Chapter 4: Sly Robbers, Sly Coppers
The first half of the new week passed quickly with no major incidents for the officers of Precinct One.
Thursday morning rolled around and Judy entered the bullpen. She spied Nick already sitting in their shared seat in the front row tossing back his usual cup of coffee. He had already scooted to the right side of the chair leaving room for her arrival.
Smiling, she hopped up and greeted her partner, "Morning, Nick!"
"Ugh. It is way too early to be so chipper, Carrots," he took another swig of his brew.
"Okay, cranky fox. Why do you look so tired?"
"I stayed up way too late working on a few things," he mumbled while placing his free arm on the counter.
Before Judy could say more, the bullpen got fired up as Chief Bogo entered from the side door and took his position behind the podium.
"Alright! Everybody sit," the cape buffalo ordered.
The room quieted and Bogo began to hand out assignments. Nick and Judy's task came last.
"Hopps. Wilde. We have a new case of a robbery yesterday outside of the First Rainforest Financial Bank near the border of the Rainforest and Canal Districts. Suspect has fled without a trace. This incident matches several previous robberies throughout the city. Go to the bank and find out what you can. I want this mammal found." Bogo handed them the dossier. "Dismissed."
The pair now sat side-by-side at their shared desk flipping through the various case files.
Judy quickly read through the information, "Seems like there is only one robber, a medium sized mammal who looked like a construction worker, attacked one of the bank guards as they were transferring money from the armored car, took the large bag of money, and fled on foot. Then vanished."
"These witness reports say there was a gathering of several dozen construction workers at the bank that same morning matching the robber's attire," Nick added.
"Nothing on camera?"
"They didn't have any on the outside of the building."
Grabbing their cruiser keys, Judy hopped out of her seat, "Let's head down to the bank and get some statements and check the scene ourselves."
"Right behind you, Carrots," he said while grabbing his aviators.
They arrived at the First Rainforest Financial that was located on Ivy St. It was a small and plain two story square building covered in lush green fauna. The bunny was walking ahead of her partner while the fox paused to survey the street. Several commercial and financial buildings lined the street, all designed with a canopy motif even if they were on ground level. In the distance he saw the waters of the Canal District. Right next to the bank was a small pedestrian bridge extending over a waterway running east and west.
Entering the lobby, they were greeting by a female jaguar, "Hello Officers. How may I help you?"
"Hello Ma'am, I am Officer Judy Hopps and this is my partner, Officer Nicholas Wilde, we are here to ask some questions about yesterday's robbery," the bunny replied in a friendly tone.
"Of course Officers, please follow me to the Manager's office. She will be able to discuss the incident with you."
The employee lead them around to the side of the bank teller wall, up the stairs, and down a tiny hallway that ended with an office with the words 'Branch Manager' written on a door plaque. The jaguar knocked first and then opened the door.
"Miss Cathoun, there are two officers from the ZPD here to see you."
The manager stood and waved them in. She was a tall leopard dressed in a light gray business suit.
"Officers, my name is Azita Cathoun, please sit," she gestured to the two empty seats in front of her dark mahogany desk.
"Pleased to meet you Miss Cathoun, I'm Officer Hopps and this is Officer Wilde. Your staff informed us you could provide information on yesterday's robbery," the bunny greeted while taking out her pen and notepad and took a seat.
Nick chose to stand behind Judy, removing his aviators, and kept his paws behind his back.
Azita nodded but kept a lingering glance towards Nick before returning eye contact with Judy. After last week's incident with that vixen, Judy found herself more aware of how some mammals regarded her partner or the two of them together. Her right paw was clenching her pen. She wanted to say something but looked to Nick who kept his usual smirk neutral, said nothing, and stood at attention. The bunny decided to follow his lead and keep it professional.
Judy turned back to Azita and began, "Miss Cathoun, please describe the events of yesterday morning if you will."
"Certainly. It was early Wednesday morning. I was here in my office, when I began to hear a commotion outside of my window." The leopard pointed to the south facing window to their left. "By the time I looked outside, the guard was doubled over on the ground, covering his eyes and I saw a construction worker fleeing down the alley with one of our money bags. It happened so quickly I couldn't identify him from here. By the time myself and a few of my employees ran outside, he was already gone and our building was surrounded by several construction workers wearing the exact same articles of clothing as the mammal I saw. We called the ZPD but the Officers who arrived didn't find anything."
