Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE PREVIEW PICTURE! IT BELONGS TO Cocotato ON DEVIANTART! I also do not own any of the characters. All I own is the storyline.
Judy: 7
Nick: 9
Why won't this stupid thing come off?
There were about a thousand thoughts flying through Nick's head as he sat in a crumpled heap outside of the Junior Ranger Scouts building, but that was the one that seemed to dominate as he clawed helplessly at the muzzle fastened around his snout. He tried again and again to pull it off, only to have it snap painfully back into his face.
With every laugh drifting out of the still-open door he cringed, as if they were drops of acid landing in his fur and stinging his skin. Giving up on the muzzle, he leaned his back against the stairs and slid down to the ground, feeling his eyes grow hot. A new thought slithered to the front of his mind.
What did I do wrong?
What did he do wrong on the first day of kindergarten so that everyone had kicked them out of their games? What did he do wrong so that Judy's father had yelled at him and practically chased him out of their backyard? What did he do wrong so that he had only been able to make one real friend, and she didn't even go to his school? What did he do wrong to make a group of kids he didn't even know put a muzzle on him?
The tears came hard and fast as he admitted to himself that the answer was what he had known all along. Something he tried so hard to block out and forget but something that haunted him wherever he went, whatever he did.
What he did wrong was being a fox. What he did wrong was being born as something he couldn't help.
And he was going to do that wrong for the rest of his life.
He broke into soft sobs, burying his face in his paws. All those years of anticipation, all those years of his mother saving her money for him…and for what?
No one was ever going to see him as anything other than a deceitful fox.
"Nick!"
Well, maybe one animal was.
Nick didn't think there was any voice he would have rather heard in that moment. He looked up at its owner, wiping his wet face with the back of his paw. As she bounded toward him, he rested his paw over his nose, blocking his muzzle from sight.
"Judy?" he sniffled. "What are you doing here?"
The plan, inane as it seemed now, was for Nick's mother to come and pick him up after the induction, and then for Judy to meet him at his house afterwards. But it seemed the little 7-year-old bunny had tromped all the way into the city by herself, finding him outside the Junior Ranger Scouts building at precisely the ideal moment.
"I was really excited for you, and I couldn't wait to see you, so I decided to come and see you right after you finished getting inducted!"
Despite himself, Nick smiled. He had to admire the little bunny's determination, finding her way through the city to the Junior Ranger Scout building with no adult supervision at all. Not that it surprised him, seeing as Judy had made a point to memorize the layout of the city and figure out how to get from any street to any other street, as part of her "training as a future cop."
Her bright expression turned to one of heavy concern as she saw his damp eyes. "What happened, Nick?" He sniffed in response.
"What did they do to you?" She automatically reached out a paw to touch his arm before pulling quickly away. After a short hesitation, she placed her paw on his arm for a few seconds. Her eyes widened as he pulled his other paw away from his nose, revealing the wire netting.
"They put that on you?"
He nodded. "Said they'd never trust a fox without a muzzle."
Judy's eyes suddenly glowed with a fury more intense than Nick would ever have expected from a little bunny. "I can't believe they would do that!" she spat. "They had no right! You never did anything to them, and then they just…treat you like an enemy? But here…let me get this off of you." She reached toward him, but he ducked away instinctually. She looked at him pleadingly. "Come on, I'll be quick, okay?"
Reluctantly, he let her reach out and gently tug the leather straps over his ears and off of his face. She flung the muzzle down the sidewalk in disgust before looking back at Nick and smiling tenderly. "There. Now you look like you."
Her purple gaze found the door at the top of the stairs, and her face contorted in fury again. She balled her furry fists, looking fully ready to absolutely ruin anyone who walked out.
"I swear when I'm older, I'll…I'll arrest every last one of them!" From the way her tiny claws were braced and her teeth were bared, it looked like she was willing to do more than just that.
Nick couldn't help but be taken aback. He had never seen his friend this angry. She was passionate, sure, but never had he seen her so willing to tear someone apart. Nick had no doubt that if one of the ranger scouts walked out of the building, Judy would be on them like a savage, all teeth and claws and angry screams and no self-control.
Nick admitted he might have been a little scared of her, if her anger hadn't been for his sake.
