There we go... a normal Saturday update. back on schedule.
Who is having a good one, raise their paws... i said paws. NO paws... Oh right, no one has paws. Except you there. yes i see you.
Now then... I know it's been slow but that was by design and I needed to insert a few... 'plot devices'. they look like jelly but taste like peanut butter. weird yes but... ok just weird.
With fur-ther achoo, here you go.
Review, fav, follow, boost my ego, and grab that strange snack. Today's for me is Oreo cookies with the creme replaced with cream cheese and dipped in batter made from crushed bbq chips, then deep fried.
Enjoy.
The hardly melodic din of a rush of air from a nearby vent tickled her ears. Outside, lights flared into existence and faded just as fast as they appeared. The sun dipped below the skyline outside, turning the sky a warm swirl of orange, red, purple, and tinges of blue at the farthest reaches. Like a curtain being pulled from a large window ever so slowly, the warm colors bled away to give way to small twinkles of light in the sky.
Judy felt slightly calmer upon doing her best to take in the view. The day was trying and despite the beautiful sight, she still couldn't shake several things from her mind.
Turning back towards the bed in the hospital room, her ears dropping behind her head as she stared at the sight of her fox breathing slowly, the doe felt a swell of guilt at being a catalyst in Nick's current condition. If she hadn't been so focused on rejoining him, she might have noticed the threat behind her.
She checked the time on a clock hanging overhead. It was 6:33pm.
Roughly two days and eighteen hours until Umbra did whatever else he had in store to enact his endgame, if this even was his endgame. The ZPD had that long to put a stop to everything Umbra had planned. The city had that long to either flee or hunker down and try to outlast the fallout, if the mammals that stayed even believed that the dark mammal had the gall and means to dole out some ultimatum justice against all the citizens of Zootopia.
Judy couldn't find it in herself to focus on that right now. Nick needed to recover and so did she. She didn't like it but she promised her mate.
When the doe first got Nick back into bed a few hours prior, she had to explain what happened up until his induction to the emergency room. At first, he was confused about the blood transfusion but chose to defer the intellectual curiosity to another time. The bunny had her objective reservations about that as well but Nick would have most assuredly bled out in the ambulance if he didn't get his blood level up. She figured the potential drawbacks would be outweighed by a chance at living, rather than doing nothing and courting death.
She then proceeded to apologize profusely, murmuring her faults and pivotal role in causing him to be in the state he was in. the fox waved off her concerns with a rather lazy assortment of tired words, doing his best in his state to allay her guilt sodden heart. She made a compromise with herself to let him think he had won… for now, but would do everything within her power to make it up to him. He reacted swiftly and saved her life, without a second thought for himself. If that wasn't love, she didn't know what could be.
As for his slashed muzzle and neck, the hospital was forewarned of Nick's arrival by Bogo barely upon the fox arriving, with the bull apparently pulling strings and calling in favors to make sure the tod was taken care of with all due haste. They ended up using a very promising procedure that was still experimental and had yet to be readily available as a means of suture treatment, but nonetheless it worked miraculously.
By using a series of photochemical exposures to the edges of a wound while applying a chemical agent, a special directional beam could be used to react with the chemical and cause the opening of a wound to fuse together in an almost natural manner. The process obviously wasn't natural, but the result was one that caused something akin to the idea of artificial regeneration. His wounds were now closed and vessels beneath sealed before paw. It was far more sanitary than a stitched suture that would bleed and possibly split easily within days to a couple weeks of stitching. With this procedure, Nick's natural healing ability would take over quickly and keep the gashes sealed.
The biggest stroke of luck concerning that was that the cuts were clean, instead of jagged and torn. The doctor explaining this to the fox tod said it must have been because the mammal that attacked him had sharp, unfiled claws. If they were blunted, they expect he wouldn't have even made it INTO the ambulance alive.
They wanted to keep him overnight for observation, though the doctors expressed an interest in keeping him longer, but would allow him to be released the next morning. Space was becoming slim in the hospital as wounded kept coming in and scared citizens flocked to spout nonsense about being inoculated after being in close contact with a previously savage mammal.
