(A/N): Sorry this was delayed! I had several things come up all at once, as they usually do, so I didn't get to editing this chapter as soon as I thought. With that said, I'm really pleased with how this story turned out, and I hope you will like it, too. Enjoy! :)

Nick and Judy pulled up to the precinct nearly an hour later. It took so long to get back because Judy had insisted on taking the long way around, avoiding main roads and residential streets so the general public wouldn't have to listen to their radio coming up the street.

She was in no hurry to get back to the station, anyway. She was already mentally preparing herself for the embarrassment that was to come. Surely Bogo would have heard about the car chase. Someone would have called 911 about a police cruiser nearly crashing into a building and blasting its radio well above the legal limits.

The only thought in her miserable mind was that they were going to be a laughingstock.

Sure enough, when they pulled up, Bogo was waiting outside.

'Cheese and crackers…' Judy cursed under her breath.

Nick gave a low whistle. 'You're bringing out the whole cheese platter? You must be upset. Listen, maybe he didn't hear about it? Maybe he just wants to…'

Nick stopped when he got a better look at Bogo. Not only was their commander staring them down with his customary scowl, which was frightening enough under good circumstances, he also had a set of bright orange ear plugs sticking out from underneath his horns. Not a good sign.

Judy carefully pulled to a stop in front of him and rolled down the driver's side window; Nick's passenger window was still rolled down. She refused to look over at him, reclining with one arm out the window, pretending nothing was amiss.

'Good evening, sir,' Judy spoke up over the screaming lyrics, 'I can explain. You see…'

Bogo didn't have any interest in allowing her to explain. As soon as she came to a stop, he stepped forward, reached into the vehicle through her window, forcing her to lean back, dug his hooves into the sides of the stereo, and ripped the whole thing out.

The ensuing silence was nothing short of bliss to Judy and Nick's ears. Except for the fact that they were still in big trouble. Judy winced, waiting for the shouting to start, but Bogo surprised her. He merely gave a snort, tucked the radio under his arm like a football, and turned to march away. She looked at Nick with concern, and he shook his head.

When Bogo was a few steps away, he turned back around and pointed a finger of his free hoof at them. His speaking voice came out slightly louder than usual due to his muffled hearing. 'You should know that this is coming out of your paychecks.'

'Yes, sir.'

'Totally understandable, Chief.'

Judy stared after him in surprise. 'Did we actually get out of this that easily?'

'No way,' Nick said, watching Bogo's wide retreating back. 'But by this time tomorrow, it won't matter.'

She raised an eyebrow. 'Why not?'

'Because we're going to catch those drag racers, that's why.'

'Do you have a real plan, or is this just another of your half-baked schemes?'

'Please,' was all Nick said.

Judy sighed. 'Half-baked scheme, it is.'

They were back in the desert biome just south of Sahara Square, parked on a narrow side street between two store fronts. This area of town was known for featuring more chop shop garages and hookah lounges than upscale shopping destinations. Nick had been roving up and down these streets all morning, peering in at places of business, claiming that he was about to find the hangout of the Cheetah racing gang.

That's right, Nick was driving today. Much as Judy hated to admit defeat, there was no other option; their cruiser had been sent out for repairs and a new radio install, and it was the only one currently equipped with her special adjustable seat and pedals. Since he had a foot on her, Nick was just tall enough to use the same seat adjustments as the Wolves and Shepherds in the PD.

'We called for backup this time, didn't we?'

'Yes, but I wasn't able to give them any more information than a street corner to wait at, thanks to you and your mysterious plan.'

'Trust me, okay? I have an idea.'

'Oh, now it's just an idea?'

'Shh. Listen.'

Judy remained seated with her arms crossed, but she perked up her ears and tried to pick up on anything unusual. After a moment of quiet (neither one of them had dared to touch the radio that morning, not even for traffic reports), she did pick up on something. A low thump, thump-ing, mixed with a few other sounds. Like a beat for a hip hop song.

Nick looked at her with a glint in his eyes. 'You hear that?'

Judy refused to be budged out of her bad mood. 'Yeah, so?'

Her partner put the car in drive and edged forward so they could get a view around the corner without being spotted. The Fox tilted his ears in the direction of the sound, indicating for her to look.

Judy leaned forward in her seat, then hopped to her feet to get a better look.

'Is that…?'

Nick smiled. Sure enough, it was their Cheetah boys, skipping school yet again. Only this time they weren't racing. They were working on their cars. The same green and white-striped vehicle that Judy had been chasing the day before was up on jacks in front of the open garage, and one of their friends, possibly the driver, was tinkering under the hood. Another of the gang was lounging in a chair nearby, a cigarette dangling from his paw. Beside him was a small table topped with two bottles and a portable stereo. The stereo was blasting rap music loud enough to fill the whole block. While they looked on, the Cheetah who had been watching the street picked up his empty bottle and headed into the garage, presumably for a refill.

Nick glanced over at Judy, 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?'

A couple streets over, their backup was waiting for word from Judy.

Officer McHorn gave a grunt. 'Nothing going. Not a hide nor pelt in sight.'

'Yeah.' Higgins eyed the radio as he reached for the button on his mic, having no idea that he was about to step on a landmine. 'Turn that trash down, I'm gonna radio Hopps and see what the deal is,' the Hippo told his partner.

'Trash? No way you're callin' this trash! This is a classic song, you useless lump.'

'Whatever, just quiet it down a little, will you?'

Back in Nick and Judy's car, the service radio crackled, and Higgins' voice came over the monitor sounding impatient, 'Hopps, no movement on Sagebrush. Might have been a false alarm? We're gonna head back out.'