"Where are they now?" she growled.
"Induction doesn't end for another 45 minutes," he told her.
"I'll wait until they come out, and then I'll—"
Nick sighed, his discouragement slowly trickling back. "What are you going to do, Judy? They're all bigger than us. We can't hurt them. And if we try to tell them to stop being mean, they'll laugh at us again! We can't…" He took a shaky breath. "We can't let them see that they get to us."
"But maybe if we tell their parents, they'll—"
"Why would they believe us?" Nick interrupted her. "They'd think I made the whole thing up, and then got you to believe it because you're just another dumb bunny. After all, foxes always lie, don't they?" He turned away bitterly.
"Nick, that's not true," she protested.
He turned back to her. "Can we just go?" His eyes were pleading, his voice broken and defeated.
She looked at him in puzzlement. "Where to?"
"Doesn't matter. I just want to get away from here."
Judy blinked. "Okay."
Judy pulled Nick to his feet and they started down the sidewalk. It was a strange sight, two young animals loping along with no adult supervisor in sight, but the pair walked close together, ready to protect each other if any strangers gave them trouble.
A little ways down the road, Nick turned into an alleyway, and Judy followed. Once they were a ways away from the pedestrian traffic of the main sidewalk, they slumped down together next to a trash can.
"I don't think foxes are liars, and anyone who does is just a poopyhead," she said. "But…" Judy felt slight frustration bubble up inside her at Nick's earlier remark. "I am not a dumb bunny!"
The fox looked a little flustered, rubbing the back of his head with his paw. "No, no, I didn't mean I think you're dumb or anything. I just meant that's how they wanna see you. Same way they wanna see me as a tricky fox and stuff. That's just how animals are."
"Hey…don't be like that." Judy smiled softly at him. "We have to be more than what they expect. Ya know, to prove them wrong."
Nick sighed. "What's the point, though? They're not gonna change."
"Okay, so maybe not," Judy admitted. "But who cares about them? They're just a bunch of dumb bullies. You don't have to listen to anything they say. I think predators can be junior ranger scouts too!"
Nick's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Yeah!" Judy nodded encouragingly. "And you know what?"
"What?"
"We can start our very own Junior Ranger Scout troop! Just you an' me! No one there to tell us what we can and can't be. How does that sound?"
The young fox gave her the smallest of smiles. "Th—that sounds great."
"And none of those jerks are allowed in!" she added fervently, pointing a quivering furry finger back toward the Junior Ranger Scouts building. "Only predators and prey who aren't big, fat meanies are allowed to join!"
"Thanks, Judy." He smiled gratefully, although his face quickly fell again. He buried his face in his knees, letting out another loud sniff.
Judy fidgeted where she sat, trying to think of a way to make her friend come out of his slump. "Hey, um, there's that ice cream place right down the street, we could ask your mom—"
He cut her off. "What if they were right about me?"
Judy stared at him, the question catching her off-guard. "Why would they be right about you?"
"Maybe I am dangerous," he muttered. "Why else would I have to wear this?" He pawed at his collar, looking down at it fearfully.
"But don't all predators hafta wear that dumb thing?"
"Yeah, but why would they if there wasn't a good reason? Maybe we're all just naturally dangerous or something. They can't trust any of us without—without muzzles."
Judy considered what he said for a few seconds before her expression turned to one of seething anger. "Well, you don't need a shock collar."
Before he could stop her, the little bunny reached forward and yanked his collar around, setting to work undoing the buckle. He tried to jerk away, but she held fast.
"Judy, what are you doing?" he hissed. "It's illegal to take these things off! The police are gonna hunt us down!"
"Yeah, and what are they gonna do? Put us in juvie?" She paused in her fidgeting to smirk at him. "We're kids, Nick. We'll just give them puppy-dog eyes and play dumb and pretend we didn't know we were doing anything wrong."
"But then wouldn't our parents get in trouble?"
"Well, maybe, but…look, grown-ups know kids do dumb things. We'll just say we didn't know any better or we forgot them telling us not to take your collar off or something. 'Sides, I'll get it back on before they show up."
