AN: For those unaware, the ending chapters of these fics will often have 'after credit' scenes. So, make sure to always scroll down all the way, else you miss something. Also, thanks once again to my proofer, Dancou-Maryuu.
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Chapter 4
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As his Zuber passed through the underdeveloped woods and fields that marked the boundary between Savanna Central and the Rainforest District, Nick's mind was awash with strife. He couldn't help but stare morosely at his open paws.
Hustlers paws…
On a hustler fox.
Who was proud of it!
It wasn't an act he was lost in, it wasn't an old part of him, it was something he felt and lived and…
He groaned, his fingers flexing slightly. He felt dreadful, disgusting, like a guilty criminal. After all, he hadn't changed, had he?
But had he?
He was a cop! He was a good mammal, who'd turned his life around, and…
-And yet, it didn't explain that little slip up he'd done just there. Staring out the window, as they passed through the small strip of old countryside that had been saved from the growing city districts, his mind wandered. It had been so easy, hadn't it? To slip back… Was that what it was like for those bears, or that fox? Just a casual slip into evil, that you couldn't even feel?
It made him sick.
He and they were even more similar than he'd thought.
Was there even a point to all this?
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"We're here."
"-Right," Nick muttered, barely roused from his emotional stupor but still remembering where he was and who he was seeing. "That…" Putting on a smile, he thanked the driver, paying him and seeing him off. Turning to face his destination, he let out a long whistle.
It had been years since he'd last seen this place and, while it had changed, it had changed in exactly the way he'd expect it to. Walking over to the mechanics shop, he passed a whole assortment of old vehicles and machines on display. Out front, there was an ancient steamroller that Nick swore hadn't been there last time. Looking to the side of the building, where several agricultural sheds had been laid out, there were easily more vehicles than he remembered from last time. A worrying number of them were ex-military. Trucks, jeeps and motorcycles, he could deal with, but a four-barreled anti-air gun? One that looked to be in working condition?
He shook his head, dismissing his concerns about her, the ones he had about himself immediately flooding back into the gap. The fox's face furrowed. "Hello darkness my old friend," he grunted as he walked through the door, almost satisfied going back to the old Nick snark now that he knew that trying to better himself was futile. Naturally he then felt a flash of guilt, for doubling down on the old Nick snark which he was supposed to be getting rid of.
He closed his eyes, breathed in and out, and calmed himself down. "Smile, Wilde, you want her to help, don't you?" He managed to slip his hustlers mask back on quite comfortably as he pressed the service bell, no-one being at the desk. Looking around, this part was just as he remembered. A cheap but functional reception, pretty utilitarian with the exception of a few dreamcatcher decorations that hung up here and there. There were some magazines on the desk too, mainly mechanic ones like Socket Wrench Monthly and AutoTrend, but also tech ones like LINKED......
Looking closer at the last one, Nick saw a picture of a relatively famous onager (or wild ass) tech entrepreneur with platinum fur and a long mane, who specialised in artificial intelligence. Nick had heard of him a few before, most recently thanks to Judy. Through her social media feed, the rabbit had found out that he'd been seen dating a local red panda, which had earned the poor girl a bit of online abuse, in doing so setting off the justice Bun. That had all died down now, regardless, and Nick refocussed on the task at paw.
He could hear cheery music coming out of the building's workshop and, looking through an open door, he spotted a car above an inspection pit, being worked on from below.
It was her.
Nick could hear her singing along, badly but happily, and completely missing the bell. He pressed it again and, as the music stopped and the mammal began getting ready to come over, he moved over to a waiting chair and sat down.
Alone with his thoughts…
Honestly, rather a bad move.
"Hi!" came a chirp from the other side, as the door opened. "How may I…"
Nick got a look at the mammal now standing in front of him. She was a swift fox, sandy yellow fur covering her body, and she was dressed in a pair of stained denim dungarees, a tool box in one paw.
Nick managed a brief smile and a wave of a paw at the vixen. "Hi Skye."
She blinked a few times, while her ears folded back against the back of her head, a definite 'not this crap again' look growing on her face. She took in a calming breath, before giving a little smile back as she walked to her desk. "Long time no see," she said, politely enough but with no real warmth or joy.
