Chapter 4: Assignment and New Leads: Part 2
It didn't take long for Tracy to understand how to turn off the holo-map, a nickname she came up with. All she had to do was press that white dot on the screen again to return it back to the smartphone. Nor did it take long for Tracy to know more about Nick from Judy. So far, she learned that he was a con artist and a shifty fox. This sounded a little stereotypical for her, but it seemed to fit his persona since he is a fox. However, this seemed to confuse her. If he was a con, then why did he help her find Judy? Maybe it was best to find out for herself.
As for Nick, however, he was in the middle of pushing a pink baby stroller with his partner and best friend, Finnick, who was inside. Finnick was a fennec fox with large ears and had a portion of brownish-gold fur while having a bit of a sandy color on his face, palms, paws, and the soles of his feet. He even had a black nose, periorbital dark circles around his light-brown eyes, but his dark eyelids were closed as he was sleeping. Right now, he was wearing his toddler disguise due to his small stature as someone could easily mistake him as a small child. It consisted of a simple blue-grey elephant hooded costume as the hood itself wasn't over his head yet, and had white tusks, pink inner ears, pink toes, a large pink heart at the center of the costume, and a golden junior ZPD sticker as that one was given to him by Judy awhile back.
Finnick was snoring as he slept peacefully, but was unintentionally attracting the attention of a passing male hippo as he was pushing his own baby stroller. When Nick's eyes were catching his, he immediately moved the hood of the stroller down so he could attract less attention while Finnick gurgled. "Hey Nick!" A young but familiar female voice called out as he looked and saw Tracy inside the car with Judy driving and the young girl waving at him. "Over here!"
When Judy brought the car right next to him, Nick said, "Well, well, well, if it isn't the rabbit-heroic seeking cat-girl and Officer Toot-Toot."
Judy laughed a little and said, "No. Actually it's Officer Hopps and-Wait, what now?" When it occurred to her when Nick said about Tracy being a rabbit-heroic seeker, she looked at her oddly.
"Again, it's a long story," Tracy tells her. "Don't ask." She looks at Nick. "Anyway, Officer Hopps wants to ask you some questions about an important case that we're doing."
"What, do you need help in finding a missing traffic cone for the meter maid?" He starts walking past them while adding, "It wasn't me and you're talking to the wrong fox, kid."
"Nick, wait!"
Judy becomes unamused by the fox's attitude towards Tracy and her, and speeds up the car as the siren bleeps for a moment and cuts-off Nick's path.
"Hey, you two, you're gonna wake the baby. I gotta get to work."
Judy and Tracy quickly got out of the car while the rabbit cop got the file and carrot pen that she brought with her out of the car, and said, "This is important, sir. I think your ten dollars worth of popsicles can wait."
Nick scoffs and says, "I make two hundred bucks a day, fluff! 365 days a year, since I was twelve."
Tracy gave a small whistle and said, "Wow, that's...actually not bad."
"'Not bad'? I've been doing this for years to make fast money, kid! And speaking of which, time is money. So why don't you take your cottontail friend and move along now."
"Please, just look at the picture," Judy said as she brought out a close-up picture of Emmitt Otterton holding that same popsicle that Nick always makes. "You sold Mr. Otterton that popsicle, right? Do you know him?"
"I know everybody," Nick answered, then he points at Tracy and adds, "Except her, she's new here since I never actually saw her in the city until we bumped into each other a while back. And I also know that, somewhere...there's a toy store missing it's stuffed animal so why don't you take the new kid with you and get back to your box."
Judy's smile faded while Tracy said, "Oh, c'mon Nick! You helped me find Judy so why don't do us a favor and just tell us what you know." She clasped her paws together. "Please."
She tried to do the puppy dog pout, but instead she unintentionally purred while her eyes widened and her pupils dilated. Judy's smile returned as she thought that this was cute the way she was doing it, and there was no way Nick would say no to a face like that. However, none of them noticed that Finnick woke up to find a little cat-girl he's never seen before and saw those cute eyes. He was almost tempted to coo at how adorable she was. Unfortunately, Nick didn't seem to budge at a face like that as he said, "Yeah, nice try. That cute look of yours is not gonna work on me, kid." Tracy's face went back to normal as she grunted slightly. "Oh, by the way, that was just a freebie since you're new here. So word of advice, don't always trust strangers. That'll get you into a whole lot of trouble. One other thing, why don't you be a good little girl and go back to this Glen-whatsit Town. This city is no place for little kitty cats like you."
Tracy's eyes narrowed at that fox while both of her paws clenched as she gave a cat-like growl. Judy couldn't blame her as her smile quickly faded and her eyes narrowed too. However, Nick said Glen Town, she's never heard of a town that said "Glen" at all. In fact, she never even heard of anything like that before. So was this somehow connected to Tracy? She'll have to figure out about this later after the case as she puts the picture of Emmitt Otterton back in the folder, places a comforting paw on Tracy's shoulder to cool her anger, then says, "Fine. If you won't listen to either me or her, then we'll have to do this the hard way."
Before either Tracy or Nick could blink, there was a clank of metal as something connected and the teenaged girl felt Judy's comforting paw again. Both of them became dumbfounded when they saw a parking boot connected to the wheel of the stroller. Tracy's dumbfoundedness quickly faded as she was downright impressed at how fast Judy moved in under a second while Nick said as his eyes widened, "Did you just boot my stroller?"
