Chapter 46

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The trip to Predford city had been mostly uneventful. Customs and passport checks entering the States were painless, though on seeing Finnick's van the bear agent had joked about never going to Porkland, lest he 'trigger all them eco-nuts'. Finn, thankfully, hadn't been too offended, letting them get on their way. After that, it had been a long run down the motorway, mostly spent planning and practicing their hustle, otherwise just killing the hours: Jack thinking up something or other and Skye taking some time off to scroll through the internet. She'd been re-reading up on how the original settlers' plans to name the then territory 'Boarigan' had been subverted by a coalition of mammals preferring something species neutral (given the pigs already getting the provincial capital), when Chief Bogo's voice came in on a news report. There'd been a wave of both celebration and anger on hearing that the picture was faked, and how whoever had done this had still succeeded in keeping Kris locked up for the foreseeable future. Finnick had grumbled and ranted a bit before settling down, the rattling van counting down the miles until they reached their destination.

Now up ahead stood the water tower that had led them here, standing up over the small houses around them. Like many suburban and small town areas in the States, rigid species-size zoning was enforced, large blocks limited to housing (and only housing) of just one size class, officially for safety and security. Skye, her eyes gazing out the window, looked on as they moved into one for the size class below hers. Sown out in front and below her were a mix of little weather-boarded bungalows that were just a bit too small for her, painted bright white or a light pastel blue or pink and roofed with grey shingles. All were spaced out within a jumble of small neat lawns and heavily worked vegetable plots, the occasional sunflower or bean pole towering up and above like a proud tree would. Actual, scale-smashing trees were frequently spread out and dominated the neighbourhoods like martian tripods, some with up to a dozen squirrel tree-houses in their limbs. Throughout it all were mini-picket fences, thick green shrubs, shade providing flower bushes with bright flowers that buzzed with bees and light concrete side streets too small for the van to get down but perfect for the locals.

Pausing at an intersection, she looked down one, spotting two Douglas squirrel kits playing and laughing with a similarly aged skunk and bunny, a matronly looking doe watching over. Skye smiled at the scene, only for the doe to catch her glance and stare back, her eyes narrowing. The swift fox blinked a few times as the lights turned green. She pushed the thought from her mind, remembering the mural on the van didn't really give the best impression.

And, if it was a fox thing?

Well, cuss that, she wasn't going to encounter that bunny ever again, was she?

"Look alive, mammals," Finn spoke, as they entered a commercial area, full of elephant scaled buildings, even if most of the users were the small mammals from next door. Regardless, it meant they could easily park the van up in front of a takeaway pizza place. Squeaking to a halt, Finnick breathed out. "Right, I get lunch, you two shake down that Weasel. Sound good?"

Skye nodded. "Yup. Chicken and sweetcorn with extra cheese, please."

"Huh?"

The vixen cocked her head. "It's my second favourite topping."

"Oh. Second?"

"I don't think they'll do blue cheese and turkey-chorizo."

"Right," he mumbled. "I was thinkin' meat feast fer us and veg for bunny."

"Meat feast is good," she agreed, as Finnick turned to Jack.

"You good with that?"

"I want a meat one too!"

The fennec's eye twitched. "Do I wanna ask?"

"She introduced me to meat! My whole life before was a lie!"

The fennec turned to Skye, shrugging "Fine, his funeral."

The hare smiled and pulled out a bottle of pills marked 'Pred-aide' "Rumours of my imminent demise are highly exaggerated."

Finnick held himself in his chair, a befuddled look held on his face, before his eyes narrowed slightly. "Just do the job, kay?" he said, waving them off.

Grabbing her crutches, Skye exited. Breath in, breath out.

"Feeling good?" Jack asked.

"Honestly," she began, "no."

"Scared?" he asked, before puffing out his chest, arms crossed in front of him. "My dear vixen, my rapid training in the arts martial shall mostly prevent any weasel mischief against yourself!"

