A.N. Judith Hopps and Nicholas Wilde have just found the missing mammals and arrested Mayor Lionheart. Enjoy!
The lobby of the police station was full of mammals. Chief Bogo was addressing the crowd of reporters from behind the podium, but the heroic duo were not in the spotlight yet, so they were standing off to the side.
"Ohh, I'm so nervous," she confided to Nick. She has never done much in the way of public speaking. The most she has done was a small skit at the Carrot Day's Festival back in Bunnyburrow, but that was practiced and preformed with friends from her middle school theatre class. This was the first time she had been the center of attention and definitely the first time she had done it before strangers. She hadn't even been told what to say! What if she messed up?
"Okay. Press conference 101. You wanna look smart, answer their question with a different question and then answer that question. Like this:" Nick held an imaginary microphone up to his face, "Excuse me Officer Hopps, uh, what can you tell us about the case?" He then slid down to indicate that what came next was to be Judy's response, "What did I eat for lunch today? I had a Black Bean Salad." He stood in his normal stance, "You see?"
Judy did not see. In fact, she was even more confused than before he had even spoken. "Nick, that doesn't make any sense! I'll look like a fool if I do that."
"Trust me Carrots, it will work!" The fox smiled and nodded encouragingly. "Come on, give it a practice run."
She didn't understand it and she didn't like it, but with everything she had been through with Nick, she trusted him enough to give it a shot. "So it doesn't even have to address their question?" she asked him, trying to clarify whatever confusing knowledge he had just passed on to her.
The fox nodded his head, "Exactly! In fact, it is better to not address their question in the slightest. So here is a question to practice on: What were Mayor Lionheart's motives for not telling Chief Bogo where the missing mammals were?"
Judy stared at the fox, trying to figure out how he thought this would help. She figured it was some secret formula he had learned while living his life as a hustler. "Is the population of Bunnyburrow accurately reflected by the 'Welcome to Bunnyburrow' sign? No, no it is not. The town made the counter continuously roll as a gag and tourist attraction."
"Magnificent! That's exactly what you need to do! You answer their questions like that and this interview will go off without a hitch."
Just then, the newly-in-charge Mayor Bellwether called to her, "Officer Hopps! It's time."
Judy crossed her fingers for luck, glanced at Nick one last time, and walked up to the podium. She wasn't always glad that she was a bunny. However, in this moment she felt thankful for the fact that she had four lucky rabbit's feet. She was going to need all the positive energy the universe was willing to give her.
"So now, I'll turn things over to the officer who cracked the case, Officer Judy Hopps," Chief Bogo announced and proceeded to step away from the podium.
As Judy stepped up to the microphone array, reporters from every station in the city began bombarding her with questions, trying to get the scoop for their respective agency. She was definitely not prepared for this, she thought to herself. Finally, she singled out a beaver and pointed to him, "Uh, yes?"
"What can you tell us about the animals going savage?" the reporter spoke into his mic. He then held it out toward her, attempting to get the best sound quality he could. Luckily for him and Judy both, the other reporters had quieted down once the question had been posed.
"Well, the animals in question," she trailed off and looked over at Nick for support. He gave a quick nod of his head, reassuring her and reminding her of his advice. "Who is my favorite music artist? I think Gazelle, but I also love The Gnuby Brothers, Bun Jovi, Fureigner, Buck Springsteen, Prance, The Ewerithmics, and Bunny Joel. I have lots more if you want to hear them!"
Everyone was confused. They had no idea what Officer Hopps meant by that, but they also didn't know many facts of the case. Could it possibly be related somehow? "Okay," a female reporter drew out, "so what is the connection?"
"Was Mayor Lionheart a nice mammal? I think he was unkind when he was not in public, but that may have been because of the predators going savage. He may have been pleasant if he was not under so much stress." Judy was not positive if this was how they expected her to answer the questions, but Nick seemed sure that this was the best way, and she trusted him. The crowd acted unsure, but appeared to take note of her last response.
No one understood where the rabbit was going with this, and it didn't seem to matter what they asked her. At least the last question was somewhat related to the matter at hand. Hopefully, her reasoning would become more concrete as the interview commenced. A sheep went next, "So Mayor Lionheart imprisoned those mammals but didn't know the cause?"
"That is accu… Yes, that is accurate, yes," she agreed. She didn't think she needed to employ Nick's advice for that question.
A pig reporter spoke up with a follow up question, "Why? Why is this happening?"
Judy responded to her question with her own, "Why did I become a police officer? I have always wanted to make the world a better place, and this is how I chose to do it."
"What do you mean by that?" another reporter asked her.
"Do I like fruit smoothies? Yes, I often find them refreshing after a hard day's work."
The crowd was completely lost, and everyone knew it. One reporter decided to give her the benefit of doubt and ask for more clarification. "Can you elaborate on that, please?"
"Yes, my personal favorite is strawberry, but I also like blueberry smoothies. Banana watermelon ones are gross though. Who thought those two flavors would even work well together?"
Nick nodded. He was glad she took his advice. Without his advice, this interview was bound to go downhill. He was also glad to hear she approved of blueberry smoothies.
"Officer Hopps, what are you trying to get at here?" The reporters were not pleased. None could understand what the bunny was talking about or how it was connected to the savage mammals. They grumbled among themselves, wanting Chief Bogo, or even Mayor Bellwether, to resume answering questions. It seemed the only ones in the room that were not phased by the bunny's oddball responses were the bunny herself and the fox in the corner.
The bunny gave her now expected version of an answer, "Do I like ketchup on my potato fries? Yes, yes I do."
Bellwether decided enough was enough, much to the relief of the news mammals. She walked up to the bunny and ushered her away while speaking into the microphones, "Okay, thank you Officer Hopps. Uh, that's all the time we have. No more questions."
"Was I okay?" the bunny asked once she and the ewe were both away from the mics.
"Oh, you did fine!" Mayor Bellwether yielded to her in an attempt to avoid having to tell the bunny how utterly awful that had gone.
Judy walked over to a very pleased Nick, "Oh, that went so fast. I didn't get a chance to mention you or say anything about how we…"
"Don't worry about it, Judy," Nick interrupted. "You were great!"
"Thanks! Thanks for the advice. It really helped I think," she smiled at Nick. "Hey, I didn't have the time before I went up there, but I was thinking."
"Uh oh, that's dangerous," the fox said with a smirk on his face.
Judy glared at him, but knew he meant it in jest so followed it up with a laugh. "Anyways, it would be nice to have a partner." The rabbit pulled out a folded piece of paper out from behind her back. After he had looked at the paper and back to her, she handed him the carrot pen. "Here, in case you need something to write with."
The original carrot pen had stopped functioning when they made their escape from Cliffside Hospital the previous night, so she grabbed her spare one after she had gone home. She could tell by his expression that her offering of the application and the symbolic release of her carrot pen had meant a lot to him. She felt she already knew what his answer would be, but she wanted to ask anyway. "So? What do you say?"
Nick looked down at the form and back to his friend. He smiled and responded, "Would I like to go get smoothies with you? Yes, yes I would."
Judy looked at him with bewilderment at first, but quickly realized what he did. "You're buying," she smiled and nudged him with her shoulder.
A.N. Heh a little change can make a big difference! Hope you liked me taking insanity seriously. Let me know if you notice any problems.
Thanks for reading!
Peace!