She went back to undoing the buckle, and yanked the shock collar off in one fluid motion. The rabbit look tempted to fling it away the same way she had with the muzzle, but opted for simply putting it down beside them and shoving it harshly away with a back paw so as not to damage it.
Without warning, Judy flung herself onto him, wrapping her tiny arms tightly around his waist and burying her face in the green fabric of his scout outfit. Nick's entire body automatically tensed up, but he relaxed when it finally sank in that there was no shock coming. The tension left his muscles, and he pulled Judy even closer.
They weren't sure how long they lay in that alleyway, tangled up in each other, running their paws through one another's fur. Both of them had the strange realization that this was probably the first and last time that they would ever get to hug their best friend, and for that reason, they were in no hurry to pull away from one another.
The sound of police sirens approaching after several minutes caused both of them to start, pulling them out of their trance. Judy's ears shot straight up, and she let out a whimper.
As she pulled away from Nick, her heart began to speed up in panic. She didn't actually think the police would bother hunting them down. Surely they had better things to do?
And yet, here they were.
Judy snatched up Nick's collar and fastened it back around his neck in one hasty motion.
She found herself idly hoping that the sirens weren't for them, but the metallic wailing drawing ever closer seemed to be proving that wrong. Judy could hear it mixed with the loud engine of a car right outside of the alleyway.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to force herself to be calm.
Okay, Judy. Remember what you told Nick. We can get out of this. Just play up the innocence.
No matter that she had only halfheartedly said all that in an attempt to get him out of his collar, without thinking she'd actually need it.
Judy took a deep breath and puffed herself up to look as big as she could. It didn't take long for her courage to wither and die as soon as she saw an enormous, uniformed elk storming down the alley, glowering murderously at the two quivering children. A few more cops followed behind, tall and stern and everything that Judy wanted to be someday, but also everything that she didn't want to face right now.
She instinctively stepped protectively in front of Nick, although her nose was quivering and her foot was starting to thump anxiously against the ground.
"What's going on here?" the elk roared, looming over them. "We got a signal saying this fox took off his government-issued collar! Don't you know that's a federal crime, you little—"
"Officer please!" Judy whimpered. "I was the one who took it off! But then Nick told me I wasn't s'posed to, so I put it back on!"
The elk glared down at her. "Why would you want to take it off? Don't you know he could hurt you without it?"
"But he wouldn't," Judy insisted. "He's my friend! He was just having a really bad day and I wanted to give him a hug." She sniffled, pretending to wipe away a tear. "Don't be mad at Nick. I know I wasn't supposed to, but I felt—"
"Wasn't supposed to? You broke a damn law!"
"I didn't mean to do anything bad," she sobbed. "I just wanted to make him feel better."
"Do you have any idea how serious this is? I could have both of our parents sent to jail! I could—"
"Prongston!"
A sharp voice cut in, and Judy turned to see a slender zebra cop shoving her way out of the throng of officers. She clomped up to the elk and gave him a look that could burn holes through his antlered head.
"For God's sake, they're kids!" she snapped. "Can't you go easy on them?"
"Yeah, kids who broke the federal law, Longmane!"
"Well, they probably didn't know any better," the zebra officer retorted.
"Their parents should've told them better! Especially his parents." The elk pointed disdainfully at Nick.
"Would you relax?" she hissed. "The bunny said the fox told her he couldn't have it off, so she put it back on. Christ, it was just an innocent mistake. Here, let me talk to them."
She practically shoved her colleague out of the way and kneeled down so that she was at the same level as them. Even with the much-gentler zebra looking her over, Judy could still feel her nose twitching.
"What's your name?"
"J—Judy Hopps, ma'am."
"Now I know that you were just trying to cheer your friend up, and there's nothing wrong with that," the zebra said softly. "I, for one, don't think all predators need shock collars…but I enforce the laws, not make them. And if I start making exceptions for you, I have to make them for everyone. Do you understand, Judy?"
Judy nodded.
The zebra sighed. "I don't mean to scare you, Judy, but breaking a law like this isn't a small matter, even for someone your age. If you do it again, the police department might have to issue consequences for your parents. But for now, I think it's perfectly fine to let you off with a warning. You'll have to promise me you won't take a predator's collar off again, though."
The bunny nodded vigorously. "I promise, officer."