"Nicholas Wilde, you are under arrest."
"Ha! For what?" He placed his paw on the side of his face, then his voice changed to an in-baby voice while smiling amusingly, "Hurting you and the witty kitty's feewings?"
Judy had her own smirk. "Felony Tax Evasion."
This seemed to strike a blow for Nick's ego as his smile faded and he thought how this rabbit could know something about that while Tracy looked at her oddly.
Judy took her paw off of Tracy's shoulder as she opened the file and said, "Yeah, two hundred dollars a day, 365 days a year since you were twelve. That's two decades, so times twenty which is one million four hundred and sixty thousand, I think. I mean…" She chuckles a little. "I am just a dumb bunny, but we are good at multiplying." Tracy looks at the file while Judy continues, "Anyway, according to your tax forms you reported, let me see here...zero!" Low and behold, Tracy saw the tax file of Nicholas Wilde of having all zeroes. "Unfortunately, lying on a federal form and in front of a witness, no less, is a punishable offense." She closes the file. "Five years jail time."
Nick crosses his arms and says, "Well, it's my word against yours and no one is going to listen to a little kid."
"Hey!" Tracy said. "I'm not little, I'm fifteen years old!"
"So," Nick shrugged. "You're still little in my eyes and you can't testify against me."
"Actually, she doesn't," Judy said.
"I don't?" Tracy looked at her oddly again.
"She doesn't?" Nick cocked an eyebrow.
"No, because..."
She pressed a button on the side of the carrot pen as something started to rewind, then played back an audio of Nick's voice saying, "Two hundred bucks a day, fluff! 365 days a year, since I was twelve."
She presses the button again to stop the audio and says, "It's your word against yours and I could use this little witness to testify against you if it ever comes to that. So if you want this pen you're going to help me and her find this poor missing otter or the only place you'll be selling popsicles is the prison cafeteria." She gives him her smug grin and places the back of her paw which holds the file on the side of her hip. "It's called a hustle, sweetheart."
Tracy laughed and said, "Oh, you just got burned, fox!"
Then a deep sonorous voice said, "Oh, he got more than burned, kid."
"Huh?"
Tracy and Judy looked and saw Finnick pull the hood of the stroller up, much to the teenager's surprise that there was another fox, and she could tell from his voice that he was an adult as he laughed a little while saying, "He got hustled!" He laughs even louder as he addresses Nick. "She hustled you good!" Nick gave an unamused look as his ears folded. Finnick climbed up on the plastic railing of the stroller to him and pulled on his necktie. "You a babysitter and a cop now, Nick." He pulls off his junior ZPD sticker and points at it. "You gonna need one of these." He slammed it on his shirt pocket and climbed off the stroller as he took his leave and waved at him. "Have fun taking care of that cute adorable kid and working with the fuzz!"
As he continued to laugh while he left, Tracy scratched the side of her head as she wondered why he was wearing a kid elephant costume. The two girls looked at one another with Judy smiling at Tracy, then they shrugged as the rabbit cop said to Nick, "Start talking."
"Yeah," Tracy added. "You gotta at least know something."
Nick sighs as he answers them, "I don't know where he is, I only saw where he went."
"Great, let's go." Judy and Tracy went to the car with the rabbit cop telling the teenager, "Let Nick go first before you."
"Okay."
Nick seemed to have an idea on how to get rid of those two as he smiled, leaned forward on the stroller, and said, "It's not exactly a place for either a little kitty cat or, uh...cute little bunny."
Tracy grunted as she was getting tired of being called little. Maybe not by her size, but definitely her age while Judy narrowed her eyes at him and said, "Don't call me cute or Tracy little. Get in the car."
"Okay, you're the boss." Nick went into the car first as he was in the middle and Tracy came last. Before Judy could start the car, Tracy hits Nick's arm hard. He massages it, looks at her, and says, "Ow! What was that for?"
"For being a jerk, that's what!"
He gives her an unamused look. "Really? You do realize I'm an adult. So was that really necessary?"
She gives him narrowed eyes and her claws unsheathed. Nick's eyes widened while she told him, "Would you like it better if I clawed out your eyeballs?"
"Yeah...no." He leans to Judy and whispers to her, "Seriously, what do you see in this kid?"
"Oh, you'll be surprised." She looks at Tracy. "Try not to hurt Nick too much while he's with us. Okay?"
Tracy nods as Judy starts the car, then the teenaged cat nuzzles on Nick's side and meows at him as Nick sighs and his ears fold. This was going to be a long day for him.
(Tracy)
We managed to arrive at Sahara Square, which I'll admit that this part of Zootopia was really cool. It was there that Nick led us to a building called The Mystic Springs Oasis. When we got inside, I could hear calm soothing music playing. All three of us moved aside a curtain of beads as we came to a desk where a male yak was meditating and chanting "Ohm" every time. His fur was brown as was his massive bush of hair that was on his head that covered his eyes while flies swarmed about and had orange flowers, black horns, an orange beaded necklace around his neck, and golden bracelets on his right wrist. He didn't wear any shirt as the upper part of his body was exposed and he looked more like a hippie if you ask me.
Officer Hopps clears her throat and waves, "Hi."
He didn't seem to respond as he continued to chant "Ohm".
"Hello."
He chants "Ohm" loudly this time.