She blew a wet raspberry of a laugh, having to lean on her crutches as she let it pass. "Thanks," she said, only to sigh. "But it's more that I'll mess this up, given that I'm an acting failure."

"Hey, you don't need to do much," he said, a paw on one of hers. "Probably no more than in a nativity play or something!"

...

"-lm-ver…"

"Huh?"

"-alm-aver…"

"Rule of three my dear says this one will be clear."

"Palm waver…" Skye mumbled. "I and another girl waved King Hedov's palm leaves while the wise mammals talked to him."

"Oh…"

"I mean, it was a big school and they tried to find roles for everyone. Padding out the ostrich herders can only go so far."

"Right," Jack said, before smiling a little. "And going to two-dozen inn's would really kill the pacing, wouldn't it?"

Skye chuckled. "And though plenty of my species are happy in the desert, my family didn't live there at the time, so they had sheep for Mary and Joseph and a bear for Hedov, but no camels for the wise mammals. They ended up with two raccoons and a hare."

"Who knows," her own hare said. "That might have been who they really were. Raccoon tribes crossed into the old world just like the horses and camels after all. Weren't that successful, but then again they didn't die out back here."

"Coming from a species that chose to stay put, sounds fair to me," Skye chirped, walking on. They turned a corner before pausing.

There it was.

Stoatsmith and son's: Camper Hire.

Exclusive deals for exclusive wheels!

Jack's eyes narrowed. "I believe that's in-brand for the family. Don't you?"

Skye's muzzle tweaked, before she shrugged.

Jack led on, the vixen behind, studying the vehicles. Taking a piece of paper out, she quickly scanned them all, trying to find any missing weasel sized ones. Fortunately there was a whole range of sizes, from a few converted trucks designed for elephants, to little ones for mice. On the inventory, there were only ten sized for weasels, though that assumed none had an MS-Double-C-I: Multi-size-class-control-interface. Just like Finnick had a van in her size class, Duke may well have taken one bigger than him.

If he'd come this way at all.

Checking through the list she paused, double taking before tapping Jack on the back. "Three missing," she began, tapping the page in question. On it were the ten vehicles. Five fiat Dugatto's, four Coachmammals and one, far older, Winnebeargo. Two Dugatto's were gone, as was the Winnie.

"That one?" he asked.

She nodded. "He's supposed to be cheap, isn't he? Better than nothing."

Jack nodded and, taking a breath in, marched on and through the door.

"Waiddaminnit!" someone yelled, the pair waiting up by the desk. A few odd sounds came from inside, before the same voice grunted out. "Stop squirming."

The buck and vixen glanced at each other.

"I said stop squirming! You're only making this hard for yourself."

Skye let a fang slip over her bottom lip.

"It's your fault it's this bad! You could just listen to daddy, but oh no!"

Jack, worried, looked up. "This is either very bad or very funny in hindsight."

"See, there you go. Just let it happen and it'll be over before you know it."

Skye's ears went down. "Thanks for the optimism injection."

"Come on. We can't have customers seeing you like that, can we?"

Jack smiled. "You're welcome."

There was a brief pause before the door opened, a weasel, similar to Duke but with slick fur and brighter eyes came out, a toddler waddling out behind him. "Sorry for the delay, Jr here does not believe in clothes." Not noticing or not caring about the expression of relief from his customers, he carried on. "-Welcome to Stoatsmith and sons. I'm Sam Stoatsmith, here's my son, now what can I do for you two?"

Jack fired away. "Hey there, I'm Judah and this is my girlfriend Nicole. We were coming up from Zootopia, visiting her family in Idahowl Falls, and we thought we'd have a look in while having lunch, -we've always talked about going on a camper trip through the parks and stuff, and rentals in Zootopia are nuts."

"Well, you can't beat our exclusive deals, can you?" Sam said. "After all, we provide wheels so cheap you'd think they were steals. Right son?"

