Backstage Pass (For Sapperjoe)
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AN: It's a crossover (with Legend of Ahya) Jim, but not as we know it, not as we know it, not as we know it. It's a crossover Jim, but not as we know it, not as we know it, reader.
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The three mammals stood at the threshold, the grin on the fox slowly growing as he looked down at the hesitant white bunny with brown freckles to his right.
Judy, stepping back, could only pre-emptively ear and then face paw as the fox strode over, waving his paw behind her to nudge her on. "Come on Ei…"
And as always, that did it, her friend charging forward and turning on a heel to stare at the now silent fox, his paw raised as she stuck her head in and at him, nose furiously twitching.
"Well, at least those nerves are gone," he said, the bunny not exactly happy.
"If it turns out they're screwing this up, I'm gonna hold you at least partly responsible, you know!"
The fox gave her a blank look down, eyelids half lidded. Finally, he shrugged. "That sounds fair."
Eileen pointed a finger into his chest. "You know it," she said, pausing as a gopher carrying a bunch of files and folders jogged up to them.
"Hey," he said, "you the ones with the backstage pass?"
The three picked up their laminated ID cards and held them out, the larger rodent adjusting his glasses slightly before nodding, waving them on. "Looks good, they're just starting to film over in soundstage G."
And with that he led them on, the pair weaving through the packed corridor, filled with costume racks or bright ceiling lights currently laying on the ground. Jumping over wires, dodging other mammals going this way and that, they turned sharply right, ducking past a bear pulling out a film camera and stepping into a huge, empty room. All of it was bare, exposed walls rising up above them to a black roof. However, here and there in front of them, various sets had been built. A fake adobe interior of some desert house, filled with hanging rugs and shelves full of neatly arranged plushies; a well set out cafe full of pretty looking tables and chairs; a seedy bar cut up into various seating areas and even including a bathroom off to the side. There were many more, but right now all attention was focussed on a set of wooden walls painted in drab rust streaked greys, creating a concrete interior to some underground structure or something.
And, as Eileen nervously led them to the ring of camera mammals and others surrounding it, the trembling bunny's eyes widened.
There, in the middle of the fake room and pawcuffed to a gurney, was a young wolf actress, various parts of her fur dyed up in vivid reds. Sitting next to her and joking a little was an elk dressed in a…
"What was that book series called again?" Nick asked, smiling.
"Legend of Ahya," Eileen stammered, beginning to giggle. "I don't believe it, that's her. That's Taylor Wolford! And Fey Darner is next to her and eeeeeeee!"
The bunny pulled her paws up under her chin as she squealed, before pointing out a strange thing being carried out by a group of mammals. "There's Ahya! There's Ahya!"
Nick chuckled, before clearing his throat. "I think you'll find it's actually Maya Narijada," he said, pointing at the wolf. "Some elk guy with great fashion sense whose name isn't Fey Darner. And…" He said, pointing at the mammals walking over. "A bunch of mammals including the one who got us these tickets." He raised his paw and waved out. "Hey, how's the new gig going Skye?"
The largest of the mammals carrying the red thing, a swift fox vixen, looked over and waved, making and O-K sign with her paws before helping to carry over the strange prop to the table. Fixing it down and setting it up on the opposite side, Maya pulled herself up and let them slide part of it under her. While the rest of her had been part-dyed with red fur, it was only then that Judy noticed that her tail had been completely painted a vivid green.
The grey furred doe rolled her eyes. Given what that crazy book series her old friend was so obsessed with had as its bizarre eye-catcher or whatever, she guessed that making it so Maya's real tail could be green-screened out was par for the course.
Either way, the wolf actress tucked it back under her as the red thing seemingly took its place. Skye set the bulk of it up on the far side of the gurney, lying on a table as various long and thin mammals: martens, weasels and the like, some completely dressed in green too and some not got into position. One of them, a mid-sized polecat with no greening in place, crawled inside the red furry tube through a slit, vanishing from view.