"Um, hello."
I sighed as he kept on chanting "Ohm" while Officer Hopps said, "Hello."
"Officer Hopps," I said as she looked at me. "I got this."
Bringing two of my fingers to my mouth, I took a deep breath and gave off a sharp whistle. That seemed to get his attention as he coughed, shook his hair, then moved it away from his eyes as he looked at us with light-brown eyes. Officer Hopps pats my shoulder and says to me, "Uh, thank you." She turns her attention back to the male yak. "Hello. My name is-"
"Oh, you know, I'm going to hit the pause button right there," he said in a hippie voice. "Cause we're all good on Bunny Scout cookies."
"Huh?" I was confused. I had no idea what he just said. I looked at Nick as he had a grin on his face and gave me a small shrug.
"Uh...no." Officer Hopps said as she introduced herself. "I'm Officer Hopps, ZPD. I'm looking for a missing mammal." She takes out the photo of Emmitt Otterton out of her utility belt and hands it to the male yak. "Emmitt Otterton, right here, who may have frequented this establishment."
He seemed to gasp when he looked at the photo, but I had a very strange feeling as I stepped aside. Somehow that feeling was correct as he sneezed on the photo and got some of the spittles on Officer Hopps who seemed to flinch along with Nick's shirt while flies buzzed around. One of the flies seemed to buzz to me, then without even looking, I grabbed it quickly on my paw. I had an odd look as I looked at my own paw and could feel the fly buzzing around inside. How did I do that?
Shrugging it off, I opened my paw and let the fly out while the male yak sniffled and said as he chuckled, "Yeah, old Emmitt." He hands back the photo to Officer Hopps as she shook off the spittles, after she and Nick probably got the spittles off of themselves. "Haven't seen him in a couple of weeks. But, hey, you should talk to his yoga instructor. I'd be happy to take you back."
As he was walking away from his desk, Officer Hopps said, "Oh, thank you so much." While he came out of his desk and was leading us to the door, I was surprised that he was naked. I'm not kidding, he wasn't wearing any clothes whatsoever. Although, to me he looked more animal then unlike the rest of these creatures here in this world and still kept his intelligence. Not to mention he was scrawny with a potbelly as Officer Hopps continued without noticing as she was looking at me and Nick, "Me and Tracy really appreciate that more than you can imagine, it would be such-" She stopped herself as she freaked out when she saw his nude body and quickly turns around as she brought her paws to her head and closed her eyes. "Ohh! You are naked!"
"Huh? Oh, for sure, we're a naturalist club." He laughs a little while swaying his hips.
"Yeah," Nick said as he leaned down to Officer Hopps while she opened her eyes to look at him. "In Zootopia, anyone can be anything. These guys, they be naked."
The male yak opens the door and says, "Nangi's just on the other side of the Pleasure Pool."
As Officer Hopps turned to look, I crossed my arms and said, "Huh? Well, this is interesting."
While an elephant trumpeted and water sprayed on its belly, every mammal was literally nude as they were either having a good time or just relaxing. Seriously, this looked more like a zoo with intelligent animals just doing what they wanted. I looked at Officer Hopps as she put her paws at her mouth, looking quite disturbed at this. Well, this is what comes to the territory of being a cop. You gotta come out of your comfort zone if you want to help people. Then, I looked at Nick as he still had that grin on his face and leaned down saying, "Oh, boy. Does this make you two uncomfortable? Because if so, there's no shame in calling it quits."
I psht and said, "You kidding me? I can handle this and so can Officer Hopps. Right?"
She gives me a determined look and answers, "Yes, I can do this."
"Well, alright then, let's go!"
I was about to head inside, but the male yak got in front of me and said while waving a finger, "Whoa girl, no kids allowed."
I grunted as Nick patted my shoulder and said to me, "Ah, that's just too bad. Why don't you be a good girl and go wait outside." He scratches my ear and coos, "And be a good little kitty cat while we're gone. Okay?"
I swiped at his paw and said with narrowed eyes, "Cut-it out, Nick!"
"Although, there is one exception," the male yak said. He bent down as he saw my bag which contained King Mickey's grimoire. "Since you got one of those baggies and are one of them. I'll let you in unless you behave yourself." He straightened up as he spread out his arms. "Other than that, welcome to The Mystic Springs Oasis, Guardian."
As he walked away I had an odd look while I looked at Officer Hopps and Nick as they too looked at me, having odd looks of their own. "Guardian?" They said in unison
I sighed and said, "Don't ask, 'cause I have no idea either." I still couldn't figure out about this "Guardian" thing as I still couldn't get a straight answer. First Chief Bogo and now this guy, just what is it these animals see in me? When Officer Hopps and Nick still looked at me with those odd looks, I told them, "Look, let's just go and forget what that guy said."
We followed the male yak's lead while he said, "Yeah, some mammals say the naturalist life is weird. But you know what I say is weird? Clothes on animals." He brought us to a female Indian elephant that was doing a yoga pose along with a zebra, armadillo, and a giraffe. The elephant had tattoos on her trunk and belly, purple rouge over her closed eyes, golden bracelet on her right wrist, and a single red painted dot in between the eyebrows. Officer Hopps felt a little uncomfortable seeing a lot of nude animals until she saw the female elephant. "As you can see, Nangi's an elephant. So she'll totally remember everything." I cocked an eyebrow. Seriously? That sounded a little stereotypical if you ask me. But, if she knows anything, then that's all that matters. "Hey, Nangi," the male yak called out. "These dudes have some questions about Emmitt the Otter."