The little weasel kit, who'd sat down to play with a toy truck, looked up and smiled, holding it out. "You take tha truck and… and you drive it and… and you wiv in the truck, so you sleep and eat and go potty in truck, but also go vrooom-vrooom and… and… did you break your weg in a wunar rover miss?"

Skye (badly) suppressed a chuckle, Sam rolling his eyes. "You know, my cousin said I shouldn't let him watch Luna the Moon Princess as it'd make him gay. Actually, I shouldn't have let him because ever since he saw Desmond the Moon bear crash the lunar rover and break his arm, this little scamp thinks anyone who got hurt was in a lunar rover crash."

"Awww," the vixen cooed, as Jack's eyes perked up at the mention of a cousin. Duke?

The kit meanwhile was holding his little truck and waving it through the air. Looking down, Skye saw a plastic car and picked it up, holding it up to the tiny kit and racing through the air. "Neeeeooowwwww…"

"Vroom-vrooom…" the kit chirped, before knocking his truck into the car. "You break your weg wike that?"

"Junior," his father scolded. "Don't be rude. Especially to a customer!"

"Bu… Bu if it wasn't a wunar rover, then an… -an earth rover!"

Skye's grin grew.. "Do you really wanna know?"

"Uh…"

"Do you really?"

"Yes!"

"It involved a see-saw and a hyena."

The kit looked vacant for a second or two. "Hi-eee-na?"

"We haven't got to that species yet," Sam said, rolling his eyes. "Especially as the one thing I'm not letting him watch is that lion propaganda cartoon and all that stuff."

"Wion?" Junior asked.

"You know what a lion is, don't you?"

He slowly nodded as his father turned back to Jack. "Ah, sorry about him. Mom's working, so he stays at home with Daddy."

"Oh no worries," Jack said. "It's given my vix goo-goo eyes for a start."

Sam burst into laughter, giving a little fist pump to the side while Skye looked just a tiny bit flustered. Regardless, the striped bunny carried on. "So, we sort of planned this quick visit, saw your website and printed off the inventory. Thought we'd see what kind of things you had for future reference."

"Well, my good friend," Mr Stoatsmith announced. "Why just talk about them when I can give you the full tour! A picture can't sell you on the comfort of our beds, the efficiency of our air-con, the sheer exclusiveness of our deals, can it?"

"I suppose not," Jack agreed, Skye looking on and nodding. All the while though, she had her own plan, spur of the moment! -and was putting it to motion. Behind her, her tail was wagging hard, the tip bending towards little Samuel Stoatsmith Jr, currently playing with one of his cars but slowly looking up towards the ever-teasing fluff.

"So, I'm guessing you'll want to start in her size class for a start. We don't have many with MS-Double-C-I's, but you're probably close enough not to need them. Now, we can cater for anything ranging from full on glamping to summer-of-love flower child…"

"-YIP!"

Both men turned at the oddly strained sound of pain, looking on at Skye, and the little weasel currently war dancing behind her, the tip of her tail in her mouth.

Mr Stoatsmith marched forward. "Drop it!"

His son looked up.

"Drop it!" he yelled again, making him let go as his father pinched his tail. "Do you like this?"

The little kit burst into tears "N-n-no…." he ended up wailing with full on water works.

"You don't touch other's tails. Say sorry to the nice lady."

"S-s-sowwwyyy…"

He glanced over. "I'm terribly sorry Ma'am. I assure you, I'll offer you a slight discount to compensate, and…"

"No worries," Skye tried to assuage, reaching out to touch the crying little kit. Her ears fell back, after all she'd baited him.

"Right," Mr Stoatsmith began, "as you're not going to behave, it's hanger time while I deal with the nice customers you bit. Maybe you should spend that time thinking about what you did."

And, with that, he took the crying kit over to a colourful kit hanger in the corner of the room. Despite his screaming and protests, Jr's scruff was pinched and pulled up, making him go quiet and limp, before being clipped in, leaving him hanging there safely. Senior brushed himself down and looked back. "Again, sorry about that."

