Credit
* All Zootopia characters, along with "Stitch" and "Hades" names in this chapter belong to Disney
* All Sonic characters in this chapter belong to SEGA/Sonic Team
* The mention of "Phoenix Wright" belong to NAMEO
Author Note:
Despite my editor's complain, I decided to change a word mentioned by Sonic because it's a present-tense word rather than past-tense word. This speaking line will also appear in the next chapter once I post it. Without further ado...
It was ten minutes since leaving the hospital, I still had not found any clues to the emerald's whereabout. I was now running across the roofs of the stores, blurring through the wind. I was still worrying about how serious Judy's head injury was. How would she recover if I couldn't find the emerald?
Eh? I saw a red flash coming from the hospital, where i left my rabbit partner in, "Hmm?"
That red flash looked familiar to me as I recalled that after my own late friends became roboticized victims - the red flash alerted me to their presence. That meant the hospital was under attack! I changed my direction to the hospital and dashed with all of my mighty. So mighty that I accidentally phased through the outside wall of the hospital and stopped on a dime once inside. A couple of otter nurses were startled by my sudden appearance as I glared at the yellow roboticized fox. I got into a fighting stance with my right fist forward, toward the evil rob-
"Only the Hedgehog can breathe the ice acorns over the French land - otherwise, the rabbot hopped over the cyberspace without our knowledge," the feminine voice reached my ears, halting my hostility toward the fox.
I realized that was Tailsko's voice, my remaining teammate, who was now a roboticized mammalian. I furrowed my eyebrows and lowered my fists slightly.
I started to speak, keeping myself guarded, "How can I know that you're not completely possessed?"
"He only had a time to get me roboticized. He left the room, failing to acknowledge my strength once I broke out and escaped. As of right now, I still retain my free will and do not gain any weapons as well as I am surrounded by the nurses, haven't touch their fur," the mechanic vixen continued. I realized how dangerous the situation could be if I continued to idle around.
I nodded, "Alright. So, what brings me to you?"
"Remember where you left Nick when you had to catch Judy? Nick just told me that he found the location of the Emerald. I don't know how he did that, but I trust his words," she explained.
"Ah," I nodded again with confidence, "Gotta ghost."
I turned in the opposite direction and dashed toward the exit, leaving the hospital, and then ran over the buildings back to where I left Nick behind. Glancing at the street, there were more mammalians down there, unlike when Nick and I went out hunting Robotnik's whereabout. Returning my focus forward, I was just fifteen buildings from the street where I left Nick; I saw a light swinging around in the alley instead of a red fox standing there. I entered the alley and stopped right in front of 'someone'. The light swung to me and I could almost see a male hart holding a flashlight.
"Ah, Sonic. You did order one Green Emerald, right?" he said, slightly shaking his flashlight up and down as he talked. He continued with his flashlight pointing at the open door, "Your order has arrived. It's at your right, docked inside. Please take it, no signature required."
I pursed my mouth, glancing at the panel displaying the punching glove next to the door, then I replied, "I see that he called the informant in. I will 'take it' as you offered."
I turned to the doorframe and went in. An emerald alter was inside the room, containing a green emerald. I jogged up the mini-stair and reached to grab the emerald. I turned around and left the room, finding that the male hart had left the alley. I zoomed out of the alley and looked at my right, seeing him standing with a female deer and a male fawn. Within a second, I was next to him as he straightened his legs and back. He turned to me and watched me jiggling the emerald in my right paw.
"Hmm... take care," I said, catching the emerald.
He nodded with a smile. That was a cue for me to leave. Entering Speed Warp, I hopped up to the store roofs and sped over them on my way back to the hospital where Judy was. I inhaled a comforting breath as the hospital came in my sight. I entered the hospital through the regular entrance and approached the patient room where I last saw Tailsko. However, I saw Tailsko and Nick standing outside the patient room and they were clueless of where to go next. I stopped in front of them, nearly making them blink.
"Ah," I said, noticing Nick's fragile appearance, then I offered, "should I use this to heal you up?"
Nick shook his head, "I can take the pain for now. Where's Carrots though? Is she injured? If she is, then please use that opportunity to heal her instead."