If Nick were in the mood, and had he not needed her help, he would have teased her. About her missing him, or getting damned by faint praise. The last one almost came out of his muzzle, old Nick ready to jump back out and joke sarcastically about his feelings, but he kept it in. Partly due to still holding onto his self-improvement drive, however dumb and futile that was, but mainly because Jack still needed his stage fixed. In the end, he just said: "I could say the same thing."
She nodded. "So then. You're a cop now. Saved the predators…" There was a shrug, then a faint smile. "Guess I'll say thank you."
"No worries."
There was a brief pause, her eyes narrowing. Skye pulled up a finger, drawing it up with her paw so it pointed at the ceiling, before letting it swoop back down, aiming it right at Nick. "Not that I can say the same thing about you." She was frank. No-nonsense. That part hadn't changed. "You're all angsted up so much, I can feel it spreading to me," she commented, before crossing her arms and rolling her eyes hard, finishing it off with a large smirk. "I'm feeling irritated and a little fed up already."
Nick sighed, pinching the bridge of his muzzle. "Listen, I'm not in a good mood right now so…"
"-AH!" she exclaimed, before her eyes narrowed even more at him. "Knew it." He winced as he realised he'd messed up. Badly. Skye, meanwhile, had her toolbox out and was sifting through it. "Now, I tend to specialise in fixing problems," she said. "Real problems that really exist and thus can be fixed. So, I'm afraid you're out of luck, Nicky…"
"Listen, I…"
"I mean I could try," she offered, a fun smile flashing across her muzzle. "But five to ten years for assault…" She pulled out a heavy wrench, wiggling it in front of Nick before placing back with a shrug. "Ehh….. Even if it does work, you're not really worth it." She picked up her toolbox again, giving Nick a quick wave, before heading back into her workshop. "Nice meeting up again!"
"Skye!" he urged, racing after her. She paused at the door, turning on the spot and looking at him sceptically. "Listen, I do have a real life problem you can fix. It's a big job, but you should be able to do it," he explained. "I may also be going through some of the... -stuff… -that you don't like… but this has nothing to do with that!"
She paused, thinking. "Okay then, what is it? -The mechanic stuff, not your mumbo jumbo stuff."
"Here, let me show you," Nick replied, bringing out his phone and showing her the picture he'd taken of the ruined set. Her eyes went wide as they landed on it, before she took the phone from him and studied it. Her tail swished a few times, and her paw tapped along the side of her muzzle, happy humming noises coming out of her.
"Ooooh!" She cooed, intrigued. "Let me guess, giant massive failure?"
"Yup."
"Everything colliding together?"
"Looks like it."
"Nice. They didn't even have an interlocking system to prevent that?"
"I'm guessing the answer is no. If they had something to prevent it, I'm guessing it would have prevented it."
She looked over it all one last time, before handing the phone back. "Useful again," she said, patting Nick's shoulder. "Twice in one lifetime, you're gonna have to keep this up!"
"Thank you," he snarked, doing his best to ignore her as she grabbed her toolbox and raced back into her workshop, grabbing more tools. Rubbing his forehead, annoyed that the taunting thoughts were coming back in, he closed his eyes to try and focus. Drive them out.
"Got a ride?"
"No, I came in a Zuber…"
"Right, I'll get my bike out. You can ride on the back." She popped around the corner again, a helmet on her head and a second in her other paw. She tossed it at him before waving him on. "Where we going?"
"Moon's Theatre," he said, as she nodded.
They stepped out, and she locked the door. "Sure we can't take a car?" he asked, as they walked around to a parking lot at the back. A high powered old-school motorbike was waiting there, Skye already stowing away her toolbox and wheeling it out. She looked up at Nick and patted on the back seat. "-You have plenty of those, don't you?
"I do," she said, smiling back at him. "But I'm just in a biking mood today."
Nick reluctantly put on his helmet and mounted the bike. No point arguing with her.
"Anyway, you're in one of your 'everything is crap' moods today," she said, almost whimsically. A slightly devious look grew on her face. "This way, you can't bother me with it!"
"It's not one of those," Nick clarified. "It's a 'I was a bad mammal in the past and I can't get away from it' mood."
Almost immediately Skye snapped around to face him. "What do you mean, can't get away from it?" she interrogated.
Nick grumbled a bit. "I still joke around and blow people off like before I became a cop and, however much I try, I can't stop it. Worse, if push comes to shove I'm still a bit proud of some of my hustles. I feel like I'm stuck as nothing more than a dirty con-fox."
