A.N.: This chapter is based on my favourite part of the film. I've been looking forward to this one... ;)
Judy couldn't stop beaming as Nick explained everything that had happened to him and her dad since they left her, her mom and her Pop-Pop behind in Pride City. "Let me get this straight... not only did you capture a wanted domestic terrorist who turned out to be the bully who muzzled you when you were a kid, you saved my dad's life and earned his blessing in the unexpected event that we decide to date?"
Nick nodded. "Yep."
"Wow. Wow. Have you left anything out?"
"Well, there was the time when we almost let Bruce escape and you came rushing in to save the day." Her dad piped up from the back seat.
Judy blushed and rubbed the back of her head. "Finnick helped too."
"Yeah. I know." Nick looked out the side window, shooting Finnick a look of appreciation before turning his eyes back to the road.
They'd been unable to extricate the car Bruce had stolen from the stream beneath the bridge, but they'd managed to salvage the beautiful crimson motorbike and sidecar. It was an act of absolute trust that Nick and Judy had allowed Finnick to drive it alongside them with Bruce Wood miserably wedged in the backseat, his paws cuffed to the handrail. It was partly out of necessity as there wouldn't be any room for them in Nick and Stu's car once they retrieved Bonnie and Pop-Pop.
As they drove alongside the hill Judy told Nick about everything that had happened on her end. Nick had been happy to learn that Judy had convinced Pop-Pop to bury the hatchet. He'd laughed when Judy told him about Pop-Pop's sword fight with a drunken dumb bunny. He'd proclaimed his love for The Wizard of Ox when she told him about her mother winning a large Wicked Witch of the Nest doll.
"Did you ever get a hold of Gideon Grey?" Judy finally asked him.
Nick shook his head. "No. You?"
Judy sighed. "Mom tried him in every town we passed through. I don't understand it."
"Hey, don't worry about it." Nick said. "Besides, the money is Precinct Two's problem now."
"You're right. We've gotta get Ben back." Judy stretched herself slightly so she could glare at Bruce through Nick's window. The woodchuck looked like he was feeling suicidal. Good. The phone, given back to her by Nick, buzzed and she picked it up.
"Once we pick up the rest of your family, we're going straight to the Podunk station." Nick said. "Where did you say you dropped them off again... Carrots?"
Judy was gazing down at her phone, which was currently bearing the red phone symbol. "Chief Bogo just tried to call me, but he cut off before I could answer."
"Maybe he's in a bad area. Call him back." Stu said.
Judy did what Nick suggested and watched the screen as it rang rhythmically. After thirty seconds it went to voicemail.
Nick had seen the look on her face. "I'm sure he's okay. I know this is weird, but he's been acting weird since he got that kidney stone."
Judy's ears twitched. "He has a kidney stone?"
"Why else would he threaten to shoot my tail off if I bumped into his pelvis again?"
Judy gave a little snort of fake laughter and tried to call Bogo again.
... Voicemail again... I've got a bad feeling about this...
Half an hour after the helicopter touched down in Bunnyburrow, Bitter and Chief Irons sat at a plain square table before Sheriff Maximus the stallion and his Deputy Sven the moose. "You sure about going in alone?" Maximus asked, his gaze so intense that Bitter was as stiff as a board.
"Yes. They may have seen Chief Irons' face on television during a press conference and you two need to make sure that no civilians enter the park until the money is retrieved. The last thing we need is a crowd for the suspects to disappear into." Bitter said.
"Do you really think it's wise to confront these crooks alone?" Sven asked.
"Once they find out that the police had been on to them all along, they'll have no choice but to hand over the money and turn themselves in." Chief Irons said. "Besides, there's only four of them after the Blue Goliath now."
"Four? You said there were ten at the start of this, including Officer Hopps and Wilde." Maximus said.
"Stu, Bonnie, their grandfather and Mr. Finnick are out." Irons said. "They're now assisting Hopps, Wilde and Chief Bogo in the search for Officer Clawhauser. It's just the Oryx-Antlersons and the two polar bears left."
"Speaking of which, we just got off the phone with the Rescue Aid Society." Sven said. "They've caused millions in damages, but they managed to run the yacht aground and acquire transportation to Bunnyburrow."