Checking it over, Skye gave them the nod and retreated back, all as the director, a mid-sized boar, sized things up and called out some checks. Eileen wasn't interested in that. She, and Judy out of a slightly unsettled curiosity, instead looked on as the team of smaller mammals inside the fake tail began to guide it around. Make it 'look', 'search' and even open up at the end, a blue lip descending into a greenscreen mass of the interior and the operators bared for all to see. One of them, a least weasel who'd strapped himself in, had his top half embedded in a long blue tongue, and he practiced stretching it out. The elk playing Fey Darner leant down with a pen, he and the tongue weasel getting some practice in, making it look like it was a real tongue of a real tailmaw, stretching out and feeling. Exploring.
"You want to see it when it salivates," came a voice, as Skye walked over, paws crossed in front of her.
The white furred and brow freckled doe reached into her bag. "Way ahead of you," she smirked, bringing up a small plastic sample bottle.
"Uhhh…"
"As you can see," Nick cut in, a big smirk on his muzzle. "This is the superfan I talked about."
"Yeah, yeah, and it's basically off the shelf lube," the vixen countered.
"Not after it comes out of there it isn't," Eileen countered. "Mama gonna get me some tailmaw juice as a souvenir."
The two other girls around her looked on, concerned.
"-Anyway," the swift fox vixen said as she looked to Nick, "that's us even for getting me this gig."
"And that," Judy sighed, jabbing a finger at the fox. "Is us even after the marriage incident."
Eileen snickered a bit as the fox threw his paws up. "The perps saw through our disguises and I had to improvise. Given that we were in the palm hotel casino at the time and we're currently still alive, I think it was a one-hundred percent success."
"Oh, yes, you rumbled us," Judy mocked. "We're actually here as we're a couple, not that our families approve. That's why we had to hit the disguises before we hit the little wedding chapel. Oh, wait, you wanna be our witnesses? Yeah, yeah, no time like the present, ha!"
Nick fox paused, finger up. "Yeah, okay. Fair point. I was lowballing it hard."
Judy gave a grunt, before turning to a snickering Eileen. "And just to let you know, I'm being very kind honouring our bridesmaid forfeit agreement even though that marriage wasn't real."
Eileen crossed her paws. "How was it not real?"
"It was under duress. That's what we said when we got it annulled," she huffed. "Besides, if…"
"-When," Nick cut in, smiling.
Judy calmed down her death glare and carried on. "If he and I actually do have our wedding now that that incident has snowballed into us actually dating, you will be my bridesmaid. So then you'll owe me something back for this."
"Nah," Eileen waved off. "Our pinkie promise stated clearly, 'when I get married I'll be your bridesmaid' and vice versa. No mention of a voiding after one marriage, muhahaha…"
Judy sighed, especially as Nick spoke up. "Hey, the law checks out."
The bunny would have objected further, only for a sharp bell to ring out at that moment. Everyone went silent, the director holding up the clipboard and signalling the start of filming. "Legend of Ahya: Target of Interest. Scene twenty-four. Action!"
And with that it began. 'Fey', who had stepped back out of the room, walked in and began slowly talking to and examining a rather snappy and moody 'Taylor'. All the mammals looked on but for Eileen the real interest was in 'Ahya', Taylor's sentient Tailmaw. It stood up, it looked around, when attention from either of the other two was directed at it the tailmaw reacted. A few touches of a pen inside the maw and it began puffing up, fake teeth baring and starting to glisten with the juices starting to dripping out of the maw.
On they watched as that scene, and a few others, were played out. At one point, Fey was swapped out for a tiger. 'Mikhael', as Eileen informed the others.
On it played a little, the tiger feeding the restrained wolf and (at times) restrained tailmaw some scrambled eggs.
Time ticked by, the scene coming to an end and the director calling out another. "Okay," he said. "Is it Greg or Sam acting this time," he said, pausing as a voice pipped up.
