Disclaimer:

The following is a fan-based fiction. Zootopia and its characters are owned by Disney. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artist as well.

(The song Legacy by Switchworks begins to play)

Chesterization proudly presents

A Zootopia fanfiction

Wild times with Wilde

(Song ends)

Chapter 11: Wilder Times

4 months later

Alex was sleeping on a prison bed. Covering his face was a book titled, Nature vs Nurture by Garry Warmblood. An alarm laid next to his head started to buzz; it was 8 AM. The cat sprang up; his face flung the book on the bed. He did a quick stretch and let out a long drawn yawn. His foot dropped on the floor, toppled over a stack of books. Alex ignored them and climbed out from the bed. He had all the time in the world to clean that up. Once he got to that stack, he would take care of the scattered books underneath the bed as well.

With the enthusiasm of a zombie who had just emerged from the ground, Alex walked to the center of the room. He then had a look at himself in a mirror on the wall. The green light on his neck was still on. At least, the bald spot underneath his eyes had gone; replaced by full white fur. He checked his tongue, still pink. The cat let out a sigh. "Fundamentally, nothing had changed." He then touched the side of the mirror and rotated it. He tried to get the collar out of frame. "Or has it? You have only seen the world through a tiny hole after all." He looked down at the floor. A fresh roll of newspaper was ready for pickup.

As he was reaching down, Chief Douglas knocked on the glass door. He said, "Alex! You got visitors."

Alex stood up right, "Same? Or big wigs?"

"Same."

Alex said while heading back to the bed, "Tell them the same thing."

"Kid, I'm tired of lying for you." Douglas pointed his thumb to his back, "Just get your ass out of there and face it. Don't, and I'll make you tar the roof."

Tar the roof during the worst heatwave that had ever been recorded, there was no question. Alex rolled his eyes, "Fine. Give me a minute."

Later, Alex was escorted to a visiting room by a collar-less wolf. This room was the same as any prison visiting room. There was a giant sheet of glass placed on a long desk, separated the prison space and the outside, alongside were a few chairs (nailed tight to the ground, of course). There were only two visits took place that day, three if you counted Alex. One was between Natasha and a collared polar bear. The other was a family of panthers; the father was the only one with a collar on and in prison uniform. The child was whispering something to him through the small round holes on the glass. The father smiled at something his child had said.

Alex took his seat and looked through the glass. Judy was on the other side; she still wore her uniform. Her badge reflected a blinding light to his eye. She approached the glass, in sync with him. Alex's voice was lifeless and dry. "Lieutenant Hopps, only you?"

"Nick is busy at the moment. He sent his regard."

His head rested on his right fist. "What's the occasion?"

"We haven't had the chance to talk face to face after Animalia. Nick and I want to make sure that you are okay."

"That's very thoughtful of you." His eyes wandered around. He then said, "If that is all then. I'm fine. I have my own cell and bathroom, thankfully. With those, the chance of me being beaten up is zero. I'm a "nerd" convict so I have access to the prison's library at all time. Reading is certainly a good way to spend the next decade or so." He scratched his chin. "I have plenty of time in here so I can finally sleep and stop pretending to be someone else. My hair grew back, which is great." His eyes looked to the upper left. "The other day, a few big wigs came and asked me to help them with server security; I told them they just have to wait like the rest. Suffice to say, I am and will be, okay." He clasped his hand together. "Your task is complete, now let me go."

Judy took something out. It was an application form of the sort. She placed it on the table and slid it through the gap between the glass and the desk. Alex took the piece of paper. "Well, that's not the only reason why I am here. Nick and I finally have a proper permit. We and the rest of the gang are going to make a new Wild Times. Nick called it, Wilder Times, at least for now." She chuckled. "He's not very good with names. Anyway, Nick wants someone who can think one-step ahead for potentially the best amusement park in Zootopia. Look like you fit the bill." She winked. "I and the new Chief had done some work on your papers. You can go out and work, under my surveillance of course."

