Nick Wilde in a Ghost Story
Nick and Finnick discuss Halloween Plans.
I do not own the rights to Zootopia or any of its characters. This story was written solely for the reader's enjoyment and without any profitable purposes. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this story are fictitious. Thank you to Disney for the movie.
The rain dripped off the worn dark green awning which covered the pub's entry and the red fox in the dark blue police uniform gave his head a bit of a shake to toss off the wet droplets which had clung to his reddish-orange muzzle and cheek fur while he removed his blue rain slicker. Entering into the dark building, his green eyes habitually scanned the faces of the patrons inside and then settled on the short tan-furred big-eared fox in a black bowling shirt who was sitting at the well-polished mahogany wood bar. Taking a moment to hang his jacket on a nearby hook, the larger fox unclipped the blue tie from his shirt collar and unbuttoned the top button of the shirt while he padded his way across the wooden floor.
"Is it still pouring out there, Wilde?" the fennec fox asked in a surprisingly deep voice before he took a sip of the oversized mug of beer in front of him.
"Finn, it is raining so hard that you would think we were in the Rainforest District and not downtown," Nick answered with a small grin while he pulled out the barstool next to his friend and climbed up into the seat.
"Where's your cute bunny partner?"
"I wouldn't call Carrots...I mean Judy cute to her face! You know how she frowns on that word, although I have to agree with you that she can be rather cute sometimes...just don't tell her I said that. Carrots…I mean Judy, pulled the short straw this morning and ended up with Francine patrolling along the docks. She called me and said that she is worn out after running all day to keep pace with her larger partner's strides."
"Francine is that huge elephant, right? I'm just glad she didn't step on her. Why wasn't she with you today?"
"I shot off my mouth during rollcall and Bogo stuck me with parking duty as punishment again," the red fox snickered.
"Imagine that, your mouth got ya in trouble yet again?" the small fox chuckled.
"Bogo just makes it too easy, it's almost like he is sometimes daring me to make a snide or sarcastic comment and today was one of those days."
"And you couldn't help yourself…right? That mouth of yours got ya in enough trouble when you were just one of us civies, ya should have learned by now."
"I'm working on it," Nick defensively replied while he waved for the bartender.
"I ain't around to bail your tail out like I did when we were kits," Finn continued.
"Terrible Finn and his baseball bat!" Nick scoffed.
"Just how many times did I have to use that bat to keep you from getting beaten up?" the smaller fox replied with a smirk on his muzzle.
"Point taken…" the larger fox sighed.
"So next week is Halloween, any plans?"
"Are you kidding me, you should know that just about every cop works on Halloween? I've also got the long shift next week."
"Long shift?"
"Four twelve-hour night shifts back to back."
"That is still less than we used to work when we were on the streets hustling."
"Finn, we only worked a few hours here and there before spending our money."
"Yeah, the good old days before that bunny showed up and talked you into going legit," the small fox sighed out with a shake of his big ears.
"Speaking of going legit, have you stopped scamming naïve suckers and found yourself a real job?"
"Who says what I do ain't a real job?" the fennec fox chuckled before he took another gulp of his brew.
"The law," Nick replied with a knowing grin.
"Are you now gonna bust your best buddy? That is kinda harsh, fox!"
"I'm not going to arrest your mangy tail because it wouldn't be worth my time to have to do all the paperwork. Just be careful around Carrots…I mean Judy...she is not as forgiving as I am."
The bartender finally strolled over and took Nick's order.
"So are you going to go to Toffy's again for Halloween this year?" Nick asked while the very attractive gray furred vixen behind the counter served him his beer.
"They have the best party in town," Finn said with an almost predatory grin.
"You meant to say that they have the best adult entertainment party in town, right?" the vixen interjected with a giggle before she slid a bowl of turkey-flavored kibble between the two tods.
"You bet, sweetheart!" Finn replied with a smile as he leaned forward and looked her in the eyes. "If you ain't busy that night, maybe ya would like to join me?"
"Sorry honey, but I am working here all night and unlike the vixens at Toffy's, my costume has a top," she answered before she turned and gave a small flick of her tail while she moved towards the next customer.
"Speaking of costumes, you should wear that old elephant costume! You know the one you wore when we would pull the pawsicle scam," Nick suggested as he gave the smaller fox a smirk.
"No way!"
"Aw, you'd look cute in it."
"Shut up, Wilde!"
"Then what are you going to wear?"
"Maybe I could dress like a cop?"