Nick spoke up, "Ma'am do you know why those workers were gathered here? Was there any construction scheduled for that day?"
"No, Officer Wilde. We didn't have anything scheduled for our building. The workers were just… standing around and waiting. They never actually did any work and they all left after the ZPD arrived and the robber was gone."
He nodded and smiled for the information and looked at the window, "May I?"
"Yes, Officer."
Judy transcribed all of the information from the exchange onto her notepad and watched Nick walk over to the window, open it, and peek through. As he was looking around, she turned back to the manager and asked, "Is the guard that was attacked here today?"
"No, Officer Hopps, we gave him a few days to rest. The spray used against him was very strong and his doctor requested five days for his vision to recover. I can give you his contact if you'd like."
"That would be very appreciated, Ma'am."
Her partner was done with his inspection, closed the window, and returned to her side as she jotted down the guard's name and information.
"Do you have any more information that might be useful, Miss Cathoun?" Judy asked.
"I am afraid that's all I know, Officer."
"Thank you, this was still very helpful," Judy replied and she and Nick showed themselves out.
Back outside on the busy street, the bunny looked to her partner, "Did you get anything from looking outside, Nick?"
"Actually, I want to look around the south side and see where our robber may have ran," he pointed to the alley next to the small bridge while putting his aviators back on.
His partner nodded and followed him around the side. They checked the area where the armored car would have been parked next to the employee only loading and unloading zone.
The fox took in the layout and sniffed around before speaking up, "So it looks like the armored car has to circle from around the other side and backs up here." He pointed to the marked zone before continuing. "Our robber probably waited for the right opportunity by hanging out amongst those other unsuspecting workers, came over here, blinded our guard once he was alone, grabbed a bag of money, and could have ran off in this direction…"
"But you don't think he went down any of these two alleys because someone would have probably seen him," she stated.
"Bingo," he smirked.
"The only other direction would be…"
"The waterway over there." Nick thumbed behind himself. "Let's take a look, shall we?"
The duo walked back over to the small bridge. A small fence was there to prevent anyone from falling below. The sunken waterway was mammal made with tall slanted concrete walls to protect the nearby buildings from flooding. The water was flowing at a moderate pace. Nothing too dangerous unless an inexperienced swimmer was caught in the undertow.
As they looked around, they turned in the opposite direction, to the sounds of laughter. A bunch of kits were playing in the water, jumping from the high areas and splashing around. A few of them had floatables including an inner tube.
One of them jumped into the tube and quickly sped down with the moving water, under the bridge and out the other side before maneuvering back to the side and running back to their friends with the tube.
Nick, smirked, he remembered doing similar things as a kit and spoke up, "Hah. That kit was going pretty fast there, when we used to play in waterholes we would..." his words trailed off as a realization hit. "Pretty fast… that's it!"
Judy picked up on the same thought process and looked at her partner, "Nick, the inner tube! If he had something similar hidden here, it wouldn't look suspicious and the current would have taken him away from here pretty quickly! And look at the sight lines! I don't think you can see into the waterway from the streets."
"That's right, Carrots. None of these buildings," he gestured, "are very tall. I couldn't see down here from the bank window. Our sly robber could just toss his costume off with all the trash that floats around and collects on the sides, hold the bag out of sight, and just look like some regular mammal going for a little fun in the sun. The water would also muddle his scent. Look there? The Canal District is just a short water ride away."
"And that's probably where he escaped because all of the available officers would have eyes here in this district," Judy pointed out with an excited hop smiling to her partner.
Nick lifted his aviators and winked, "Let's get back to the station and check Records for matching information and give the guard a call to see if he was able to get a glimpse of our mammal before getting sprayed."
The officers headed back to their cruiser and drove back to the precinct.
Back at the ZPD, Judy sat at her desk talking on the phone with the bank guard, while Nick had taken the case files and gone to the Records archive to search out any articles and reports that were posted on the same dates as the previous robberies.
Unfortunately, the guard, who was a ram, was attacked so quickly that all he saw was a blur before being blinded, knocked to the ground, and the robber grabbed the money bag and ran. He was not able to provide more information for Judy.
Noticing Nick hadn't come back yet, she was tempted to go help him when her stomach growled. The rabbit sighed in embarrassment and scribbled a note for Nick and left the station to bring back some lunch.
