Chapter Three: The Meeting.

A small time has passed since Judy embarrassed herself a bit in front of Jack Savage. The four had time to have a bit of small talk.

Jack was talking to Judy. "Of course I know all about you miss Hopps. A bunny from a rural, farming town. You focused your life on becoming an officer with great determination. You overcame great obstacles and not only became a policewoman, but you solved the missing mammal case that had plagued the city for weeks and helped bring down corruption in Zootopia."

"Now a major motion picture on Moo-Ray and digital!" Nick joked.

Judy continued the conversation. "Jack you thanks. I-I mean thank you Jack, but I couldn't have done it without my partner Nick backing me up. He helped solve the case as much as I did."

"Well that's to be commended." Jack replied. "While I did learn a lot about you, I couldn't believe just how stunningly beautiful you were until I got to meet you in person."

Judy giggled like a lovesick schoolgirl. "Tee-hee-hee! Thanks! Maybe we could discuss more over dinner tonight?"

Jack smiled. "I'd love to." He then started to turn and leave. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take a shower before the meeting begins. I tend to work up a big sweat, but I'm a firm believer in working out daily."

Judy was checking out Jack's rump as he was leaving. "I have a firm butt-leaf, I-I mean, belief in working out too! S-See you later!"

"Goodbye." Jack replied.

"Later skinny Nermal!" Nick joked.

Jack was confused. "Nermal?"

Judy explained. "Don't pay him any mind. It's a cartoon character from a comic strip."

"Oh...Well anyway, I'll see you three in just a little bit."

"Bye Muffin!" Skye replied as the three left.

Finally, Judy was able to get her composure back. "Sweet cheese and crackers he's hot!"

Nick checked his card. "Bingo!"

"Did you see the muscles on him?! I-I've never seen a sexier bunny!"

"Yeah. I could smell your pheromones going at full blast almost instantly."

"...I hope I didn't embarrass myself."

"I have a firm butt-leaf you were fine."

"Oh shut up!"

Skye then took control. "Ah'll take us to the meetin' room. While we have some time, why don't ah give y'all a quick tour? Who's ready for some nice exposition?!"

"Oh! Me! Me!" Judy exclaimed. "I'd love some exposition!"

"I'm good," Nick replied. "I filled up on exposition before we got here." Sky gestured up at the ceiling. "As you can see, we have a glass ceiling to save on energy durin' the day."

"What's that bit of white up top?" Nick asked.

"Snow. Y'see, we're in the far northern canid-ian tundra. It's not quite the antarctic, but it's still pretty uninhabitable if'n yer not an arctic fox or polar bear and it keeps our enemies at bay. We have a giant, force-field dome coverin' the facilities. Help's keep the sunlight in and the snow and frigid cold out. We even have a garden on the roof!"

"Nice!" Judy replied.

Skye gestured all around. "This is the top secret headquarters of the Secret National Organization Undoing Terrorism AKA SNOUT. Despite 'National' in it's name, SNOUT is actually funded bah several world governments in an effort to maintain peace across the globe. It was founded by Mr. Tusk over twenty years ago and our top agent, Jack joined just under ten years ago.

Skye led them by a new room. "Now this is the commissary. This is where most of the folks go 'ta relax and get some lunch and whatnot. But we do have a more fancy cafe for dining and dancing. It doesn't open until the evening."

Nick was alarmed as a nearby toaster on the counter started talking to him. "Good afternoon sir! Would you like some toast?"

Nick didn't know what to say. "I, ummm...what?"

Skye explained. "That thar's Frank the toaster. When ah made him, ah gave him sentience so he knows how to make the perfect slice of toast."

"So the toaster's alive?"

"Sorta. Yeah."

The toaster waddled over. "Please allow me to make you some toast! It's literally my only purpose in life."

Nick wasn't sure what to do."Oh! Well...Ummm. I guess so. Skye, what kind of bread do you have?"

Skye whispered into Nick's ear. "Don't tell him, but we're all out of bread."

The toaster heard. "ALL OUT OF BREAD?! Toasting bread is the only function I have! I don't wanna live anymore!" He waddled over and tried to jump off the counter. "Goodbye cruel world! AAAHHHH!" However, his plug was locked in tight to the socket and he just danged off the counter. "Cruel fate! Why must this be my existence?!"

Judy then pointed out something. "Hey guys! There's bagels here!"

Skye was confused. "What's that got to do with anythin'?"

"Bagels can be toasted."

"...Ohhhh!"

Judy put the toaster back on the counter and put some bagels in for him. "Here. You can warm these up for...someone else."

"Right." Skye replied. "We ain't got much time. Thar's some stuff ah wanna show you in the garage."