"No worries," Skye insisted, "he was just playing."

"Well, he's got to learn to not bite tails, doesn't he?"

Skye nodded. "I'm guessing he'd end up in there anyway while you show us the campers."

He paused, before shrugging. "Yeah, but I'd have put on cartoons for him or something."

"You know, I really don't mind. I could look after him while you show Jack around the campers."

"Well," he began, "If you really…" He then froze. "Who's Jack?"

Skye's eyes went wide, only to be cut off by Jack. "Well, as a kit I hated my first name, so I just called myself Jack. She's ended up sticking with it."

Sam gave a shrug, before looking over at Skye. "I mean, if you trust him."

"I know nothing about cars and stuff. I mean, literally, nothing. You'd be surprised how little I know. I…" spotting Jack swiping his paw across his throat, Skye stopped.

Sam looked at her for a second or two before glancing at his son. "Well, if it keeps the customer satisfied! You can go and keep an eye on him in the back."

"Yeah, I'll do that," Skye said, booping Jr's nose.

His father paused, studying her closely before waving Jack out. "Right then sweetie," she said softly, unclipping little Sam and setting him down. He was quiet for a few seconds, until she reached down and grabbed a car. "Vroom-vroom?"

His face lit up. "VROOM-VROOM!"

"Yeah, let's go to your room and play!"

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"So, your favour was us getting put back on duty?"

Nick looked skeptically at Judy, sitting in the driver's seat of their cruiser, waiting for her reply. "No," she said. "This is me earning that favour."

"Which is?"

Judy took a breath in and out. "A talk with Bellwether."

Nick's eyebrow raised. "Which one? Dominic or Maisy?"

"Dawn."

She was broken off by a coughing splutter from her side, even giving Nick a worrying glance as he calmed himself down. "Okay then… why?"

"Because," Judy said, drumming her fingers along the steering wheel. "She might be able to confirm how much Kurt knew about her conspiracy. What he knew, how deep in he was and, once we confirm that, we'll have something rock hard to pin him for. Something not even he can survive!"

"Right," Nick began, slowly. "You do realise that they probably asked her all of that stuff when they arrested her?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Do I look like a dumb bunny, Nick? Bogo himself said that he'd ask some of the actual detectives to go around, asking her again about other members, even though they tried offering her time off if she'd spill after her arrest. They'd even ask if there were any revenge plans in the works, ones aimed at us, or the ones we loved..." Her teeth began to clench together, grinding like two tectonic plates. "And I know she can lie, Nick. No mammal has lied more to me than her." She let out a hard breath of air, the steering wheel squeaking slightly under her paws as she thought back to what the ewe had been doing. Who she'd been hurting.

A stray open eye glanced at Nick.

What she'd planned to do to them.

"But," she began, breathing in and out. "I do have two things those investigators don't have. The first is that I'm not talking to her in the capacity of a police officer. I'm just a civilian, so I can fully use the second thing."

Nick gave her a nervous glance. "Which is?"

"Leverage."

Nick's ears pulled back as everything else was left unsaid. An awkward silence filled the vehicle as they rumbled on, taking a left here and a right there, before finally seeing their destination ahead of them.

They pulled up next to the hospital building and got out, stretching their legs. It was only then, that Nick thought of something. "Do you plan for us to talk to the Ewe of Doom together?"

The bunny paused, before shaking her head. "No. It's not that I think you're worse or anything, usually you're better in interrogations than I am. It's just." She trailed off, looking down and rubbing her foot into the ground. "To her, you were just a fox she met twice and who once touched her wool. I… I was someone who knew her far more, someone she saw so much of herself in, someone she wanted to succeed. I think I was her friend…"

Nick nodded silently, not sure what to say next, before finally deciding to do something about her droopy-eared mood. He looked up at the hospital and gestured to it. "Say, if you're doing this solo, couldn't you have done this job by yourself then?"