"Hmm. Sure thing. Come, follow me," I said, turning to my left and walking slowly.
With the roboticized vixen leaving the patient room, my chin was still hurting as I turned my head to Judy. We exchanged a shocked expression, especially her mouth slightly open.
After a minute of silence, the rabbit asked, "What is the crash cart doing here?"
I shrugged, moving away from the gurney so she could get out of it. She threw the blanket off her legs, revealing that she wore a hospital gown and nothing else. I frowned as I turned my head so fast that my sight blurred. Not even a second later, she slapped my shoulder to get my attention.
"It's fine, Stitch. I have undergarments on. I don't care if you find my legs attractive," Judy said, landing her hind-paws on the floor.
I frowned and nodded in understanding. Something bothered me... it's the nickname that she called me. Ugh, I shook my head slightly and asked, "Are you feeling fine now, that you're in the Speed Warp?"
"Am I fine? Yes, yes, I am. This gem must have restored me back to my fully energized self. So no, I don't feel tired at all," she answered, moving away from the gurney toward my right side.
I groaned and shook my head again then I moved closer to the gurney to reach for the emerald that I had dropped when she slugged me. I pocketed the emerald then I turned to my partner and walked out of the patient room with her. I glanced to my left, finding Nick and Tailsko already walking towards the lobby. However, they were in a freeze frame with two large otter nurses assisting the flesh-and-blood fox. The slap from Judy definitely startled me and got my Speed Warp locked in a full time stop. I sighed and turned to the rabbit and proceeded to search for her uniform.
"They must have put my uniform in the Evidence Room. All we need to do is go there," she suggested, starting to walk down the hall.
I followed her down the hall, moving around the mammalians that were in the way, and we arrived at the Evidence Room. I glanced at the information notepad and I found Judy's name on it - it was as Judy claimed; they had collected her uniform and put it in this room after all. I grabbed the notepad with blank papers on it and wrote to explain that the officer was fully recovered and had to retrieve her uniform. By the time I finished jotting down the information, she came out, and i put the notepad back where it belonged.
"Please hold my uniform. I am going to put that in my uniform's stead," she said, throwing the uniform toward me, which I instinctively grabbed.
I blinked and glanced at her as she grabbed the notepad that I had put down, then she disappeared into the Evidence Room. I had decided to not waste her time so I turned to where the restroom would be and walked that way slowly, waiting for her to join me again once she finished her currently objective.
"Oh, thank you for holding my uniform. Ah, restroom! Great idea, Stitch! I need to get changed," the rabbit popped from the Evidence Room and I could feel her glance at me from behind.
By the time I turned my head to her, she was at my side, nearly startling me. Once we reached the restroom, I turned to Judy and gave her the uniform. With my arms unoccupied, I turned away from the restroom doors, crossed my arms, and waited. In front of me was an otter nurse that was on her way toward the girl's restroom, but in the freeze frame. With the door behind me closed, I let my sense relax and the nurse started to move again, but she was startled by my presence - 'my sudden appearance'.
"Hey, hey! Calm down," I said, trying to relax her. I uncrossed my arms and pointed my thumb over my shoulder, "Officer Hopps has recovered and is now changing into her uniform. I think she should be do-"
Before I could finish that sentence, there was the sound of the door blasting open. I looked at the door. The rabbit walked out in her uniform holding the hospital gown folded up in her arms. I moved out of the way as she approached the nurse and pawed the gown to the nurse.
"Thank you for the hospitality. I am going to sign out and go back to Precinct One," she said.
Judy thanked the nurse then joined me as we walked down the hall toward the lobby. I glanced at her head, which sported the bandage from earlier. I blinked and looked at her eyes.
"You kept the bandage on your head... does your head still hurt?" I asked.
She shook her head, "My head is fine. I am keeping it on as the reminder of my mistake."
I frowned at her response, realizing that she had finally accept her mistake as well as the mess that she had gone through up to now. I continued to glance at her.
"So, let's get move a little faster?" I added.
