Five Years Ago...

Life was good. Life was great. Life was as sweet as the three sachets of white granulated sugar swirling about in the elk's Snarlbucks hot chocolate as he rode the grungy little elevator up to Alec's floor. Alec couldn't have picked a worse place to move in after graduating. Big brother could still remember his first apartment, a sweet penthouse overlooking the southern half of Savanna Central. He'd had a roommate, too. That the lazy lout wound up in rehab soon after could hardly be traced back to him.

The elevator gave no indicator other than a rickety jerk as it stopped and opened on the desired floor. He stepped out into the aesthetically dull corridor and made his way down towards Alec's apartment. It had been a few days since his last visit, before he'd gone on vacation to a gorgeous five star resort in Cuba. It had been a true delight, countless cocktails in the sun, surrounded by countless women. Too bad they were all false. In any case, Alec was nearly a week overdue for a visit from his loving older brother. He'd been careful to make sure his parents didn't know about his numerous visits. Father might think he was trying to help Alec cheat. This 'right of passage' was Alec's to take and his alone. It was big brother's personal mission to make sure he stayed alone. No Belch. No Lake. No friends. No-one to give him any illusions of grandeur. Not like all the 'friends' who surrounded big brother every night he went out on the town.

He reached Alec's door, raised his fist to knock, and then stopped. He smirked, deciding it would be better to surprise his little brother before dispending the usual brotherly advice. After all, it had been a few days since he'd last visited.

Alec was definitely at home. He could hear his stupid music coming from inside. He pushed the door open.

And then he saw… him.

Who the hell are you?

This was what he'd almost said out loud when he saw the portly cheetah sitting on an armchair in Alec's living room, leaning over a chessboard lying on the coffee table. The first thing that came to the elk's mind was disgust. Never before had he seen a typically speedy feline as round as this. He was a bigger slob that the elk's first roommate, he could deduce that much. The elk wouldn't be seen within ten feet of this cheetah in public. Then he saw the cheetah's face. Fluffy golden fur. The cluster of spots on his cheek that looked like Mickey Mouse. Large oval eyes, brown like the hot chocolate in the elk's hoof. In an alternate universe where he was thin, the cheetah could be a rival in physical beauty. The elk stared in silence, hot chocolate slowly cooling, and wondered why the mere presence of this oversized, slovenly, inferior creature bothered him so much.

Back then, he had no way of knowing that this first meeting would prove to be the beginning of the end.

The spotted feline looked up from the black chess pieces, blinked when he saw the visitor, then formed a wide smile. "Oh, hello. Are you one of Alec's brothers?"

The elk frowned. How could this cheetah not know who he was? "Yes."

"Edward, is it?"

"… My name is Vercus. You may have heard of me."

The cheetah snapped his stubby fingers. "I thought I saw your face! A gossip magazine, I read so many I've forgotten which one!" He stood up, approached Vercus and held out a paw. "I'm Benjamin. I'm Alec's neighbor. It's nice to meet you."

Vercus hesitated before putting on a happy face and shaking Benjamin's paw. Better to act friendly. For now. "I'm assuming you know my brother. Either that or I've just caught you red handed."

"Nope! Alec's showing me how to play chess. He's just checking on the dessert in the kitchen."

Vercus managed not to scowl, despite this news. So Alec's doing that again, is he? "Have you ever tried one of his… delicacies?"

"Yeah, aren't they great?" Benjamin was now beaming with unquestionable pride. "He's gonna be an amazing chocolatier. You must be so proud."

"Yeah. Really proud." When did Alec and this fat moocher get so friendly? Why hadn't Alec told him about this? What else did Benjamin know?

Vercus glanced at the kitchen door, where his brother was doing God knows what. It was time for damage control. "Look. You seem like a smart guy, but how much do you actually know about my brother?"

Benjamin scratched his chin. "I know about his family. He works in a pretty fancy restaurant. He wants to open a chocolate shop sometime. Other than that, zip."

"So he hasn't told you about…" Vercus paused. "His episodes?"

The cheetah blinked. "Episodes?"

"I don't know if I should be telling you this, but if you're going to be living next to him for a while, then you should probably know." Vercus paused, giving time for the fear and doubt to set in. "He's an okay guy most of the time, but sometimes he has these… moments."