"What are they driving?" Bitter asked.
"The Oryx-Antlersons got a ride from Gideon Grey, a local baker in Bunnyburrow, and the bears got into a taxi owned by one Travis Ferretter." Sven showed them a pair of photographs depicting the two smaller mammals. "As you know, we can't charge them with anything unless it's proven that they are aware of the existence of the money."
"We don't know if they plan to stick around after dropping off their passengers, but for now we should assume we're dealing with four people." Maximus said. "Are you certain you want to go alone, Captain Bitter?"
Bitter nodded. "Chief Irons will watch the park entrance from the car."
Sven scratched his antler. "It's very unusual for a Police Chief to involve themselves in an operation such as this."
"It's also unusual for a Police Chief to travel alone to another state to rescue his secretary." Irons replied. "We're just making sure the job gets done."
And no-one can deny your full credit in the cracking of this case, Bitter thought. I wonder if Chief Bogo and his officers have tracked down Clawhauser yet...
As it turned out the buffalo was no fool, and it almost cost the Zootopia Freedom Party everything.
The plan was simple. Harold would come out through the front and distract him. Stripes would sneak around through the back and put a dart in him while Harold was keeping him busy. But the buffalo had a plan of his own. When Harold approached the car, the buffalo, staying in his car, introduced himself as Detective Bovine and produced a photograph of the cheetah they had kidnapped. "The vehicle that took him was reported to have been heading in the direction of Podunk. Have you seen him?" He asked. Harold had breathed a sigh of relief and denied seeing him. He hadn't realized at the time that his change in expression and the donut sprinkles on his clothing had already confirmed the cheetah's presence.
After the whole thing was over, Stripes would vilify Harold for what he did next. Harold had allowed 'Detective Bovine' to go on his merry way. If Stripes hadn't texted their buddy about the situation, and their buddy hadn't warned them of who their visitor really was, they would have been in cuffs by now. An unlocked passenger door and a tranq dart prevented the consequences of Harold's idiocy.
Officer Benjamin Clawhauser and Spider Bogo watched as the hippo and zebra put Bogo in a chair positioned in front of a wooden column and started applying the black tape. Harold eyed Bogo's thick arms warily as they wound the tape round and round. "Are you sure this will hold him?"
"It's tape. It'll hold anything." Stripes muttered.
"S'not the tape I'm worried about."
"Just keep going. That tranq's not gonna last for long."
The first piece of tape they had ripped from the roll was covering Clawhauser's mouth. He tugged at the rope holding him to the ceiling, but he couldn't get the hook low enough to lift his paws free. This was a disaster. A clusterfudge of bovine-sized proportions. What was Chief Bogo even doing here in the first place? At least Spider Bogo was doing okay in his box.
"Use the whole roll if you have to." Stripes spoke as they were going overkill on the tape going around Bogo's body and the column. "Make sure he doesn't get loose."
Bogo lifted his head at that moment, looking both dazed and irritable. "You had to leave the doors unlocked, didn't you?" He muttered to himself. Clawhauser made a noise behind his gag. Bogo blinked and looked up at the two thugs currently trying to smother his torso in tape. "So you're the dirtbags who took my officer."
"Shut up." Stripes said coldly, even though he looked a little worried that Bogo had recovered from the sedative so quickly.
"You're wasting your time. I don't know what the Blue Goliath is." Bogo's tone was even colder. "If you know what's good for you, you'll let me and Clawhauser go and turn yourselves in."
Stripes had just run out of tape. "If you really don't know, we'll find out once our boss gets back here." He smirked and held up the shock collar that was destined for Clawhauser's neck. "You're getting a front row seat for the light show."
Bogo's expression turned very dark. "You mean Bruce Wood? If you want to see him again you'll have to let me arrest you. He's been apprehended by our one and only fox."
Stripes' smirk evaporated, as did Harold's. "You're bluffing."
"Call him and find out."
Not entirely surprised by Wilde's success, Clawhauser watched the zebra pull out his phone and call Bruce Wood's number. When the call inevitably told him that Bruce couldn't be reached, Stripes paled and tried again. While he and Harold stared at the phone with growing trepidation, Bogo was inching himself up the column until he was standing. What're you going to do, Chief? Clawhauser wondered.