The bunny lifted her head and managed a shrug. "You know you would have asked to join me anyway, right?"

"Do I…" Nick began, smiling.. "Yes, yes I do."

Judy managed a smile too as they walked in.

.

It wasn't long before they found the mammal they were looking for, the pair having to take a pause as they entered a recovery ward and saw a red fox lying there, waiting on his bed. His left arm was in a cast, plasters were dotted over his face, bruises smothered him while his eyes looked out, pink tinged and surrounded by matted fur.

Judy stepped back, looking up to Nick who nodded, taking the lead. Almost immediately, the patient opened up, just a little bit.

It reminded the bunny of an old tractor being started after years in the shed.

Wheezing a bit, at first trying to raise himself up but then stopping, he opened his mouth and began speaking in a weary voice. "Hey, you're the fox cop."

Nick sat down next to him, flashing a little smile. "Am I a cop who's a fox? Yes, yes I am."

"Don't…" he began, before cutting himself off for a second. "-Don't understate yourself, Mam."

"Don't think I am," Nick carried on, smiling. "I'm not the only one anymore."

He cocked his eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah," Nick agreed, before shrugging. "Though I'm still the only red one, so I'll give you that."

"Thanks, I guess," he said, taking a long breath out. Looking on, Nick noticed that a few of his teeth were missing too, the fox cop wincing slightly.

"You okay to talk?"

"Guess so…"

Nick looked on, silent for a second or two. "You don't have to if the pain's too bad."

"No, no," the patient continued. "Just… Just getting my next dose of meds in a little…"

"We can wait until then," Nick said.

"No… Just get it done with, besides…" He managed a tired smile. "I think that stuff sorta sends me to sleep after a little… Not sure yet. Anyway, just get it done with."

Nick nodded, before bringing out the report. Though he'd read it before, he did it again, just to check it out, his ears falling back as he did so. "Mickey Blazock?"

"Uh-hu," the patient replied.

"We have a few basic notes from the reporting officer, and a witness statement, which are supported by a nearby store's security cam footage. However, we'd like to have it all in your own words."

There was a grunt, Mickey rubbing his fingers together and sighing. Instead of his words, Nick and Judy hung onto the sounds of the hospital around them. The odd beep of a machine, mumble of a patient, the regular tapping of mammals walking past or short conversations between them. Finally, the injured fox spoke. "I… -I don't know Mam, there was just this psycho who went postal on me. I…" He moved his lips, top teeth digging into his bottom lip.

He almost shook, looking up to see Nick placing a paw on his shoulder, looking down with an oh so tired yet understanding look. The patient relaxed as the fox cop spoke. "Maybe starting before would be good. When it was just a normal day."

"Right," he began. "I… -I was coming off my shift as usual, you see. I'm a security guard for a rodent wholesalers. It's only the size of one of those express stores you get, but it lets the big trucks come in and offload and… Well, we have a few tunnels into Little Rodentia that those mice fella's use to truck it in."

"Sounds like an interesting job."

"Ha!" he guffawed, only to wince a little. Breathing out, he carried on. "No. Not really. It's just moving stuff. Just a warehouse with lots of little things, and they needed someone with night vision to stand guard during the night, just like they have someone in the day. Most of the time I watch TV, just taking a round during each ad break." There was a pause. "It pays the rent."

"So," Nick began. "This mammal showed up. Was it an attempted smash and grab, or…"

"No," he grunted, his muzzle folding up. "I…" There was a long pause as he looked away. "No…"

"No, what?"

"I thought I remembered seeing him on the day I did the interview and got the job, but…" He shook his head and carried on, getting faster. "I mean, that would make sense, it would be… I mean, it'd be better if, well I..."

"I'm sorry."

He broke off. "Huh?"

Nick looked at him, sadly. "I know you want it to make sense, or to not be what you think it is, but… But the chances are it is, and I'm sorry." He sighed. "But your thing could still be a useful lead and we'll look into it, but we'll see. We'll see. Carry on."