Skye's head cocked slightly, an eyebrow rising, before her body suddenly relaxed. Shaking her head, she reached out and put her paw on his shoulder. "And here I was thinking you were going to say you were corrupt or something. You actually had me worried there."
Nick's eyes narrowed, but he stayed silent.
"Instead it's something… Well, new, certainly."
His eyes narrowed just a little bit more.
"Anyway, listen, Nick," Skye continued, the tone of her voice softening out, with a hint of compassion coming in. "I don't know why exactly I'm going to repeat this, but I'm going to do it anyway, despite knowing the definition of insanity. You are not 'just a fox' or just a 'dirty con-fox' or whatever, you are you - Nick Wilde; no more, no less."
Skye turned back forwards and started the engine as Nick's eyes widened with realisation, a sly grin growing on his muzzle. "Wait, no 'responsibility for your life' part?"
She glanced back. "I think the police thing took care of that already."
"Why Skye," he said, smirking. "Was that a…" He was cut off as the engine roared out and Skye took off, the pair racing back to Moon's theatre.
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Pulling another bit of fallen debris off and into a safe place on the floor, Judy breathed out, rubbing her aching arms. She couldn't help but try her best at tidying the mess up, especially as she seemed to be the only one there who could be bothered to do it. Her gaze lingered on someone she thought would have at least a passive interest in helping out.
"... -What?"
She kept her eyes on Jack. The hare was laying back on the mattress that they'd risen up on, and which now was stuck here and wouldn't go down. Judy had to hold back the urge to shake her head in disappointment. "You could help," she said. "It's your production."
"We're going to get a mechanic who'll be moving stuff around anyway," Jack said, sitting up and shrugging his shoulders. "Why bother? Wasted energy..." He lay down again as Judy, looking up at the mess, resolved to double her efforts to tidy it up as much as possible. "-In any case, I'm thinking."
"About what?"
"Douglas Allen."
"Who?"
"My character from just now," he said. "I'm wondering, could I make him into the star of his own play? Or would he be a side character? What would his story arc be? Or… -hang on, he could be a great addition to 'Street Gang Family'. -That's one of my in-production scripts. Had the idea after seeing mafia films with all those crime family hierarchies. It got me wondering what it would be like to have that at the very bottom of the organised crime hierarchy. Would they be trying to rise up, or be going down? How would the family react? I mean, there's still lots to change and fill out and edit and all that. It'll be worth it to get some of the fun moments across for sure. You'd enjoy that one. If you wanted to be an actor again, I could make you the chief inspector!"
Pulling another heavy lump of metal, Judy turned to him and smiled. "Thanks Jack," she said, before pausing. "And Douglas Allen?"
"-Oh, right. Forgot about him. He'd be a side character in that. Maybe a secondary antagonist. Or a friend! But it would mean moving the setting and time period slightly. Lots of things I need to sort out..."
Judy nodded in agreement, before being distracted by the sound of the theatre doors opening, Nick calling out. "Judy, Jack? We're back."
Both stood up, watching as Nick and the new swift fox vixen walked up to meet them. "Judy, Jack, meet Skye. Skye, meet Jack and Judy." Greetings were exchanged, though they were cut short as the mechanic leapt up and began examining the whole mess. Letting out a long appreciative whistle, she shook her head. "Wow!"
"Yeah," Judy said, tutting. "We didn't see the collision itself, but it seems to have messed up all the systems beneath the stage too."
"Even some of the lights are bust," Jack added.
"Hmmm, massive chain reaction of failures... Purrphy's Law in full effect here!"
"You can say that again," Judy replied, before gesturing down to her sorting. "I tried to tidy it up, but I didn't get far."
"Ummmm," Skye paused, before shrugging. "I guess thanks," she replied, giving a thumbs up. Judy looked over to Jack and smirked, only to pause as the vixen carried on. "-I'm glad you care, but I'd rather have done the cleanup myself. Don't want to miss a clue or anything, or deal with someone else's mess up. It's the thought that counts though, so thanks again."
Rolling her eyes at the very proud grin on Jack's face, Judy turned back to Skye. "Well, they were only loose bits that seemed to be ready to fall off. And you're right, you gotta try!"
The vixen nodded, before stepping forwards to examine something. "Yeah, your production after all."
"Actually it's Jack's," she said. "Nick and I came here on a visit."