She nodded in agreement. We entered Speed Warp, making anything around us appear to move at one-tenth of the regular speed. We jogged toward the lobby, finding that Nick and Tailsko had already left. I glanced over the clipboard Judy picked up. She jotted her name and phone number down on the form. She put the clipboard away then we went to the entrance. After we forced open the doors, we left the hospital. We raced down the street, passing the buffalo's cruiser along the way, and we arrived at Precinct One without having any trouble with our Speed Warp ability. Once we entered the building, we went to the private meeting room that we had used since yesterday. At that point, we decided to slow the Speed Warp down, bringing the speed to one-half instead of one-tenth. That was to let the foxes and buffalo catch up with us.
"Hey, Carrots. If you need some jokes from me - I will be sure to deliver you some cheesecake instead. I phoned in to switch serving the spicy osechi from you to another customer recently."
"Good. Thanks for taking that meal off my course."
That was a kitchen talk between Nick and Judy after the foxes and the buffalo entered the meeting room and sat in their chairs. I wondered how Tailsko managed to deal with that part, but now that's over and done. I turned my attention to Nick as he shifted his topics.
"I am glad that you got the emerald before 'Ro-Butt-Nik' find it," he spoke to me.
The rabbit and I nodded in agreement. The red vulpine blinked and glanced at Tailsko beside me as she put her paws on the edge of the table, making a clicking noise along the way.
"Now that's settled. I have a question - If Nick here is a 'BadDonkey Normal', then how did he learned the location of the emerald?" the mechanic vixen inquired, drawing our glances to her.
The fox officer lifted his right paw into the air then spoke, "Remember that I saw the future during my 'power nap' yesterday? I also saw the end of the battle between us and 'Ro-Butt-Nik' as well as how we get our family ready after that."
At this point, Tailsko recoiled from the table, taking her paws in surprise. Yep, that was definitely Tailsko, whom I knew, rather than a completely mindless roboticized vixen. Her words at the hospital were not a trick after all.
Nick continued, being oblivious to his love's reaction, "Well, when I speak of 'BadDonkey Normal', I was referring to that 'Speed Swap' or whatever it called, not to anything you think I was thrown in."
With his long-winded rant finished, he closed his mouth and exhaled lightly. I turned my attention onto the table, crossing my arms and nodding.
"I am impressed that you got in different mammalian, let alone a different class. I am sure you know why I said that," I grinned.
He furrowed his eyebrows and frowned at me, "You're saying that I got in the hart or something like that?"
Oh, buck. He nailed it perfectly.
"That's it," I nodded with my eyes closing, but keeping the grin on my muzzle.
He responded with a relaxed tone, "You think you can draw up a rough sketch of that hart. I know anyone around Zootopia, living on the street before Carrots twisted my fate, switching me from a street hustler into a cop."
"Certainly," I replied, opening my eyes and uncrossing my arms to put my paws in front of me.
With my mind becoming relaxed, I instinctively dashed to fetch the clipboard with a few blank papers and a pencil then I was back to my seat. It was like I blinked, and I gained the items in my hands in one move. I focused on the male hart that I had seen earlier, when I entered Speed Warp by reflex. That hart wore a blue lawyer's uniform with a black highlighter tucked in his chest pocket. I drew the uniform onto blank paper. Ah, his antlers looked different from the rest of his species - they grew downward but pointed backward, almost as if they were straight wings or fins like the wings on either an airplane or submarine. I used to fly one before I lost the majority of my friends to Robotnik's takeover. And for the hart's paws - they're not dressed, much like Nick's. With the hart's appearance put on the blank paper, I pulled the pencil back and lifted my head to Nick as I exited Speed Warp. I flung the clipboard toward him, where it landed in front of him. He took a second to study the sketch that I had made.
"Ah, I know this guy too. That's Phoenix Wright. The legendary attorney that bluffs his way around cases," he recognized the mammalian on the sketch paper. He lifted his left paw to his face, put the tips of his digits on his forehead as he started his laughter, "Well, that explains why I was able to borrow his body for a couple of minutes. He also has the nickname that Carrots always called me, 'Nick'."
I groaned along with Judy, Tailsko, and Chief Bogo. I glanced at the chief as he slid his hoof off his face - he literally slapped his forehead while we groaned.
