Election
An evil mastermind lurks in the shadows plotting revenge on the unsuspecting citizens of our fair Zootopia. She has plans that could spell doom for our good Mayor Le Pew and steal the election right out from under our vigilant heroes. Finally we get to the election. It was a long time coming and signals the start of some momentous changes ahead. Other questions are answered such as how Judy is going to deal with her amorous buck and Drew with the affections of a celebrity superstar. There is even quite a lot of fun banter with Nick involved. That always makes for some amusing conversations.
Zoodate: 130-133 P.C.
As the inmate glared at the moronic bucktoothed face of the beaver her associates had sent as her supposed lawyer, she tried to keep cool. But dealing with all these idiots was becoming tiresome. She adjusted her extra large glasses and glared up into the camera in the corner wishing she could reach through it's lens and strangle every fucking screw in this godforsaken place. She had been in this hellhole for well over a year now. Far too long in her opinion, sharing the same air as these scum predators thinking their growls, claws and sharp teeth scared her. She glared at each of them every day with disdain. They had learned to back away and give her space, or they learned her small form had a much more vicious bite as she would send her goons to put any troublemaker in their place. For she owned this prison and she made sure all the mammals inside knew it.
Soon she would be getting out, or so she had thought, but apparently her associates couldn't even tie their shoelaces without her showing them how, and had allowed the stupid skunk and her friends to somehow make a comeback destroying all her perfect well laid plans. And now they were desperate and had taken this great risk in contacting her in this way. Didn't they know the fact she was meeting a lawyer, if this beaver even knew what a statute or writ was, would be timed and recorded into the log book? Well if she could clean up their incompetence and wrest control of the government, she could have the log books scrubbed when they took over. She couldn't ever find any help that could think for themselves anymore. It seemed every one working for her group had to be told every tiny detail of what to do, and were incapable of reacting for fear they would make a mistake. If they had simply used their brains, they could have easily responded to the skunk's tactics.
She had to admit that she had underestimated the skunk as she didn't think miss goody two-shoes had it in her to make some of the more devious and unscrupulous moves employed to turn this election back to her side. Perhaps there were other players involved. It mattered not, as simple steps could have been taken to fix all those actions if her subordinates had any brains.
Well she was going to have to pull some big moves to turn this around being down 15 points with just three days remaining before the election. It would require a true genius mastermind. A mind incapable of restraint, compassion, honor and fair play, things for the weak and losers, not someone capable of pulling a bloodless coup of the entire government. Well relatively bloodless… she couldn't help it if a few liters of red were spilled during a bit of convincing every now and then.
As least they spared her the indignity of wearing restraining cuffs after a long waiver signed by her visitor of course. She didn't do damage with her hooves or teeth. She had proven her devious mind and attention to detail, foresight and ruthlessness were far more dangerous than all the simpletons which she currently found herself surrounded by put together. All her brilliant previous plans all undone by an ambitious rookie cop and an unwitting sneaky accomplice. Well she couldn't give them complete credit as her vanity and overconfidence had certainly contributed to seal her fate. But she had certainly learned many things since that time. She had gained many contacts, both dim-wits to be used as muscle for simple tasks, as well as somewhat functional underlings like the nervous beaver sitting across from her. But the most important contacts were her unnamed associates who had ambition, money, power and at least a glimmer of foresight. Foresight enough to at least realize they needed someone, a true mastermind, to handle all the planning, detail, monitoring and direction to accomplish the unthinkable. They had chosen her to wrest control of the entire government and political system to execute an agenda and vision they all shared. Her time incarcerated had taught her humility, contingency planning, caution, risk management and a dedication to get things right for a change. But it was revenge that fed her soul. It was seething disdain for the little mammals that scurried about the entire civilized world not recognizing the real enemy, and failing to realize she sought to save them all. They needed a shepherd to direct the mindless herd, and she was that mammal.
Her sneer and beady eyes moved from contemplating all this to focus on the nervous beaver. The pathetic creature noticed her gaze had begun to bore into its soul and it acted appropriately terrified. Good! At least the pathetic henchman they had gifted her with knew his place. At least he is not so delusional to think he means anything at all, and recognizes he sits across from pure malevolent genius. The bucktoothed idiot lived at her discretion and he knew it. She glared intently with abject malice until a slight smell of urine wafted in her direction informing her she had sufficiently cowed this proffered aide.
"Name!" She sneered adjusting her oversized glasses to get a better look at the terror on the beaver's pathetic muzzle. She had to amuse herself somehow.
"Um… Mal… Malcolm Ma'am." The skittish beaver answered apprehensively.
"Well Malcolm, you know why you're here I assume?" She asked not expecting an intelligible answer.
"Ah… our associates… The Protectors… need to know what to do."
Good! At least the creature has some clue. "And you have what is required to take this gifted knowledge back to the appropriate members?" She asked not particularly hopeful in the response.
"Um… I… I brought a hidden encrypted digital recorder and notepad as specified."
Ah nice. The thing that helped put her away in the first place would now serve as an instrument of her liberation. How ironic. "And you know how to take notes shorthand in code?" She inquired praying they did not send her another incompetent boob.
"Of course. I… I can take notes at sustained levels of over a 100 words a minute."