Having spent the rest of the morning in Records, Nick finally came out with a fair amount of articles to cross reference for the case. He came back to their desk and saw his partner missing. Seeing the note, he picked it up and read it. Placing it back down with a smile, he began to arrange the files and decided to wait for Judy to return.
Swiveling around in his seat, he pulled out his phone and remembered he hadn't continued his word game with her. Nick fired up the app, looked at his available letters, got a devilish grin and tapped in his choice. FoxyWithTheMoxy turned Laverne's word of SHIP into SHIPYARD and scored a double off the letter D overtaking the score 19-9. Judy was not going to be happy with this.
Just as Nick was sitting there reclining in his seat and basking in his self satisfaction, a spicy cricket burrito showed up in front of his snout. The fox stopped spinning in his seat and glanced over to see that his partner returned with their lunch. He took a whiff of the wonderful scent and smacked his lips, "Am I a lucky fox? Yes. Yes I am," he said snatching the burrito from Judy's paw.
"Someone's really happy," she giggled while getting her own lunch out of the bag.
"Mmmmph," was his only response.
Judy sat down and placed her phone on the desk counter along with her lunch, a leafy salad filled with bok choy, basil, cilantro, celery, and carrots with some apple vinegar. There was a blinking notification catching her attention.
Nick had finished quickly and looked her way, "That was delicious!" He made a mock kissing gesture with his paw. He decided to fill her in while she continued to eat, "I found a bunch of info we should go over. Let's take these to one of the empty Interview Rooms and we can pin them up, shall we?"
She looked over and nodded in agreement, swallowing her food, "Sounds great!"
Purposefully waiting for her to take another bite and begin chewing, he gathered all the files and began to walk away when he called back, "Your turn now for the word game!"
Still chewing a mouthful of salad, she looked at her phone and unlocked it with her free paw and saw his word play and the updated score, "Nnmmiiickkkmph!"
Later, inside empty Interview Room #2, they hung up all the evidence and began pouring over the details. They had pushed red pins over all the bank locations on a Zootopia city map and hung up pictures of the buildings as well as other pictures that were taken from the scenes that coincidentally included large crowds of various mammals in front of all the buildings.
"Okay," Nick began, "first let's look at all of the locations. Notice where all the banks are?"
"They're all small branches and located next to some kind of body of water."
"Yup. Our robber's favorite choice and exit method. I'd wager he may even have a boat stashed somewhere down his escape route which could also mean a possible accomplice. I always did prefer a two mammal hustle, myself," he smirked towards Judy with a raised eyebrow.
Judy winked and gestured to the pictures of the gathered mammals, "And these workers? Looks like a mix of construction workers, street performers, and even protestors. They're all different so that no one catches on. But… how does he get them all to show up?"
"Glad you asked, Officer Fluff," Nick dramatically wiggled his paw and reached down to pull up an article with some information on it. "One of the papers interviewed some of the mammals and they said they responded to some online job posting on MammalsList that was paying top dollar per hour for a temp gig and had specific instructions on what to wear and where to meet. It was very specific on attire, date, and time… time meaning the schedule of the money delivery."
"So, the robber shows up wearing the exact same outfit as everyone else, hides in the crowd, and waits to strike and then uses them as decoys," Judy pointed out.
"You got it. And I bet if there's a low turnout, he simply abandons the job if he thinks it's not worth the risk," Nick continued. "Worst case, there's a bunch of angry and annoyed solicitors left on the street."
"Yes! This is great, Slick!" she lightly tapped his arm but then realized her excitement might have been a bit premature.
"But…" he began again.
"But that means… we have to narrow down banks that fit the M.O., get their money delivery schedules, and look for an upcoming job posting," Judy concluded while cupping a paw on her chin. "Nick, I don't think we can do all this ourselves. We should tell Chief Bogo."
"You're probably right, Carrots."
"Let's go see if he's in his office right now," Judy said while heading to the room exit.
Chief Bogo sat unmoving, arms crossed on his desk, as he listened to his two officers brief him on their case's findings. He removed his glasses as he leaned forward, "This is quite the elaborate ruse this robber operates on if your deductions are correct, Officers. Your findings have enough merit that I will assign the Cyber Crime Department to immediately check and monitor for leads on our mammal's next fake job posting on the most common job and event listings sites."