"Alright. Enough with the excitement for today. You all earned the rest of the day off. I don't want you to go off the trail even when you're off duty. Get it?" the buffalo growled, which his tone was almost sounded like the running engine in the cruiser.
I nodded, followed by the girls, and Nick once he caught his breath. Chief Bogo glared at his male officer with an evil eye.
"Be sure to get plenty of rest. As I said before, no more stunts like this!" the boss reminded, having been stressed by losing Nick in the worst situation.
The red fox nodded, "Yessir."
I turned my attention to Nick and eh, where's Judy? It appeared that she had left the room without notifying us. Bogo banged his palms on the table as he got up then he left the room. I got off the chair, turning to Tailsko as she landed next to me - she made a loud thud due to her being roboticized now.
"You can take Nick home and make sure that he gets his rest and stays off his hind-paws as much as possible," I encouraged.
She nodded, "I am planning to do that. After all, I am his mate. Thank you for the extra morale boost."
I turned to Judy as she appeared next to me, wearing her civilian clothes. I was impressed that she picked up the speed this quickly, no pun intended. For a second, I glanced at her face, I caught a small twitch on her muzzle, under her right eye. I entered the Speed Warp at same time she did. I frowned as she reached for my paw and held it warmly.
"Was that... a gesture for me to enter the Speed Warp?" I asked, walking out of the meeting room with the rabbit.
She nodded, "Yes. I am glad that you picked that up quickly... no pun intended."
"Said the one leaving and returning to the meeting room in hurry," I mumbled, rolling my eyes.
She chuckled at my response as we walked down the hall, moving around the mammalians that appeared to stay still in their places. We had to go under one of them between their legs. We left the precinct and we started to jog our way down to 'Hedge Green'. We hadn't let go of each other's paw since leaving the meeting room. Once we arrived at 'Hedge Green', we slowed our jog down to stop outside the building. I felt a tug on my paw and I turned my head to Judy, who kissed me on the mouth.
"This is all new to me, so I thought I should let you know about it," she admitted, glancing at the street concrete.
I smiled, squeezing her paw lightly, "Same here, Judy... I think that it's time for me to add a new chapter in my book."
We let our breath out slowly, exiting the Speed Warp to return the speed to normal. We walked through the opening door and waited at the cashier counter. We gave the cashier the same order that we had a day before yesterday. My partner paid for bill for the meal and started to explain to the cashier why Nick was absent today as well as her insistence on wearing a head bandage. I left to seize a table next to the entrance and exit door. A minute later, Judy came and joined me on the same bench. She scooted up to my right side.
I propped my elbow on the table and glanced at the rabbit, "Is it ok for us to go slow on our relationship?"
"Uh-huh," she nodded, "I've had enough of rushing through everything and I wanted to... try something slow for a change. I mean, the last time I rushed through something, I ended up messing up the situation, like that speech after discovering the missing mammals and almost ruining my partnership with Nick. That scared me, to be honest."
I nodded, resting my right paw over my left paw on the table, "I am glad that you agreed to it... take it slow, I mean. I kind of understand how hard the relationship was with Tailsko and her previous boyfriends. So... I choose to get know of you better and to take it easy for now."
The drinks and food had arrived, forcing me to take my arms from the table, and we started to eat. Halfway through my first chilidog, I glanced at Judy as a question came to my mind.
"Are you doing fine with the apartment that you rented when you started your police career?" I asked.
She ate a third bite of her salad and nodded, "Yeah, but I am getting a feeling that I will have to find a bigger place to move to."
"Hmm," I took the next bite, chewed on it, and swallowed it, "I see, so what makes you want to move out?"
I heard her gulping the water she was drinking then the grey doe made a next comment, "It's you, Stitch... who changed me, mentally and physically. Literally, really."
I nodded, devouring what was left of my first chilidog. I chewed on it with my mouth closed then I drank the cup of water, driving the food down to my stomach.
I guess that it was my wind that swept you off your fast pace and made you fall in love with me," I snarked, putting the cup down and picking up the next chilidog.