Impressive. If he is telling the truth. Well the creature knows the price of failure so he must be sure of himself to some extent. The beaver didn't strike her as suicidal. He seemed to value his pelt, "I certainly hope so for your sake. Well we don't have much time so let's get to it."
With that she began describing every detail to turn this fiasco around. Her plan was quite cunning and inventive even for her. But it depended on underlings doing exactly what they were instructed and some talented editors and stolen video and documents. As she continued laying out the detailed blueprint of her master plan, she couldn't help but notice the impressed nod and grin from time to time from this beaver, Malcolm. Well possibly the creature was not a complete imbecile after all. It was good she was dealing with someone that appreciated pure genius for a change. Perhaps she would have use for the beaver once she was free of her confinement. Everything depended on the actions of simpletons. It was so frustrating being stuck behind these walls not being able to watch over their shoulders making sure every order was executed to perfection. She sighed in exasperation. It would have to do. As she finished every intricate detail and instruction, every contingency, every response for any possible response by the skunk and whatever other players were now involved, she grinned. This election was a chess game and she was a Grand Master. The greatest in the history of Zootopia politics and government.
The high Judy felt after the events of the concert was euphoric. She couldn't have scripted a day better… well… except for the whole Finley episode and Gazelle stealing her mate part of course. But all the other seemed to make that seem insignificant. They would figure out a way to solve all that, she just knew it.
She was sore from the constant surprises, jubilant dancing and hopping during the concert, and the impassioned attentions of her mate once they finally had a moment of privacy after they got home. The bunny had no energy, but she didn't let that stop her as the lovers wished to prove their feelings were true and completely uncompromised from the trying events of the day. Thank goodness she had the day off to recover as it hurt to even shift slightly out of the warm embrace of the one responsible for much of that soreness. Not that she was complaining. She could lie here in his arms all day.
As she painfully turned to face him, she was gladdened to see he had a slight satisfied smile on his face as he slept. Glancing at the clock she saw that they had been asleep for over ten hours and it was afternoon already. She decided to wake him in his preferred way as she gently pressed her lips to his, feeling the soft smoothness. It was taking a bit longer than usual to wake him from his slumber, but she noticed his smile had gotten wider and she decided to be a bit more insistent in her efforts. Finally she felt him clutch her and press her head and ears into his neck with a gentle hug. She was then rewarded with a nice scalp massage and ear rubbing.
"Back for more already?" He teased her.
She yawned and hugged him around the chest, "Not unless you want me in a great deal of discomfort. I think every part of me is sore."
"Well you know how much I would dislike that, but what about if we don't move?" He suggested impishly.
She then felt something warm and smooth touching her in her happy place. Well… perhaps if neither of them moved it would be okay. Thankfully the human couldn't smell the marking of the buck. One good thing about humans having virtually no sense of smell she supposed. She had tried to wash it off in the shower and tub but the faint scent still clung to her. Well as long as it didn't bother him, she was fine. It was designed to warn, irritate and discourage other bucks not humans. If it bothered her companion, he certainly gave no indication based on the previous nights activities that was sure.
After they explored how much happiness they could share with minimal muscle movement, they both got cleaned up and headed to the kitchen for some imported top-rated Deri Kochoha Espresso and Belgian waffles with piles of strawberries, blueberries, freshly whipped imported cream and Canadian pure maple syrup. A listless furry red form appeared sniffing seemingly pulled along following his snout.
"I made plenty for you as well. Grab what you want." The human informed the sluggish yawning fox.
The fox poured himself a generous cup of the espresso and grabbed a couple of the large waffles adding a generous pile of toppings and joined his roommates. The three ate silently for awhile enjoying the delicious carbohydrates and exquisite creamy liquid caffeine filled with so many subtle flavors dancing on the taste buds.
"Well this is light years away from the stuff at the station." The fox remarked with a satisfied expression.
"More space references, really?" The slightly irked bunny responded.
"I declare a truce until we all feel something akin to normal." The peacemaking human declared.
"Yes, Mr. Ambassador, whatever you say. I am still amazed we could get you through the door last night with that giant head of yours." The fox snidely remarked.
"I am afraid to ask, but what are you referring to Nick?" A still recovering human inquired.
"Okay let's see. You got to lead all your friends to an experience most mammals would kill for. Keeping secrets from them and springing them on them one after the other. Oh, and you have the biggest celebrity in the world hot for your junk. I'd say that qualifies." The mischievous instigator of most of the drama of the previous day mocked.
"Well I had no idea about that very last surprise. I was just as shocked as all of you. I think I will have that image of you being led around the stage by your tie the rest of my life. But you know how I feel about that situation with Gazelle. For one thing, the thought of more publicity and media scrutiny is the last possible thing I could want. I have been praying they would forget me eventually, and that would be the worst possible thing to happen to accomplish that. And you very well know I have my hands full just keeping this little gray bundle of fluff here satisfied. Even if I had any interest whatsoever in the pop-star, which I certainly don't, you think I could ever satisfy someone like that? I am woefully inexperienced in that area and not so delusional to think I would offer anything to a master of love and relationships. I really have no idea what her interest in me is. I mean I am sort of flattered, but I am overwhelmed enough by my lovely bunny here as it is." Drew tried to explain.