"Yeah," Mickey said, looking down before squinting. "Argh! Think I pulled something during…" He closed his eyes, breathed in and out and went on. "I was just clocking off and going out. I'm… I'm on a nocturnal schedule, so I tended to drop into this cafe that does a really cheap breakfast omelette and have that for dinner. I was just going there… again… like on every day and then…"

…

"What did he say?"

"What are you up to… Pelt."

…

"-I turned to face him, yeah I was a bit peeved, and I asked him who the heck he thought he was. He just… Went on. 'Don't give me that' and 'I know what you're up to' and 'you think you're special and can get away with it' and then he knocked me back and brought out the…"

He was silent as he rubbed his eyes, a pained hiss coming out of his gritted teeth. Eyes riven up, he began to shake, ever so slightly. "You… You think you're above us, don't ya! You think you can steal from us, you think the law doesn't apply to you… You're a security guard, huh? What idiot put you in charge then?" Shaking a bit, he looked up. "I… That's why I think, the job, maybe he was still jealous or…"

Judy, eyes wavering a little, came up. "If he was that bitter about it," she said, ever so softly. "I don't think he'd wait that long."

Mickey gave a pained hiss. "I don't…" He breathed in and out. "But then he was kicking me down, and shouting, and saying 'feel like you're above the rest of us now, huh?', 'where's that special treatment you get, huh?', 'maybe you'll think twice about stealing and scamming, huh?' And then I was down on the floor and he was kicking me. And just kicking, and kicking, and I was trying to curl up! I didn't want to fight! I just wanted him to stop and… and I thought I might die here… and I… and he… and… and… Why was he doing this. Why? Why? And he just shouted, this is justice! This is justice! Do you like it, huh? This is justice! You're finally getting what you deserve and… and… ah…"

He cut off into a set of pants, which collapsed into a pained sigh as clasped the side of his jaw. His eyes were far redder, twinging with dampness, and he looked away. "Listen," Judy said, "I'll… I'll get a nurse and…"

"It's… It's nothing…" he cut off. "I… I can manage, I can…"

His voice faded though, as the odd rapidly wiped away tear began to flow. He looked up at Nick, then down. "I… I know… I know what it was all about, but… But I…"

The fox cop sat down and held his paw. "I know…" he said, his voice trailing off. "I know…"

"That…" he began, working through the pain. "That speciesist… fox hating… you'll get him, right… Right?"

"We'll do our best," Nick said. "We'll do our best."

Mickey was silent.

"What did we ever do to them, huh?"

"Nothing…"

"What did we do to make them…"

"Nothing…"

"Then why…"

"Because they're jerks."

"But why to us… Why to us…" he said. "What did we do wrong, huh? What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing," Nick said. "It's just that that's how they want to see us as. Because it lets them tell themselves they're better. That's it. That's all there is to it."

The quiet, punctured by the sound of the goings on outside, was dreadful. Finally, Nick carried on. "Did he use his horns on you or anything?"

"No… They were tiny horns anyway, though…"

"Though?" Nick asked.

Moving around as he thought, Mickey continued. "I mean, they…" He was cut off by a flash of pain, before carrying on. "That little goat… I mean, I say little, he was still bigger than me, he… -He didn't quite look like a normal goat. Y'know most goats have horns at the top of their heads, pointing back, but this guy… I remember now. He had a brow below that, and that's where his horns were from… So they were lower down… and more forward… He could have up-gored me, if he wanted…"

Did he?" Judy asked.

"He just wanted me on the floor… being kicked… That's… that's what he thought of me."

Nick nodded, looking over. "To be fair, looking at the pictures and reports, it's not a true goat. Well… As in not a goat in the same way you wouldn't call a zorro a fox. He's a serow, of some species. From the reports… Either a Chinese or Taiwanese one."