"Har…har…not funny. I am the only fox who can currently legitimately wear this uniform and I have more than enough trouble convincing animals that I am really am a police officer, so I don't need yahoos like you dressing like me."
"Oh, yeah?"
"If I got a buck for every time someone called the station reporting that there is a fox dressed up as a cop and trying to pull a scam, I'd be rich!"
"Is it really that tough to be taken seriously?" the vixen interjected, she had come by to wipe down the counter. "I wasn't trying to listen…but…sorry!" Nick tried not to grin because the inside of her ears had turned slightly pink and he knew that she was blushing before she turned to go back down the bar.
"Wait!" he called out and she turned back towards him. "Yeah, the thing is, who would believe one of us could be a cop?"
"Well, we foxes are supposed to be sly and untrustworthy," Finn interjected with a chuckle. "You are kind of ruining our hard-earned reputations!"
"He is right, you are upsetting what others think about us," the vixen added.
"You mean I am not the stereotypical fox, any more than you are or Finn over here…well, to be honest, Finn is exactly what others expect a fox to act like," Nick answered.
"Hey!" the smaller fox halfheartedly objected.
"Anyways, I didn't realize how hard it was to become a cop. I figured that if my partner, Judy, could do so being a rabbit that it would be easier for me. First, I had to convince the board to let me attend the Police Academy, and then when I got there I quickly found out that many of the other recruits really didn't want a fox there. I probably would have given up if it hadn't been for Carrot's...I mean Judy's encouragement and that the wolves stood up for me, you gotta love canid loyalty."
"That is terrible!" the vixen exclaimed.
"Thank the gods after I graduated that I was partnered with Judy as my training officer down at the First, the other cops at the station were more receptive of me because they knew how I helped crack the Night Howler's case. But every day it seems like everyone sees the fox first and the uniform second, I have other foxes saying I sold out and many of the other animals just think I am pulling some kind of hustle. Then there are the judges, after all, who can trust the word of a fox, right?"
"So it must be tough having to work on Halloween?" the vixen said, she had stopped cleaning and was now standing on the other side of the counter.
"Didn't you say you were working too?" Finn asked, trying not to grin.
"Yeah, but I'm not a police officer…I mean, he has it so much worse," she replied and not realizing it had put her paw on Nick's arm.
"Okay, it is kind of fun to see all the kits in their costumes excitedly running around trick-or-treating," Nick admitted. "Working Halloween usually isn't that bad, just as long as the dead stay dead all night."
"What do you mean by that?" she exclaimed, her grip had tightened.
"Well it's just something that happened back when I was a rookie," Nick sighed. "It seems that I had pissed my boss, Chief Bogo, off again."
"That's not unusual," Finn observed.
"So to punish me, he put me and Carrots...I mean Judy, on the graveyard shift," the red fox continued.
"What did you do that got your boss mad?" the vixen asked.
"Let's just say, sneezing powder and rhinos do not make a good mix," the fox shrugged with a grin. "Anyways we get a call from dispatch that there was a 10…" he noticed the vixen's confused look. "Sorry I forgot that you're just a civilian, I meant it was a domestic disturbance call from this creepy old house on Sutter's Lane. When we got there, the place looked like something from a horror movie with old weather-beaten boards, nasty grimy windows, and tall weeds. We are thinking that someone was playing a joke on us, but we grabbed our gear and marched up to the front door to knock."
"Let me guess, a vampire answered the door?" Finn snickered. "Maybe it was the boogie monster?"
"Nope, it was answered by a kindly old, I mean really elderly, bobcat and she was holding an old-fashioned oil lamp. We introduced ourselves and she told us that someone was stomping around upstairs and she was afraid it was a burglar. We entered the house and it was much nicer inside than outside. The place was kind of decorated like you would think your great-grandma would live in…you know, it had the turn of the century looking wallpaper, thick oriental rugs, and antiques. I went upstairs and looked around but there wasn't anyone up there, so we told her everything was fine and left."
"That's the whole story?" Finn dramatically yawned. "That just sounds like a normal night for a cop." The vixen threw the smaller fox a disapproving glance.
"No, we left thinking everything was fine but she called 911 again, so back we went," Nick shook his head. "Three times we went back and looked around, by now we were getting pissed and stopped at a nearby Snarlbucks to get some coffee. We were expecting another call to go back there again, but it didn't come, so I suggested that we swing by the place one last time before we head back to the station. By then the sun was rising and it was just starting to get light when we pulled up to the place and it looked the same. I hopped out to look around to make sure she had locked everything up, but when I get to the front door…"
What did you find?" the vixen urgently asked, for Nick had paused to sip from his glass.