"Greg time!" They all looked down to see a young looking raccoon step forward, leaving his mother's paw (and that of what a quick look revealed to be an identical twin) and running up to the stage.
The director nodded. "Okay, and Martin or Howard?"
There was a long pause.
"Uh-sir?"
He looked around, and then down at the gopher. "Yes, where are they?"
"Martin's off with a stomach bug, pretty bad as I hear it…"
"Well," he sighed. "We still have Howard, don't…"
There was a long pause, his eyes narrowing. "We don't have Howard."
"Why," the director boar groaned, "wasn't I told this earlier?"
"Well he is here sir…"
"So?" he asked, before sighing. "Don't tell me, stage fright."
"Not exactly," the gopher said. "It's… Something…"
"GREAT!" the director hissed. "Whole bunch of filming, just cut off."
"We can still…" Maya began, sitting up. 'Ahya' remained limp down beside her.
"I know," the boar groaned, a hoof out. "I know… Just…" He began scanning through his pages, pausing though as he saw two brown tipped and freckled ears sail past him. "…Excuse me?"
Eileen turned around. "Nobody gets in the way of my Legend of Ahya adaptation."
"Okay you walking stereotype," the boar spoke, throwing his notebook down on the table with a sharp whack. "This isn't some manager you can call, this is a young kit who for whatever reason…"
"Bunny family," Eileen said, jabbing a thumb at herself. "I know how to get kits to do things. And trust me, I am highly motivated."
"Yeah, yeah…" he hissed, shaking his head. "You know what, fine. You get that kit out here, I'll get you your own role in the movie." He chuckled as he said it, rolling his eyes, before pausing as he realised that she had been replaced with a lingering dust trail shooting away offstage.
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"So, you're the lucky kit who gets to play Pine then?"
With a shock, the young skunk stood up and looked back at the newly arrived bunny. He'd been sulking in the break area for a few hours now, and despite his mother's attempts and that of a few others, he hadn't come out. "H-how did you get in?"
"Dug a hole."
"Y-you don't look like you're covered in muck."
Eileen shrugged. "Hollywoof magic," she smiled, sitting next to him and looking over his dye job. While presumably a normal skunk, he'd been dyed up pure white, bar the central black streak in his tail. "You know, you look great! You look just like Pine."
"No I don't," he cut in, wrinkly his muzzle and turning away.
"Oh really huh?" she asked, leaning in. "Have you read the books?"
"No," he hissed. "My mom says they're too adult for me."
"Hoooyeah, she's right," was all the bunny could say, chuckling a little.
"Won't even get to see the movie."
"Hey, you will when you get older," Eileen countered. "The movie you're not gonna be in at this rate. Come on, get out there champ. As I say, you're the perfect Pine."
"No. I'm. Not." He said, tears starting to form in his eyes. "L-look at these. I can't play Pine…"
Eileen looked on before blinking "Oh, I see," she said, looking into his blue irises. "You think because they're blue not red, you can't play an albino? Hey, don't underestimate movie magic…"
"I CAN'T PLAY AN ALBINO!" he yelled, beginning to tremble, buckling over and sobbing. Suddenly worried, Eileen leant in to comfort him, only for the sound of his mother returning back to stop her.
"Howie… -Who are you!?"
"Fan consultant, I'm also experienced in emotional support," she said, watching on as the mother skunk hurried in and took her son in her paws.
"Hey," Eileen said. "Who says you can't play an albino. You look a great albino to me."
He sniffed back, slowly pulling out a letter. Both Eileen and Howards mother widened their eyes at it, as the young kit spoke it out. "H-hey Me-melan… istic m-m-mammal. S-stop stealing j-jobs from A-Albinos. Y-you greedy, s-selfish, j-jerk… D-don't… you think w-we have it h-h-hard enough…" That was as far as he got before Eileen grabbed the paper and tore it up into a million pieces.
