Maxwell in the eye.

"I really hate to say this, but from what I've seen...he appears to have gone savage."

"Savage?" Maxwell repeated. Nick nodded.

"That's right. The thing is, though, I just don't understand how. I mean, Bellwether's still in prison, and we tracked down all her accomplices. We also confiscated all the recipes for making the Night Howler Serum. There should be no way, unless..." Nick paused. The group was quiet, waiting impatiently for Nick to continue. Nick sighed.

"We only caught all of her cronies based in Zootopia. We never even thought of her having any contacts outside of the city," Nick concluded.

"Oh no," Judy said. She was on the verge of tears.

Maxwell shook his head.

"We have to get to the bottom of this ASAP. Who knows what could happen if this should continue." he sucked a breath in. "We can't get any work done now, though. Today, we need to worry about keeping civilians calm, and more importantly, safe. I'll need to see you two tomorrow at the HQ."

"Got it." Nick and Judy said together.

"One more thing, bring Blake with you." They nodded.

Out of the corner of his eye, Maxwell spotted a van pull up to the barriers. On the side, a decal that read 'AN News Borealis.' Maxwell growled.

"See you tomorrow, nine A.M. Sharp. The media's probably gonna wanna talk with me," he said, stepping off in the direction of the van. The trio began their walk back to Blake's car. None of them were in a good mood. Blake unlocked the doors to the vehicle, and they all stepped in.

"Savage predators in Borealis. I can't believe it. I don't want to believe it," Nick said angrily. Blake turned around to face the group. His expression was far from chipper. He shook his head back and forth.

"This is gonna tear the city apart. Why'd it have to be at the Tower of Peace of all places," he said.

"We can't let this continue. We have to solve this as quickly as we can before predators and prey start turning on each other," Judy added. Blake started the engine, and they sped off. Anything to be away from the crime scene.

The ride home was a quiet one, the only time anyone spoke was when Blake asked Nick and Judy where they were staying. After dropping them off at their hotel, Blake returned to his dorm and plopped himself down on his bed. Despite it being only four o'clock, he was drop-dead tired. He rolled over and stared at the darkened ceiling. He thought back to the constant stream of news articles coming out of Zootopia during the whole Night Howler situation. He remembered the countless anti-predator pieces flooding his social media feeds. Blake frowned.

What if Borealis becomes like that in wake of all this?

It hurt him to think about the possibilities.

Another chapter finished. Thanks for checking it out, more is on the way, as this is far from over. -Prince

EDIT 06/29/18: Punctuation errors corrected.