Benjamin glanced at the kitchen door. "Violent moments?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Vercus made a show of rubbing the back of his neck.

"He had a really bad nightmare a while ago. Is that what you're talking about?"

"No, it's a little worse than that. Could you excuse me, I want to say hi to my brother now."

"Sure, I'll just wait here." Benjamin sat back down with the chessboard while Vercus strode into the kitchen without knocking. His little brother had a lot of explaining to do.

Alec was at the counter, checking on what looked like a chocolate cheesecake. When he turned round to see who had walked in, his eyes went wide. "V-Vercus!"

Vercus kept smiling as he closed the door. He liked the fear. It kept the others in line. Kept them from blabbing. "I'm back, baby brother."

"H-hi." Was all that Alec could get out. He pushed the cheesecake into the corner, away from his brother. "How was C-Cu-Cuba?"

"Fantabulous." Vercus took a sip of his hot chocolate. "Damn. Cold. Be a dear, would you?"

Alec raced to the kettle.

"So…" Vercus paused as Alec opened the cupboard above the kettle and grabbed the biggest mug he had. "Who's that in the next room?"

"He's… he's just a neighbor." Alec poured a spoonful of powder into the mug along with two teaspoons of sugar.

"It's three sugars. Must I always remind you, Alec?"

Alec quickly applied a third and stirred the mixture.

"Seems more than just a neighbor to me." Vercus dropped the smile. "What have I told you about friends, Alec? When you come from the richest family in Zootopia, you don't get friends. What do you get, instead? Moochers."

Alec poured the kettle into the mug, head hung low. "M-Moochers. Yes."

"And what are moochers?"

"… False."

"Good. Now you keep telling yourself that, because the last thing this family needs is another parasite leeching off of our fame and fortune. Like that showboating bottom-feeder Lake's saddled with. Do you really want someone like mooching off of you?"

Alec stopped in the middle of stirring. "No."

Alec finished the drink with milk and brought it over. The hot chocolate was good, but Vercus wasn't going to let Alec know that. "That's right. Now go out there and tell that flabby fake that your little chessboard lesson is over."

Wringing his hooves, Alec looked to the cheesecake. "I sh-should at least give h-him that. He's been a-a-a good friend and I don't w-want to end on bad terms."

"And encourage him to come back for more? How dumb can you get? Just tell him to beat-"

There was a knock and the door opened. Benjamin poked his head through the door. "Hi! I just wanted to see how that cheesecake's coming along." He opened the door fully. "Er, is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine." Vercus quickly answered before Alec could. He put a smile back on and edged himself closer to Alec. "But Alec's not feeling so good, if you know what I mean. You should probably go."

Benjamin looked Alec up and down. "He seems okay to me."

Vercus tensed. "Maybe you didn't hear me. You need to leave."

Benjamin was taken aback. "D-Did I do something wrong?"

"No!" Alec snapped. Vercus shot him a look. His younger brother took a deep breath and composed himself. "No, it's not you, I swear. I'm just not feeling up to cheesecake today."

"Oh, okay." Benjamin pouted. "Do you need anything, or-"

"I've got it covered." Vercus interrupted. "You can go now."

Benjamin looked to Alec with concern. "Well, if you need anything I'll be right next door. Goodbye."

Vercus breathed a sigh of satisfaction after Benjamin left the kitchen, and he heard the sound of the front door closing. "Good riddance. Now about that cheesecake."

Alec froze, backing into the counter. "It was just for the two of us, I swear!"

Vercus strode past Alec, lifted the delicious looking cheesecake, and dumped it upside down in the sink. "Chocolate making's for greedy pigs and substandard cooks. How many times have I told you this?" Alec didn't answer. "I asked you a question!"

"I don't know."

Vercus smashed a fist down on the cheesecake, squishing it into a dirty baking tray. "Don't make me tell you again, Alec. It will not end well."

The next evening, Vercus made sure to finish his Snarlbucks hot chocolate before entering the elevator. He hadn't intended on seeing Alec today, but seeing that cheetah had changed things.

Vercus had it good. He had passed the Casels' right of passage and now had the Casel billions behind him. He had a bright red Furrari waiting for him outside. He had a bright future as the heir to the Casel Corporation, which would be his once his father won the mayoral election. The last thing he needed was Alec thinking he could impress father even more with his own so-called talents. If Vercus so much as saw a chocolate bar in Alec's kitchen, he would make his little brother regret it for the rest of his life.