"GAH! WHAT KIND OF TRASH MAMMAL WROTE THAT!?"
"I…" Howard blinked back. "An -an albino I stole…"
"Yeah, right," Eileen said, turning around and looking at them. "Listen, you seen any albinos around here?"
There was a long pause, before Howard's mother spoke up. "I… I think there was a rat that looked very pale, but it might just…"
"Yeah, yeah," the bunny waved off, her foot drumming on the ground. "Do you know who you didn't see? An albino skunk boy, your age, just like Pine was described in the book. You ain't stealing it from anyone," she said, sighing. "Look kit. If they wanted an albino to play this part, they'd probably have to switch his species to one they could find a pair of albino twins your age in, which ruins a bunch of symbolism and stuff later on, bla bla. Point is, when you get to changing the species to keep the disorder, you're throwing the baby bunny out with the cart. What does it matter whether the actor is an albino or not!? Especially when it matters that the actor is a skunk like you." She blew off some air. "You know what I think?"
"W-what?"
"Whoever wrote that is a sad mammal who ain't gonna do anything good in their life, so they're just going around pretending to do good stuff, and having fun being mean jerks while doing so. Sound about right?"
"I…" he began.
"And what would be better way to treat bullies like that than to show 'em up, by not letting them ruin you or your brother's big chance because you look or are 'wrong', huh?" Eileen carried on. "After all, that's what these books are really about don't you know?" She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.
"I…" he began, before looking up at his mother. "It… It is okay for me to…"
"Of course dear," she said, hugging him.
"Ooh, Mooooommmm… Not in front of the fan consultant."
Eileen smiled. "That's the attitude I need. Now get out there and act your tail off!"
Slipping down, off Howard went, his mother pausing as she went by. "Thanks a lot," she smiled, looking down and shaking her head. "I mean really, finding two identical twin albino skunks around this age."
"Idiots gonna idiot," Eileen waved off.
"Yeah, and from what I gather, they're being really accurate with the species and all anyway," the skunk agreed, chuckling. "I mean, finding out and getting in a… something-something hybrid or something. I think they got him from the Faerdoe islands or something or…"
Eileen blinked. "Hybrid?"
"Yeah," she said, "I'm pretty sure he's part mink, sea mink as his fur is red and oily, but there's other stuff in there… Weasel likely, but he's really big." She scratched her head.
"Maybe he's an extra," Eileen pondered, knowing there was no-one like that in the books.
"Hmmm, an extra with a minigun and some body armour. In an earlier scene I saw him climb up a tree with a knife in his mouth to get the main charac…"
"-THEY SPECIES SWAPPED FINNLEY!" Eileen yelled, ears pointed down and a furious look on her face. She turned on the ball of her foot and marched off even faster than she'd done from the soundstage.
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"-And cut."
The scene was finished, Howard and Greg walking off and away from the gurney. And, with that, it was time for Maya to be let out, her parts complete. Nick and Judy walked over with Skye to look on as the tail was being taken off.
"Where's Freckles?" Nick asked, as they reached the action. "I'd have thought..."
"Oh mah gawd," the doe bunny said, running up to him, bouncing on her toes. "They species swapped Finnley to this mink-polecat hybrid guy. I confronted him about it. He's the biggest asshole in existence! He is LITERALLY Finnley incarnate. Wrong species, but after experiencing his assholery first paw I don't care." She turned and yelled out. "You were born to play this part!"
The mammal, currently skulking over to the director, turned and yelled back. "I know you mean that as an insult, you fucking burrows trash!"
"Keep it up! Prove the haters wrong!" she yelled, a fist raised and saluting off.
And with that, she turned back to the gang, and Maya, the actress now sitting on the gurney and chuckling. "Oh mah gawd, Taylor Renee Wolford, in the fur!"
The wolf smiled. "Yeah, lucky me."
"Uh-hu," Eileen nodded, her eyes narrowing. "Do NOT fuck it up."