Skye took them back down to the garage. "Now, you've already seen the Bubble Blaster, but y'all only got a glimpse of the flyin' car." She gestured towards the hovering vehicle. "I made some modifications mahself. This vehicle and it's anti-gravity hover tech was co-created by mah mentor, Roger Reginald Ramington or 'R' fer short. Ya know why ah call him R?"

"I'm afraid to ask," Judy replied.

"Because he's smarter than Q."

Both Nick and Judy groaned. "Remind me to smack the writer for that one," Judy replied.

"Anyway, he was a great ram. Taught me ah lot. He helped me with inventin' the anti-grav tech used on these cars. We had our fights of course, but thar's no one ah had more love and respect for."

"Where is he now?"Nick asked.

Skye gave out a depressing sigh. "Missin'. Along with some of our agents after a botched mission. We've been lookin' for him ever since, but we fear the worst."

Nick patted her on the shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. Ah've still been valuable to SNOUT thanks 'ta what he taught me. Now let's hurry! We don't wanna be late fer the meetin'!"

They went upstairs to the meeting room. Jack was already dressed in casual attire and waiting at his seat in front of a small, round table. Nick and Judy sat across from him while Skye sat next to Jack. "Howdy Muffin' !" Skye said to Jack. "Why are y'all poutin'?"

Jack gave a stern look to Nick. "I Zoogle imaged that cartoon character. I am NOT Nermal!"

Nick gave a sly smirk. "Well of course not. I apologize for saying you were."

Jack was surprised by Nick's quick apology. "Oh! Well...good! Thank you."

"You're totally not Nermal. Why, if anything, you're ab-Nermal."

"...Oh shut up!"

Judy nudged Nick on his arm. "Could you not tease a fellow agent we just met? It's rude!"

"Better than drooling and stammering my words like a certain little bunny I know."

"I think you're just jealous."

"Maybe a little. Still, here's an apology letter."

Nick handed Judy a folded note. She opened it to see a leaf with legs and a rearend poking out. At the bottom, it said "firm butt-leaf". Judy couldn't help but laugh. "You are such a dork!"

It was then that Mr. Tusk and Koslov entered the room. Koslov sat down while Tusk pulled down a white screen and pulled out a projector. "Thank you all for coming. Let's get right down to business."

He showed a picture of a large structure hovering in the sky. "This is the sky base known as 'Second Heaven'. It's an incredible feat of engineering that is somewhere high in the clouds. Very few people know it's current location since it's being hidden using the most advanced stealth technologies. Six years ago, it was constructed and used by a terrorist organization led by a tiger known as 'The Mauler'. Jack and several agents managed to infiltrate the base and take out Mauler. However, we lost the sky base in the ensuing battle and what's worse, we lost many of our men too. We completely lost it's location...until now."

Tusk showed a picture of a well dressed lama with a cane."Eric Shearer AKA the Dandy Lama has taken over the base and is planning to use it's high tech computers to make himself very rich. He is planning an auction in three weeks to sell the most advanced virus known to mankind. One that could spread to every PC and make it useless. Even then, what Mr. Lama has planned is small potatoes to what this base can really do under the wrong hands. He's like a child with a gun. Not realizing the deadly power of the weapon he holds."

Nick and Judy looked at each other and then back at Tusk. "What can it do under the wrong hands?" Judy asked.

"Take over the world if not destroy it. It doesn't just have the most advanced computers, it has the ability to encrypt and control every satellite on earth."

Nick was confused. "So it could cut off your cell phone data or your TV channels?"

"In the right hands, it could take over missile silos. Including nuclear ones. It could wipe out an entire country in seconds."

Nick's fur bristled at the thought. "Okay, that's super bad."

"Correct. Mr. Shearer doesn't realize the true power he's come across. He only wants to make himself the wealthiest mammal on earth. However, if some other people learn of it's true capabilities, they could take over or even destroy the world."

"So why us?" Judy asked. "We've done some undercover work before, but nothing on this level."

"I could see that you two have the raw talent. It will just take a bit more training to get there. Besides that, we are running low on agents. We're desperate."

Koslov interrupted. "Ees more than that. Vee need new people. People vee can trust. Recently, our team has been eenterceptink transmissions coming to thees base. Vee cannot decode the messages, but eet looks like someone een our organization ees in contact with that base."

Jack leaned in. "So what you're saying is, we have a mole?"

"Yes," Koslov replied.

Everyone looked around the room and then looked at a mole who was standing near the doorway with a tray full of donuts and coffee. He seemed very upset. "Oh sure. Everyone blames the mole! Look, I'm just an intern here. If you're gonna start blaming me for everything, you can get your own damn coffee!" The mole then dropped the tray on the table and stormed out.

"Well, it's probably not him," Nick stated. "But it does look like we got a standard Disney twist villain."

"So what's the plan?" Judy asked.