Vercus left the Snarlbucks cup inside the elevator as he stepped out and strode to Alec's door. He entered the apartment to find Benjamin sitting in the same puffed up armchair, looking over the same black chess pieces on the same fricking chessboard.

When the cheetah looked up, he put on the same wide smile from yesterday. "Oh, hello again! It's Vargas, right?"

This time, Vercus did not smile back. "It's Vercus."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Vercus. Gotta remember that."

Vercus was glad he no longer had the paper cup, otherwise he might have crushed it and gotten liquid chocolate all over his silk yellow shirt. What the hell was he doing back here? "Where is Alec?"

"He's gone out for some cheesecake." Benjamin patted a clear plastic tub full of raspberries sitting beside the chessboard. "I came round to check on Alec after yesterday, and brought some raspberries to go with the cheesecake he made. But he'd dropped it into the sink by accident so he's gone to get some more."

"And left you here alone?"

"He'd lost his key, and until the apartment manager gets a new one he can't leave the apartment. I'm just watching the place for him till he gets back."

Vercus bit back a curse. He couldn't wait for Alec to come home, because he was meeting his father in an hour. At the same time, he couldn't just do nothing as this flabby false friend made himself comfortable in his little brother's crappy apartment. At the very least, he had to know more.

"So, do you have a surname?"

"Clawhauser. Would you like a raspberry?"

"I hate them."

"Oh. Well, suit yourself." Benjamin took one of the bumpy little red berries for himself. Vercus was surprised he ate fruit at all.

Vercus leaned against the doorframe. "So what do you do for a living, Benjamin Clawhauser?"

Benjamin licked some berry juice from his fingers. "I'm a police officer."

"You're a what?!" Vercus's blood ran cold. Police officer. That was the absolute last thing he wanted to deal with. If this kid had been anything else, a receptionist or a Bug Burga worker, Vercus would have had no trouble doing everything in his power to get rid of him. But no. No, it had to be a god damn cop! Vercus hoped to God he wasn't from Precinct One. If he had to deal with that holier-than-thou buffalo from the gutter one more time…

"What's the matter? You don't like the police?"

Vercus's mouth became a thin line to hide his clenched teeth. "It's not that. I just wasn't expecting someone of your… stature to be a police officer."

Benjamin rubbed his neck self-consciously. "Yeah, join the club."

Vercus checked his Roarlex. He couldn't stay much longer. His eyes lingered on the number seven, reminding him of the dinner reservation his family had had to cancel the month before. The fine-looking elk grinned. He had an idea.

"I can't stay and wait for him. Could you tell him I stopped by?"

"Sure thing." Benjamin said,

"You know, if you're going to be hanging out with my brother from now on, I wouldn't mind getting to know you a little better. There's this snazzy place in Sahara Square where we could hang out tonight. What do you say?"

Benjamin looked unsure. "I don't know. I need to be up early for work."

So he was playing hard to get, was he? Vercus stepped further into the room. "Look, I don't mind you hanging out with Alec, so long as you can deal with his episodes. But my parents are a different story. They're rich, really rich, and they're always wary of anyone who gets chummy with their kids."

Benjamin stretched his stumpy legs. "I suppose gold diggers can be a bit of a problem."

Vercus nodded. "And they're not going to be happy to see someone from the lower class hanging out with their youngest son, police officer or not. That's why we should have a night out to get to know one another. It'll help put them at ease."

Benjamin snagged another raspberry. "Well, if it'll make your parents feel better, I guess I could come out with you tonight."

Vercus beamed. He knew the little moocher couldn't resist. "Perfect. I'll pick you up at eight."

"Oh, there's no need. Just tell me where the place is and I'll meet you-"

"I insist. Eight o'clock. See you tonight."

He left the apartment, feeling better than he'd had when he'd walked into it. Life was good. He was still in control. Once he'd learned what made the cheetah tick, he would make sure he never darkened Alec's door again.

Vercus had no reason to fear Officer Benjamin Clawhauser.

He was nothing more than a lowlife scrounger, just like all the others.

Benjamin Clawhauser, in the end, was false.