Bogo looked him in the eye and jerked his head towards the kidnappers. Distract them, was what he appeared to be saying.
Clawhauser's heart was threatening to burst, but he nodded. Pretending to panic seemed like a good idea, so he started shouting behind his gag and struggling with all his might.
"What hell's the matter with you, chomper?!" Stripes stormed over to Clawhauser and ripped off the tape.
"Get me out of this! GEMMIOUTTAZIS!" Clawhauser screamed at the top of his lungs, both to keep up the act and from the burning pain.
"Shut him up!" Stripes shouted to Harold.
"Shut him-"
"Knock the fatso out!" Stripes yelled.
Harold ran into the kitchen and came back out with a wrench. Clawhauser felt a rush of new terror but kept up the diversion. Bogo was heaving against the column, trying to pull himself free.
"Shut up!" Harold advanced on the cheetah, holding the thick wrench in one hand. "Shut the hell up! I'm warning you!"
Clawhauser responded with another cry as Stripes grabbed him by his raised arms, trying to stop his struggles. Harold swung the wrench down right as Clawhauser was trying to pull away.
"ARGH!" Stripes howled as the full weight of the wrench came down on his forearm. "IDIOT! MY ARM, YOU BROKE MY ARM!"
"OMIGOD I'M SORRY!" Harold howled back as Stripes staggered away from them, clutching his bruised limb.
It happened with a crunch of wood and an almighty crash. One moment Bogo was making an gigantic heave against the column. Then the entire column snapped like a twig, opening up a gash in the ceiling that spilled a moldy looking bathtub to the floor. A black, blue and grey blur raced past Clawhauser and the kidnappers and went straight through a wall, disappearing in a cloud of dust and splinters.
Clawhauser completely stopped struggling, stunned into silence. Harold and Stripes traded horrified glances and crept towards the hole in the wall. They stopped at either side of it, clearly afraid of what would come out.
In the small downstairs bathroom, Bogo picked himself up from what was once the toilet and returned to the hole. Looking only slightly less dazed than before, he blinked and glared at Stripes. "If you punks keep crapping about, there's going to be trouble, I'm warning you-"
Stripes punched him in the gut.
Clawhauser squealed in horror. The kidney stone!
Bogo's body seized up, his eyes going completely wide, and then Harold punched him in the back.
Clawhauser squealed again, fully expecting Bogo to collapse.
Bogo slowly unfroze and exhaled. His hooves curled and uncurled. His reddish-brown eyes seemed to turn fully red.
"Alright..." He breathed.
Stripes and Harold shrieked and ran to the other side of the living room.
"... That's the way you want it... that's the way you're going to get it!"
All hell broke loose. Harold threw a piece of rubble and it bounced off of Bogo's horn. Bogo charged like a bull and slammed Stripes into a hardwood shelf, sending all twelve china plates crashing to the floor. He lunged at Harold, swatted the wrench aside, and threw him over his shoulder onto the fallen bathtub, cracking it in two. Clawhauser cried for him to be careful of Spider Bogo. Stripes threw a painted golden tap and it flew over Bogo's head and bounced off of Spider Bogo's box, startling the arachnid. Bogo shoved Harold against the boarded up window, cracking the boards and glass. Stripes tried to hit him with a vase, only for Bogo to haul the zebra over his shoulder. Harold stood up to throw a three-legged stool right as Bogo and Stripes lost balance and fell into him. Their combined weight sent them crashing through the window, wall and all. This released one end of the beam Clawhauser was tied to, and it lowered just enough for him to lift his paws free of the hook. With his paws still held together with black cord, he rushed over to Spider Bogo. When he was sure that the little guy was okay, he rushed over to the hole in the wall.
Harold and Stripes trailed a faint cloud of dust behind them as they raced to their white van and dived into the front. Bogo reached them just as they slammed and locked the doors shut. "Get out of here!" Harold wailed as Stripes fumbled with the keys. "Are you crazy?! Why don't you leave us alone?!"
Both mammals screamed as Bogo punched through the window, showering them with glass, and then shouldered the entire van onto its side. Clawhauser gaped and wondered what the Chief was doing in his home gym.
