It was Halloween Night and for the night. Nick and Judy had taken their eldest daughter Pandora, and her friends to Blackpaw Manor. These friends were Joshua Otterton and George Flanka-Alonz.
"Your uncle lives here?" George said, noting the old Victorian designed house that the three young mammals were in front of.
"Yep, he lives here with Aunt Anna... though weirdly enough there not married. So I have no idea why she's an aunt." Pandora explained.
"So, are we ready for the party?" Judy asked, dressed as a pirate, while Nick had a star-fighter pilot's uniform as a costume.
"I'm here to party and eat candy... and I hope neither run out quickly," Pandora said as the party made their way to the front door. Judy knocked, and the front door slowly opened, its hinges creaking.
"Josephus, what are you doing?" A woman's voice said.
"Oh, sorry!" Josephus said as the door was swiftly closed. "WHO GOES THERE?!" Josephus screeched.
"We're here for the party, Nick, Judy, Pandora, and friends," Nick said with a bemused look on his face.
"Enter... IF YOU DARE!" Josephus screeched, and the door slowly opened again. Anna was wearing a Vampire Queen costume, while Josephus was a Medieval Goldsmith.
"Nick, Judy, it is so good to see you both!" Anna said as she hugged the two of them. "And little Pandora... you're the spitting image of your mother in that!" She said, noting that Pandora's costume was her mother Judy's uniform when she first joined the ZPD.
"I strive for accuracy," Pandora said proudly.
"And who are these two... a Jedi, and a Hussar?" Anna said, noting Joshua and Georges respective costumes. "That's a rather obscure one for a foal."
"My forbearers charged beside King John III," George said proudly.
"Well anyway, the party for the children is in the backyard, Davies and Bobby are supervising. The party for us will be down in the basement. Josephus and I will join you shortly if you need anything we'll be at the door." Anna said.
"Will do," Pandora said as she, Joshua and George ran into the backyard of the mansion.
"It's always good to see her happy with her friends," Judy said wistfully.
"Yeah... but is it really a good idea for Davies to supervise kids?" Nick said, followed by Judy punching him in the arm.
"He's not good with mammals, that much is obvious. But he can keep order... I'd be more concerned about my nephew Bobby frankly. He's been... well, grieving since the Battle of Zootopia... my brother's lines destroyed, save for him. His parents and his immediate family dead... no child should have to go through such an ordeal." Anna explained.
Meanwhile, in the backyard, Pandora and her friends found Davies. Since the Sagittarius Incident, his legs had been crippled and he had been bound to a wheelchair. "Pan... it's been awhile. How's my favorite hybrid niece doing?" He asked, putting on a friendly face for his niece.
"I'm your only hybrid niece... and I'm doing fine. These are my friends, Joshua and George." Pandora said, introducing her friends.
"I'm... I'm a HUGE fan of Monty and the Penguin Pals! There my favorite books!" Joshua gushed.
"It's always a pleasure to meet a fan... who's in the target audience and not some weirdo who bugs me with their complaints or theories. Although... you're a Jedi, Luke Skyhowler I take it?" Davies noted.
"Yep! He's cool... except in the Sequels where they made him sit alone on an island drinking yucky alien milk. And had Poe Dalmarian say a bad word. And had that lady that just made goo-goo eyes at Finn. And the purple haired lady who didn't do anything except crash the ship. And had Rey do nothing but mope around, and get a crush on one of the bad guys." Joshua said.
Davies smirked. "Pandora, you got a good one here. Now for things to do, we got apple bobbing, we got piñatas, we got a haunted house, and we've got other snacks in addition to candy. And... Where is that boy? Bobby! Bobby, please get your cotton tail over here!" Davies said.
"Uh... fine!" Bobby said, he was a black and brown bunny like his Vampire aunt. He also wore loose-fitting grungy black cloths, and his eyes and face were covered in black makeup.
"Going for the emo look?" Pandora asked.