Tusk replied "Under the guise of representatives of some corrupt world leaders, we have managed to snag ourselves an invite to the auction occurring in three weeks. You, Mr. Wilde and Mr. Savage will infiltrate the base and find a way to shut down and destroy the virus program. Then, you'll take the base away from his henchman."

"What about Skye?" Nick asked.

"Skye?! She's just our gadget girl. She has no right being out in the field and...speaking of, what are you doing Miss Chaser?!"

Skye was looking up at the ceiling while spinning in her chair. "Whee! Did you know there are 12, 623 holes among the 24 ceiling tiles? There should be 12,624 but one of the tiles was cut at an improper angle."

"What does that have to do with anything?! Are you even paying attention?!"

"Sure ah am!"

"Then what was I saying?"

"You said 'What does that have to do wi-'"

"BEFORE THAT!"

"Oh! The mission! Y'all were talkin' about how you lost the base in the last battle and how you were gonna sneak in and shut the down virus and whatnot and that we have a traitor somewhares."

"That is correct."

"Ain't gonna work though."

"Excuse me?!"

"If'n we're gettin' communications from that base, it's very possible that they worked here before. Ah reckon' some of our own men saw what that base could do and decided to stay behind. That also means they'll recognize Jack lickedy-split! You'll also need a tech expert to stop the virus. That's where ah come in!"

"Absolutely not!" Tusk replied.

"Why not?!" asked Nick. "I mean, she's right. We have somewhat of a plan A, but it's important to have a plan B and C. That's how me and Judy got out of most of our scrapes. As far as Jack goes, he'll need a disguise."

Tusk wasn't having it. "She's reckless and foolish! The only thing Skye is good for is building gadgets and being a nanny!"

"Look buddy, those computers will likely have a log in that needs to be hacked through and she's your best bet!"

Skye interrupted. "Besides, ah got these!" She threw out two USB drives. "The blue one ah call 'Good Boy'. It's the ultimate anti-virus that can smash through any malicious software and malware and restore any computer back 'ta workin' order."

"Then what's the red one?" Jack asked.

"That thar's 'Bad Boy'. A virus likely as nasty as the one Dandy's makin'. However, it can only spread through a local area network. That way it could wreck the sky base, but not spread worldwide. 'Good Boy' however, can spread to all PCs."

"I see. If we fail, 'Good Boy' can stop the virus. But since we don't want to get to that, we use 'Bad Boy' to shut down all of their computers."

"That's right!"

Nick smiled. "You see? Look how valuable she is!"

Tusk was upset. "She's a fool who'll blow your cover the moment she starts acting goofy!"

"You don't know that! She could act Minnie or Daisy!...Judy's right. We seriously need to slap the writer. Anyway, we have to have some backup plans. I'm not doing this mission without her."

"You can't be serious."

"I'm dead serious."

Tusk looked over at Skye. "You'll have to go undercover. Can you even do an accent?"

"Sure as shootin'!" the arctic fox said. "Here's mah Ruffan...Das Vadanya y'all!"

The people in the room shook their heads in disgust. "No? How about French? Wee-Wee Mon-sewer! Ah'd like one'o them thar bagels!...No? How 'bout Canidian? Howdy eh? So like, can ah git some bacon and that thar maple syrup...eh?"

It was all terrible and Tusk was about to yell at her when Nick interrupted. "Ah reckon' ah gots me a better idee-er! If''n she can't git rid 'o her accent, ah'll just imitate hers. We can pretend to be from one 'o them thar southern states. Y'all think that thar's a good plan?"

Skye was squirming in her seat. "Oh mah stars! You sound so sexy!"

Judy was impressed. "Wow Nick! That's a great accent! How'd you pull if off?"

"It was pretty easy Carrots. After all, whenever we visit Bunnyburrow, I end up hanging out with Gideon Grey."

"Ees good accent!" Koslov stated. "Trunk, I theenk the fox maybe on to somethink."

Trunk thought it over. "Well..."

Nick interrupted. "It makes more sense for us to go in as couples. Judy can go with Jack and I could go with Skye."

Jack agreed."I got to admit, he has a good point."

Trunk argued "Still...if some of our old men who went missing are there, they'll recognize her and Jack."

"Nothing a good makeup job can't fix," Judy argued. "On our last mission, Nick was dyed pure white, like an arctic fox. I was a cat."

Nick chuckled "Up until you sneezed and blew your knit cap with the fake ears right off."

"And THAT'S why we have backup plans."

Tusk gave up. "I'll admit, your tech knowledge is invaluable. Okay Skye, you're in the mission."

Skye cheered "YAAY!" She ran up and hugged Tusk. "Thank yew so much Piggly-Wiggly! Y'all won't regret it!"

"The name is Robert and get your hands off of me!"

"Ah'm so excited! Ah already got some devices in mind for the mission! How does hidden, anti-gravity, jet packs sound?"