Her eyes opened, showing us her blue eyes as she looked at him and answered, "Who?"
"Uh...Emmitt Otterton? Been coming to your yoga class for like six years?"
"I have no memory of this beaver."
I was surprised. Wow, for an elephant she doesn't seem to have a good memory.
"He's an otter, actually," Officer Hopps said while she already brought out the photo of Emmitt Otterton and his family.
Nangi and the other mammals started doing another pose as the elephant looked at us upside down while the male yak said, "He was here a couple of Wednesdays ago, remember?"
"Nope."
"Yeah, he was wearing a green cable-knit sweater vest and a new pair of corduroy slacks."
I nodded as he knew everything that happened to Emmitt Otterton before he disappeared. When that revelation crossed my mind, my eyes widened as I looked at Officer Hopps and muttered, "Judy!" She looks at me. "Get the…" I brought a claw and made writing notions on my paw.
Realizing what I'm trying to tell her, she widens her eyes and quickly puts away the photo, whipped out both the notepad and carrot pen, and mutters back to me, "Oh, right, I got it!"
The male yak continues to say to Nangi while Judy starts writing the information, "Oh, and a paisley tie, sweet Windsor knot. Real tight. Remember that, Nangi?"
"No."
"Yeah, and we both walked him out, and he got into this big old white car with a silver trim. Needed a tune-up, the third cylinder wasn't firing. Remember that, Nangi?"
"Nope."
"Um, uh, you didn't happen to catch the license plate number, did you?" Officer Hopps asked.
"Oh, for sure. It was 29THD03."
Officer Hopps manages to write that information down on her notepad. "03. Wow. This is a lot of great info. Thank you."
"Told you Nangi has a mind like a steel trap. Ah, I wish I had a memory like an elephant."
He probably doesn't realize that his mind was like an elephant. He was just too oblivious to know it while me, Officer Hopps, and Nick looked at the four mammals who were now meditating.
When Tracy, Judy, and Nick went back the way they came. The two mammals were about to pass through the curtain of beads, but the teenager said to the rabbit cop, "Officer, there's something I need to do first. So can you wait for me outside?"
"Sure, but don't be too long."
The teenager nods as she heads towards the desk where the male yak returns to while Judy and Nick pass through the curtain of beads. The moment they made a turn where the young girl didn't notice, the rabbit cop quickly grabbed Nick's paw and pulled him, making him yelp slightly as he almost tripped as she brought him to the wall where her back now stood. Taking his paw back, he glared at her and said, "What are you-"
"Shh!" Officer Hopps shushed him as she brought a finger to her mouth. She motions him to come closer as she and Nick poke their heads out the corner and watches as Tracy goes to the male yak.
The teenager had some thoughts that crossed her mind while the rabbit had some questions of her own concerning that cat. Not to mention, this yak called her a Guardian. What was a Guardian anyway and why does this have to do with Tracy? Speaking of the cat, the girl said to the male yak, "Excuse me, Mr. Yak, sir."
"Please, Mr. Yak is my father. The name's Yax."
"Yax. Right, of course. Listen, do you know anything about these Guardians?" Tracy showed him her bag. "The ones that have these bags that have grimoires in them, right?"
Nick cocked an eyebrow while Judy mouthed, "Grimoire?" Was that inside Tracy's bag? A book?
"Well, not much," Yax admitted. "But I've seen a lot of those grimoires with different symbols on the front cover, and I've seen Guardians come and go here for several years. I even remember a couple of little mice." He drew circles on the sides of his head. "And they had these big round ears. So they weren't like ordinary mice. They were somewhere on the short-side of an ordinary mammal around here."
Tracy placed a finger under her chin in thought, then she looked at him and said, "By any chance. Was one of those mice named King Mickey?"
Nick had an odd look as he whispered to Judy, "Carrots, who's King Mickey?"
"Shh! Keep listening."
"Oh, for sure, he was really a nice guy."
"When was the last time you saw him and do you know where he is?"
He waved at her and answered, "Oh, that was years ago. I don't know where he is."
Tracy sighed as she hit a dead-end. She wanted to know more about King Mickey and why he gave his grimoire to this old guy. To which the old guy gave her the grimoire that started this whole mess. However, there were some other things she needed to know about as she said, "Okay, was there anyone else that came to this establishment that had this bag, but looked more...suspicious. Better yet, off about someone."
Yax put a finger under his chin, then he said, "Y'know, come to think of it. There were two mammals who were really strange guys. They even gave me chills." He shook his body slightly as flies started to buzz. "Just thinking about it makes me nervous."
Seeing that she was getting somewhere, she asked, "You by any chance know who they looked like and what they did. Didn't you?"
"Oh, yeah, I couldn't really see any of their faces as they were covered in black hoods and robes." Judy quickly whipped out her notepad and carrot pen as she quickly wrote down the information. "I wanted to lead the dude somewhere, but he told me to watch the little guy. I couldn't really see this little guy's face and he just stood there, standing stiff like a statue. Really creepy vibes if you ask me. Other than that, the little guy looked no bigger than a young fox as he had a tail."