"This isn't a costume... this is a reflection of-"
"Bobby, what have we said about your angst and sullen filled rambling? Seriously, kids been going on like this since he was seven... three years of listening to him say the same things over, and over, and OVER again. It gets, grating." Davies complained. "So anyway, he's going to make sure you kids don't go overboard or get yourselves hurt. Does that sound good to everyone?" He said.
"Okay... 'Uncle' Davies," Bobby said dismissively.
"Just keep them from getting themselves killed alright? That's all that Anna and I asked you to do." Davies said.
"Who's the weird fennec fox?" Bobby said.
"I'm not a fennec fox, I'm a hybrid." Pandora corrected.
"So you're a freak," Bobby said dismissively. This was followed by Davies whacking him over the head with a fish. "OW! What was that for?" He said in surprise.
"Just. Keep. This party, in order. And get away from my niece. BOY. And maybe I won't tell Anna about this little incident." Davies said furiously, wielding the herring like a club. Pandora looked downcast at Bobby's comment. "Case and point, you've clearly hurt her feelings. A child even, a child who is the same age that you were when-"
"I get the picture... I'll check in the haunted house." Bobby said as he ran into the haunted house.
"I am beyond sorry for that. Boys, could you leave me with Pandora?" Davies asked Joshua and George, said nothing as they ran off to play. "Come on Pan, get into your uncle's lap." He said to the depressed fox/bunny hybrid. Pandora climbed into Davies lamp. "There we go... I take it that Bobby's comment cut you deep." Davies said.
"Why... why do people think I'm a freak for being a hybrid?" Pandora said.
"We all fear what we do not fully understand. Most are too proud to even make the attempt to see beyond there insecurities, and just treat their fellow mammals as sub-mammalian garbage just for looking a little bit different from a perceived norm... I'm sorry if any of those-"
"No... no, I know what you said Uncle Davies. But I've never done anything for people to just mistrust me, this isn't even the first time this sort of thing has happened." Pandora said glumly.
"Yes, your mother told me about that incident with Mrs. Antlerby. Trust me when I say I understand what you're feeling... I've been openly ostracized for being autistic when I was your age. Nobody understood me, and I myself barely understood what was happening around me most times. To say nothing about how your grandparents reacted... mom and dad kept sending me to program after program for disabled mammals, and every single one ended with me leaving anyway." Davies said.
"At least you're a bunny. Mom and dad still haven't figured out what to call me or my baby siblings." Pandora said glumly.
"True... but let me tell you something that I've taken to heart. Both in regards to my Aspergers, and in more recent years with my lameness. Never forget what you are, the rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor and it can never be used to hurt you." Davies said sagely.
"Isn't that from a TV show?" Pandora asked.
"Yes... one I have no intention of watching. My point is, however, that you shouldn't resign yourself to the petty insults of those unwilling to understand you and allow them to speak ill of you for simply being a hybrid of predator and prey sitting down. You're a smart kid... and you may want to talk to your father about the matter in more detail. He knows more of this sort of thing then I do." Davies said reassuringly.
"I... I guess I could. I just really wish it would just stop." Pandora said.
"Just try to enjoy the evening. You're only young once, so make the most of it, make memories for when the world starts to grow cold for you... also, never forget to wear warm clothes this time of year. Especially at night, even if it isn't snowing. It's still cold, and your mother would have my tail if you got sick." Davies said.
"Right... also, do you know what Mom and Dad are doing at Aunt Anna's party?" Pandora asked Davies's eyes bulged.
"N-N-Never mind what they're doing... its adult things that you're f-f-far too young to understand... or be exposed to. A-A-Anna's parties can get... crazy." Davies stuttered.
"Oh, I remember something like that... it's how I learned where babies really come from. Some nights... I still see those pictures of Mom and Dad... making WooHoo." Pandora said.
"...just have some fun, pretty please?" Davies said, Pandora made her way to one of the piñatas without another word, and quickly proceeded to tear one of the paper-mache pumpkins with her teeth.