Bogo had even made his way over, limping into the room, to make sure with his own two eyes, albeit with glasses on them, that the fox was in the green and recovering. On painkillers and calling the bull 'Uncle Lonnie' once more, Nick saw the buffalo's muzzle contort and twist awkwardly before he huffed noisily and left on the note that he expected them both back on the case as early the next day as they could afford without compromising their health. They all still had a maniac with a very dangerous concoction to stop.
After all that commotion died down, Judy let Nick drift off to sleep, his body still trying to replenish fluids and overall recover.
The rabbit leaned in close and looked over at her fox's sutured wounds. They were a little swollen, but looked well taken care of. They had to shave a bit of his fur surrounding the wounds, though with how precise the procedure was, they didn't need to remove large sections of his fur. It was unclear as of yet whether or not Nick would be left with scarring. He shouldn't be, but the procedure was usually used on much smaller wounds or incisions made for surgery.
Judy smirked lightly as she let her thoughts drift towards the less than innocent concerning that. She had to admit to herself, and no other mammal, that her mate might look good with a scar or two.
"You know," the fox started, making Judy tense up and squeak in surprise, "I can still see and smell."
His eyes were now open and locked onto the bunny doe's amethyst orbs. She laughed nervously and tugged an ear in embarrassment.
"Yeah…" the doe began, trying to figure out what to say, then paused. "Wait… smell?"
"Yep," Nick coolly replied, with an upward pop of the 'p'. "You have this distinct scent change when you display…" his eyes shifted slightly towards predatory slits for a split second as he looked her over then finished his thought, "interest… in me."
Judy turned her head and huffed in fake amusement, trying to throw off her sudden embarrassment and also his gaze.
"Right," she replied sarcastically. The fox tod just grinned slowly and a bit awkwardly, his smile favoring a greater curl to the left side, where his wounds weren't present. He didn't squint anymore, which the rabbit took as a progressive plus. "You're just smelling the wrong things."
"I'll pretend to believe that," he mumbled in her general direction. Judy rolled her eyes and reached up to pet the top of his head, taking pleasure in how he pressed his head into her paw.
Taking on a different tone, his emerald eyes locked onto the doe once again as he spoke, "How are we going to catch this guy?" Judy sighed, knowing he would be looking to make sense of this sooner or later.
"I really don't know," she admitted both to her mate and herself. "Unlike the movies or TV shows, we haven't had the best luck with clues or leads that take us anywhere significant. Chester and various investigative teams are currently trying to make sense of the whole mess of devices placed around our precincts. We'll hopefully know something when we go back in tomorrow…. In the meantime…"
The rabbit picked up the remote to the television and turned it on, the default channel being the local news station. Both were surprised but not so far as to say shocked to tune in seeing a clip playing denoting Nick's valiant rescue of his mate. It twisted the grey doe's stomach into knots to see him get tossed aside again.
"…ou can see," Fabienne, the snow leopard anchor, spoke, "this recording was taken by phone from a nearby building and posted via social media. It's pretty clear that Officer Wilde chose to save his partner, Officer Hopps, in favor of grievous injury to himself. I dare say that should put a bit of the controversy to rest over the recent split we have seen over the view of the professionality and nature of their relationship as partners in the ZPD…"
Nick could see the turmoil in the small bunny and pulled the remote from her paw gently to switch the channel. Despite the media supporting them, for now, He figured reliving that moment like that was best left to a later time when the recent fear of loss subsided properly. However, he knew he might need to help her address a few issues to clear her mind.
"You want to talk about it?" he tentatively asked, expecting a brush off from the emotionally raw rabbit.
Judy tensed somewhat and bit her lower lip, wondering what to do. Her instant knee-jerk reaction was to apologize again, but she knew that would only end up making her feel worse and Nick would have to settle her down again. She took a deep breath and tried to remain calm, rearranging her thoughts.