"Did you manage to see anything from the other guy? Like a tail or his face, perhaps?"
"Naw, didn't get the chance to see what he looked like or what kind of species he was. But I could ask around and see what they know."
"Oh, good, that's perfect! Thank you so much. Can you call Officer Hopps and tell her that you called for me."
"Don't need to do that, I can just call you."
Tracy seemed confused. "But I don't have a phone."
"Don't need one, you got a badge."
This seemed to confuse her more. "Badge?"
"You know…" He made a rectangular shape on his fingers. "One of these rectangular doodads that every Guardian has."
When he said that, Tracy dug out the smartphone out of her pocket where she left it and looked at it. Was that what this is called, a badge? Shrugging it off, she hands it over to Yax as he takes it, then he says while tapping on the screen, "Good thing Mickey already gave me clearance to access any badge whenever I'm needed to call someone."
Tracy seemed a little surprised, King Mickey giving a simple yak clearance. She was even more surprised that he didn't seem to get hurt by that badge unlike what happened to Judy when she tried to access her badge. She watched as Yak continued to tap away until he smiled, then to surprise her even further and to shock both Judy and Nick, his face was scanned for only a second until it stopped. The two mammals looked at one another and back at Tracy and Yax as he handed her back the badge. "There, you have access to The Mystic Springs Oasis phone number and I got your code number."
"Code number?" Tracy looked at the badge and saw one phone number that had a palm tree symbol for The Mystic Springs Oasis and right at the bottom held a number that said: 777-0339. It was a little strange though, but she'll just have to roll with it.
Judy manages to write down the rest of the information that she heard and what transpired. Closing the notepad, she quickly turns Nick around and lightly pushes him while muttering, "Quick, go, go, go, go!"
Nick didn't need to be told twice as he and the rabbit cop made a beeline for the exit before Tracy noticed.
The teenager put her badge back in her pocket and said to Yax, "Well, thank you. Be sure to call me if you find out about anything. Okay?"
"Sure thing. You'll be the first to know."
She gives Yax a peace sign. "Peace out, dude!"
Yax gives her a peace sign as well. "Peace out to you too, dudette!" As she left, he placed his hand under his chin and added with a small chuckle, "Nice kid."
Outside the building of The Mystic Springs Oasis. Judy was looking back at the information on her notepad concerning Tracy. So far, she wrote down about King Mickey, which meant that he must be someone of royalty. But this didn't make any sense, there was no one here in Zootopia or anyone else here in the world that had the title of king. Those only existed in ancient history as they were nothing more but dust to the wind. What was even stranger was that Yax somehow knew about her because she had that bag that contained this grimoire and he admitted to her that there were other Guardians. Just who were these Guardians? Not to mention, there was something concerning about these black robed individuals.
She couldn't explain it, but something about this started to connect a little. The missing mammals, Tracy's arrival, and now Guardians. Something about this was really off and it was concerning that girl. What is it that she's not telling her? Just who is Tracy?
Nick somehow got the same idea as he spoke his thoughts aloud, "Alright, would you mind telling me what we just saw and who is this kid?"
Judy sighed as she answered, "Honestly, I don't know. Tracy hasn't told me anything about this yet."
"Well, haven't you at least asked her? Because I don't know what's going on here."
"Believe me, I understand. But I can't ask her until we finish this case."
"'We'? There's no 'we', Carrots. There never was a 'we'. For one: I never wanted to be a part of this. And two: It's clearly obvious that she's not from anywhere around here. You know that right?"
"Of course I do."
"Then why are you even bothering with her to begin with?"
"Because Nick," Judy said sharply. "She has information that's concerning this case. I can't explain it yet, but I think she could help us find Emmitt Otterton, and maybe, just maybe, she could also help me find the other missing mammals." She sighs as she continues, "Look, I still don't know what's going on here either that's concerning that girl and no one is willing to tell me. Tracy is the only one I know who could give me the answer. For now, we need to wait."
"What's the point in even waiting for sooner rather than later." He narrows his eyes and points at her. "You're going to have to ask her."
"Ask me what?"
The two mammals looked as they noticed Tracy, with her head tilted sideways slightly. Nick's eyes widened as he wondered how long she stood there and hoped she didn't hear everything that he and Judy were talking about. However, he never realized that she just got here and didn't hear much before opening that door. "Uhhh…" was all he could say as his eyes darted from her to Judy.
Judy seemed to break this odd moment as she said with a smile, "So Tracy, how'd it go?"
"Everything went well. Just had a small chat with Yax and even got the phone number to this place, and he'll be sure to call me if anything turns up."
"Really, that's neat," Judy nods while playing obliviously. "So what did you two talk about?"
"Nothing much, really," Tracy shrugged. "Just some questions and he's going to give me information that I need. But don't worry, I'll be sure to inform you if anything turns up." She looks at Nick. "Anyway, thanks for the help, Nick. We really needed that clue."
"Um, anytime," Nick said. He then clears his throat, "Well, I had a ball and it was nice hanging around with you, young lady. As much as I want to stick around and keep babysitting, I got a whole day ahead that I want to handle alone." He offers his paw to Judy. "Since I know that any moron can run a plate I will take that pen and bid you both adieu."
Tracy did not like the way Nick said that as she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. "The plate," Judy said. "I can't run a plate," she groans. "I'm not in the system yet."