"Well you are far too critical of you capabilities especially based on your efforts last night." Judy grinned admonishing him and becoming quite pleased with his admissions concerning her idol.
"So you two admitted you were having all the makeup sex I offered you earlier that day? You guys were quite a bit noisier than normal you know." The fox grinned slyly thinking he had finally gotten them to admit they were doing what he already very well knew they were.
"I admit to nothing except loving this sweet delightful little ball of fuzz." The human maintained with a great deal of conviction wiping his mouth off and giving her a kiss on the head.
"Awwww… Nick… shame on you for listening. I thought you swore not to listen." The bunny reminded him.
"That offer was earlier at that specific time not in perpetuity." The fox grinned.
"Where did you learn that word?" The human wondered.
"So I have been enjoying some of your human crime shows lately. A lot of the legal mumbo jumbo is the same as here. I gotta understand at least some of what the prosecutors, judges and attorneys are saying. Carrots nearly throttled me the last time I was testifying and nearly blew the case." The fox remarked.
"How could you have said the suspect should have been acquitted with some deodorant? You should never use the words suspect and acquitted in the same sentence. You're a cop." The thoroughly perturbed bunny chastised.
"I meant to say acquainted not acquitted. And he stank! My poor nose was messed up for a week." The embarrassed fox admitted.
"It is not polite to say that about a wolverine anyway. I know their smelly musk thing is overpowering. I nearly passed out. But you shouldn't say that. Their defense lawyer then said you admitted to being biased by his smell with that statement and even tried to convince the jury he should be released free of any charges based on your testimony." Judy admonished.
"A lot of mammals are quite pungent to me. I have no idea how you guys stand them." Drew remarked.
"You learn to turn off your sniffer sometimes, otherwise you really would be overwhelmed." The fox explained.
"Well this one smelled extra wonderful last night. So fresh and clean." The human declared.
"I was extra clean and shiny after all the bathing." She explained.
"I wonder what all that was about Carrots. Could it have something to do with some amorous markings by your bunny fiancee? He certainly made his feelings quite clear, all over in fact, especially in the fluffy part in the rear." The mischievous fox reminded them all.
"Oh so that was what all the bathing was about. Well you smelled great to me." The human granted.
"Fiancee, really Nick? Reminding us of all your handiwork. I have no idea how to get out of this mess with him now." Judy sighed in frustration.
"Well if it is any consolation, after all he saw of you up close and personal, I am sure he had many remembrances of that event as he humped himself to sleep last night." The disgusting fox tormented.
"Ewww… that is disgusting. How could he do that while thinking of me? And how could he hump by himself anyway?" The appalled bunny wondered.
"Oh I am sure he could have done the thinking of you part without your visual aide. But you made certain he would never forget you. Your brothers never have a humping buddy to relieve some buck stress?" Seeing the confused look on the bunny's face he continued, "You know… like a stuffed animal or pillow or something? Something good for grabbing onto and humping bunny style."
Judy considered this for a moment and they got a queasy appalled look on her face, "You mean… THAT is why my brothers still had stuffed female bunny dolls? I thought they were just hanging on to their childhood. No wonder we had to wash those things all the time. Blech! That is disgusting!"
"Well they don't have hands like your human here. And even if they did, they are probably too small down there for it to work well anyway. Except your big buck Finley of course." The fox laughed seeing his partner's lower ears, furrowed brow and angry glare. He could imagine steam coming off the top of her head.
The bunny gave him some good punches in the arm, "I owe you some serious retribution after what you said to Gazelle and everyone else. That was unforgivable telling everyone that! That was nearly as embarrassing as what happened with Finley in the first place."
"I'm sorry Carrots, I just had that image in my mind of your face frozen staring at his little bucky like that. Hey, how did you know it was bigger than normal anyway? When did miss sweet and innocent get a gander at a representative sampling of fully aroused bucks anyway?" Nick realizing he had caught the bunny quite expertly.
Judy thought about how to answer. If she said her brothers, well that sounded quite bad and she hadn't ever seen one of them completely excited down there anyway. She had caught them by accident a few times humping their girlfriends when she was younger, but hadn't actually seen anything but their bare butts. Bucks normally kept that part hidden safely away inside them unless they were excited, so seeing her brothers naked hundreds of times didn't ever reveal that piece of them thankfully. The fox also didn't know about the rabbit orientation where she would have seen at least that one. And she didn't want to admit the real truth about her dating history which actually answered the question about why she knew he was a bit larger. Drew knew, as she had admitted it the first night they were together in that special way, but she had never told Nick any details about her sexual history. It was bad enough dealing with him as it was without providing him ammunition with which to relentlessly attack. She decided the best answer was a partial truth.