The bunny and fox exchanged a happy glance.
Bogo turned to Judy, "Hopps, I want you to prepare a report on all possible bank locations that have not been hit yet to pass on for reference to the CCD. I also want you to contact each of these branches and request their delivery schedules and names of all the guards assigned to guard the vehicles."
"Yes, Sir."
"We will need to wait till he makes his next move before we can proceed further but this time we will be there ready for him. I will assign additional Officers to aid you once the time comes. Good work both of you," Bogo stated as he put the updated case file down. "After you're finished take the rest of the shift off. Be on standby for any developments. Hopps dismissed. Wilde remain."
Judy shot Nick a concerned look of 'what did you do this time?' but all her partner could do was shrug.
"Yes, Chief, thank you," as she hopped down from the seat and closed the door after she exited.
Nick turned back to Bogo after watching Judy leave and straightened up in the seat. He felt a little nervous but his poker face hid the fact. They stared at one another in classic Bogo stand-off fashion when the cape buffalo finally spoke.
"Wilde, it's come to my attention that you and Hopps stopped an attempted mugging after the Gazelle concert last week while off duty and that you suffered a small stab wound."
Nick didn't expect the Chief to bring that up, so he relaxed in his seat and leaned on his elbow, "Well, Sir, it's just a flesh wound and I hear the ladies dig scars so…"
"Shut it, Wilde!" the chief unexpected bellowed, causing Nick to sit straight and shut his mouth immediately as Bogo slammed a fist down.
The Chief's nostrils flared and pointed a hoof at Nick before he continued, "You may think it's a joke, but I care about the personal well being of all my officers and that includes you. I found out that your mugger has several priors and I personally intend to make sure he is prosecuted to the full extent for assaulting one of my top Officers." The buffalo leaned back in his seat and waved him off. "Go help Hopps finish her assignment and take the afternoon off. Dismissed."
"Sir…"
"NOW Wilde!"
"Um, yup, got it," Nick saluted and quickly skulked out of the office.
Bogo let a rare smile form on his face and then picked up more reports to check.
The fox exited the office and exhaled a deep breath while putting his paws on his hips. Judy had been waiting in the hallway and came up to her partner, case file clutched in front of her chest, her ears fell and she gave him a concerned look, "Nick are you okay? What happened in there?"
Her partner adjusted his field dress tie and smiled down, "It's nothing, Carrots. Let's finish up our assignment and head out of here." He pawed her shoulders, turning her around, and lightly pushed her onward.
She decided to drop the issue and looked over her shoulder, "Want to hang out when we're done?"
Nick paused for a moment, thinking about the rare opportunity to have a weekday afternoon off, and replied, "I'll have to take a raincheck, Fluff, I actually need to take care of something."
"Oh. Okay," she sounded a tiny bit disappointed.
The fox picked up on his partner's mood and put a paw on her shoulder and smiled warmly. Judy smiled back and they headed to their shared desk. They had a case to finish prepping.
Officer Wilde found himself standing outside of a newer Downtown complex called the 'Walnut Midtown West' named for being close to Walnut St. that ran near Savanna Central, Downtown, and the Central Town Square. It was even closer to the ZPD headquarters than Judy's apartment.
He had left the station without changing. Despite the ugly turn of events with that vixen, Tina, Nick learned he could try using his newfound policeman status to get some better respect and possible leverage in dealing with landlords who may have biases against foxes. Looking over the listing once more, he entered the building and approached the housing office.
Upon entering the office, Nick knocked on the open door frame to catch the attention of the landlord sitting at his desk. He was a large brown bear, dressed in a simple white collared shirt and dark slacks, who flashed him a large grin.
"Ah, hello Officer, how may I help?" came the warm greeting in a thick accent.
Nick smiled. Alright, score one for the uniform, "Greetings, Sir, my name is Nicholas Wilde, and I was interested in seeing this available flat I found in your housing advertisement." The fox held up the ad and pointed to the listing.
"Of course, of course, please," he gestured with his large paw and picked up some keys. "I am Morris Bearkovich."
"Pleasure is all mine, Mr. Bearkovich."
Following the bear up to the sixth floor and down a large hallway, they came to a corner unit at the far end. Morris unlocked the door and allowed Nick to enter.