Glancing up, Skye looked at her for a few seconds before her eyes widened. "Judy Hopps?"
Jack smirked. "In the mammal, yes."
"Makes sense now," the swift fox said, smiling. "Thanks for the whole Night Howler thing."
A wide grin grew on Judy's muzzle as she crossed her arms. "Just Nick and I making the world a better place!"
Skye nodded, only to pause. "Is Nick your partner?" she asked. Judy nodded proudly, only for that to fade as the fox looked at her with pity. "Oh, that's… -interesting," she said, before shaking her head. She sounded genuinely concerned. "Listen, I… Well, hopefully you two get on great."
Judy's nose twitched a few times. "We certainly do get on great," she said defensively. "He has a few little issues, but he's good and I'm happy to help."
Skye looked at her curiously, before looking back over the rest of the room. "I guess you'll be happy to go off and find him then."
"I…" the bunny doe began, only to pause. Glancing around, she saw no Nick. "Right! Yes..." She leapt off the stage, running off with the hope of finding him. Jack and Skye were left alone, the vixen turning back to the stage set, the jackrabbit leaning back and watching her.
"I guess you and Nick have a history?"
Still looking around, she shrugged. "A rather big one. Let's just leave it at that."
He shrugged. While curious, he wasn't really feeling the need to probe her that much. Instead, he walked forwards, looking over the wreckage with her, the pair side by side. "You can thank my idiot boss for messing this up," Jack said, making her roll her eyes.
"Looks like an idiot boss job," she said with a chuckle, nodding her head as she stepped back and took it all in. "Then again, I might thank him… -I was in the mood for a challenge!"
His paused, looking at her. "I'd call a challenge a bad thing," he observed, crossing his arms. "But, good for you, I guess!"
Turning around, the vixen looked at him and smirked.
He looked back, confused. "What?"
"Nothing," she replied, shaking her head. "You're just… a bit of a character, shall we say."
His fur bristled slightly and he stood up tall, even his ears going upright. "I'm not just 'a bit of a character', Skye."
"Sure you're not," she replied happily. "And you're not making it worse, either."
"Right now, I'm not playing any character, I'm just being Jack Savage," he boasted proudly, eyes closed. "I am just me!"
Skye chuckled a bit and, as she leaned in to observe something, she happened to glance back and see a little grin flicker across his muzzle, escaping out. She thought it a bit interesting, before turning back to the job at paw, something which was far more so.
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Out in the lobby, Nick paced around, scratching his head and deep in thought. With Skye dealt with, he was able to go back and rack his brain, running over his current mental crisis. Who was he, exactly?
What was he?
A good mammal?
A bad one?
When he'd planned to move on, cut himself from his old past and change himself, he looked forward to it. As a cop, Nick felt more free and happy than he'd ever done, and had grown from a mammal that always hid behind his hustler's mask to one who was getting ever more used to taking it off. Dropping those sarcastic hangups, and the last remnants of his cynical nature, were going to be the roof on his tower of redemption.
But he'd just had the foundations ripped from under him and everything, all that he'd worked on, now lay in a heap of rubble. He felt just like that too.
But should he?
He groaned slightly, pulling down his ears in frustration and even letting out a little growl. "Is it too much to ask for something freaky to distract me?" He asked, shaking his head. "Some new conspiracy, or another jumper to talk down, or some eldritch horror to…"
The tod trailed off, his ears folding back as he glanced at the pair of disturbing yellow statues that stood on display.
"On second thoughts, scratch that last one," he mumbled, walking away. "That's too far."
Evacuating himself from the area swiftly, he found a chair to sit himself down at and leant forwards, paw massaging his brow. What was he? Policemammal? Confox? Actor? Angsty idiot?
Or was it like Skye said, was he just Nick Wilde, with that being the be-all-end-all? Was he just a police mammal who was once a hustler? Maybe if he could rant this to his therapist he could…
…
"Oh Mother Marian," he said, getting a letter out of his pocket. On the front it read 'open in case of existential crisis', and he dug one claw in before pausing.
"This was all a hustle, wasn't it?" he snarked to the air. Shaking his head, he opened the envelope and read what was inside.
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"Dear Mr Wilde,
I presume that the plan that Judy and I worked out together has come into operation, and that your assumptions about being lost in an act since you were a kit are now in doubt or proven false.