"Some bucks, and not my relatives I want to make that very clear, showed me theirs in the past, so that's how I knew, okay." Judy admitted implying that it might not have been her choice. It had been her choice, but only to save herself from being humped, not because she wanted to see or touch them. Blech! None of those things, not even Drew's, remotely turned her on. They were actually fairly disgusting. She didn't mind her mates because it made him feel good when she paid attention to it. But she didn't understand females that were attracted to them. Some of her sisters liked them for some reason. But the vast majority were far more interested in the attentions of the bucks themselves and not that part of them. She didn't mind them if she loved the mammal attached to them in that special way, but otherwise she wanted them as far away from her as possible. She figured her love felt the same way as she was nothing like a human female down there, and that he merely enjoyed making her feel wonderful. She asked him once if female snuggle parts turned him on. He did admit very nice looking human female parts did arouse him, and any part of her did as well not just that particular part. But the parts on any other Zootopians he had seen didn't have that effect. He explained human males are very visual. They didn't have the senses of other species. So things like pheromones, musks, scent markings, and many other esoteric and non-visual cues didn't really come into play for human males so they mostly focused on visual cues. Well as long as she made him excited, that was all that mattered to her. She never saw what the big deal was with doe parts anyway. But bucks sure seemed to like them as she certainly found out yesterday. She thought this was quite strange as buck parts looked nearly the same as a doe if the buck was not aroused except for the fleshy pads on the sides of course. All the sex stuff had been quite confusing her whole life. No wonder Tala had so many questions. She just wished she had any of the answers.
"So bucks just flash does all the time? We arrest mammals for things like that here in the city as you well know. There a different set of laws in Bunnyburrow?" The inquisitive fox wanted to know.
The rules definitely were different in Bunnyburrow as it was understood that bucks had out of control hormones and were given some forgiveness and leeway for many of their aggressive sexual actions. If this hadn't been done, many of her brothers and a large part of the male population of bunnies would have been arrested as sex offenders once or numerous times in their life. If a doe led on a buck in Bunnyburrow, they had better we willing to accept the results of such actions. It was something that the human and her ZPD partner couldn't understand. But it is why she did not blame Finley for what happened at all. He was being a buck. It was her and Nick's fault, mostly Nick's fault.
"Let's just say bucks get quite excited all the time and leave it at that. Speaking of excited bucks, I still have to figure out what to do with Finley." Judy wondered.
"Well I would try and make some excuses for awhile and see if he will give up. You don't have to lie. If there is no other choice, or you ever find yourself in any situation where you have any possibly of being compromised like yesterday, don't hesitate to tell him the truth. I would rather risk the consequences of that than ever risk you like that." The human suggested.
She had already guessed that would be his stand on the issue, but it was good to know he cared so much about her. Not that she ever doubted he did. But she did have other concerns, "What about the situation with Gazelle?"
"Well that one is a lot simpler. I can just tell her the truth… not the whole truth of course." He added seeing her expression, "She of all mammals would understand if I wished to pursue a relationship I was currently in to see where it ultimately led first. I would just neglect to mention the who and the indefinite duration."
"Well she would think you are nuts to turn her down." The fox chided.
"You really think Gazelle is a better match for me than Judy? Come on Nick… you know me well enough to answer that." Drew challenged.
"No Furless, I admit I couldn't see you and Carrots at first, but you and Her Worshipfulness? Yes, that is quite ridiculous. At least you and Carrots can stumble aimlessly along together like the blind leading the blind. The question is which one of you is blinder?" The fox debated with a sly grin.
"Well my ego and confidence are quite strengthened by that ringing endorsement Nick." The human responded sarcastically.
"Glad to help." The fox responded with a grin.
They then went through Sammy's delivery of all the items from the concert including those from the Souvenir Room, Gazelle's personal gift and each of their flash drives. The items were put safely away. Drew and Judy shared the contents of their flash drive with Nick on the large 4K television in their living room as none of the personal photos they had taken would have shocked their fox friend. He had seen far more out of them in his time as their roommate. They all especially enjoyed the photos of their whole group in the photo booth and all the photos with Gazelle and her tigers. They didn't have to worry about a video of the concert as they would have an Ultra HD 4K version in about a month. But Drew actually got a call from Gazelle's manager and they actually couriered over a copy of the raw footage captured from Rob Nutter's cameras synced to the soundboard recording to enjoy in the meantime. Nick had a good summary for the digital 4K video they watched especially some of the stuff shot on the high speed 4K 2000 fps cameras for ultra slow motion footage of Gazelle and the four gorgeous felines.
"Whelp, that is a bit of an improvement over videos shot on a mobile." The fox massively understated.
"Well the footage is extremely proprietary and copy protected which was why they didn't even want to risk a digital trail, so I agreed it never leaves this apartment. We need to have Ben and Brian over sometime to check it out. We owed them a date night over here anyway to check out the karaoke system anyway." Drew suggested.
"You are really on a mission to give that jolly cheetah a heart attack aren't you?" Nick jokingly questioned his motives.
"Hush Nick, the exercise of dancing would do him good. And that is a bit cruel of a thing to say after what happened with him. Did he go for tests like he promised today?" Judy wondered.
"I got email earlier from Ben letting me know he got all the items delivered safely from Sammy, and that he had gone in for tests like promised. He hasn't gotten all the results from the tests, but the initial analysis was as good as we could have hoped. The doctors said he didn't experience anything damaging, just what we already knew. That he was morbidly obese, out of shape, and at risk for a whole host of potential problems including diabetes, coronary heart disease, hypertension, stroke, numerous cancers and disease, respira..." The human informed them.
"We get the picture. Lots of fun stuff. Way to bring me down Furless." The fox interrupted.
"Which is how I want you to stay." An angry rabbit told the fox, "Don't think I didn't forget your little pants dropping thing you pulled in front of Gazelle. I owe you some severe punishment for that."