She scowled at me after she swallowed her bite. She asked, "Is the gem that you picked up also part of the mission that you are proceeding through?"
"Nah," I shook my head, "I had to grab it and use it on you, and your fox partner if he wished, emergently to keep you from opening the door to Hades' realm. I have beaten Robotnik without the emerald many times in the past."
Judy nodded as I bit the chilidog and chewed on it, then she responded, "You're forgiven for using that kind of emergency choice. Because I would never come back from that realm if it wasn't for you."
"Ah... that's one of the reasons why I kept you from opening that door - you're an important member in my team now. Partner or girlfriend, regardless... you're important," I said then I chowed on my chilidog.
She nodded in agreement while she ate the next bite of her salad. There were a few minutes of silence as we devoured our meals and drink. With the plates and cups emptied, we put them away then left the restaurant. We walked down the street holding each other's paws with us inside the Speed Warp.
"So... how are you doing while you're off duty?" I asked, starting a new conversation.
She squeezed my paw, "Ah... listening to music, updating to my parents on MuzzleTime, reviewing some files, etc."
"Hm," I pursed my lips together and nodded, "Well, today, I think you should try something different for a change. Now I am on the page in your book, let's say... let's go out for a date?"
Judy shrugged, "Sure. Let's go to the park?"
I nodded, not having to complain about her decision on where we would go next. We jogged toward the park. Once we arrived at the park, we let paws go as we left Speed Warp, startling the mammalians nearby. We ignored their questioning expressions as we walked into the park. After a few minutes of idling around, I glanced at my partner.
"I think it's better idea not to rely on the device for now, unless it's an emergency," I suggested.
She nodded in agreement. We continued our jog through the park, enjoying the fresh air, warm sunlight, and less pressure in our heads. Judy jumped to catch a black-and-white ball with her hind-paws.
"Heads up," she called out, kicking the ball toward me.
I bounced it on my left hind-paw with a smile on my muzzle. She landed on her hind-paws, facing me. I kicked the ball back to her and she bounced it on her forehead then kicked it back where it came from. We continued our easy jog side by side. The rabbit pointed at the structure that was made out of iron bars built in the skeleton of a rectangle building. I raised my eyebrow at the sight of that odd building.
"What's that?" I inquired. She answered, "Jungle gym - do you not know about that one?"
"Ah," I shook my head, "The majority of my life fighting Robotnik. My innocence was gone when I was only five."
"I see," Judy smiled, jogging toward the jungle gym and hopped up two bars.
I followed her and ran up a vertical bar toward the top. I balanced myself on the bar while the rabbit had to balance on her four paws, laughing at how fast we climbed up the jungle gym. She charged to my left and I followed her over the top layer of the bars. After a long awkward runaround on the jungle gym, she jumped off the structure and resumed her jog on the dirt road. I followed her by hopping off the jungle gym and landed on my hind-paws.
"Whew," I huffed as we approached the bench.
I turned to sit on the bench. I huffed again then I felt the bench rumble a little bit, turning my head to my partner as she locomoted in the seat closer to me. She slid her left paw under my right paw and intertwined my digits with hers. It was a good thing that this spot was empty beside me and my female partner. She leaned on me and rested her head on my shoulder, making me blink in response. Now I looked back on her history that I had read - she had lived through various kinds of danger; kicking the canine's abdomen who bullied her friend when she was nine years old, attending the police academy despite her being from the farm family, becoming valedictorian, knocking a rhino down with a power kick, catching the weasel mammalian while she was on Parking Duty, breaking her neck trying to get the biggest case, having been almost fired twice to her recklessness and stubbornness, coming back to Zootopia after she quit just to slam the mayor assistant's face into a prison cell for turning the predators savage, and the events past two days. This girl is crazy, I must admit.
I blinked as I felt a warm paw resting on my arm, reverting my mind back to reality, and I looked at Judy with wondering, "Hmm."
She was completely loosened up from her long days. Her eyes were closed, her ears rested behind her head, and her paw was on my right bicep. I exhaled lightly, laying my left paw over her right paw as I blinked again. I was glad that I made the right decision to give her a break from any kinds of devices and duties this afternoon.