"Uh…" the actress began, giving a nervous chuckle. Paws up, she scooted away a little. "Okay, I'll try."
"Do, or do not," Eileen said, smiling again as she brought out an old polaroid camera. "There is no try. But there are selfies."
The wolf paused for a second before leaning in.
"-Wait." Eileen turned to Skye. "Can you, with Ahya…"
The swift fox rolled her eyes. "You all out of there?"
With nothing coming from her team of mustelid puppeteers, she picked up the prop tailmaw and hung it up so that, when Eileen took her selfie, it showed her in-between Taylor Wolford and Ahya.
"Hoo-yeah," she cheered, as Maya brought out a pen.
"Where shall I…"
The bunny pulled her picture back to her chest for a second before facepawing. "Autograph, right…" She smiled, handing it over. "Thank you so much. I know I must seem like the fandom menace here, but I just love these books so much. I'd hate, hate, hate to seem them butchered and…"
As it went on, the actress began chuckling, before mentioning bits of the books she liked. And then, the two started to get on.
All as Nick and Judy sat back with Skye, the red fox looking over the prop the vixen had designed and built. "Pretty impressive, though I'd have thought there'd be more robotics."
Skye chuckled. "No, for up personal stuff, puppeteering still beats things out any day of the week. But, if you look in closer." She peeled away a bit of the thick red fur, revealing a metal flex-frame underneath. "In this case it's just for support. We actually have a ton of different designs. Some, for on the move scenes, are mounted to this reinforced vest Maya can wear that supports the weight. We also have power assisting motors in the base to help with large and quick sweeps around, through we still do it the old way at the tip for the finer control. We do actually have a ton of fully automatic version, but as they're for the fast action scenes…" She chuckled a little. "They get trashed, so fast."
"Oooph," Nick said, smirking. "That must be so slow for you, you wonder what the point is."
"Ha-ha," she smirked. "Of course, there are scenes we need CGI for. When a poor mammal gets nommed." She made a biting sound, chuckling. "We CGI that, but we have the actors writhing about in a prop bag and Maya beating it to really help ground the vis effects, make it believable."
Nick nodded, pausing as Eileen came back, reaching over and gathering up some of the tailmaw juices in her pot. She paused though to give it a sniff. "Hmmmm, strawberry scent."
"Literally off the shelf lube," Skye repeated.
"Uh-hu," the bunny said, pausing as she looked over at Judy. "Uh oh, I think it set off Jude the Prude here."
"-No!" the bunny said, crossing her paws and leaning in. "Lube doesn't set me off. I…"
"Of course, it's actually talk of the vore," Nick cut in, smirking.
"Yes, okay, a little," Judy began. "But… -Okay, I can get that as a strange thing. But do you know what I really don't get about you and this book series."
Eileen shrugged. "Shoot."
"The bunnies."
"Bunnies?" Nick asked.
"Oh, you don't know?" Eileen said, smiling up at him.
"I mean," Judy cut in. "It's not just demeaning, it's… Why…? Why our species? Why that. What possessed the author to do something like…" The bunny was left speechless, just grunting out.
"I'm missing something here," Nick said.
"No, no," Eileen said, chuckling a little. "Trust me, Judy and I know exactly what she's talking about. But honestly, it's just a book! It's just some fun."
"Says the hyperfan," Judy cut in…
"-Okay, but it's… I can't say why, but I just love it, okay? You get it, or you don't," Eileen explained, sighing a little. "And yeah, maybe it is personal. And if someone tries to change that, because 'they know better' or 'it's the right thing'… Well then that's personal too! But yeah, the bunny thing? It's a different world. And just because most of the characters approve of it, doesn't mean the subtext does. Or heck, the literal main character." She rolled her eyes. "Don't they teach anything in English class?"
"How the door being painted blue is clearly a metaphor," Nick huffed. "And what's this about bunnies?"