"I didn't realize you were into that Carrots." The fox responded with a mischievous grin, "Your time at Tail Whip get you to explore your wild side? Would you have truly not stopped me from a full show if Furless hadn't?"
"Nope. I would have liked Gazelle's expert critique Mr. I'm Full Of Myself. She may have demanded Charlotte's information back she was so disappointed." The annoyed bunny answered with a jab of her own.
"Cold. Getting feisty I see. You just didn't want me showing up your boyfriend that's it, admit it." The fox counter attacked.
"That is a contest you would lose extremely badly and you know it." The frustrated bunny answered.
"Come up guys. This is juvenile. We are all adults here. If you are going to throw insults at least keep them above a third grade level." The human chastised the pair.
"Sorry. He just made me so furious." The bunny frowned remembering all the things the fox had pulled the previous day.
"Operation Corrupt Carrots is in full force." The annoying fox gave himself a self-satisfied grin.
A bit later in the day Judy got a call from Finley which was quite unusual as she had never given him her number. Apparently a determined Finley not surprisingly had resources to get such information. He called with the pretense to make sure she had gotten home okay from the concert and to discuss the unusual events involving Judy during the actual concert portion of the evening. Judy politely discussed the events and her enjoyment. But she knew the real reason he was calling and just kept trying to put it off. But Finley seemed happy to talk her to her all evening it seemed, and it was getting them nowhere. She decided finally that a proactive approach was necessary and asked the buck, "Finley I wanted to be honest with you, but I didn't want to say anything to make you upset as I value you dearly. Is it okay if I speak honestly?"
"Of course my dear Judy. I would like nothing else but for you to feel able to speak to me freely about anything you wish. Is something troubling you my sweet?" The lovestruck bunny responded.
"Well… that is good then. I just… Well what happened between us yesterday just shocked me quite a bit. I guess I wasn't prepared for that." That was for sure! "It just frightened me is all as I had just met you and… I am not that kind of doe at all… not even close." Judy admitted to the buck pretty much telling the full truth.
"And for that I am extremely sorry my dear. I so apologize for my boorish behavior. It was inexcusable. I certainly know you are certainly not that kind of doe, and that is a good part of the reason for my strong feelings and attraction for you. I am not looking for that kind of doe at all. Quite the opposite. I am the bee looking for the freshly bloomed pristine spring flower that is you. You are as the newly fallen snow, your smile is powerful enough to make the sun rise just to see it's radiance, your laugh a voice that cleanses the soul and nourishes the heart, your smell and taste sweeter than nectar, your touch electricity that gives life and provides promise of a future worth living." The eloquent amorous buck intoned.
Wow, this buck sure doesn't make this easy. She hadn't ever met any buck… or any male for that matter the likes of Finley Fuzzbottom. Who talks like that? He talks like some prince from a fairy tale.
"I… um… Finley… that is really beautiful and flattering. But I wanted you to know that it is all a bit much for me. I am overwhelmed. I am not ready to have kids, to be a wife and mother. My career is very important to me. It is something I have worked nearly my entire life to achieve. I am not ready to give it up for a very long time. It is the reason I left my family home and came here. It is the reason I get up in the morning. I can't let anything interfere with that as it is part of who I am now." Judy laid her strongest argument and a nearly complete truth and hoped for the best.
"Judy… I didn't realize you felt that way. I apologize if you felt I was pushing you towards anything you felt compromised who you were. I suppose my emotions and interest in you may have given you that impression. I certainly have those intentions towards you for the long term as I wanted you to know my interest in you was honorable and not of an insincere base nature. That I saw you as someone I wished to get to know that could fit that role for me when we were both ready. The thought of making you uncomfortable is a dagger in my heart. I hope you understand that I might have given you that impression only because I wanted you to be sure my intentions were pure and true." The apologetic buck countered.
Well I knew it wasn't going to be easy. This bunny wasn't going away quickly that is for sure.
"Well it was just overwhelming all at once rushed like that. I hope you can understand that I need some time to get my head straight and figure out how I feel. Is that okay?" The hopeful doe asked.
"Of course my sweet. It has been rude of me not to consider your feelings in the matter. Just know I have your best interests at heart. Your love is like a prize collection of fruits and vegetables, tomatoes, squash, carrots, cabbage, all have to be carefully tended and treated with extreme care in order to grow them to perfection. They can't be rushed and must be carefully watered and given proper nourishment to grow and thrive. The farmer must know the perfect time to harvest the fruits of his labor and finally gaze on that perfection lovingly cradling it in his arms. That is how I see you my love, and can be as patient as I need to be as perfection is a journey of patience and time. How long do you need?" The persistent buck responded.
Wow! Farming metaphors now. Really? Where does this buck come up with stuff? Sigh, well let's try to buy myself a bit of time, "Several days at least. I have your number and will call you when I feel more comfortable."
"Of course my angel, I will count the moments and keep thoughts of you in my heart til next we speak." With that Finley ended the call.
Darn that Fox! Oh droppings I am in trouble.
"So how did that go?" An anxious human asked.
"Well I bought a few days, but shaking him is just not going to be a simple matter. Not by a long shot." The bunny responded with grimace.
She was rewarded with an understanding kiss and hug.