"Fine. Fine. But don't forget, besides all of your gadget making, you'll be going through the most rigorous training possible!"

Skye was nervous. "R-Rigorous training?"

"Oh yes. You'll not only have to be skilled in stealth, but in combat as well. You got three weeks to pass our training course. If you can't, you'll be too much of a liability and we'll have to pull you from the mission."

Skye saluted Tusk. "Ah won't let you down sir!"

"You better not. Your training starts tomorrow. In the meantime, me and Koslov will refine our plans. I agree Mr. Wilde. A plan B and C would be beneficial, but sometimes, your plans crumble and you just have to improvise."

Nick winked. "Me and Carrots are the pros at that sir."

They left the room and Judy started chatting with Jack while Skye approached Nick.

Skye approached Nick nervously. "Did ya mean what y'all said? That...That yew wouldn't have done the mission without me?"

"Yes," Nick answered. "It's about time time they realized how valuable you a-"

Skye cut him off as she hugged him and gave the red fox a passionate kiss on the muzzle. "Thank you Nick." She quickly backed off when she realized what she'd done. "Oh geez! Ah-Ah'm sorry! That was way too forward!"

Nick smiled. "It's okay! I didn't mind at all"

The arctic fox blushed. "W-Well...ah'll show you folks to yer rooms."

Judy interrupted. "Me and Jack are going to meet up at the cafe tonight. Why don't you two come along and we can make it a double date?"

"A-a date?! Ah...ah've never been on one before!"

"Really? Didn't you say you're 33?"

"Ah've always been a bit socially awkward. And the gas and IHS don't help none either. If...if you don't wanna Nick, ah understand."

"I'd love to," Nick replied with a smile.

Skye's smile couldn't be contained. "Really?! With me?! Oh thank you! Ah'm so excited! Oh jeez! Now ah gotta pee! Ah gotta find a dress! Muffin, do you mind showin' them to thar rooms?!"

"It would be my pleasure," Jack replied.

Skye started to run off. "Thank you! Ah'm so excited! FFFBBBRRRT! Whoops! Too excited! Bye!"

Judy interrupted Jack."Excuse me Jack, Can I talk to Nick in private?"

"Of course. I'll see my way to the gentleman's room."

"It's called 'the toilet' Stripes." Nick snarked.

Jack grumbled under his breath. "So uncouth!"

Judy smiled at Nick. "She said your name!"

"...So?"

"Remember what she said before? She only remembers the names of those she cares deeply for. That's why she knows Morris' name but gives nicknames to everyone else! I think she's in love with you."

"You think? I think her spontaneous spit-swapping would indicate that."

"You don't get what I'm saying! She's the one! You've been rejecting other vixens for so long, but now that you're satisfied that we're only best friends, it's time to find your mate. She's close to your age. You want to settle down and have a family. So does she! Plus, she's sweet and kind and...and she's obviously great with kids! I think you found your perfect match."

Nick looked away from Judy. "Yeah, well...maybe."

"Maybe?"

"I mean, it's only the first day we met. It's too early to tell."

Judy was trying to look at his face, but he kept looking away. "Nick, what's wrong?"

"...I...It's just...ummmm...I-I know I said our last kiss was horrible and didn't work but,...I lied."

"...What?!"

"I still have feelings for you Carrots! If...If we start seeing other people, it could split us apart. What if we start going our separate ways?! What if it gets to the point that I never see you again?! I couldn't take that!"

Judy gently walked up to Nick. "Nick...have you ever seen 'Moostruck'?"

"With Shear? Yeah. Great fil-"

Judy jumped straight up and slapped Nick across the face. SLAP! "Snap out of it! Nick, you're my best, closest friend in the whole world. I love you like a brother. Closer than my brothers, but I'm not IN love with you! I never will be! I've finally found someone who's stirring things in me that I haven't felt in years! You have the opportunity to have a wonderful life with a beautiful vixen. Besides, we'll always be partners. Don't ruin this for yourself over me!...Please Nick."

Nick finally stopped looking away and smiled at Judy. "You're right. You're absolutely right. She...She's a wonderful woman and I have to give her a shot. I'm sorry Judy."

Jack came back. "Well, are we all ready?"

Nick looked at Jack. "Just give me my room number and I'll find my own way."

"Oh! Well...It's 214 on the second floor. Here's your keycard. Just call me if you need anything else." Jack then turned his attention to Judy. "Well my dear, ready to see your room?"

Judy smiled. "If you play your cards right, I might be seeing your room tonight."

"Ho-ho! You're very direct miss Hopps."

"I just know what I want. Can you excuse me for one more moment? I'll be right back."

"Sure."

Judy walked away from Jack and...wait, where is she going? I didn't put that in th- SLAP! OW!

"That's for those corny jokes!"