Eileen looked at Judy, Judy at Eileen, and then both at Nick "You'll see," they said to him, in very different tones.
Just as the actor playing Finnley and the director walked over. "Hey, figurative pigs and pig adjacent mammals," the former said, before pointing to the latter. "This guy here says he said that little miss speciesist there gets to have a bit part."
Eileen turned to him, squeeing a little. "Just keep that up. You are so perfect!"
The hybrid just gave a grunt as Judy cut in, speaking to Eileen. "Wait. You, a bit part?"
"Yeah," she said, beginning to shake and chuckle. "For giving the skunk kit actor a pep talk. He said if I could…"
"Yeah, yeah," the boar director said. "You know, I was thinking of having you as an extra, but we've had an incident with one of our actors, and this guy here…" he said, pointing to the actor of mixed heritage. "Suggested 'the perfect role'."
They handed a script over to an ecstatic Eileen who began to shake as she read through it. All as the pair begin to give slightly maniacal laughs… That began to fade into worry as Eileen's one rose far above them all.
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"So, what is this thing with bunnies?" Nick whispered again.
Judy, looking on blankly, just said. "You'll see."
All as Eileen, dressed up as a waitress, walked out to serve Taylor, Mikhael, a snow leopardess and a few others at the restaurant set. Taking the order, Eileen enthusiastically looked to them all and asked. "Would any of you like our special?"
Something which Taylor, with a bit of encouragement from the others, agreed to. Off Eileen went, Nick looking on confused, getting even more confused as she came back with a stool, went under the table and…
Nick looked on, eyes widening, as the scene played out. Ears folding back at the commotion coming from the table, mainly an equally confused sounding Taylor, the fox looked down at the ear and face pawing bunny, waiting until the cut call was given before finally speaking out.
"Okay. So that's the thing with the bunnies."
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AN: Many thanks to SapperJoe who did a music-effects tweak to a piece of art I commissioned for Merc_Marten's B-day (adding in music and particle effects to play over it). Now, I offered from the start to pay some money or do something, but Joe was happy just doing this for someone's B-day.
…Nah, you're getting this whether you like this or not, haha. His character Eileen, shown to be a Taylor fan, gets a backstage pass to the film version of her favourite book, the studio being located in Zootopia. Legend of Ahya being an in universe series and characters filming the big screen adaptation was a fun idea I had, and it was fun to write.
And yeah, couldn't help but add in a cameo of a certain other character whose mega fic (Puddin_Taine's Giggles and Company) I've been piling through of late. Lundøye's greatest son gets his big break too XD.
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The lights were flicked on, two mammals sneaking into the studio after hours. "You're evil," Maya chuckled, as she sat back down at the café.
"You're learning to have fun," Eileen said, back in her waitresses costume. She chuckled a little. "Let's do that scene for real this time."
While looking nervous, Maya nodded, pulling up her menu and humming. All as Eileen spoke up. "Would you like my services?"
"Oh, uh," Maya began, looking around as if her companions were encouraging her like before. "Okay then. Sure!"
Eileen smiled, bowing down. "I'll be right back," she said, looping round, grabbing her stool, and vanishing under the tablesheet like before.
"Uh," Maya began, acting out her lines from before. "What are you doing?"
"I… Oooh, going commando I see."
Maya turned a little red. "Well, if we're doing our own stunts as you put it…"
"Hehehe," came a chuckle from underneath. "I'm rubbing off already. Excellent."
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Heheheheh… Me and my after credits scenes.