A bit later Drew received a call from Gazelle's manager and after a brief discussion he was connected to the singer. He thanked her for everything she had done at the concert giving his friends the time of their lives and for the raw footage of the concert they had watched earlier. They chatted for awhile about various topics until the superstar asked the question the human had been delaying, "My dear ambassador, Drew, please tell me what troubles you. Know you can be honest with me."
"I wanted you to know I considered your request quite carefully. But I wasn't completely honest with you earlier merely because it was a private matter and I wished to protect someone that means a great deal to me. I am currently seeing someone and have been for awhile. I wanted to see where it was going and explore all the possibilities with her just as you had recommended yesterday. She means so much to me and her privacy is my utmost concern. It is not a matter of trust as I trust you and all my friends completely. But it is not just me alone involved, and you being in the public as well can understand how much protecting her privacy is of paramount importance." The human responded with a carefully constructed admission.
"Ah... I understand. I was wondering why you were so reticent. Again normally I could tell if someone was involved in such a healthy happy relationship, but you are an enigma to me and so were unreadable. I will certainly respect your wishes, and would still very much like to get to know as a friend. Just feel free to be honest with me and tell me what you can and let me know if you are open to exploring love outside your current relationship. You are sure she is not open to a more open and sharing relationship? Having others involved together in a close relationship can be quite enjoyable. You should consider exploring those possibilities. I am quite open to sharing that love with another female for such special case." The singer explored the possibilities.
"I am quite sure of her feelings on that matter. She is quite traditional and I respect that about her and only want to make her as comfortable as possible with a relationship which has tested her limits constantly and considerably already." The human admitted the truth.
"She sounds like she truly means a great deal to you. I will respect your wishes of course dear friend. Do not concern yourself with me at all concerning this. I do know how difficult being in the public eye can be on relationships. It has caused quite a few problems in the past as some are not able to handle such scrutiny. It is one reason why I considered someone else already in that public eye to be an ideal companion. I… what? Drew please hang on… one of my assistants has something on the news that must be quite important for him to interrupt me for… I will be right back with you." Gazelle left the call for awhile.
"Ambassador… Drew… please check the news. I was afraid they were going to pull this kind of stunt." A somewhat stressed sounding Gazelle exclaimed.
Hearing her voice so shaken was a warning sign that something significant was going on, "What channel?" The concerned human asked.
"Any of them." A nearly frantic Gazelle responded.
"Oh God! I will be in touch with you later once I know what is going on. Bye." A now very distressed human said as he turned on the television and grabbed a laptop to check all social media outlets.
He had a right to be troubled as it was as if all the media sources of the world had exploded at once.
A plan had been implemented to change the face of Zootopia forever. The execution had been carried out to the exacting instructions of an impossibly devious unscrupulous mind. For truth and morals were concepts to be ignored and disdained by this power hungry group bent on implementing their vision for the future at any cost.
It started with fanatics and mindless followers taking to the street destroying and defacing anything to do with the Mayor and her supporters. It was well planned and carried at all at once. Within an hour not a poster, pamphlet, sticker, button, leaflet, ad, banner, no trace of the Mayor's campaign remained. Followers on the streets wearing supporting shirts or buttons were accosted and stripped of anything having to do with the skunk. LED screens downtown with images were hacked and now displayed a new edited message of the Mayor thanking everyone for supporting her new military initiative showing marching humans with guns with images of her welcoming a seeming invasion.
For this was the new plan of The Protectors. They would use the old fears. The feelings of terror from the Covenant conspiracy to instill panic in the public. The panic of invasion, of weapons of destruction, of fears of the evil of humanity and their love for military conquest.
First they started with news stories about humans roaming the countryside threatening the population. They then showed the lights in the sky and declared that the cause was humans searching for mammals to abduct. Then the stories continued indicating the humans were taking mammals by the hundreds and inferred they were being tortured and eaten. Several videos of bones of mammals were shown being found in the woods. They had interviews with numerous family members and witnesses and tearful heart wrenching stories showing children and wives or husbands in tears thinking of the horrors done to their loved ones. To confirm everything was true they showed a redacted report from the Mayors office mentioning the lights, humans and the remote southern areas south of Bunnyburrow. The problem was that the reports had quite a lot of truths about them and the narrative they told was possibly true but unconfirmed. They were well crafted and timed perfectly.
The problem the Mayor's office had was that if they tried to tell the truth of the story, it would make them look like they were complicit and knew about everything. Such an admission would also make it seem all the other parts of the story were true. To make matters worse The Protectors had gotten someone in her administration to flip and admit most of what the reports said were true. The public would then easily assume that everything was true and worse yet that the Mayor was in league with the supposedly rampaging and invading humans. Rumors were rampant that the humans were taking the mammals to experiment on them and develop new more deadly serums to infect the entire population. The rumors became so prevalent that many news organizations were reporting them as fact.
As the Mayor's office attempted to try to deny that they were in league with this outside threat, they could neither confirm nor deny the information that dominated every media outlet, news organization and social media source. Rumors of all sorts were spreading about the plans of these humans and their partnership with the current Zootopia government. And the public were eating every one up believing every word.
Once this uproar was at a fever pitch, the next phase of the plan was ready waiting on the Mayor's response that The Protectors knew was coming. The Mayor's office pointed to the extensive preparations they had done to protect the city and entire region from any threat and attack. The public already knew about all this, but it was the only thing the Mayor could point to and show they were on the citizens side against whatever threat they faced.