Alex's eyes left the paper. "Why are you being nice to me?" He glared at her. "Is this for your quest for justice or something? Answer me."

Judy tried to maintain eye contract, as well as a cheerful manner. "Because you are his friend, and you helped Zootopia"

He smirked. "I did not do any of that out of "Good faith". Hell, I don't even know what I was thinking. I don't even care for Nick in the first place." Judy's smile disappeared. "That's right, what do you think of me now if I tell you the reason why I help Nick with his amusement park, was purely because I was bored." He chuckled for a few second. "With Swinton crippled my chance to get a normal job, I was wandering around, finding whatever, and doing whatever. Living only with the interest of keep one alive is extremely easy and tiresome, at least to me. Mark provided a literal get out of jail free card and security. Alex provides enough money to keep me afloat. With nothing to live for, I planned to work myself to death, then let one big debauchery end it all. Just like Albert Camel said: "The meaning of life, is what keep you from taking your own life." He started spinning the piece of paper. "Since you are not a dumb bunny, you can put two and two together. Nick at that point, became an adventure, almost. Something to keep me occupied before snuffing it. Oh and an adventure, I did have, just not the kind that I would expect." Judy opened her mouth; he raised his finger, silenced her. "Oh, I know what you are about to say, it's okay. It's all sunshine and rainbow and we forgive you. Just don't." He looked down at the desk. "Even Nick considered me a dangerous criminal." He then stood up and looked down on her. His volume gradually rose while his face was getting closer to the glass. "He is not wrong. I nearly shot you! I took Nick down with a shock baton. I contributed to the biggest prison break in Zootopia's history. I fueled riots and the conflict. All that, just to save my sorry skin and keep the gang around to prevent me from taking my life!" The wolf guard was approaching him. "See, I don't deserve any of this kindness. EVEN A FOUR YEARS OLD, WHO WATCHES NOTHING BUT SATURDAY CARTOONS COULD DETERMINE ME AS A QUOTE UNQUOTE BAD GUY. JUST LET ME ROT HERE FOR YEARS TO COME. I DESERVE IT!" The wolf grabbed him by the shoulder. He firmly pushed Alex back to his seat. "Sit down." The wolf said.

Alex did not say anything back to him. Instead, the cat looked to his left. The small child on the other side looked horrified. He had nothing to fear from a loudmouth cat. No, the kid was worrying about his father. That crippling feeling came to Alex again. His hands clutched to the sides of his head, pinning the ears down. The hands then dragged him down; his forehead slammed into the desk. "I can't, accept it. I just can't. I'm too ashamed and afraid, to you meet you, him, or receive any of this. I just look out for my sorry hide. I just worry about living my life in peace." He lifted his head slightly then slammed it down. "Meanwhile, you and Nick. You two break boundaries. Make sacrifices for each other." His hand left his head, allowed him to fully lift his head up. Judy could see something glistened in his eyes. Still, he flashed his fangs to draw her attention away. "Compare to what you have done, hah, it doesn't matter." He said through his teeth then pushed the paper back to her.

Judy thought for a moment, "Okay, can I say something to you?"

He looked away. "Do as you will."

Judy smiled, "If you truly believe that about yourself. Then tell me, why did you come back? Why you are here instead of some tropical island?" Alex tried to conjure up an excuse. It did not work. "What gives you the impression that your worth is labeled and boxed in certain ways?"

Alex continued to avoid eye contact. "Where are you getting at?"

"I don't know if you notice this or not, but that's pretty selfless to me." She crossed her arms. "Also, cheer up, kid, give yourself some credit. You did the right thing. Although I don't appreciate being shot at, but you tried to do what is right." She looked down at her hand. "I mean, I went savage and you didn't have a lot of options. I wouldn't forgive myself if I had done something horrible to Nick." She shook off the image of Nick's blood in her hand. "I'll forgive you. It doesn't matter how you start out, it's what you do in the end that counts." Alex closed his mouth, covering his fangs. He started to look at her in awe.