Upon entering the large flat, Nick whistled as he took in the unit. The entry opened into a very spacious living room with a dark wood floor joined by a breakfast bar countertop connected to the kitchen that lined most of the far wall. To the right of the kitchen was a north facing large sliding door that led outside to a small patio that lined the entire length of the unit's wall. The view showed a nice skyline of the Downtown area including the ZPD building.
To his right he could see two small storage closets and two rooms, the master bedroom and a smaller office. The fox peeked inside and saw that the two rooms shared a nice sized bathroom, shower, and a fur dryer was already installed in the floor. Upon inspecting the rooms, he saw the master had a walk-in closet, while the office space had a sliding door closet. Everything looked fairly new.
Nick loved it. Now was time to see if he could haggle an affordable price. He calculated that with the money he was going to receive from his Mom, he could make this work. Little did he know that Lady Luck was actually going to smile upon him for once and his hustling skills wouldn't be needed.
"Mister Wilde, I have question," Morris asked, breaking the fox from his thoughts.
"Yes?" a small feeling of apprehension settled in Nick's stomach.
"Many months ago, I saw on TV that a rabbit and fox solved Nighthowler case, yes? Was the fox, you?" Mr. Bearkovich kindly asked in broken speech, thick with his native accent.
The fox raised an eyebrow but kept a genuine smile and replied, "Yes, sir. I had assisted the bunny, Officer Judy Hopps, in solving the case, although I was not a police officer at the time."
Never in a hundred years could Nick have predicted the next moment when he was suddenly grabbed and put in a literal giant bear hug. Now he finally met someone who could outmatch Judy and his mother's crazy strong hugging prowess.
After he was set down, Morris clasped his giant paws together, "My cousin, Mikhail, was a missing mammal. Whole family worried we would never seen him again. Thank you for bringing him back and putting bad mayor away."
"It's no problem, Sir, it's what we do at the ZPD," Nick answered remembering when Judy used that line in the Rainforest District during that case when she had saved his life.
"You like flat?" the bear asked with a sincere look in his eyes.
"Love it, actually," Nick gestured enthusiastically.
"Wonderful! Come to office, I give you great price and we work out deal, yes?" Morris declared as he turned towards the door.
With his own beaming smile, Nick nodded and folded the ad and put it his pocket while reaching for his phone as he followed Mr. Bearkovich back downstairs.
"Nicholas! How are you sweetheart?" came the sweet greeting.
"Hey Mom. Do you happen to be free this afternoon?"
"I have no plans."
"I need you to do something for me, please…"
Still waiting on leads for their robbery case from the CCD, the two were assigned to patrol a new area they hadn't visited before, the Canyonlands, that was located in the north part of Sahara Square that bordered the giant climate wall that separated the hot weather biomes from icy Tundratown.
As Judy drove their cruiser throughout the region, they both took in the magnificent natural sights of this particular biome. The small patches of residential and commercial areas had bright earthy Spanish style motifs built from the rocks themselves. Several homes and offices were even carved into the large sweeping mesas and plateaus that littered the habitat acting as natural red, yellow, and orange colored skyscrapers.
They had stopped at a small quaint ice cream parlor, called '32 Below' located near the raised railway where Judy once passed through when she first traveled to the city. The two picked up some natural handmade popsicles called paletas that were made from real fruits and juices. Judy had gotten a strawberry paleta while Nick, naturally, was enjoying a blueberry one while leaning against the building in the shade under the shop's awning with his aviators on.
"Mmmm, this is so good, Nick! What do you think?" Judy asked after taking a few more licks.
"This? I've had better," he teased.
"Claiming your old pawpsicles were superior, are we?" she shot back waving her paleta at him.
"I wouldn't be a good business mammal if I didn't, Fluff," he winked.
"Want to watch a movie tonight at my place? We can both be ready to go on short notice if we get the call about the case," Judy asked.
"Sorry, Carrots, I have to pass again," came the response.
Looking down, Nick felt terrible, when he watched Judy's ears drop at his answer.
"Nick? You're not avoiding hanging out with me, are you?" came the soft inquiry.
"What? No, no, no," he kneeled down to match Judy's height and pulled his aviators to the top of his head, "I actually found a new place and I was trying to get it all squared away and surprise you."
"What? You did? Where?" she suddenly bounced in excitement.
"Downtown. A place called the 'Walnut Midtown West', he smirked. "No more sleeping for me in that old warehouse or at the police station."