Almost immediately the media was hit with videos showing similar defensive weapons and humans firing such weapons as Stingers and defensive missiles and destroying all manner of air vehicles. Then they mixed footage of RPGs fired at vehicles destroying and killing everything in its path. They took video of mammals testing the effectiveness of the AWRE system smiling and pointing and then cut to a rough special effect of a gondola full of mammals exploding and the horror in the air showing the destruction. Then footage of humans waging war from actual military exercises, to scenes from movies and special effects of destruction and bloody body parts. Next they showed hundreds of humans marching with guns, tanks, bombs, and humans happily firing high powered rifles and numerous automatic weapons and the resulting destruction. The way it was cut suggested that the defensive weapons brought in were just part of a full military offensive by the humans. The stories and rumors from this video package were expected and devastating to the public's confidence. The Mayor's office tried to explain that these were merely defensive weapons and posed no harm to the citizens. But again they were thrown on the defensive.
The old fears of a human invasion were now on everyone's lips. When were the humans coming and what did they plan to do to them when they got there? Videos of the very worst of humanity continued to steadily be shown on the news, gossip shows, newspapers and the internet. Mass murder, terrorism, serial killers, weapons of death and destruction of every type, blood and death, murder and mayhem, this seemed to be the only thing humans were capable of if these videos were to believed.
Many videos showing the portal and cuts to humans with guns marching and running around firing and tossing explosives so that the two seemed to be associated with each other. The public was in a panic and it was the only thing on everyone's mind. To their credit, the Mayor, The Office of Human Affairs, Reynard's group, The Mayor's campaign, Gazelle, Honey Badger and her group all denied the association of humans and a coming human invasion and the current government. They did everything possible to deny and defend, and The Protectors sat back and watched patiently until Monday afternoon and implemented their next phase.
The Protectors came out and claimed to be the only ones capable of defending Zootopia from the human invasion that was already taking place outside their doors. They accused the Mayor's office about knowing of this threat and not informing the public because they were secretly in league with the force. They pointed to Mayor's close ties to humanity and how their human allies even provided them massive military equipment. The Protectors claimed this was to turn against the public when they ultimately rebelled against the incoming invasion. The Protectors described a plan by the Mayor to bring many more humans, destructive weapons and human horrors such as jet fighters and tanks using evidence of some leakied reports by the security council to prove that the Mayor's office had plans to bring these destructive devices and armed humans to Zootopia to wage a war of death on it's people.
The Protectors then outlined their plan to save Zootopia from this evil by creating a special elite force of mammals called the DD, The Defender Division, specially trained to defend Zootopia from this new threat of Mayor Le Pew as well as any new threat that threatened the good people of Zootopia. The Protectors were only ones with a plan and the solutions to save them all. The Protectors would dedicate themselves so they always kept vigilant and made sure they had the best personnel, weapons, vehicles and technology to do the job of keeping Zootopia safe.
That is when the third parties hired by The Protectors began running non-stop stories and accusations against the current administration mostly with just enough truth to sound plausible, and many outright complete lies and falsehoods using completely falsified and doctored evidence. The Protectors kept themselves separate from any of these groups so that if any of the lies were discovered none of the blame and negative blow back would come their way. It was a coordinated attack on every media outlet. It was an impossible task for all the Mayor's allies to defend against every one of these.
Even with all these efforts by The Protectors, the Mayor and her allies were only slightly behind in the polls. It was a miracle they even still had any support, but the courageous efforts of these allies had at least done a good enough job to put many of the motives of The Protectors in question, and cause most of the stories spread to be determined to have dubious validity. On election day The Mayor came out and reemphasized her relation with humanity and how proud and confident she was with them by Zootopia's side to help defend it's people.
As if timed in response to her statements, videos appeared over every media outlet showing a horror show of epic proportions. It was the true human plans for Zootopia. The slaughter of mammals by the millions to feed the voracious appetites of the humans. The skinning of them to use to wear and sit upon. The stuffing of them as trophies and decoration. The caging of them in these things called zoos to laugh and jeer at. It was a non-stop media blast of horror. Scenes from slaughterhouses, butcher shops, safaris, tanning factories, experimental research labs, dog fights, zoos with suffering animals, scenes of humans shopping for coats, belts, chairs, sofas and even pants made from mammal skins, all were shown along with sinister music and voice overs explaining this is what humanity did to mammals in their own world and what they planned to do to the Zootopians.
The videos showed humans happily eating their mammal brethren. Dead rabbits, sheep, deer, camels, kangaroos, yaks, bison, buffalo, goats, horse, pigs, elk, even rats, all were shown slaughtered, skinned and enjoyed to satisfy the diets of these supposed human friends.
This last minute blast put the final nail in the coffin carrying the election for The Protectors. The Mayor and her allies did all they could but overcoming this massive campaign of misinformation and negativity was just too much. They had no time to counter such a move. Before it was over, Mayor Le Pew had been defeated as well as two thirds of the current council all replaced by these Protectors. They also took most of the judge-ships, the top leadership of the ZPD which oversaw Chief Bogo and each precinct in the city, and most all elected official positions in the government.