Bogo growled as he lifted himself onto the side of the van and pulled at the driver's side door. The rear end doors of the van opened, and Harold and Stripes spilled out. "Aha! There you are!" He jumped down and chased the two hapless thugs around the house, shoving over an entire shed in his rush to catch up to them.
Clawhauser ducked back inside and raced into the kitchen. He could hear their screams coming from outside. He pulled out drawer after drawer, looking for something to cut himself out of the cord.
The back door swung open and Harold and Stripes raced inside. Stripes shut the door and locked it while Harold grabbed a rolling pin from the bench. "Call someone!" Stripes howled. "The National Guard! The ZBI! The Matador! Anybody!"
A hole opened up in the door as Bogo punched his way through it, knocking over the fridge and a shelf full of jars and tins in the process. Stripes back away in pure terror. Harold grabbed Clawhauser and tried to use him as a shield, holding the shaking rolling pin to his throat. Clawhauser wasn't holding Spider Bogo this time, so he had no problem with pulling himself out of the hippo's clutches and shoving him towards Bogo. Bogo threw the round hippo through the window into the back garden. Harold rolled across the square garden table, broke through a thin column and brought down the back garden canopy with a sound like crashing bowling pins. The canopy took part of the wall and floor of the upper floor with it, causing a brobdingnagian amoire from the smallest bedroom to fall onto the luckless brute.
"Sir! Please calm down!" Clawhauser cried, but he wisely stepped aside as Bogo raced towards Stripes as he tried to escape up the stairs in the adjoining dining room. He managed to grab a beam as Bogo lifted him from the stairs, but wound up bring down part of the master bedroom floor when he was wrenched free. They hit the floor, obliterating two chairs and a waist-high vase. Bogo got up first, lifted Stripes like a wrestling opponent and slammed him hard on the end of the table. "Mess with my cheetah and this is what you get!" He gave an almighty shove.
"HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLP!" Stripes screamed all the way across the table and through a window's wall, taking out a whole line of dead saplings and a garden bench covered in moss. Part of the roof caved in, coming to rest on the upper floor as it spilled blackened tiles all over the ground surrounding the building.
"Chief!" Clawhauser ran to Bogo and grabbed his arm before he could follow the zebra outside. When Bogo looked at him, the cheetah held out his paws. Bogo ripped the cord off with one yank and threw it at Stripes as he staggered to his feet. "Chief, maybe it's time to give them a chance to surrender." Clawhauser said softly as he rubbed his wrists. Bogo scowled but nodded.
Harold staggered round the outside of the building to his friend's aid, bringing with him a thick beam from what was once the living room ceiling. "Stripes! Stripes, are you alright?!" He cried as they both grabbed the beam.
Bogo stood in the middle of the hole, shoulders back and fists clenched. Ben quickly clambered through the hole past him and put himself between his boss and the kidnappers.
"This has gone far enough!" He yelled. "Put down that beam and come quietly! Don't get yourselves hurt more than you already are!"
"I suggest you listen to him." Bogo growled.
Harold looked to Stripes. "Stripes... we're going to have to kill him."
They nodded in agreement and held the beam up like a battering ram aimed right at Clawhauser and Bogo, with Stripes holding the front end. "Ready?"
"Ready!"
"Set?"
"Set!"
"CHAAARRRGE!"
Clawhauser yelped and ran back into the house as he suddenly found himself being chased. He sped into the kitchen past Bogo, who stepped aside and grabbed the middle of the beam, shoving all three of them through the wall separating the dining room from the living room. With the loss of that wall, the rest of the master bedroom floor came crashing down. A large purple bed came down and demolished the table. A wardrobe destroyed two chairs and fell flat on its face. A dressing table broke apart upon hitting the lower floor, scattering brushes, curlers and bottles of perfume all over the place. Clawhauser stood in the kitchen doorway, digging his claws into his skull as he gaped at the carnage. "O... M... Goodness."