My techniques are unusual, but I believe in both guiding mammals with straightforward advice and letting them learn things by themselves. The latter requires some creativity in certain, challenging, cases. However, let me now do the former. Let me guide and explain my observations to you.
Throughout our time together, you have been someone focussed on moving away from the past. As you said, seeking redemption. All things can go too far though, and both Judy and I felt this way when you tried to change the way you speak and alter your personality. Maybe that was required previously, but not now. You strive and run from the past and to the future, but the past is not all bad. There is good there, and good in you, and it's important to recognise, accept and even cherish that.
Your 'lost in the act' theory was interesting, and I do believe that it may have been true to begin with. But, over time, you became this 'hustler Nick', and the old you merged with it. If you were struggling to get out of the act, it was because there was no act to get out of. We just needed to let you learn this for yourself.
More importantly though, ask yourself this. Was the mammal you were the day before that mission a good one? A bad one? I believe he was good. Rough around the edges, yes, but that's who you are, and it's what a lot of people like about you. There was never anything wrong with that, ever. Your partner befriended you, quirks and all, and seeing you trying to strip those quirks, take away what was special about yourself, hurt her. Not just because she likes you, but she saw self-destructing, self-hating behaviour and, naturally, it made her terribly nervous.
I can't tell you how to live your life, or dictate how you should act, but I can say this; the Nick Wilde I knew before the incident at the Daycare was a good mammal and a good friend. My advice, Nick, is to try and find peace with yourself, with your past, and with who you are.
You aren't a hustler, or a cop. You're Nick Wilde.
Feel free to contact me if you need any more help.
Dr Lupuleli.
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Nick put the letter down and breathed out.
He felt…
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…
"Okay…"
"Nick!"
His ears flicked up and he looked over to see a concerned Judy, as it hit him just how worried she'd been for him lately. She stepped over next to him, holding out a paw, and he let his move forwards into hers, the touch staying his mind and calming him. It felt good.
He felt…
"-How are you feeling?"
"Good," he said, looking down and smiling. "Good."
And he was. He felt calm, he felt happy. He thought back to his hustler slip, and it felt natural. Okay... He had standards in his past! He was proud of them! Jack had outraged his hustler sense and that… that was okay. It was fine. In any case, it felt nicer than that 'self-destructing' thing that at least three females in his life couldn't stand. Maybe it all would be alright?
"You know," he said, chuckling slightly. "I was being a really dumb fox back there."
Judy rolled her eyes. "You can say that again."
"You know, I was being a really dumb fox back there."
He got a light punch on his leg in response and couldn't help but milk it.
"That's my best leg! My career… ruined! By a vicious bunny!"
"Sure you don't want to be an actor?" Judy said, smiling happily. Why wouldn't she be? She had her old Nick back! An old Nick who made her happy!
"I'm good thanks," he said as he stood up, an understatement if there was one. "I think I like being a cop quite enough, thank you very much."
"So do I, Nick," Judy said, nodding. "So do I."
Together, they headed back to the stage, talking as they went.
"Also, I really need to refresh my hustling skills," he said.
"Oh. Why's that?"
"I may have missed a Grade A one being pulled by a certain bunny. Or should I say bunnies!" He paused, looking down deviously. "Don't tell Skye, but we foxes have our reputation to uphold."
Judy chuckled, only to pause in thought. "Say, what's up with you and Skye?"
Nick froze slightly, before taking a deep breath in. He felt a bit of apprehensiveness, it was an old and personal story. Before, he would have struggled to get it out, but now...
"We dated for a bit in our last years of school," he explained, the words coming out calmly and with no issue. "But she dumped me rather quickly."
"There's more than that, I'm guessing?"
He nodded, feeling fine to go on. "Skye was a year younger than me and her birth parents, the Fawkes', actually lived near my old home. They were a real bad bunch though, drugs and fighting, you name it. She was still a baby when social services took her away, and she was adopted by a military family elsewhere. Later on, her new father - a fox - caught cancer. He survived, but he had to take a medical discharge. He ended up as a shop teacher in our school, and that's how we met again…"
"Right..." Judy said, still unsure of where this was going.