Mayor Le Pew gave a very eloquent and impassioned concession speech thanking everyone who had supported her and described how she had enjoyed her years serving the city she loved. She reiterated that she regretted nothing she had done in her time in office and everything was to help the city and every citizen. She explained that the last few days showed how dirty politics could be, and to be sure to keep vigilant and make sure their freedoms and way of life were respected and maintained. The Mayor didn't blame those who had lost faith in her the last few days even though the boos from her supporters suggested that they didn't share her opinion. She said that the citizens were swayed by fear and suspicion, and it was very easy to give in to those feelings in the face of such an onslaught. She had hoped that her years of service and tireless work for the city would have spoken for itself, but that it was politics and such things happened. The Mayor thanked every citizen of Zootopia for making her time so rewarding and hoped the new government would stay true to their promises and treat all the citizens of the city she loved with respect and devotion.
The Protectors held a huge rally displaying their new symbol, a circle with three arms meeting in the middle displaying a paw, a hoof and a claw clasped in unity. The new Mayor, a goat named Drekcus Lacki, led the celebration in a victory speech.
"We finally did it!" The new mayor-elect shouted to the immediate response of thousands of cheers and many chants of "Protectors!, Protectors!, Protectors!"
"Yes, we have made history in Zootopia today. The city is now ours and all of our lives will be forever changed because of it. I want to first thank Mayor Le Pew..." As the goat mentioned The Mayor many jeers and boos interrupted him.
"Please… I know you are excited and impassioned, but please show her some respect. She has served the city for many years faithfully and has accomplished many wonderful things for Zootopia. Perhaps she was misguided in her efforts in the last month or so regarding the humans, but I am sure she thought she was doing the right thing for the city. We never thought she had any sinister motives. We only thought her approach and actions were misplaced and erroneous. Again I want thank Mayor Le Pew for her lovely heartfelt concession speech earlier. She also called me and told me she would help make the transition as easy as possible and help in every way her administration could to make sure it as smooth and painless as possible. Please give her a round of applause for such a generous offer." Drekcus Lacki encouraged the crowd.
The crowd then politely applauded and even a few cheers were heard. Then shouts of "Purity!" and "Protectors!" could be heard in the crowd. Even a few chants of "Herd! Herd! Herd!" could be heard above the din.
"And now for the reason that we are all here. I want to introduce you to all the new councilmammals and officials that have joined our cause and have vowed to make sure all your voices are heard from this day forth." The goat announced to many cheers. He then introduced every new Protector member that was victorious.
"We are here to be your voice. We are here to do your bidding. We are here to take back this city and entire region and make it a place safe for us and all our children to walk every inch of without fear, lewdness, undesirables, crime, threats and worry. We vow to make this a place we can all be proud of, and I ask that you give us all your help in the coming days in order to make this happen. Some of the changes we will make will seem strange. Some may even seem disturbing. But please realize we have your best interests at heart, and hard choices will have to be made to make the vision we have for our land a reality. Anyway it is time for a celebration Protector style!" The new mayor-elect shouted with excitement as confetti and balloons rained down and a band began to play. The celebration of their takeover was now in full force.
As she sat alone in a chair watching the speeches and celebration, the inmate had a malevolent wicked grin painted on her face. The expression would appear deranged and psychotic to an outside observer, but she cared not. For she knew she had finally won and would be getting out of this shithole once and for all so she could finally get to work implementing her and her associates plan to truly take her city back.
She couldn't believe the incompetent fools had actually followed all her instructions and responses to her opponent's pathetic attempts to counter her brilliant moves. She had many to thank including a few traitors in the current Mayor's office, The Office of Human Affairs, and several well placed figures in the current government in order to get the information and video footage she needed to implement her masterpiece. For some it was promises of higher well-paid positions in the new government. For others it was hefty bribes that bought their assistance. It mattered not to her as long as she got what she needed.
She had been surprised, however, by the ability of the Mayor's campaign and her unknown allies to actually defend and counter many of her attacks. She had expected not to even need most of her final attacks, but they surprised her once again with their defense and resourcefulness. Her old self would never have anticipated such a response and would have failed. But this new self was prepared for nearly any move and thankfully so for all their sakes.
One of the first things she would need to do was repair the image of humanity. She was sure The Office of Human Affairs would fully cooperate toward that end. She had hoped not to have to use the complete slander of humanity, but it had been necessary at the time for victory. It's easier to ask forgiveness after you have won than to get permission before. Winners wrote the history and losers were forgotten to time. She would require the assistance of humanity to carry out some of her work, and apparently she was informed she could not replace the ambassador in charge of that office for quite awhile thanks to some last minute maneuvering by that meddlesome skunk. No matter, she could get what she wanted regardless. It would just take a bit more careful devious planning. She enjoyed a challenge anyway. If everything was handed to her, it didn't taste as sweet.
As she tapped her foot in time to the victory music, her vile smile turned into a hideous cackle producing some troubled looks by her jailers. Let them think what they want. It was her time now. It was time for revenge. It was time for a new dawn. It was time for the return of Dawn Bellwether.
Author's Note: There were about four different meanings at least regarding the newly elected goat Mayor's name, Drekcus Lacki. See if you can find them all. Also the species of the new mayor had multiple significance and meaning as well.