Hearing that, Tracy looks at Judy with a shocked expression and says, "What! Are you serious?!" She grunts in annoyance. "This is just great. Now we're back to square one."
"Don't give up," Judy assured her while she tapped her carrot pen on her chin as she was thinking. "We'll think of something."
"Give me the pen, please." Nick said impatiently, wanting to get as far away from those two as possible. The reason why was because he didn't like that look Tracy was giving him and he was afraid that she might do something weird and unnatural that he didn't want to be a part of.
An idea crossed the girls' minds as they looked at one another with eyebrows cocked and small smiles. Looking back at Nick, Judy said, "What was it you said? 'Any moron can run a plate'? Gosh, if only there were a moron around who were up to the task."
"Yeah," Tracy said. "There should be a moron close by who could help us."
"Girl's, I did what you both asked!" Nick said, frustrated. "You can't keep me on the hook forever."
"Not forever." Judy said. "Well, I only have thirty-six hours left to solve this case with a little help from Tracy."
Tracy slaps Judy's arm, making the rabbit cop rub her arm while looking at her with a small painful look as the teenager said with clenched teeth, "Judy, ixnay on that."
The teenager didn't want to have Judy give Nick any clever ideas. That came a little too late as the fox had his own small smile and said, "Actually, I just remembered I have a pal at the DMV. He can definitely run the plate for you two."
"Yes, perfect!" Judy said with slight enthusiasm.
Tracy grabs Judy's arm and pulls her down to her level as she looks at Nick and says to him, "Can you hold that thought for a second?" Nick shrugs as the teenager brings both herself and the rabbit cop's backs to him as she whispers, "Judy, I don't like this. He's up to something and I bet your lucky rabbit's feet that he's gonna try and waste the day away."
"Do you have any better ideas? You wanna help me solve this case and you want me to help you, that's if I keep my job. Plus, you promised me that you'll tell me everything once this is over. This is our only option."
Tracy sighs as she has a point, but was still a little sceptical at this. "Fine. I still don't like where this is going to lead us."
"Fair enough."
With that being said, the three of them went to the car and headed their way over to the DMV.
(Tracy)
We managed to arrive at The Department of Mammal Vehicles or DMV for short. Officer Hopps parked the car as we made our way to the entrance. The doors opened automatically for us while Nick said, "Flash is the fastest guy in there. You need something done, he's on it."
"I hope so," Officer Hopps says. "We are really fighting the clock and every minute counts."
My eyes widened from what I was seeing as I said, "Uh, Officer Hopps."
"What?"
I point ahead.
"Wait, they're all sloths?"
Right before us were a bunch of sloths working and they were moving slowly. I'm not kidding, they were literally moving at turtle-speed. From visitors waiting patiently, to watching either papers getting slowly stamped or clipped, to one female pig who was standing patiently to get her picture taken, but took her eyes off of the camera for only a moment to look at a male sloth only for him to press the flash button and miss her face. "You said this was going to be quick!" Officer Hopps said.
"What are you saying that because he's a sloth he can't be fast?" Nick said as he placed a paw on his chest, feigning hurt. "I thought in Zootopia, anyone could be anything." We got to the front desk where a male sloth who wore a light-green collared shirt with a blue and orange striped necktie with yellow trimming on the orange colored stripe greeted, "Flash, Flash, hundred-yard dash. Buddy, it's nice to see ya."
Flash gives us a slow small smile and says slowly, "Nice to...see you...too."
"Hey, Flash, I'd love you to meet my friends." He ruffles my head as I give him a cat-like growl while introducing me. "This cute kitty cat right here is Tracy." He stops ruffling my head as he points to Officer Hopps. "And this is, uh, darling, I've forgotten your name."
"Hmm," Officer Hopps looks at him and gives a smile before pointing at her badge. "Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD. How are you?"
"I am...doing...just…"
"Fine?"
"...as well as...I can...be. What…"
"Hang in there." Nick said.
"...can I...do…"
"Well, I was hoping you could run a plate-"
"...for you…" Flash cut-off Officer Hopps as he didn't seem to be finished due to his slow talking.
"Well, I was hoping you could-"
"...today?"
It seemed that he was finally finished talking so slowly as Officer Hopps resumed what she was trying to say, "Well, I was hoping you could run a plate for us. We are in a really big hurry."
"Sure," Flash said. "What's the...plate…"
"29T-"
"...number?" Flash finished what he said.
"29THD03."
He moves slowly to the touch-screen computer and slowly taps it saying, "2...9…"
"THD03."
"...T…"
"HD03."
"...H…"
"D03."
He stopped as I muttered quietly, "Come on, come on."
He taps on the screen slowly. "...D…"
"Mmm-hmm. 03."
"...0…"
"3."
Officer Hopps whimpered softly while I bit the lower part of my lip as Flash was on the last one. But Nick literally stopped him from tapping the last one as he said, "Hey, Flash, wanna hear a joke?"
"No!" Me and Officer Hopps exclaimed in unison at him.
"Sure," Flash said as Officer Hopps growled in annoyance while I grunted in annoyance.
"Okay." Nick brings out three fingers. "What do you call a three-humped camel?"
"I don't...know. What...do...you call...a…"
"Three-humped camel," Officer Hopps said with impatience in her voice. Can't say I blame her. We really don't have time for jokes as I tap my fingers on the desk.