Nick sensed her confusion and knelt down to her level. "I'm telling you this because, as far as she was concerned, she had 'the harder youth'. She was the one with the worst deck of cards at the beginning and, if foxes supposedly got a bad hand from society, she'd logically be the worst one off between the two of us. However, her father, a fox, was a popular teacher. She had good grades, good prospects, she was going places. Me though… -Remember the speech I gave you after you found out about my jumbo pop hustle?"
The bunny nodded. "You can only be what you are."
"Yup," Nick sighed. "Back then I lived by that mantra, and I preached it, trying to convince her. She didn't buy it though and, at first, she tried to drill some sense into me, before eventually giving up and being unable to stand me. By the end, all Skye saw was a fox moping around, saying he was traumatised by a 'one-off' bullying incident and milking it for all it was worth. To her, I was toxic tod who complained about all the stereotypes of his species, exaggerating them a hundred times over to mask his failures, all while being a giant hypocrite and doing all he could to promote those stereotypes…" He took a breath in, and then out… That had all been, fine! Happy with himself, he then looked over at Judy and flashed a smile. "So as a judge of character, you've gotta give her credit."
Managing to stifle a laugh, the bunny shook her head, only for a sad look to come over her. "But that wasn't a little incident though, was it? You were mute for a while…"
"A while before I met her," he said, scratching his head. "When I did, it was long ago and the damage done. She didn't know."
Judy looked on, still a bit sceptical. "Still she could be a bit less…"
"Hostile to me?" Nick asked. He gave a shrug. "Maybe. Maybe…"
She nodded. "Something I could work on," she muttered as they entered the main theatre. Jack was sitting down, watching Skye do some work. "We can always try," she said, as she briefly pictured the four of them hanging out together as good friends. "After all, we'd made a great group of four."
"Oh, I think we'd make a great foursome!" he said, turning to Judy and teasing her.
She just smiled back. It felt good to have her fox back. He felt good to be back to his old self, and to feel good about it! Jack felt good, seeing his project being put on track, and Skye was happy having a new one. Sure, there was work to be done, the bunny reminded herself. She'd have to have a talk with Skye a bit later, trying to convince her to give Nick a second chance. He had changed, after all, but thankfully not too much. With her help, he'd worked it all out. Things were good, and she just wanted to savour that for a little. She felt like nothing could possibly ruin this moment.
…
Beep-Beep Beep-Beep Bee...
Judy's ears shot up as her phone rang, and she quickly answered it. "Yes, Chief? It's our… -Understood." Putting her phone away, she looked at Nick gravely. "The Chief wants us in his office," she said. "They've just discovered that someone has been stealing Night Howlers."
Nick gulped, before his face hardened. Out came his sunglasses, flicked out and placed on his face. "Those guys better watch out then. Old Nick is back in town."
Judy flicked hers out too. It was time to make the world a better place again.
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An: And so we come to the end of 'Acting out' and everyone's favourite purple flower is back in play. But how, why, where? Feel free to speculate and comment, before finding out more next week in 'Elementary introductions'.
Follow the full series 1 on fanfic, or the FFoZ collection on A03, to make sure you don't miss it.
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Anyway… Wooo! This 'oneshot' (fourshot) took a ton of work to get right. It doesn't help that this is the first, and thus most important, fic of the project. It has to be great and top notch, to hook readers in. I've never liked doing intro chapters/ fics, and I did a lot of agonising over lots of details here.
Working out how to place the undercover mission, in particular, was tough. At first I went straight into it, but then worried that this would put some people off. Then I tried an author's notes warning in front, then trying to ease people into it all with a future tv interview with Judy. I briefly tried having the therapy session come the day and chapter before the mission, which would be designed so you can skip it… In the end, I decided that the therapy session had to come (story wise) after the mission, so Nick could spell out his worries. This led to me moving the filing scene, originally between the mission and therapy (and where Nick sometimes made the connection between himself and that fox) to after it. After that, things went as I planned all along. Finally, I toned down the actions with Mrs and Mr Kuma, helping it fit closer to the tone of the rest of the fic. Of course, it still needed to be dark to begin with, given that it sets of Nick's self doubt.
This fic was all about introducing Jack and Skye, plus showing the undercover mission. Some eagled eyed viewers will have recognise the civvy helper there, and some of his friends will be making an appearance very soon. There were a ton of other easter eggs as well.