"I…" she nearly choked upon utterance of the first word, swallowing and continuing, "I nearly lost you and I haven't a clue how I would deal with that. Lots of fearful visions of my future worm their way into my mind of a life without you and they leave a sour taste."
"I had no plans on leaving you," Nick replied confidently. The grey bunny perked up.
"But you pretty much nearly sacrificed yourself for me," she blurted in rebuke of his statement.
"Sure, but you wouldn't have lived through that. I knew I could… though I didn't expect it to be so close. I'm not exactly the type of mammal to give my life for you." Judy was confused at his admission, as well as a little downtrodden to hear something like that. She knew she shouldn't be but that statement felt like a measure of his love for her. Like there was a limit or something to that effect.
Seeing her internal conflict on her muzzle as clear as the shining sunset outside, the fox made a small 'ahem' to gain her attention. She looked up.
"Let me clarify," he began. "I don't want to give my life for you because then we wouldn't be able to share it. You would remember me but move on eventually… I don't want to imagine that life. I would much rather live FOR you. And that is what plan to do. I can't promise I'll always be here… but I can promise that you won't lose me in some sense of self sacrifice. It's why I wanted to be your partner on the force and why I want to be your mate."
At a brief loss for words, Judy smiled brightly and wiped the trickles of tears from her eyes with the inside of her wrists. A sense of relief washed over at having believed that even for a second that Nick wouldn't love her as deeply as she hoped. Another feeling of fulfillment creeped in, warming her from the inside. He wouldn't give his life for her, though any mammal could promise that. Instead, he was promising to live for her… a change in the status quo to be sure, but definitely a better option compared to the bittersweet implications of the former.
"If this is your way of starting off a proposal," the grey bunny remarked, "you have a good start." She wiped another errant tear from her eye.
To her surprise, her mate laughed heartily.
"Not exactly," Nick spoke through the remnants of his laughter. "I don't plan on proposing from a hospital bed or to you if you should be on one yourself. I have plans." The fox's eyes went wide as he shifted his gaze slowly back to Judy, who was wearing a look of shock and a slowly growing grin.
"Do tell," the rabbit cooed at him, her voice dripping with a teasing tone. "I didn't know you were planning that."
"Hey! Look! TV!" the tod desperately exclaimed, trying to pull attention to something, anything, else.
"Nick…" Judy leaned in to slowly and flirtatiously whisper to him.
"Look! Literally anything else!" her mate proclaimed, pointing a paw towards the window. The grey bunny doe tilted her body further in towards her tod and kissed him on the nose. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine… I imagine a few things but don't get any ideas just yet. We have yet to…" he whirled a paw in a lazy circle as he found his words, "settle into our relationship."
"We've been best friends for over a year, moved in together, and unless I'm delusional… I'm pretty sure you marked me," retorted Judy with no small degree of sass while smirking deviously at her fox fumbling to explain his faux paw. "I think we're pretty well settled in."
Nick raised a brow as he asked, "Are you saying you want me to propose to you right now?"
"I… well… uh…"
It was Judy's turn to stammer and struggle to find her voice. She cleared her throat, coughing once into her paw as she averted her eyes.
"I'm just mentioning you don't have to abide by some time table in your head," she corrected her previous insinuations. "But I'll let you do as you will in that regard."
"Thanks," Nick gently said, letting out a low chuckle.
0000000
"Chess!" a deep tone boomed. The bobcat's default grin started to fall but not completely disappear. He was making good headway, but he wasn't a miracle worker. If the bull came stomping in demanding an update, he would be both disappointed and possibly a little pleased. The combination of the two on the Chief's muzzle twisted together slightly scared the feline.
"In here, Chief!" he yelled back, waiting patiently as the buffalo followed his voice into another room of the forensics lab.
"Do you have anything?" came the expected question from the currently very predictable and somewhat worried bull. Chess sighed and wiped his paws on his trademark purple and magenta lab coat he wore.