"...three-humped...camel?"
Nick smiled and said, "Pregnant." He laughed while patting my back as I had an unamused look. I wasn't really interested in listening to his jokes right now. Flash seemed to like it as his hazel eyes widened, then he slowly laughed and slowly tapped his claws on the desk.
"Ha-ha! Yes, very funny, very funny." Officer Hopps said. "Can we please just focus on the-"
"Hey…" Flash starts to slowly turn his attention away from us.
"Wait, wait, wait!"
"...Priscilla!"
We turn to look to where Flash was looking as we see another sloth, this time a female by the name of Priscilla. She wore a dark-pink sweater, pink shirt with purple stars patterns, purple half-moon glasses over her hazel eyes, and had a pink highlight. She slowly looks at Flash.
"Oh, no!"
"You've got to be kidding me," I said as I sighed.
"Yes...Flash," Priscilla answers slowly.
"What...do…"
"No!" Officer Hopps said.
"...you call a…"
I knew that this was going to take us forever to get this plate runned and I wasn't going to stand there like an idiot waiting for those slow-moving sloths to finish. So without either Nick or Officer Hopps noticing, I made my way out while I heard Officer Hopps saying, "A three-humped camel? Pregnant! Okay, great, we got it. Please just…" I heard her groan and there was a thump. Wasn't sure if she slammed her paw on the desk or her head but I didn't care as the door opened automatically.
While I was outside I went towards a wall and said, "Complete waste of time!" I hit my paw slightly on the wall as I grunted in aggravation. Placing my back against the wall, I slid down until my rear touched the ground. I thought about waiting outside and once Officer Hopps comes through that door, I am literally going to say "I told you so" in front of her. I sighed as I curled myself into a ball, then I felt something tuck into my feet. Looking at my feet, I saw a tail. My tail. "Oh, I didn't notice you." I gave myself a small chuckle. Honestly, I never even knew I had one until now. Guess, I never paid more attention to myself since I am a cat.
Anyway, wanting to kill some time while I waited, I took the badge out of my pocket. Was this really called a badge? This was no badge I've ever seen and to me it looks more like a smartphone. Putting that out of my head for now, I wanted to know more about this and how Yax did it. So, tapping on the screen as it came to life, I now see that the white dot had changed to an orange dot which seemed a little odd though. However, I hummed a little as a thought crossed my mind. Placing my finger on the screen, I slide it to the right as it changes back to a white dot. This made me a little giddy as I tried sliding up, only to find a word that appeared at the bottom that said MAP. Seeing that this was getting a little easier, I got a bit more curious as I slid the screen to the left and it took me back to the orange dot. Right at the bottom, it said CONTACTS. I slid to the left again and found a yellow dot with the word CONTRACTS. Honestly, I had no idea what that was for, but maybe it'll be something important to know later. Sliding the screen to the left for the third time, I saw another dot as this one was light-blue with the word STORAGE.
I hummed again as I wondered about this one. Tapping the dot, it took me to two choices:
ITEMS - ACCESSORIES
Getting a little curious about the "Items", I tapped that as it took me to a screen that showed me this list:
Potion X5
Ether X5
I had an odd look as I said, "What're those for?"
Tapping the back arrow that was left for me in case I wanted to leave that spot, it took me back to the same choices. Only this time I chose the accessories and I only found one thing:
Black Pendant
Looking to make sure no one was watching, I tapped on the "Black Pendant" word. Immediately, the screen glowed and out popped a small glowing ball of light as it expanded a bit and revealed a necklace with a silver chain attached with a small black circular pendant. "Wow." I marveled as I took the necklace out of the white ball and it returned back to the badge, then brought me back to the screen as the "Accessories" word was removed but the word "Items" remained. Probably because I got the necklace out of the accessories storage. I gazed at the necklace as it looked so wonderful, but I never actually wore a necklace.
I was going to try it on, but my ears heard a beepbeepbeep-beepbeepbeep as I looked at the screen and found a small orange dot blinking as it continued beeping. Tapping that small dot, it took me to a screen as it showed me a small picture of Yax's smiling face in a circle and right below it was that same palm tree symbol, and right below it were two circles, one a green circle and the other a red circle with a white X. It kept beeping as I stood up and put the necklace on. Bringing the screen in front of me, I was about to tap the green circle so I could answer him and hopefully get the info about this other guy who arrived at The Mystic Springs Oasis. However, my vision got fuzzy as I could hear my heart beating hard in my ears. "W...What…" I feel so woozy and my vision gets fuzzier. "What's...hap…" My back bumps the wall as I groan tiredly. My legs refused to respond as my body started to fall sideways. My body landed on the ground as I lost my grip of the badge and it didn't fall that far as it was literally a few feet from my paw, but I could barely hear beeping anymore as my vision started to go black.
I feel so tired...maybe I'll just take a nap.
It took some time, but the wait was finally over as the license plate number was finally runned as the information was printed on a card. Flash slowly tears off the card and slowly hands it to Judy while slowly saying, "Here…"
"Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hurry, hurry."
"...you…"
When he reaches the distance, Judy quickly hops and grabs the card. "Thank you." Then she starts reading the card. "'29THD03'."
"...go."