Anyway, a little bonus for those interested, as I have nowhere better to put this and am just gonna sling it here. A little update/ tweak to the Fire Instinct Blue concept I had… Not much, just a way of tying in one bit of early Guardian Blue that was dropped, along with a Fire Triangle character that was dropped too but turned out to be important for some parts later. And, in the spirit of just how those two fics seem to fit so well together, I found a way for both to come back in. I've already back-edited the relevant seasons in the collection to take this into account, this is just for those of you who read it the first time and want the tl;dr:
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Season 1: On arriving in Bunnyburrow, Nick, Judy, Marian and the rest of the Hopps gang are heading back to the burrow after getting picked up from the station. On their way there, a busted up pickup with the name of a crop spraying firm races past the other way, kicking up a cloud of dust. Marian comments that it was a bit fast, and all the Hopps begin groaning, saying it's the Blackfoots. Judy explains, the Blackfoots are the real local trouble family. They moved in a few decades before with their crop spraying business and immediately started causing trouble. Stealing, noise, getting into fights. Stu pipes in, saying that after the local farms turned to nighthowlers instead of spraying for pest control, they were entering into this contract with the local government to spray illegal drug farms in the hills. Another farmer found out that the plan was to use harequateline, nasty stuff that works as good on fur as it does on plants, and they protested to stop it being used. The official in charge listened, and publicised it enough that the illegal growers left by themselves. All happy? Not Jerry Blackfoot, who attacked the official at the last Carrot Days! The whole family is banned from it now, good riddance. All the county needs to do now is get back the herbicide they gave them, and they're holding hostage demanding the taxpayer pays for upgrades to their planes or something.
Nick shrugs, saying that they'd probably be a bit bummed out about being cut out of a deal like that, at which point Erin cuts in. 'Of course you'd say that…'
Judy tells her to explain what she meant by that, the young bunny saying that other foxes stand up for the Blackfoots. Case in point, Amanda Grey, Travis Blackfoot's girlfriend. She goes around saying all the bunnies are pred haters for using nighthowlers after they were used to dart preds.
Judy warns Erin about that line of thought, pointing out that Travis is a good Blackfoot.
Erin points out that he bullied her with Gideon Grey, Judy saying that they were kits back then. Besides, both Gideon and Travis now work a bakery that buys Hopps family produce…
Stu comments that Travis is about the nicest one, though he thinks any Blackfoot meanness was taken out of him and put into his nephew, Craig. That teen is a right hooligan, probably was the one in the truck and everything, been busted for robbery and arson and… Stu trails off before saying, 'speaking of which', turning the van sharply and racing towards a nearby plume of rising smoke.
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The truck pulls up outside a small house/ surgery owned by Doctor Tuber, the entire place surrounded by growing grassfires that are crawling up the walls. While the Doctor, his wife and some of the kits are outside, some are stuck inside by the fire, which is reaching up to a propane tank. Taking the initiative, Nick races in, rescuing some of the kits. They get out and recover just as the fire service arrive, to their surprise in a steam powered antique fire engine. Nick makes a jibe at it as they crew start using the hose. It cuts down the fire well, before sputtering once (the large mammal crew bracing themselves) twice quickly, and then blasting out with enough force to push them back, the spray cutting through the fire and digging up the grass and dirt as they deal with the fire.
Meanwhile, Erin is met by a surprising sight. Jock bunny, Max March, covered head to toe in filth and gunk saunters up to her (along with his silverfox rabbit wingmammal Zach March). Trying to act like 'the mammal', he says that he saw the fire and ran across fields and swam through drainage pools to find a phone signal to raise the alarm. Erin manages to cut him off, convincing him that he went through a herb 'that just makes her gag'. He scoots off, promising to do anything for his lady. Erin promptly makes a yuck face behind his back.
The fire getting under control, the lead mammal says that they got the call in while taking the old girl over for the steam fair at Carrot Days. They were the closest unit… Somehow picked up some bunny boys covered in filth off the side of the road on the way, and got here. Judy, having noticed the exchange with Max and Erin pauses, asking if they saw a pickup truck drive past fast the other way. He says he saw one on a nearby road, he guesses that they might have thrown themselves in a ditch to dodge it.