"I have a little, but nothing of real note," the feline replied, crossing his arms as he gave the Chief a look that told him to have patience. The buffalo's shoulders relaxed slightly as he took the message, though only slightly. Chess continued, "I was able to confirm what I already told you. The coagulating agent that kept the steam as a foggy cloud, the same agent making it easy to bypass the mask filters, and I also found an element from the residue that matched samples you guys brought back from the warehouse after that whole deal with Hopps getting captured."
Bogo perked back up at hearing that, insanely curious if it was a good clue to anything they could use to track Umbra somehow.
"And?" the Chief goaded with a gesture of his open hoof.
"And that element is the one that allows Nightshade to infect and turn mammals savage but keep them from attacking each other," revealed the feline. "I haven't had the time to thoroughly test and examine the new sample but I already know from the warehouse samples that this factor influences a pheromone reaction in infected mammals that somehow keep them from attacking each other. Think of it like that strange logic in zombie movies where the infected don't try to each other's brains."
"Okay…" Bogo grunted out, choosing to let Chester keep his flow going.
"I would bet anything that Umbra plans to pit the city against itself," he divulged. "Your best bet is to try tracking the parts from the dispersal units, of which the analysts on that project might have more info for you than I do, if you please." The feline shooed the Chief from his workspace, to which the bull grumbled but obliged, seeing no point in saying Chess had no authority to kick him out.
After the bull finally left, the bobcat sighed in relief and turned to open his phone, seeing a wonderful background picture of his lovely Alice. Deciding against calling her for now, he settled for trying to get his bearings staring at her. Tough day overall but at least it was almost over. He frowned, wanted to check if she was alright but knew his mate rather well. She would be perfectly fine. Alice was far from the worries of the city for now.
Pocketing his phone, the feline got back to work.
0000000
Penny threw a pillow at the wall, pacing in circles, and grumbling to herself. Umbra's suit was propped on its display against the wall of her private chamber, ready for the snow leopard to climb in once more and resume her role.
"That idiot fox!" she cursed, finding the same pillow and tossing it across the room. "We're so close and he gets himself hurt for… HER!"
She took a deep breath and put her paws together, pads touching as she raised them up and lowered them as her breath came out slowly.
The feline had seen the news clips that repeated on loop on many news stations and all over social media. No mention was made yet to his well-being and despite her lines communication, didn't have word yet on her brother's condition.
"Calm down, Penny… you can't blame Judy…" she told herself. "It's only further affirmation that he was the right choice."
Quite truly, she couldn't blame the rabbit. Everything done was her own and by her design. She could only blame herself. It didn't assuage the sting of knowing a key part of her plans might need a recovery time that might extend beyond the ultimatum that was established. And with Valerie's rebellious public outcry questioning her motives, the snow leopard's frustration became tough to deal with as she normally did.
Usually, she stayed so calm knowing she could focus on the ultimate goal, but with it in jeopardy… the anxiousness and frustration was building easily.
Padding over to the suit, Penny grabbed a couple tools and proceeded to adjust the mechanical actuators in the arms. She recently installed a battery into the suit and had it hooked up to the actuators, giving the outfit a powered exoskeletal function. She appropriated the parts from the shipment that Kane had brought in during the attacks she ordered on the city over a month ago.
During that whole distraction, as she saw it, Kane had done well in breaking into a few warehouses across the city, housing the components she sought to use in her new Nightshade dispenser designs.
The reaction of the ZPD to the crisis made it easy to send teams to several such warehouses without much scrutiny from patrolling units, since there were practically none. Even local security was busy or bought off at the time. Considering the inventory they took and making some manipulations to the manifests and inventory listings at their leisure, it might be a few more weeks to another month before discrepancies were found by the companies that owned the warehouses and stock inside. The devices and parts they stole weren't exactly in high demand.
"We'll be ready soon. Only a little longer."