"It's registered to Tundratown Limo Service. A limo took Otterton, and the limo's in Tundratown!" She looks at Nick with an excited expression as she is finally getting somewhere. "It's in Tundratown!" She was going to tell Tracy the good news, but her excited expression quickly faded as she was nowhere to be seen with either her, Nick, or inside the room as it was empty. Looking at the fox, she asked, "Nick, where's Tracy?"
Nick smiles and answers, "Yeah, you missed it but...she left."
What Nick said was true. Tracy never realized that Nick noticed her leaving in aggravation and annoyment. It was hook line and sinker for him as he managed to get rid of one, but he wouldn't be surprised if the girl was clever enough to ditch them and go to the police to have the plate number runned by a real cop instead of wasting her time here.
"She what?!" Judy exclaimed. "Why didn't you stop her?"
"Hey," Nick raised his paws in defense. "I'm not a babysitter. If she's a big girl, then she could take care of herself." Judy growled as she made a beeline to the exit. Before Nick followed her, he turned his attention to Flash and said to him, "Way to hustle, bud. I love ya. I owe ya."
The doors already automatically opened while Judy waited for Nick. When he got to her, she said, "Hurry! We gotta find Tracy, beat the rush hour and-It's night?!"
Indeed it was nighttime before the two mammals as the parking lot was empty save for the police car. Judy sighed as she didn't have to ponder how long they've been inside, they need to find Tracy. She races over to the car, hoping Tracy might be there. Unfortunately, she wasn't as the car remained unoccupied by its passengers. Her eyes widened as she didn't, but she did. That stupid girl must've ran far back into the city, and by herself no less. If anything happens to her...Oh, dear, there was no telling what would happen to her. She quickly gets into the car, her mind filled with dread as she hoped nothing bad happened to her. If anything does happen, then Chief Bogo will eat her badge for this. Not to mention, she would lose her only chance to know the truth from this girl, and she won't get another chance.
As her paw was at the key and was about to turn the car on, her keen ears heard Nick yell, "Hey, Carrots!" She looked as Nick was pointing down. "Before you leave, you forgot your cat!"
Looking down, she saw Tracy passed out on the ground near the wall. She placed a paw at her chest and sighs in relief before getting out of the car and jogging her way to them. Back with Nick, he notices that odd-looking smartphone this kid possessed that was a few feet from her paw, but saw an envelope icon that was opened that said One Missed Call From Yax. Do You Wish To Listen To Message, Save Message, Or Delete Message? He saw three circles, one a light-blue with a dark-blue S, another a blue with a light-blue in the middle, and the last one was a red circle with a white X. Picking it up, he was about to listen to the message from Yax as he wanted to know what he wanted to tell this kid, but was interrupted as he felt his arm get hit by the rabbit cop. "Ow!" He cried as he massaged it and looked at her as she gave him glaring eyes. "What was that for?"
"That was for not keeping an eye on her! Do you even realize how dangerous that is for letting a child walk around alone without an adult accompanying her?"
Nick narrowed his eyes and pointed at her using Tracy's odd smartphone. "Hey, I already told you, I'm not a babysitter. She's not my problem, she's yours."
Judy grunted and said through clenched teeth while bending down to Tracy, "I can't believe you." She gently brings Tracy up to a sitting position. However, she notices an odd-looking pendant on her neck. She hadn't seen her wear this before. So where did this come from? Putting it out of her mind for now, she lightly shakes Tracy and says, "Tracy." She lightly pats the side of her face. "C'mon Tracy, wake up."
Tracy tiredly groaned and said with a tired voice, "Not now, Dad, it's the weekend. Let me sleep."
Judy tries stroking Tracy's neck, causing her to stretch out neck and purr while the rabbit cop said to her, "Now's not the time to sleep, sweetie." She scratches one of her ears. "We still have a job to do."
While Judy was trying to wake up Tracy, Nick looked at the screen of the strange smartphone, then tapped the light-blue circle. The moment he did that, there were the small sounds of wee-oo and a red background blinking as it had a large exclamation point with the words in front of it saying Unauthorized User: Access Denied and he felt shocking pain going through his paws. "Ow! Ow!" He tried not to drop this smartphone. "Ooo-ow, ooo!"
Judy stood up with narrowed eyes while Tracy yawned and said, "Alright, I'm up!" Then the rabbit cop, "Nick what're you doing?"
"It's not-It's this-D'ow!"
He tossed the smartphone over to Judy as she caught it while Nick shook his paws and she too felt that same shocking pain from hours ago when she tried to access Tracy's strange smartphone as she tried not to drop it. "Ow! Ow! Ouch! Ah!"
She tossed it back to him, making him once again not trying to drop it as if he was holding hot metal. "Don't give it-Ow! Ah!"
He tossed it back to her too soon as she was shaking her paws. She tried to grab it but it was too late as it hit Tracy's head. "Ow!" She cried as she clasped her head while the smartphone landed on her lap. Her eyes opened, then they narrowed as she gave a cat-like growl and snatched her smartphone off of her lap, tapping on the screen to turn off the noise, and saying as she pointed at them with her smartphone, "Alright, who threw this?"
Nick's eyes widened as he stopped shaking his paws and pointed both fingers at Judy. The rabbit cop grunted a little as she looked at the fox with glaring eyes. As she stopped shaking her paws, she looked at Tracy and was about to say something to her, but the teenager's eyes widened with shock as she quickly got up and said, "It's nighttime already?! How long was I asleep and what did I miss?"