Judy sighs, saying that was a Blackfoot truck. She asks the doctor if he'd seen any Blackfoots previously, and he nods. The bunny asks if anything was done or said… He says he can't say much because of patient client confidentiality, but they were looking over a health issue which he put down to low genetic diversity… At which point that patient accused him of insulting the family, saying they were all inbred, and stormed out refusing to pay their bill. -He was referring to the fact the species as a whole has very little genetic diversity, but he let it slide…
All the Bunnyburrow locals share looks, as Judy peaks over at the ruins of a small produce stand, her nose twitching as she sees a shattered bottle in the middle and the rough imprints of some tire tracks on the other side of the road. The fire chief says he'll notify the sheriff, not that much could be done… Same as always, they give each other alibis.
In case the gas tank is compromised, the Tuber's will be staying with the Hopps' until it gets inspected. As they all fit in, Marian asks why that bunny kit, Max, didn't speak up if he saw the truck come the other way. He'd probably be able to see the driver.
Erin and Nick speak in unison. 'Snitches get Stitches.' Erin is not happy about this, as they drive off…
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Going on, during Judy's talk with Sharla and the confrontation between Travis and Amanda vs the rest of the crowd gives more info from their side. How they were jilted out of a contract that would have saved their business, after spending what little money they had left on upgrading their planes to handle the herbicide. 'My father TOLD them that was nasty stuff, there was better things they could use…' He lays out how they're blamed for everything, him getting held for a few days and let out without an apology, and even that day his nephew Craig was hauled over and questioned about a random house fire. (The Sheriff points out they had witnesses putting one of their trucks near the fire and evidence of arson). Travis just gets more angry, saying there's a conspiracy to bankrupt the family.
Regardless, he and Amanda are forced to leave.
(During the Munch match you could also have Nick secretly hustling with Gid to help pay for the Tuber families costs… This leading into some of the rift that happened in GB (and giving Judy further encouragement to sign them up for skydiving)).
Later that day, Max March is leaving but gets a hurried call from Zach. Craig is on the hunt for him, thinking he was the one who snitched on him. Max, terrified, has to hide from the ferret, but ends up safe.
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Later on, as the finale is getting up and going, Craig is one of the mammals Judy confronts to stop them taking flight and attacking Carrot Days with the fertiliser. He's the nastiest of the bunch, and resolutely tries to go ahead with it. Judy though manages to get on his plane as it taxies, almost falling back into the prop by managing to disable it (maybe after seeing them taking out the gust locks, she uses stuff on her utility belt to jam up the rear elevator, meaning the plane can't get off the ground… Or she just manages to find a tub of paint, pour it down the engine intake and choke it).
Either way, the plane is grounded and Judy confronts Craig, who is quickly beaten back by the far more skilled bunny. However, before she can restrain him he races off and down, into a narrow drainage pipe, and Judy, knowing what might be about to happen at Carrot Days, leaves him.
The season ends with the note that the ferret fled Bunnyburrow, first by truck, then by train (the wrong way at first, back to the burrows) before escaping out into Zootopia.
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In season 2, he's the mammal who steals some of Bucky and Pronks stuff at the start. Like before, Judy gives chase… And is hit by a bus.
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In season 4 he's finally caught… Being the mammal who stole a car and then rear-ended another, which rear-ended Nick and Judy's cruiser. Darted, he's finally put into ZPD Juvie, with the Mac Cannon, the burrows county sheriff, very happy. While Travis' testimony is good… turning Craig over to testify against the rest of his family would seal the deal.
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Later on, Craig would just fulfil all the functions that Craig in the Fire Triangle did.
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So yeah, as he's become important in some later chapters of fire triangle, worked out a way to bring Craig Guildford/Blackfoot back into the story, after originally giving his role to Travis (but with more sympathy and a happier end). It also allows me to work in a bit of backstory for Max March, only this time in the form of a very fitting character introduction. AND fit in one small but notably bit of GB I previously cut out as I didn't think there was a time/ place for it.
I see this as an absolute win!