Finishing her modifications to the suit, Penny adjusted her catsuit and stepped into the open apparatus. Her feet found the familiar inserts in the leg units, giving her the appearance of being longer legged than she was. Letting the chest plate close and latch over her, she breathed in slowly, mentally organizing a few odds and ends she needed to address. With everything else in place, Penny grabbed the helmet and lowered it over her head, being careful of the false horns. A small hiss and click could be heard, the voice filter activating.
Stepping outside the private chambers and locking the large, heavy door behind him, Umbra strode calmly down the hall, looking for someone.
Several minutes and mammals that were asked later, the masked mammal gave up on finding what he wanted, choosing to go the less personal route and pulling out a phone. He dialed and linked the phone to a Ewetooth device in the mask's voice filter.
"Kane? I need to see you as soon as you're available. No need to rush. I'll wait."
Umbra waited a few seconds before an affirmative grunt sounded over the line. The amorphous mammal hung up quickly and made to take a stroll until Kane was free…
It was time to make some adjustments.
0000000
"Why don't you climb up here and cuddle with me?" Nick asked, frowning as Judy tried to get comfortable in the large, but rather hard chair by the window.
"I don't want to agitate your injuries," she defended.
"I have facial scarring…" the fox deadpanned, "not a broken femur or funny bone that you would accidentally break further if you kicked me in your sleep. So… get in here."
The bunny tried to get comfortable one last time before groaning in resignation and teetering her head in a tepid nod. She hopped down from the chair to pad over to the bed and spring up, having a bit of trouble getting purchase enough to pull herself up. The bed was made for much larger mammals than Nick or herself, meaning it was propped up higher for general convenience to them.
Her red fox snickered as her rump arched up, her feet digging into the sheets on the side of the bed to pull her way upwards. She shot him a furious glare and sat down beside him.
"You could've helped me," the doe bluntly shot at him. Nick only chuckled more and pointed a paw at the end of the bed.
"And you could've used the step stool," the tod remarked with a devious smirk. "Though I wouldn't have gotten such a wondrous view otherwise." His eyes raked up and down her form. She reached up and pushed his muzzle gently away. His eyes just kept a sideways gaze on her and she whined in defeat.
"Hold on a second," she mumbled. "Let me take off my belt and chest piece."
"I know I'll enjoy that," the tod said, laying on his side and propping up his head on his paw, giving the rabbit a hungry stare.
"I hope you're enjoying that and only that…"
"I sure am, 100 percent," he responded without letting her finish the possible threat that would follow.
With an eye roll and a slick of her ears down the back of her head, she finished removing the pieces that would be most uncomfortable to sleep in. She would have attempted to leave and grab some clothes, but visiting hours were almost over and she did not want to leave her fox.
Crawling over to the fox, she nestled in, her nose and tail twitching lightly as she felt his paws encompass her and scent fill her nose. Though his longer fur tickled her nose, she liked the softness and pressed her face further into the cream of his chest fur.
With a gentle touch, Nick dragged his claws down her ears, his muzzle dipped down and watching her tail shiver more, the closer he got to the tips of her ears further down her back. He pinched two digits over the tips of her ears and slowly rubbed, taking a secret joy in her foot trying to thump, getting nothing except the underside of the sheet. It wasn't long before he heard her start purring, her paws reaching up to grip the fur on his chest, occasionally using one to scratch slowly. They hadn't a good cuddle session for a little while now. Or at least it felt like it had been a while. With everything going on, the last time they succumbed to such a gentle embrace might have felt like it was years ago.
Judy took comfort in knowing her fox, her Nick… was right here and alive. She could feel and hear his heartbeat, his chest puffing out and receding as he breathed. The slight shift of his body as he pulled her closer and curled around the doe's body, almost protectively. She desperately tried to stop the happy thumping of her foot, but was forced to accept the fact that her reflexive reactions were going to be taking over for now.
She nuzzled against his chest, feeling his muzzle rub the top of her head as he returned the gesture. A soft purr emanated from his chest, surprising Judy, but she kept her cool and enjoyed the feeling. Hers was a higher, vibrating purr and Nick's was a lower, throatier thrum that rumbled into her like rolling thunder. It was far more comforting than real thunder though.