"Well, good." The zebra smiled, giving her a small pat on the shoulder. "No harm done, then!" She looked at both of them. "Where are your parents?"
Nick glanced at Judy, not wanting to get her in trouble for walking through the city to find him. "My mama was meant to pick us up after my Junior Ranger Scouts induction, but then the other Scouts wouldn't let me get inducted and chased me out so now I'm just waiting for her to come and get me when the ceremony's over."
"I see." The zebra nodded. "Why don't you go back and wait for her by the Junior Ranger Scouts building? It's not safe for a couple kids to be walking around the city alone."
Judy nodded. "Okay!"
"Would you like me to escort you there?"
Judy glanced back at Nick, who gave her the tiniest shake of his head. She nodded, understanding why the fox wouldn't want his mother showing up to find a gaggle of police officers with her son.
"I think we'll be okay," Judy said. "Thank you, officer."
As the zebra stood up, she smiled down at them. "Why don't you try something else to cheer him up? Maybe you can get his mother to take you two to Mrs. Frizzie's Ice Cream? It's right down the street, and it's owned by a wolf, so they don't have a problem serving predators."
She turned to Nick. "And I do hope you feel better. Please don't let your worth be defined by what some low-life bullies think of you. I was once told that I couldn't be a cop because my fur was too striking…too easy to spot when I was trying to lie low. And yet here I am!" She shrugged, smiling broadly. "This is Zootopia, where anyone can be anything they want. And I believe you can too, despite what's around your neck."
"Let's go, Longmane," the elk growled. "We're cops, not therapists. And he's just a conniving little fox, anyway." Nick cringed, and Judy balled her fists.
"Shut up!" the zebra snapped. "The kid's already had a shit day without you making it worse."
"We should go, though," a wildebeest put in shyly. "The chief wants us back at the station."
"All right." The zebra nodded. The group of cops began to walk away, and the zebra shot the two children one last look over her shoulder. "Have a nice day! But from now on, keep the collars on."
As soon as the sirens of the police cars had faded into the distance, Judy stood up, turning her paws back toward the Junior Ranger Scours building. She smirked triumphantly at Nick.
"See? Told you they'd let us off easy!"
Nick rolled his eyes. "Pretty sure they only did because you were there, Carrots. You can sweet-talk your way out of anything. You're a good actor, ya know."
"I wasn't acting," she assured him. "I actually was pretty scared. But I was willing to take it for you."
"Thanks." He smiled gratefully. "But…let's not do that again, okay? I feel like next time, we'll get in really, really, really big trouble."
Judy smiled back with a shrug. "Okay, that's fair. I think you needed that hug, though. Now let's go find your mom."
WELL, HERE IT IS
THE SCENE WE ALL WANTED REALLY BADLY WHEN WE WATCHED THE JUINOR RANGER SCOUTS SCENE FOR THE FIRST TIME
Well, maybe without the cops, but you get what I mean XD
Honestly writing this scene made me feel so much better about the shitty thing that happened to Nick. Augh, why couldn't Judy have been thereeeee D: All he needed was a friend, goddammit!
BUT DAMMIT JUDY, DON'T TAKE THAT COLLAR OFF, YOU FOOL!
For those of you like "What?! Judy would never break a law, especially young!Judy!", hear me out! She's always been pretty impulsive and is very much a do-now-and-think-later kind of gal, and also she seems like someone who very much has a screw-the-rules-I'm-doing-what's-right mindset. I mean, don't forget she got in trouble with Bogo for abandoning her post and running off to do what SHE thought was the right thing! So that's my justification for her taking Nick's collar off. That, and she's just really fuckin pissed off at him starting to believe what the scouts were saying about him and she wanted to give him some much-needed physical affection.
Fun fact: I made the good cop a zebra because zebras are my favorite and I was kind of disappointed that the only major zebra character in Zootopia was one of the shitty kids who bullied Nick! So here you go, some more balanced zebra representation XD
Until next update, friends! And, once again, thank you for all your reviews and support! It really does mean the world to me :D I was so insecure about this fic and was having second thoughts about even posting it, because I thought people would think it was too cliché or tacky or something. So I was absolutely delighted when it got so much positive feedback! Thank you again!