"You slept at the station too!?" Judy's paws just hung down her sides almost dropping her paleta in bewilderment. She closed her eyes and took a breath while forcing a smile. "Do you need any help getting settled?"
"Don't worry, Carrots, I'm good. But thank you. You'll be my first guest for the housewarming, how's that sound?" he stood back up and took another taste of his treat.
"Okay, Slick." she relented and hugged her partner.
The bunny and fox pair finished their paletas and hopped back into the cruiser and continued their patrol. Their shift ended without any major incidents and they drove back to Downtown. They said their goodbyes and parted ways. Judy was excited to see what Nick's new place would look like. She was so happy that he would finally have a real place to call home.
Monday arrived and they were out on patrol in Savanna Central when the police radio lit up and Clawhauser's friendly voice came through the speaker, "Dispatch to Car Z-240, come in Z-240."
Nick grabbed the com, "Z-240 here, Wilde speaking, go ahead Dispatch."
"Officer Wilde, the Chief has requested you and Officer Hopps return to the station immediately, we have a possible lead on your case. Over."
"Roger that, Dispatch, on our way. Wilde out."
The two officers exchanged looks of joy and Nick punched the siren and lights and Judy sped back to the station.
Several other Officers were called back and huddled into the bullpen where Chief Bogo stood waiting to brief his officers. Once everyone took a seat he put on his glasses and began.
"The CCD has just notified me of a job posting that matches our robber's usual set up for a large gathering at the WSC Financial Group Bank near Harbour St. in West Savanna Central this Thursday morning at 10AM. The location matches their preferred target choice and there is a delivery scheduled at that time."
Nick just had to add something stupid, "Can we call him the 'Waterway Bandit' Sir?"
"Shut up now, Wilde!" came the immediate roar.
The other officers fought real hard to not snicker and Judy elbowed her partner. Nick quieted himself as he rubbed his side.
Bogo continued to glare at him and then resumed his briefing, "The listing is asking for mammals to come join in an anti-interspecies relationships protest dressed in a red cap, red shirt, and black jeans and a protest sign under the guise of spreading awareness and offering all supporters a large one time fee for their time. The robber even created a fake organization to stage the event. The bank is located next to a few civic buildings, hence his choice of protesters."
Suddenly a wave of disgust and rumbling fell among the ranks of the bullpen. Judy felt sick in her stomach while Nick's usual smirk turned into a hard grimace.
"I know this is terrible officers, but we must endure, and put this mammal away," Bogo calmed the room down. "We will provide the proper attire for the officers blending into the crowd. Officers Fangmeyer, Grizzoli, Delgato, Wolfard, Jackson, and Johnson will be crowd detail. Higgins, Snarlof, and myself will be providing helicopter support. Hopps, I want you hiding near the waterway ready to intercept incase he is a fast mammal and have eyes on Wilde."
The Chief paused for a brief moment. The bunny and fox exchanged side glances. Nick was curious what his specific role might be and was ready to make a joke about Judy having eyes on him when Bogo spoke first, "Wilde, you have a special assignment. The regular security guard at this location is a sheep. You will use Wolfard's undercover costume and take his place."
"Nothing like getting some mace in the face to make the world a better place, right Sir?"
This time the bullpen took the opportunity to laugh hysterically and break the tension. Even Judy had to chuckle and admire Nick's unstoppable snarkiness.
The cape buffalo furiously gripped his podium but let the humor clear the mood, "Alright, that's enough! You will all be issued standard tranquilizer pistols and undercover earpieces and mics. I do not want this mammal getting away! Back to your previous assignments and come in 5AM sharp on Thursday for final preparations. Dismissed!"
It was a hot Thursday morning and soon the mammals who answered the listing began to show up in their red caps, shirts, and dark jeans with protest signs a few minutes before 10AM and began to protest spreading all over the front and sides of the building on the street corner. Judy had set up a small hidden vantage point on a railing, between the bank and the nearby waterway facing the armored car delivery location. The police cruisers were parked a short distance away and covered.
The rest of the undercover Officers arrived on foot and joined the crowd doing their best to spread out and subtly keep eyes on the mammals around them while pretending to rally the anti interspecies relationship cause. Nick was inside the bank finishing with his own costume and was ready to meet the truck when it arrived. The real guard was told to wait out of sight in another room.