"And how are we doing this evening, Nicholas?" the voice of a nurse echoed into the large room. Judy stiffened and felt Nick do the same. He turned over and used his tail to hide the rabbit as she pressed herself against his back and shimmied herself further under the covers.
"I'm… good…. Pretty good," the fox answered back, clearing his throat from the recent purr that was still affecting his voice a bit as it faded away.
"You okay there?" the nurse asked, hearing the slightly off tone in his voice. Judy could hear that the voice was obviously female. A spark of protective jealousy almost made her ears perk back up, but she swallowed the feeling and kept her ears down.
"I'm perfectly fine, miss," her tod replied. "I'm just gearing up for a restful sleep. So…." He kindly gestured his head to the pillow.
"Oh, alright…" the mammal Judy couldn't see mentioned in return. She could hear her leaving as paws padded away and the door closed.
Nick turned back over, not expecting Judy to have moved as low as she did. She grinned awkwardly up at him while he raised in eyebrow in confusion, opening his maw slightly. He raised a paw, digit extended in a questioning manner for a second before he shook his muzzle and forsook the unspoken inquiry.
"I would ask but I'm sure you have reasons," was his only comment. At least… that's what she thought.
"But… while you're down there..." the fox tod began.
"No," the grey doe said bluntly and with finality that was well accompanied by her stern expression.
"Relax!" Nick said defensively, holding up his paws. "I was kitting…" His grin looked like it was tempered with a bit of guilt at making his tactless joke and the rabbit figured she could forgive the transgression.
"Don't worry, Scruffy," she spoke. "Just making sure I made my point as simply as possible."
"Fair enough," the red fox agreed. He watched as Judy then wiggled her way back up towards his chest, settling in once more.
"You know what I was thinking…" Nick began.
"Oh, my goodness, you can do that?" the doe interrupted in a sassy monotone.
"Shut up. I was thinking…" the tod paused to listen if his mate would interject once more. He could feel her smile into his chest, but she said nothing more and allowed him to continue. "…that if you gave me your blood… does that make me part bunny now?"
Judy let out a lukewarm laugh, drawing in a breath as she thought about it.
"Only until you get your fox blood back to normal."
The red fox clicked his tongue admonishingly.
"Aww… I was hoping I could be a new breed of fox… with bunny powers. The only question to answer is would I be a Box or a Funny?"
"Oh, goodness," the grey bunny forced out before she thumped his chest and laughed. "Stop, just stop. That was terrible."
"You mean like paper?" Nick responded inquisitively and with a brow wiggle. Judy groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Nope, the regular kind of terrible. Now go to sleep," the bunny doe ordered. Her fox haphazardly saluted her and tilted his muzzle down to kiss her nose.
"Night, Judy."
"Night, Scruffy…"
0000000
The hallway felt longer than usual as he made his way down it.
Having finished his recent tasks and supervisory roles, as well as a few personal things, in a timely manner, Kane nervously made his way where Umbra had directed him.
He entered an office space, looking around at the old walls and faded posters. He could still make out what a couple of them used to be, but only barely. A strange roller coaster decorated one. Another had a Ferris wheel on it. The long-ago owner of the office must have been a carnival fan.
Kane looked around for the door he was told about. His boss said there was a hidden door he had installed. The bull had to wonder how no one really knew about it if someone had to build it in. Maybe Umbra built it in himself? He did seem to know his way around mechanical tech and such. The mammal had mentioned building parts of his suit by his own devices.
Standing still for another minute, the buffalo huffed and hoped something would reveal itself.
Just as he was about to step towards one of the cabinets against the wall for a closer look, the wall with the faded posters pushed outward and slid to the side, the door having been built behind the wall itself.
Umbra stepped out, as imposing and intimidating as ever.
Wordlessly, the masked mammal gestured for Kane to enter the chamber, having much better lighting the poorly lit office he was currently standing in.