Mickey paused for a second or two before closing his eyes, clutching his head with his good paw. "Dammit! I… I… I thought those asian mammals liked us! But even they… What, do they just want to fit into this stupid city even more, or…"

Nick shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, you're mainly thinking of the Japanese… Who were kinda jerks to China and Taiwan a few generations back so… maybe that? I don't know…"

"Just…" Mickey began, before looking down. "Just forget it. That's life."

He was cut off by the sound of a determined bunny. "No."

"Huh…"

"Listen," Judy began. "It's wrong. It's wrong period, and believe me, I know there are mammals out there who deny it. But trust me, my partner and I will be fighting this. We're on your side. I promise you."

"Thanks," he said. "I guess…"

Judy smiled. "You're welcome."

Nick did too. "Right, we just wanted the witness statement. We'll try and make sure the charges are pushed through, and enquire about any serow's who had an interview there. And don't worry," he said with a smirk. "We'll try and make sure it gets put down as a hate crime."

Mickey's face didn't lighten up at that, instead shading down by a tiny degree. "Just, do what you think is best to get back at him, okay...

Nick's expression faded. "Yeah, will do," he said, as a knock came from their side. They looked over to see a tapir nurse waiting there.

"Sorry, just here to check on the patient."

Mickey looked up as if he was a starving mammal looking at a waiter. "Meds?"

"Yup, it's time."

Nick and Judy stepped out, the bunny's face collapsing into her paws for a second. "There's a thing where hate crimes get glossed over… Isn't there…"

Nick shrugged. "Maybe it's more due to a very public DA who might give that impression."

For a second, Judy looked better, before she stomped her foot. "And that's another thing. That attacker watched the morning interview. That attack there wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for Kurt," she announced, pointing over at Mickey, currently being doled out his medication. She looked at him before her gaze fixed on, her nose beginning to twitch.

"I know Judy," Nick sighed. "And I know it'll take time, but we will…"

He trailed off as he saw Judy walked back over and… asked to see the medication?

The nurse wasn't happy. "Excuse me, I'm trying to do my job."

"And I want to look at what you're giving him," she said, before suddenly hopping up for a second.

"Listen…" the nurse scolded.

"-You're giving him two of those?" Judy asked, as Nick walked up.

"Carrots?"

She put a paw up to him as the nurse shrugged. "Yes, so?"

Judy's foot began drumming on the floor. "When I had just a bad cut on the top of my leg, I was given one of those, and I'm half his size. You're not giving him enough!"

"Listen," the nurse scolded. "Unlike you and your six months of training, I've spent years of further education to qualify for this role! And we're meant to give all patients the least amount of medication to successfully deal with their pain…"

"And he was struggling and hissing just now!" Judy interrupted.

"A little pain is always normal," the nurse scolded. "And he was managing it fine." She looked over to her patient and nodded. "You're a big boy, after all."

"I mean… I'm managing," Mickey said, before his gaze began hardening. "But maybe a bit more, to stop it wearing out so much at the end, or…"

"The pain will already be fading," she reassured him. "In four hours time this dose should cover it fine, and…"

"-Or you just give him some more now," Judy pushed. "He's the victim of a hate crime, and the worst thing in the world he needs right now is to have some stingy nurse keeping him in pain."

The nurse stomped a foot. "How dare you! You have no medical training, and yet you think you can overrule me and tell me how to do my job. You know, this kind of arrogance is why people don't like cops. You think that your word is more important than my experience in treating thousands of mammals, and your judgement of this patient and his pain tolerance is better than mine!"

"What are you judging his pain tolerance off of," Judy cut in.

"Now what's that supposed to mean!?"

"It means," she said, nose twitching hard and sharp. "You think that because this mammal here is a grown fox, a big tough predator, he can deal with pain better than a weak meek prey."

"No, how dare you!" the nurse hissed.

"Listen," Mickey moaned. "Just a little more, please…"

"See," Judy said. "Listen to your patient."