10:05AM. Wolfard spotted the truck approaching and quietly spoke into his shoulder pretending to wipe his brow, "Hopps, Wilde, the truck is almost here."
Judy picked up her radio, "Roger, Wolfard. Nick, be ready."
"I was born ready, Carrots."
She rolled her eyes but didn't want to egg him on into making more wisecracks. The truck circled around and backed up into the unloading area. The drivers stepped out and signaled for the door to be opened and begin the transfer.
Nick was waiting on the other side. "Show time," he whispered and opened the door and moved to his guard position next to the back of the truck and helped unload the money bags.
The drivers shuffled in and out with the transfers. After several minutes, someone egged the protestors on to get louder and get really close to the building. All kinds of loud bigotry was spewed by the hateful mammals. Some of the Officers struggled with keeping their composure but had no choice and didn't want to arouse any suspicion.
Once both drivers took a bag each, Nick was standing alone with a bag in hand, when a single mammal left the crowd and approached him with a sign, his cap was tugged real low. Judy saw the approaching mammal, and immediately issued orders, "Nick! There's a cheetah coming right towards you. Fangmeyer, break from the crowd and check the waterway for any floatables or water vehicles. Wolfard, Grizzoli, Delgato, move to the other alleyways in case he changes his escape route."
Bogo's voice spoke up for the first time, "This is ZPD Copter One ready to provide eyes in the sky, standing by."
The Officers quickly responded while the fox in sheep's clothing pretended to be standing around aloof as the robber quickened his pace towards him. The fox tightened his grip onto the money bag over his right shoulder.
Nick had already centered his balance when he heard the sound of a sign being dropped and he felt the bag getting yanked from his grip while the sheep mask blocked the immediate spray attack.
"What the hell?" came the gruff surprise when the robber found the guard holding his ground and not letting him rip the bag away.
"My bad! Did you want this?" came the quip when Nick released it at the right moment, causing the cheetah to stumble backwards while he knocked the spray bottle away.
Nick immediately tore the sheep mask off, pulled his tranquilizer gun, and aimed center mass. The shot rang true but it bounced off the cheetah's chest to no effect, hitting some form of body armor underneath the red shirt. Momentarily caught off guard by the ineffective dart, the cheetah quickly recovered by grabbing his protest sign and swinging it into Nick and sent him flying back.
"Nick!" came Judy's scream into his earpiece. "Officer Wilde got knocked down, suspect on the run to the waterway! All Officers. Go! Go! Go!"
The robber grabbed the bag and immediately went into full sprint towards the waterway. He was heading right towards Judy who was waiting on the railing above. She lept down hoping to land right on top of him but the cheetah noticed her and rolled forward, slipping right underneath her as she landed. Judy turned to take a shot but was greeted by some debris flung her way and had to sidestep losing the opportunity.
The bunny lunged into her own sprint as the cheetah was making his escape. She hoped Nick was okay. Bringing up the radio once again, "Officer Hopps in pursuit of suspect. He is running directly to the waterway."
Officer Fangmeyer answered the call, "Fangmeyer here, I found the robber's inner tube and deflated it. Waiting for suspect in waterway."
The cheetah quickly arrived at his intended destination only to be greeted by a tigress standing next to his deflated escape device with a drawn tranq gun. He turned back to see a bunny running towards him and behind her several more mammals approaching.
"Dammit!" he exclaimed and began to run down parallel to the waterway. He was fumbling for his phone and dialing frantically.
Another mammal answered the line, "What's going on Frank?"
"It's the damn cops! They figured us out and they're chasing me. Get up the waterway and pick me up, now!"
A string of curses followed and the mammal told him he would be right there. The cheetah continued to sprint full speed.
Judy was losing her ground but wasn't giving up. She couldn't match the raw speed of the mammal but she knew she could outlast his stamina. She brought up her radio, "ZPD Copter One, I have visual on suspect running along the waterway heading south."
"Roger Hopps, we are overhead with eyes on the robber," answered Bogo and turned the channel over to dispatch, "Dispatch, this is Chief Bogo, requesting all available units to Savanna Central, waterway south of Harbour Street, suspect is a cheetah in a red cap and shirt, dark jeans, and carrying stolen money."
"Roger Chief, sending all available units to your location. Over."
Higgins pointed to the waterway, "Chief there is a jet ski headed up the waterway towards our suspect."