The bull pointed to himself, knowing that barely anyone knows about Umbra's private chambers and no one to any mammals' knowledge has set a paw or hoof in it.
"Me?" he asked in a rare moment of shock. Umbra let out a hollow laugh and nodded.
"Please enter," the masked mammal asked with a gentle tone.
"I… alright." Kane conceded, following the gesture of Umbra.
The inside of the chamber was rather bland but seemed to be decorated more for comfort than style. Before he could properly take in the entire room, he heard a mechanical slide and the pings of locking mechanisms in the door as it sealed itself back into place.
"Is there something wrong? Should I be worried?" the bull inquired tentatively, making sure to keep a healthy distance from his boss. He felt like he already intruding enough by just being in his private chambers. He assumed it was probably well sealed to allow the mammal inside the suit to come out and not fear breathing issues. That was if what Umbra said about the mask being a breathing apparatus was true.
"Nothing is wrong, so to say and you can choose to be worried if you wish but I wouldn't know exactly," Umbra explained cryptically. "I just realized I have reached a certain point in this plan where I need to reveal something important."
"Important?" the bull supplied.
"Yes," Umbra continued. "Recent developments have made me reevaluate how this might end and… 'adjustments' I need to make."
"What do you need to reveal, Umbra?" Kane asked, holding his breath as his boss turned his head, as if in thought.
"Everything."
The masked mammal reached up to press something on the side of his mask.
Kane's breath left him suddenly and he failed to draw in another as he could only stand in complete shock and unable to move a muscle.
There was a click and subsequent hiss as the mask dislodged itself and Umbra pulled it forward slowly…
Oooooh... ooooh... *insert more ghostly noises here*
No idea if I would call this a cliffhanger, but certainly aside from the norm.
Can't wait to see your reactions. From here things start to get... fast paced. I think. You guys and gals tell me when i release the next chapter. haha.
REVIEWS!:
Venomheart the Dreamer: I'll take that as a complement. lol. the tragic part. though i would also say the same for Umbra. I wanted to make them hard to read, predict, and well... anything. I'm just hoping Umbra doesnt come to life bc then i'm screwed.
Leon Banz: Well that was funny. Glad you only fainted. By the way... check your face in the mirror when you wake up. i think Nick drew buck teeth on you with a sharpie.
ShadowRaven27: Thank you for all those wonderfully worded and odd (in a good way) complements. I do hope i can provide that and will continue to try.
GUNSLINGER99: yes they are. hehe. i couldnt resist. who could?
Starfang's Secrets: Thank you for saying so and since we know only like... three lines or so from the tiny fox... i figured there was wiggle room for artistic interpretation concerning his character. So, I figured i would make him a gruff older brother type.
and yes... hehe. that part between Nick and Judy was fun to write. I wanted to make it longer but figured it would come off as... too steamy.
Merecor: Thanks alot and i'm glad you thought so. I love writing cute stuff, though not too often.
peacebringer89: Glad you saw it. I based the outfit loosely on Vader's design for hiding the mammal's identity and felt obligated to make a reference.
Guest: It was meant to be slow for a little bit. but it's winding up for a pretty fun roller coaster like launch.
GusTheBear: I wanted to induct him sooner but i didnt want to just make up an excuse to do so, instead picking a future point that took longer than i thought to get there. and thank you. I cant wait to get the next chapter out.
Fox in the hen house: If only i could find a way to write that in without calling it something supernatural. lol. I couldnt resist making the reference.
Rylovix: glad to know you liked it that much. haha. and that it was a story that flowed well enough that you could actually do that. very much appreciated.
DONE!
Boom! there were alot of you reviewing this time. I'm glad you all take the time to do so and hope to continue writing them. I love the confidence boost and feedback.
Alrighty then, I hope you all have a pawsitively grape knight and I plane to keep you on your toes the next few chapters. Yes i made those spelling errors on purple. not bat one though... or that bun.
Until next time, It's been a hustle, Sweethearts.