The nurse grumbled. "Will it get you off my back?"

"For now," the bunny warned, as she watched a third pill being doled out. The nurse left, giving Judy a stink eye all the time, as Mickey sighed sadly.

"Thanks…" he said, trailing off at the end.

Judy looked on, her ears drooping as she filled in what was left unsaid. "Most of the time, I'm not really qualified to say anything, but this is an exception… Most bunnies give birth to their litters in Bunnyburrow, with rabbit doctors and so on… I remember, when I was twenty one or so, -it was summer break from university and I was working on the farm, and my sister Lilac went into labour. She went in, it wasn't going as smoothly as it usually does, so they quickly gave her painkillers and saw her through it. A few years later, I heard of a sister in law, Clover, going into early labour in Zootopia. They took her to the hospital, and there they said don't worry, it'll all be over soon. She had the same issue that Lilac had and… well, she asked for some anaesthetic. Don't worry, it'll be over soon. Hours later, none had come out and she was screaming for the epidural. Don't worry, it'll be over soon. Apparently, the doctors were almost getting impatient with her at that point, she… -She eventually got them all out, after eight hours. After all that, my brother finally felt it was safe to get her some off the shelf Thylanol… It was the only pain relief she had that night."

…

"Thanks, again," Mickey said, looking up and nodding.

Judy nodded back, letting Nick walk her off into a private area, for her to scream.

.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, in the city centre, two nervous workers were at their desks high up in Yakatomi Plaza. Nothing had happened… yet…

And then…

"Huh!"

"What, Retsy?"

"Tsunoda pulled the video down," she said, sighing with relief. "She says: 'after viewing this I realised it was made by a complete idiot spinning lies to try and get shares. Again, a complete idiot.'"

Haida sighed with relief. "Anything else?"

"It's also a stealth thigh pic."

"Huh?"

"Nothing," the red panda dismissed, turning her phone off. "Still, our lives are still basically over! How many mammals have seen the original source! All thanks to that dumb Dik-Dik sharing something without watching it!"

"Yeah," Haida grumbled. "Made by a complete idiot and shared by a complete idiot too!"

"-You know, if that's your opinion of me then maybe I should put it back up?"

The hyena and red panda jolted upright, before turning to face the diminutive antelope. Haida decided to address her first, in his usual manner.

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO US!"

"Made you melodramatic?"

"ARGHHH! You shared a video online that slanders us."

"Yeah," Retsuko added. "Even if we don't get disowned, fired, hit by flash mobs and all that now, our entire lives will be scarred by this. One job interviewer look; boom, we're out!"

The dik-dik just rolled her eyes. "I admit I should have had a closer look before sharing, but I didn't create that thing, did I? And seriously, flash mobs and perma-doxxing? Grow up you two, do you know how pathetic you look? That's not gonna happen."

"Then what is?" Retsuko scolded.

Tsunoda shrugged. "Mammals are going to recognise that video as the product of a shallow, pandering, social media diva…"

"Are you sure you didn't make it," Retsuko cut in.

The antelope's eyes narrowed. "Do you want my help or not?"

"I… -Yes," she admitted.

"Right then. You need to give people more credit. Anyone with enough intelligence to be anywhere that could affect you will see it as a stinky great pile of cuss. Seriously, singing a Bob Margay song at karaoke is cultural appropriation? 'The new speciesist paw gesture'. A male hyena grumbling about his species' gender dynamics, universally known to be gynocentric? Most reviews on the original vid think it's a parody!"

"And... the sheep stuff?" Haida asked.

"Don't get me started," Tsunoda moaned. "Literally everyone I know on instagrowl knows that's a dead cat ploy by the evil speciesist DA." She paused, before glancing at an empty meeting room to the side. "Listen, you want to know what's going on in the real world? How about you go in there and I show you the actual video actually telling mammals what's actually going on. Kay?"

Not sure, but somewhat thinking it was for the best, the hyena and red panda nodded, following her on.