"Alex, we are not machines. None of us is born into this world and bound by this end all-be all set of rules. We can make choices. At any point, we can change both the world and ourselves for the better. We can do so with each other as well." Judy turned to the family of panthers. They were listening to her. Three of them tried to look the other way when she looked at them. Judy went back to Alex. "We just forget all that or we choice not to do so, because it is hard. Go against a belief that took root so deeply is hard. Changing yourself is hard. Standing up for yourself and your loved ones are hard. Continuing to do so when everyone tells you to quit is hard." Her mind reminded her of Nick. "Just because it is hard, doesn't mean we should not try." She tilted her head and gave him a small smile. "You deserve this, because you tried. In the end, you are a true friend of Nick, and none of these changes would have happened without you." She gently slid the paper back to him.

It started out small, like a whisper, but soon Alex burst out laughing, "Hahahahaha" He was laughing so hysterically that his shock collar actually stopped him. Despite that, his smile remained afterward. He slammed his fist on the desk. "Now that's rich."

Judy frowned, "What's so funny?"

Alex wiped a tear in the corner of his eye. "Nothing, I just, hehe, before, I would consider those to be platitudes. Big words that promise to bring forward change, but in the end, fundamentally change nothing. So my first reactions to words like that are laughing and saying how naïve some mammals are." She was slightly annoyed at the comment. "But I also laughed at myself, because my frame of mind actually changed when you say those words. Also seeing how the past few months had laid out, I'm not so sure anymore." He minimized the smile and grabbed a nearby pen that chained to the desk. He could never fully understand how one could kill another with a pen. After a few second to calm himself and stop laughing, "Whew, fine, I'll choose to make my life a little bit better. And also, helping you guys out. Sorry, I should have put you guys first, but, eh, that doesn't sound like me. No hard feeling eh?" He pointed the pen at Judy.

She shrugged, "You don't have to explain yourself on that."

"Okay, sure, cool. Just give me a sec." He puckered his lips while filling the blanks. "About the address part, what should I put in? The warehouse, the big house, or the boat house?"

"The paper is just for show. As long as your name matches, it's fine."

"Pff, that's some excellent bureaucratic work right there, Lieutenant." He wrote down his old home address in Hon Dao. "How are things on your end? What's going with Koslov? The new elected mayor seems to hog all the news coverages these days, so haven't heard much about him." The mountain goat from the other end leered at Judy and Alex. Her eye met Alex's wink.

Judy said, "Well, considering he is one of the biggest crime bosses around, the answer may vary. But since the new regulations regarding the removal of most collars have been passed, he decided to leave us both and the city alone. As long as he runs his business like anyone else, we will leave him alone."

He got down to his social security number. "Uh huh, good. How is Nick? Is he doing fine?"

"He is doing great. I have just, um, recently moved in with him."

He stopped writing for a laugh, "Ha, nice. Finally getting some action huh? Nudge nudge, wink wink."

"Alex! It's purely platonic love." She looked at the panther child then whisper. "We haven't thought of going that far, yet."

He looked at her, "With that face? Ehhhh" He thought for a second before, "I'll believe you." He quickly got back to writing, avoiding Judy's annoyed expression. "So did that give you guys any trouble?"

"It's difficult, but we'll manage. We are" She looked at the mountain goat and the bear at the far end. "Well, proud to be one of the first interspecies couples."

"Uh huh, did anyone give you two flak for that? Lots of animals are dicks, or so I heard."

She weighed two invisible objects in her hand. "Well, the general consensus is supporting us. But there are, some issues that still linger on, but, you can't expect change to happen overnight. It will take time. But as long as we don't lose sight of the goal, we'll get there."

Alex smirked, "We'll see. Don't become a brand, though."

Judy frowned, "A what?"