"I see it, Higgins," the buffalo grabbed the com once again, "Dispatch, we have an additional suspect spotted on the waterway in a jet ski. Another cheetah. Contact the ZCG and block the waterway exit."
"Roger Chief, contacting ZCG, Dispatch out."
Down below, Judy spotted something in the distance of the water, it looked like another mammal on some sort of water vehicle was approaching at high speed from the opposite direction. She suddenly made out another cheetah on a jet ski who zipped past them and made a quick U-turn and drove up, slowing his speed down to line up with his partner in crime.
By this point the cheetah on foot was getting exhausted and quickly losing top speed. Judy saw the gap decreasing and pushed herself harder. She watched as he leaped down, sliding down the waterway and was preparing to leap onto the jet ski. The bunny leaped down as well, rolling onto the ground to maintain momentum, and jumped onto the cat's back, grabbing onto his neck, as the cheetah leapt onto the back of the jet ski. The second cheetah gunned it and the trio was speeding down the waters.
"Stop! ZPD!" she ordered the perps.
The cheetah roared trying to swing his arms around to get Judy off of him, as she attempted to dodge his thrashing, while holding tight to anything she could. "Get this stupid rabbit off of me!"
The driver was about to turn around to assist his accomplice when a sudden series of honks mimicking a tune momentarily caught their attention above. There was Nick, still in his sheep costume, in the driver's seat of Z-240 waving at the cheetahs and shouting, "Hey fellas! I'm missing a small gray bunny! Have you seen her?"
It was enough of an absurd distraction to cause the cheetah Judy was hanging onto to stop momentarily. She took advantage by climbing up onto his shoulder, grabbing the collar of his shirt and swung herself around to double kick the driver.
The impact knocked the other cheetah off, and with her continued momentum, she swung around fully, still gripping the collar of the robber, and pulled him backwards off the jet ski.
All three mammals fell into the waterway with a giant splash while the jet ski continued forward, veering off and crashed onto one of the concrete banks. Nick slammed the brakes, coming to a hard skidding stop, while immediately jumping out of the cruiser and slid down the wall with his tranq gun in paw.
The cheetah with the money surfaced first and tried to desperately swim away to the other side of the bank as the undertow carried him forward.
The other cheetah splashed around desperately crying for aid, "Help! I… can't… swim!"
Judy was desperately trying to help the cheetah but his erratic thrashes were causing both of them to continuously submerge into the water. In sheer panic, he grabbed onto her like she was some kind of life preserver and was pushing her underwater.
Nick saw the struggling mammal and his partner being drowned. "JUDY!" he shouted and immediately ejected the dart from his gun, taking it into his paw, and dove into the water.
Churning through the dirty waters as fast as he could, Nick reached the drowning pair, and slammed the dart into the cheetah's neck. The sedative began to work its magic almost immediately causing the larger feline to stop struggling. Judy was able to surface, coughing furiously, and grabbed onto Nick. The two kept their suspect's head above water and with their combined strength swam over to the bank.
The fox and bunny pulled the unconscious cheetah up onto the side wall. He was breathing heavy, out cold from the effects of the tranq dart.
The other cheetah climbed out of the water but doubled over from exhaustion. The helicopter landed with Snarlof and Higgins jumping out with guns drawn. The cheetah managed to lift his arms up to surrender. Bogo stayed in the chopper, updating the status to the other Officers.
Nick and Judy lay next to one another, heavily panting, staring at the sky.
Nick was trying to catch his breath. "Carrots, you okay?" he finally managed.
"Yes, Slick, thanks to you," she was still coughing lightly and smiled towards her partner.
"Anytime, crazy bunny."
They heard the sound of approaching sirens. Several cruisers appeared and the sounds of doors opening, a few officers appeared overhead looking down to the duo.
"Glad, you guys could make it," Nick peered up smiling and pointed to the cheetah next to him. "Got our Waterway Bandits right here!"
Nick then looked over to Judy and held out a fist, "How about a victory dap-dap?"
"Alright. One dap-dap," she laughed and returned his fistbump enthusiastically.
"You and Hopps always have to steal the show, eh Wilde?" said Fangmeyer with hands on her hips.
The other officers joined in the laughter as several of them slid down the wall to help out the fox and bunny.
The fox just closed his eyes and grinned wide, "You know you love us."