In the grand scheme of this story, Skye had a complex backstory that I laid out, and a personality and character that I quickly came up with. She's not the version of Skye from Embers of the Past and, though I thought about adding some of that Skye to this one, nothing much came of it. Jack meanwhile took a long time to work out/ come up with. I had his backstory, but his personality? I think I've come up with something unique, and it allowed a final addition to the series 1 plan which both gives him an arc, and Skye an extra one too (while supporting Judy's arc on top).
Given all that, it came almost as a surprise the Jack was easier and funner to write here than Skye. Then again, we'll see lots more of her coming up, and in some future fics I was able to really get her personality down.
As said before, we'll be seeing lots of smaller fics, each with their own internal story (such as Nick's personality crisis and its resolution, as seen here), but adding to the wider plot. As said before, on fanfic the next chapter will be posted after this, while on AO3 you can subscribe to the FFoZ series to get the next fic, 'Elementary introductions' when it comes out.
Hope you all enjoyed this. See you next time!
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Dr Lupuleli flicked through her case notes slowly but carefully, reviewing them all as she went. This new task was not one to be taken lightly, and she had no intention of doing as such.
Pausing as she found one of particular…. strangeness, she turned to the mammal she'd invited over for an interview. It wasn't the first time they'd talked, that time had been when she was originally made aware of the patient in question, but she still wanted to make sure that everything was clear.
It all was, and after wrapping it up and being left alone, she could consider it all. Checking her emails though, she was distracted as one came up from Judy Hopps. Reading it, she smiled. The plan had worked, Nick was better. She'd been confident he would be.
She was less confident about her next patient though. Absentmindedly she remembered the mammal she'd just been interviewing, pushing for her to help this new patient, partly out of guilt but mostly due to a long and old relationship that had been greatly tested by the passage of time. Coming here, hoping that Amy could help the new charge out of her deeply speciesist ways, the Binturong hoped that she could.
Amy also remembered that the visitor had met Hopps and Wilde before. Probably best not to raise it though, given that said meeting was an arrest made at a certain asylum where fifteen missing mammals were being held.
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In a car, rolling along the warm streets of the canyonlands, a pair of big cats were talking to each other. A dark-furred Lion was driving and a vain looking tiger sat in the seat next to him, talking as they drove.
"So, we put a bid on that item of interest for the boss, but did it have to be one so substantial?"
"I'd say so," the Lion said. "The auction closes soon. We don't want anyone else coming in and outbidding us, do we?."
"I'd think we could pay half, maybe even a quarter, of what we did there and no-one would outbid us for that insulting homage. It's a lump of junk."
"It's not a lump of junk."
"Well, I disagree there. I say it is."
"No, it's not," the Lion said out loud before groaning. "I didn't take you for an idiot, but here we are. It's a religious artifact of great importance to the boss."
"Might be a thing of great importance to the boss," the tiger said, "but so is the other delivery that he just ordered and we just got! Both happen to be talentless frauds made in the mid-to-late last century."
"You talking about the delivery on the back seat."
"Is there another one? Is there?"
The lion chuckled. "That was a statement friend. Not a question."
"And it's a statement that we could pay a lot less than what we did, maybe split the money…"
"Excuse me! You're asking us to mess with the boss? You do know what happens to people who mess with the boss?"
"They send us out," the tiger boasted. "And there in is his problem."
The lion shook his head strongly. "No. Just no."
…
The tiger laughed, shaking his head. "Just toying with you, dear friend."
"Good. I really was beginning to think I was surrounded by idiots here."
...
"But it is a lump of junk," the tiger continued. "It's clearly not a real sarcophagus, probably some art made a few years ago." He paused, thinking and smiling. "I wonder what the ancient priests would think about that being made, inspired by their doomed religion."
"Doomed religion?"
"Doomed from the start," the tiger explained. "You see, the way I see it, doesn't a religion have to evolve to stay relevant? Now the ancient Egyptians, they were very specific about their gods. One for life. One for death. One for their big river... You have to agree that they wrote themselves into a corner right there."
"A corner," the Lion replied. "How so? In any case, shouldn't the exalted and religious be firm and clarified by default? If your god, the one in the sky who gave you life, gets messed around with and altered, can you really have that much faith in him? Faith to protect your everlasting soul as it traverses the valley of darkness? The sheep of the world need a strong, constant, regal god to rule them, don't they?"
"Well, lots of little adjustments are better than larger ones, are they not? Try replacing the recipe in cola, try doing it all at once. Now that's quite proven not to work. But what if they tweaked it over the years. A little here, a little there... They could change the whole coca cola recipe without us knowing."