"I have just read a book on Neoliberalism. If anyone sponsors you guys to shoot some kind of advertisement, just say no. Chances are they are using you as a trendy brand, something for sale, something stupid like HoppsWilde or something. He changed his voice, moving his fists up and down. "We big corporation, support this interspecies couple, ergo buy our shit."

"Alex! There's a kid in the room." She looked horrify as the slipped up word.

"We are in prison and that's your biggest concern? Anyhow, if anyone pay you just for being a progressive couple, don't."

She crossed her arm. "Nick was right. You are a dork that looks too deep into things."

He shrugged, "Whatever, just trying to protect you guys here." He wrote down the date and signed his name as Alex Mieu. "All done. Thanks." He slid the paper back to her.

"You're welcome," said as she took the application.

"Is there anything thing else you want to tell me? I need to get ready for the prison book club."

Judy stood up. "Nope, that's all. Have a good day. Douglas will give you a reminder when you are needed."

"Uh huh. You have a good day too, Judy. See ya." He playfully saluted her. The wolf then escorted him out.

As Judy exited the room, her mind began to play her thoughts.

"We all want to do good in this world. Whether by living a peaceful or meaningful life; chasing our dreams; taking good care of your friends and family; protect something that bigger than yourself and so on. Our methods are different, but our goal is the same: Making the world a better place. With that, it is certain that no one set out to be a "bad guy".

Everything would be so much easier if this world only consists of our friends and us. But that's not the world we are living in. This world is crowded and messy. It has billions of animals with different values, perspectives, thoughts, and ideas. With a set up like that, our values are bound to clash. Before long, we became obstacles to each other.

Our lives are shorts, and looking deep into each other's values takes precious time. So, most of us make the easy choice of forgoing others' values and putting our own first. This was when we made the cut between them and us. This was when the lines we drew on the sands were crossed. This is when bettering the world becomes labeling our values as pure right and their values as pure wrong. This is when we stop listening to each other and sharing our values but instead forcing our values. This is when we are lost in a spiral of so many voices.

After countless generations had stuck in this vortex, we forget that all of us, at the start, share the same goal. And by fighting each other, the goal would keep drifting further away. Until it crossed the finishing line that read, "Too late".

Sadly, there is no perfect answer for this. The best thing that we could do is try. Try to change yourself for the better. Try to do the right thing. But most important of all, try to listen to each other. And try to make the world a better place, together."

End of story.

Author notes:

I know I have said this many times, but thank you so much for reading. It pains me to say that this is probably my first and final Zootopia fanfic. I wish I had more idea to write, more inspiration to work on and more time to come up with both. However, it doesn't have to be that way. Now that the story is over, share your thoughts and criticism. I would love to listen to them. From them, I might be able to make something new.

However, it doesn't have to be that way. Now that the story is over, share your thoughts and criticism. I would love to listen to them all. From them, I might be able to make something new.

I did this little challenge to get myself out of depression, something to do besides loathing during my free time away from my mind-numbing day job. The challenge was coming up with a story and finishing it in a month. Get it over quick so I can get back to work. I was expecting to quit halfway through, but you all have helped me make it until the end, simply by reading. The past month was a great experiment and experience for me and I hope it was the same for you too.

I know the stats on the cover only said 13 favorites, 22 followers, and 15 or so reviews. But I know there are more of you out there, who spent their precious time on this piece. And to me, that was enough, knowing that someone read my works.

Readers, goodbye and take care. I hope to see you again.

(The following are my thoughts. If you are interested in the explanation of how and why I changed certain things from the original Zootopia's script, feel free to read them)

Let's first address the elephant in the room (that's not Francine): Alex

Originally, I planned to make this story without him and tried to work with the pieces given by the original scripts. However, that proved fruitless. The reason? In the original scripts, there were too many "somehow". Nick somehow injured his neck; Nick somehow got a collar checker (he used a fake doctor degree, but, if getting one could get something so crucial so easily, then why making the collar policy anyway); Nick somehow escaped prison; Nick somehow got chased by Koslov; Nick somehow got a footage of Bellwether.