"Nothing!"
"What do you mean by nothing?"
"I meant there was nothing," the red fox replied as he shook his head again. "The door was broken and off its hinges, we went inside and the place was empty. It looked to have been abandoned for years, the wallpaper was all peeled and there was no furniture in the whole damn place. Carrots...I mean Judy called dispatch who confirmed that it was the right address and also confirmed that it was where the phone calls were made. We now knew that such a call was impossible because the phone line was broken and had fallen on the ground by the side of the house. I went down the road and pounded on the neighbor's door, let me tell you that the hog who answered wasn't too pleased that I woke him up so early. He looked at me and then Carrots...I mean, Judy, and then at the old house before he told us that the place had been empty since the Widow Catamine had been murdered by a burglar in the house ten years ago!"
"Please tell me that you're kidding me!" the vixen stuttered out. "Was she a ghost?"
"That's the only thing she could have been," Nick replied. "Carrots...I mean, Judy, and I won't even go on that street again. I really hate being alone after working the night shift on Halloween!"
"What time do you get off?" the vixen shyly asked.
"About three in the morning, why?"
"That is about what time we close up the bar and I was just wondering if you would like company for maybe a late dinner or early breakfast?"
"Sure, I'll swing by and pick you up!"
The vixen shot him a grin before turning to go down the bar towards some of the other patrons.
"She fell for it hook, line, and sinker," Finn chuckled while he lifted his mug towards the larger fox.
"And that is what you call a hustle! I've still got it, pal!" Nick replied with a grin before he clinked his larger mug against the small fox's mug.
"Yeah, well you're gonna have to come up with another hustle to tell the bunny!"
"Why? Carrots and I aren't dating."
"No, but ya are always together."
"No, we aren't!"
"Come on Red, ya usually work as partners, ya eat dinner together, and hang out together on your days off," Finn laughed while he gave the larger fox a knowing look. After a few moments of silence, he continued, "Do you really want to date that vixen, if it breaks the bunny's heart?"
"Carrots..." Nick began to object.
"You mean Judy?" the smaller fox snickered.
"Yeah, I've been trying not to call her Carrots so much, especially after embarrassing her by calling her that nickname in front of Bogo."
"That is a bad habit, but you have worse."
"What bad habits?"
The other fox just chuckled.
"Anyways, we are just friends!" Nick proclaimed before he rolled his eyes at the skeptical look his friend was giving him.
"Since you two met, how many dates has she been on?"
"I don't know?"
"How many dates have you had?"
"Shut up, small fry!" Nick grumbled while he stared at the mug in his paws and realized that his old friend was right. After a few minutes, he let out a small sigh.
"You hustled your way into this, but it is going to take a master to get you out."
"What exactly does that mean?"
"That you need to let your pal get you out of this."
"I don't know?"
"Time for you to scram and let a real master of the hustle go to work."
Two days later a familiar-looking old van pulled up alongside two police officers and the uniformed red fox pulled off his mirrored sunglasses while he approached the small fox leaning out the van's window. "Hey, she broke our date!" Nick exclaimed.
"Sure she did," Finn replied with a wide grin.
"How did you get her to do that?"
"I just told her about all your ex-wives."
"Wait, I've never been married!"
"She doesn't know that and now you're free to take your bunny to breakfast when your shift is over."
"Thanks, pal!"
The small fox gave the larger fox a grin, "So when are ya gonna ask the bunny out on a real date?"
"Finn..."
"Come on, ya want to!" The small fox in the van saw that the rabbit's ears had gone erect and she was looking their way. The larger fox had his back turned to her.
"Finn!"
"Hey, what are you two talking about?" Judy called out as she approached the van.
"Nothing, Carrots!" Nick answered, almost too quickly. Causing the rabbit's nose to begin twitching in curiosity for it sounded like the larger fox was fibbing.
"Actually, I was telling your partner he was being a wimp and you should ask him why!" Finnick chuckled before he put the van in gear and began driving off.
"So, why are you being a wimp?" Judy asked the red fox who was frowning at the departing van.
"Ahhh...you know good old Finn, always joking..." Nick began, but he could tell that she didn't believe him.
"Are you going to ask me out or not?" the rabbit finally asked in a smug tone while giving the fox a smile.
"How...how did..?" Nick stuttered in surprise.
Judy just pointed towards her big ears.