"Now why would they do such a thing to such a national institution?"
"Because they can. They want to. Now, who's to say that the coca cola we're drinking now, is the very same coca cola that we were drinking when we were cubs?"
"Well I say and my faith says," the lion said. "That's what's lacking in you, faith. You have an utter lack of it."
"And the coca cola scientists have us all drinking new coke today, and none of us know!"
"No they're not."
"Who's to say?"
"I'm to say. I have supreme and almighty faith, that we are drinking old coke."
"But do you have old coke to prove it? To taste test against modern coke? Who's to say that the coca cola company hasn't been leading us on? They haven't abandoned new coke, so they snuck it in by stealth. We have all been hoodwinked, led on, and made to have supreme trust in the coca cola company, but they may have taken us all for a ride."
"All for a ride? Come on dear chap. If you're this worried, just stick to pawpsi cola! There's your new god for you. I'd know if coke had changed."
"Well I don't think so. Besides, does it matter? An undetectable change over half a generation. Now the Egyptian gods, meanwhile, they had an almighty god for their holy river and that river only. Now what would happen if they found a bigger river, I wonder? They'd need a new god for it, and he'll be bigger than their powerful nile god by proxy. Where would he fit into the existing mythology? Would he just arrive and make the Nile, the source of eternal life and prosperity, his bitch? They'd have to do a new coke for their faith, and that'll all fall apart. It's why we don't follow Horus or some of those other old bird gods, and why some cheap knock off sacreligious owl statue was built today, and we're after it."
The lion shook his head. "No, no, no... Think about it, the ancient Egyptian religion died of afterlife inequality."
"Afterlife inequality?"
"Getting past the giant pyramid and tomb, you needed some moronically expensive priest to pull out your organs and jar them, dissolve your brain and suck it out with a straw, cover you in salt from a lake… Not just regular plain easy to access salt from the sea, but elitist salt… and then wrap you up in bandages in a golden coffin in a decorated room with lots of curse-protected treasure, to have a chance! A chance! At making it! Where was the good afterlife for the common mammal? Where was his shot at eternal reward and paradise? He had none! That's why the egyptian religion died out. You always have to win the common mammal, the more ignorant and disorganised the better, over to your side with promises of wealth and glory, and that extends to religions too. The workers of the world need to think they have a shot at the means of redemption."
The tiger listened on, pulling out his tranq pistol to examine it as he did so. "Well, whatever happened, they're gone now and cheap knockoffs will be built of our their gods, and likely our gods in the future too."
"You mean like today? You mean like Pawpsi is to coca cola?"
"No…. Yes…. Maybe…."
"Besides," the Lion continued. "I don't think the owl thing is a knock off. Either way, the boss thinks it's valuable, and he put his bucks on it. A whole lot of bucks. The boss gets what the boss wants, and the boss wants this."
"Some cheap treat for the missus? She is the right species to be into that kind of stuff."
"I don't know," the lion pondered. "He'll be having the big guns taking the delivery. The real big guns."
"Like the Wolf?"
"Like Petey."
"Petey!" The tiger leant back, whistling. "Well I know that that's serious then. Maybe they're into that religion? Bringing it back?" He paused, before turning and leaning over the back of his seat, tranq still in paw, to look at their current delivery, a scraggly weasel trussed up in the rear of the car. "Say, do you believe that ancient gods and religion are still relevant and worthy of respect and adoration, even after…"
He was broken off as the car hit a bump, the tranq gun going off and the dart landing right between the weasel's eyes.
"YOU JUST SHOT WESSELTON IN THE FACE!"
"I JUST SHOT WESSELTON IN THE FACE!"
"WHY DID YOU JUST SHOOT WESSELTON IN THE FACE…?" The lion asked, before groaning. "Man. The boss doesn't have any friends in the canyonlands? What are we going to do? We're going to have lay low for ages now and hope everyone forgets us. Why did you even do that?"
"I didn't mean to shoot Wesselton in the…"
He broke off as a groan came from the back.
"It's… Weaselton," Duke managed to say, before passing out on the back seat.
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Exiting the theater, after sorting out the deals of her contract, Skye stretched a little before heading off to where she'd parked her bike, singing as she went. "Oh, a wandering mechanic I…"