As I tried and tried, nothing seemed to make sense. As a result, I picked a quick way out; a plot device that solved everything (or Deus ex Machina) in the form of a character. Alex was born from that. I didn't want to be associated with self-insert OC, so in the original draft, I just make him a plot device. He had zero to no personality. He was just there to fix plot holes. I didn't even bother designing him in my head. The joke was that he had no species description beside: "Medium size predator". His name is also a joke; Alex was the first "A" name that I could think of in 3 seconds. That's how much I care for the OC, at first.

However, after the first rewrite, I noticed how bland everything sounds. There was no tension because everything just happened. Things go wrong and stuff get fixed. Character A go to B, do C. Move King to 8B, and check mate. With countless of other authors had done much more with the original concepts. Some of them had followed the original script to the T and succeeded with flying color. Therefore, I decided to toss some of the original scripts out and gave Alex a new roll: reflect the main characters (both protagonists and antagonists). As a result, I could generate more conflicts and take the plot on a different route. From there, he became more involve in the plot and was allowed to get a personality besides a tech nerd.

After my first draft, I also noticed how black and white everything was. Predators suffered, Preys not seeing it. Judy was supposed to be in between (I'll get to her later). That's not very compelling (at least for me). If I have already thrown a large chunk of the original script through the window, might as well go bowling with it. With Alex as a reflection of the characters, I could make him morally ambiguous (a gray character). He was still a predator: Being oppressed and all that depressing stuff. However, he also showed signs of a typical prey, he tased Nick out of self-defense, he is willing to turn a blind eye for his own interests, everything besides his interest seems trivial to him. As the writing went on, the personality created by this mindset seemed to click to I decided to keep it for the second draft.

Why is he a cat? Cats' ancestors are both predator and prey. Cats, no matter what people say, are selfish, independent yet affection-seeking (pardon my French) assholes. Therefore, it fits Alex's new personality perfectly. With no cat being in the movie, I made him a foreigner (Bach Mieu literally means White Cat).

Since the story is not about him, his backstory is told through pieces of photos and expositions. If you are interested in him, you can piece it on your own. If not, that doesn't hinder anything because the main characters are still Nick and Judy. He is just there to reflect on main characters' actions and as I have said, Dues ex Machina.

Nick and Judy being childhood friends:

Before anything, I am aware that in the movie he is 8 years older than she is. However, since I was still going bowling at the time, might as well go for a strike.

One thing that bugged me about the original script was that Nick and Judy were not supposed to meet until the second act. In that version, she was so uptight at first. I know she was supposed to be tender later on. However, that is such a typical cliché. In addition, they wouldn't have much time to get to know one and another.

The things that I love the most about Zootopia are Nick and Judy's interactions. And no, I'm not claiming that I did a bang up job at achieving the same level of writing in that department. Nevertheless, imagine how their conversations would turn out in an entirely different setting was an interesting process; and I loved every minute of writing them down. In the end, I rolled with that. It might not be a strike, but knock down eight pins were good enough. The change clicked, for it helped tie in their back stories together as time go on. It also resolved conflicts set up by the plot.

I admit, Nick personality was, as one reviewer has pointed out, was changed. It was like a chain reaction. Because I have changed his past, it seemed fitting to change his present self as well. He had met Judy and defended her belief so, in a sense, the "You are only what everyone tells you to be" would not apply anymore. As a result, I cannot make him as sly or as cynical as the movie. Also, in the original script, he did not give up on his dream, instead Wild Times was his dream. I hope that explains why Nick sounded different in this version.

Judy is more or less the same bunny in the movie. Optimistic, willing to listen and change, and a little crafty. I integrated her into Nick's past because that something I wished to see. With the creative liberty, I could make my own scenarios. I know it's not perfect, but that's the best I got and I'm happy with it.