By this point, Harold and Stripes were covered from head to hoof in dirt and dust. They screamed about crazy cops and mad bulls as they scrambled back into the dining room and started throwing all the contents of the destroyed dressing table at the advancing buffalo. He shrugged off the brushes and bottles, which smashed after bouncing off and filled the room with the powerful scent of a dozen different flowers. Clawhauser coughed out dust and kept his distance as Bogo picked up the wardrobe, spilling bloomers and dungarees when the doors fell open, and rushed at them with it. They shrieked and ducked as the wardrobe soared over them, obliterating the wall next to Clawhauser. Harold and Stripes ran back outside praying for God's forgiveness, and Bogo went after them. Clawhauser followed them, coming round the corner of the building just in time to see Bogo disappear under a closing rusty garage door.
Clawhauser rushed over to the garage that stood next to a tiny wooden outhouse and tried to lift the door to no avail. He pressed his ear to the damp wood.
To his right, a screaming Harold crashed through the door, leaving a ragged hole in his wake. Clawhauser heard Stripes scream from the other side of the door and leapt aside in the nick of time as Stripes came crashing through on his left. Neither of them got up.
Bogo poked his head through the second hole, looking down at his defeated opponents. Then he looked at Clawhauser, his expression stern. The cheetah stepped away from the door so Bogo could lift it. Bogo shoved the door off its frame and walked out. He stopped when he saw the outhouse with the tiny crescent moon shaped hole in the door. He shrugged, went inside, and shut the door behind him. Clawhauser heard the lock click in place.
Clawhauser stood there staring at the silent outdoor toilet for a full minute, and then set to work. He found another roll of tape in the ruined kitchen and tied up Harold and Stripes. When he was done, he left them beside Bogo's car and checked on Spider Bogo. He put the tarantula safely in the front passenger seat of the car, just as the phone in the driver's seat rang. He picked up the call. "Hello?"
"Ben?!" Came Judy's astonished voice. "Ben, is that you?!"
"Yeah, it's me!" Ben beamed, happy to hear his friend's voice.
"Are you okay? Where are you?"
"I'm fine! Chief Bogo found me and took out Harold and Stripes!"
"Harold and Stripes?" He heard Nick speak. Judy must have the phone on speaker. "It's like a Junior Ranger Scouts reunion!"
"Thank gosh you're okay!" Judy said. "Tell us where you are and we'll come meet you!"
"No, we're fine." Clawhauser said quickly. "Besides, you still have three casinos' worth of stolen cash to save! We'll meet you in Ripe Carrot Park once we've finished here, okay?"
"Okay. See you there, buddy!" Nick said.
Clawhauser hung up and called the Podunk Police Department to collect the kidnappers before returning to the outhouse with a smile on his face. Things were finally looking up. He reached the outhouse and knocked quietly on the door. "Sir?" Bogo didn't answer. "Sir, I've tied them up and Spider Bogo's waiting in the car. We're gonna meet Hopps and Wilde in Ripe Carrot Park. Is that okay?" The outhouse remained silent. "... Sir?"
Plink.
Clawhauser pressed his paws to his face and smiled even bigger, utterly delighted for his boss.
The door slowly opened. Bogo zipped up his pants, used some hand gel on his hooves and stepped out. He had the most serene expression Clawhauser had ever seen.
Clawhauser looked at him with pride. "Told you it would come out eventually."
"Are you alright?" Bogo asked.
Clawhauser decided for the kidnappers' sake to not mention the bruises on his stomach. "Yes, sir."
Bogo looked past Clawhauser at the car. "How is our eight-legged friend?"
"Doing fine. But we still need to get him home."
"The zoo is in Ripe Carrot Park, right?" Bogo asked. Clawhauser nodded. "Would you like a police escort?"
Clawhauser giggled and nodded. "Thank you, sir. And not just for the escort."
Clawhauser climbed into the passenger seat and placed Spider Bogo's box on his lap. The creature was tense, but he should calm down before they reached their destination. Bogo got behind the wheel, got the car running, and backed it into the ruined farmhouse.
The wall was the first thing to go. Then the ceiling and the upstairs furniture. Then the rest of the roof. Then the other three walls. The chimney toppled and cleaved the garage in two. Both halves collapsed in on themselves. When Clawhauser looked through the rear view mirror as the car sped off, all he saw standing was the little old outhouse.
He whispered to himself, awed by Bogo's handiwork. "Oh poop."
Bogo actually chuckled. "Pun intended?"
Clawhauser giggled. "Nope. Happy accident."