'Officer Higgins, hold your positions. We've got something.'

There was a short pause while Higgins conferred with his partner, and for a moment she thought they might leave anyway. Then there was another crackle and the Hippo said, 'Standing by.'

Judy nodded to Nick and buckled her seat belt while he slid on his shades. 'Let's do this.'

'Play it, Maestro.'

At that she leaned over to the dreaded radio and started channel surfing.

Thump. Thump. Thump. The beat echoed down the street as the car stereo vibrated sound waves into the pavement. A lanky Cheetah stepped out of the garage, dropping his cigarette onto the concrete drive and grinding it out with the heel of his shoe. He headed back to his chair, thinking that at least someone else in this neighborhood had good taste in music; the car coming up the block was playing the same station as him.

He turned up his cheap stereo a little louder, threatening to bust out the speakers. The car cranked it up even more, the two devices competing to see which could play the song the loudest. The car stereo was winning. The Cheetah looked up in surprise when the sound stopped level with him. The vehicle had pulled up to the curb right outside the gate to the garage, blocking the main exit.

Leaning out the open window, with a pair of orange ear plugs showing out against the pink of her ears, was a bunny in a cop uniform. She gave a wink and shouted, 'Hey there, boys, remember us?'

The Cheetah leapt to his feet and slammed a paw onto his stereo to mute it. Then he scrambled backward, shouting, 'Rico! Get out, man, it's the Fuzz!'

Judy and Nick chuckled as they watched Cheetahs scatter. There were three more of the gang inside the garage, and they took off running as soon as they could make out what their lookout was saying over the music blasting out of the police cruiser.

Since the gang couldn't get the cars out without going right through them, all five were forced to take off on foot out the back alley — right onto the street where Higgins and McHorn were waiting.

The Cheetah gang was placed under arrest, and the duo returned to the precinct in triumph. 'Told ya we would get them. Not bad for one morning's work, eh?'

'You're right. And I suppose something useful came out of our little radio battle after all.'

Everything was was looking good until they approached the booking desk to file their paperwork. McHorn and Higgins were already there.

'Uh… what are you guys doing here?' Nick asked them. 'Shouldn't you be getting back to your patrol?'

'What do you mean? We have to file the report for our collar.'

'Don't you mean OUR collar?' he indicated himself and Judy.

The Rhinoceros swiveled to look down his horn at them. 'I didn't see you putting the cuffs on those punks, Wilde.'

'But we led them right to you,' Judy said. 'You would never have been able to put cuffs on them if our operation hadn't smoked them out.'

'No, we wouldn't have been able to put cuffs on 'em if they hadn't tried to jimmy a parked van right in front of us while tryin' to get away,' McHorn huffed. 'Just because you found a group of Cheetahs you think you saw drag racin', don't mean you got probable cause, Hopps.'

Judy's face said it all. Her jaw went slack and for a moment she was at a complete loss for words. He was right. If they had made the arrest themselves that day, without any evidence to back them up, the gang would have been released in five minutes.

After the initial shock had passed, Nick cleared his throat, 'Come on, Judy, we have somewhere else to be.'

When his partner continued to stand there, beating herself up, Nick put a paw on her shoulder and gently steered her away. Her feet started moving of their own accord.

'How could I have been so careless?' she asked when they were out of earshot of the other officers.

'It wasn't your fault. This was my stupid plan, remember?'

She shook her head as if she didn't believe him.

'We caught the guys, that's what really matters, right?'

Still, she didn't answer. Nick sighed.

'When you get knocked down, just pick yourself up and start again.'

That sounded vaguely familiar. Judy looked up at him, but he wasn't looking at her. He continued, 'Don't beat yourself up. Sometimes we come in last, but we did our best.'

Judy's eyes lit up as realization dawned on her, 'Nick, are you —'

In reply he reached up and pulled something out of his ear and held it out to her. It was a black earbud, and now that she looked she saw the cord trailing behind his ears and down his back. He showed her a small music player in his other paw before dropping it in his pocket.

She took the earbud and plugged it in, already knowing what she would hear. It was the familiar beat of her favorite song, just as Gazelle reached the first chorus: 'I won't give up, no I won't give in…'

Judy turned to him with a smile spreading across her face. She nudged him with an elbow. 'You can't lie to me, I knew you loved Gazelle too!'

Nick gave a half shrug. 'What can I say, she's a national treasure. You want to go get something to eat? My treat.'

'Really, you're paying?' The Rabbit looked up at him in disbelief.

'Sure,' he said, then made a show of patting his pockets. 'Ah, wait… you know what? Ain't that the darndest thing? I must have forgotten my wallet again.'

Judy laughed, bumping into him by accident since they were forced to walk so close together. 'Uh uh. You're not getting away with that one again…'

Nick rolled his eyes and slipped his arm around her shoulders under the pretense of steadying her. 'Well, it was worth a shot.'

They headed out the front doors and down the steps side by side. Tomorrow was a new day to try again.

A/N: Well, did the ending surprise you? I thought I would do something slightly different than a 'they catch the bad guys, they're heroes, and it all ends happily' scenario. Maybe you found it interesting, or maybe you didn't like it at all - either way I'm curious to know!

Thanks for reading!

An Afterword:

As I mentioned before, the rest of this story would not have happened if I hadn't received a single inspiring review. So yes, reviews make a huge difference to writers like me. They encourage us to keep writing and help us to become better writers. Please consider leaving a few words on the next story you read, and spread the love!

Thank you so much for your continued support.

~PocketMage