Koslov:

I want to make this story morally gray and focusing more on the reaction toward situations rather than something being good or bad. So yes, I changed him. His case is very similar to the book "Grendel" by John Gardner. If you cannot be accepted for looking like a monster, might as well be the maddest, meanest monster of all. Alex reflected some of his personality during chapter 9.

A bit of trivial: I didn't find the Godfather reference to be all that funny. When I thought of a notorious crime boss, a shrew was not what I have in mind. Those things can still kill you, but polar bears can kill you easier. I also have a soft spot for Russians-eques characters and Russian classical music.

Bellwether:

Not much of a change, it's more like a different view on her. In the movie, she sounded like a Machiavellian villain, but well, it was not very specific. Just control? What else besides control? Bureaucratic work and politic are hard work and I don't think anyone is too thrill about that.

Since Zootopia in this version was not as pleasant as the one in the movie. (The creators scraped the shock collar because it made people don't want to be in city). With the creative liberty, I purposely made the city slightly crappy with random things like the high medical bill for a simple checkup and the likes. A city that only appeared hunky dory, it was falling apart underneath. With a city like that, Bellwether had something to change, something to fight against. A city that didn't take her seriously and refuse to listen. Who would consider a sheep as a leader? In the animal kingdom, sheep are dumb, weak and cowardly followers.

She had a typical Machiavellian villain's mindset. She tries to do something good, but the situation forced her hand to use vile methods (the end justifies the mean).

I also wanted to make her appeared more "Human" or "Sheep", you get the point. With the job of the mayor, she had to make sacrifices in her personal life. So yeah, I added the bit with a hidden personal life. And I make her a dominant partner. It still fits her Machiavellian mindset.

Don't judge me. It's not shipping, it's characterization.

Fifth change, Chief Warden Douglas, Voynich, Ms. Kobb:

These characters had no description for a reason. They are references of my first and have yet finished story. As I wrote the draft, I just noticed how fitting these characters were to the rolls. Don't think too much about them.

Scrapped backstory:

This bit was originally planned for the meeting at the ZPD. It was supposed to be a video of Alex that chief Bogo played. However, after much consideration, I scrapped it out from the draft altogether. The meeting itself had put too much focus on Alex already.

This meant to reflect how similar he was to Judy, show how firmly Alex believe in determinism and wish to rebel against it, at first. The lack of detail came from, well this is a draft after all. Don't have to take it too seriously.

The video started to play.

Alex, all dressed up in a black tuxedo walked to a podium. He silenced the applause by saying, "Thank you, thank you."

He glued malice onto his grin. "You know, I feel dirty just by standing here. I have literally become a greeting card story. Unknown kid from bum freaking nowhere; fought knife and teeth to get to U. Z. ; become a top dog in a short amount of time and with a huge amount of effort. Successfully become a piece of Zootopia history."

He shut the grin."Such stories make me sick to my stomach. I just want to prove that I could be more than what my environment makes me. And what better place to do it than a city where everyone can become anything?" He opened his arms.

"How wrong I was. I shouldn't have learned the world through posters and fancy articles. Yes, I have changed, but not because I make those changes; rather, because my environment has changed. Your city wants to turn me into this reference, something to shut down arguments." He changed his voice. "Oh, you think predators' lives were rigged and they could never be successful. Are you high? Have you seen Bach Mieu, the mayor's pet? He came from an island that I cannot even pronounce and look at him now. All dress up and cover in riches. Your life is crappy because you have not tried hard enough, just look at Bach Mieu. If he, a predator can make it, so can you. We are in Zootopia, anyone can be, anything."

He slammed his fist on the podium, "I will not be a pawn in your political game, can you hear me, you mother"

The rest of the video was nothing but beeping sounds and the security remove him from the scene.

That's all I could offer you.

Thank you for reading this far.

Farwell

Chesterization