Several hours later, Judy, Nick, and Pandora returned home. With Pandora looking groggy, and her belly looked like it was going to explode. "And this Pancake is why we don't eat so much candy," Nick said as he carried the sick Pandora inside of the house. They were quickly greeted by the Nanny-Bot.
"Warning: Pandora is ill. I must take her to her bed." The Nanny-Bot said as it took Pandora into her arms.
"I just couldn't stop... so much candy... I've never seen before in my-" Pandora then vomited on the Nanny-Bot as it hovered with her to Pandora's room.
"Ah, kids. Think the kits will get stomach problems like that?... I mean the overeating on candy." Judy said.
"Well, of course, they're not even a year old yet. They'd eat every grain of sugar in the house if the Nanny-Bot didn't keep it under lock and key." Nick said, both of their phones then went off and they both read the texts.
"Bobby was a meanie to Pandora. Said she was a freak for being a hybrid. Anna is lecturing him on the matter, Josephus is burning the decorations, and I'm texting you this. Told Pandora to talk to Nick about it, she might not do that. Try to talk to her... after she gets better. She looked green around the gills when you guys left." The texts said, followed by a series of pictures with penguins doing cute things.
"This is going to be a recurring thing isn't it?" Judy said.
"I don't doubt it. Davies adores penguins and loves to remind mammals at every opportunity... and Pancake being bullied for being a hybrid. That I've figured since Antlerby, and the whole mess surrounding her." Nick said.
"Yeah... this can't be good for her. She's young, and we have to do what we can to help her." Judy said.
"I know Carrots. But what exactly CAN we do? She's smart... maybe too smart for her own good. And... well five, but she'll probably not even really listen to anything we say to her." Nick said.
"That... might actually be true. She may very well become the smartest mammal on Earth, and with Porkers social life and Mulerson has been any indication. Nerds can hold onto a grudge till death, even for the best of reasons, and use THAT reason to cause mayhem and destruction... and I could never live with myself if our little girl became some kind of supervillain." Judy said, looking downcast.
"Judy, don't go thinking like that," Nick said, trying to reassure his wife.
"Nick... our careers since the Night Howler Crisis have had us contend with one oddball and megalomaniac after another. Vampires, Lycanthropes, renegade scientists, crimes lords, insane business tycoons, aliens, even demons! For crying out loud, Mulerson's motivation for turning all mammals into robots is almost the same as what Pandora has been going through." Judy said.
"Don't kid about that sort of-"
"I spent almost an entire YEAR, trapped within my own body. And he would take me aside when he wasn't plotting, or force me to do perverse renditions of otherwise wholesome musicals. To rant, on, and on, and ON. About the reasons for why he was doing what he was doing. Not even just a general overview of his childhood. But individually times he was teased, or abused, or held back by some prejudiced mammals." Judy said.
"Well she's-"
"And when I mean he ranted, I mean he'd go on for hours about ONE specific detail that irked him. And of course, with Sierra Ultima controlling my body, I couldn't get him to shut up. I must have heard that story where he was blamed for breaking an expensive vase and was hit with his father's belt-"
"Judith Laverne Hopps!" Nick interrupted as he grabbed Judy by the shoulders. "I know you're scarred for Pandora, and that you're worried about her. But first, a billion, nay, TRILLIONS of things would have to go wrong for her to be as messed up as Mullerson. Second, she's a good kid. That might not be forever... won't be forever now that I've said that out loud. But still, she has her whole life ahead of her. We just have to make sure that, in spite of everything that she'll face, that Pan will become a wonderful person." Nick said reassuringly.
"I... I know... I hope... but I've been getting these weird headaches. You know the ones right? The ones I've been having since Ben arrested Mulerson?" Judy said, referring to strange headaches that she had been getting since Benjamin Clawhauser had stumbled into a case that led to him somehow arresting Dr. Mulerson.
As of now, Judy is unaware that the headaches are a result of the divergent timeline she had created in the future. Averting Dr. Mulersons domination of the world, and aided Clawhauser in surviving his encounter with Dr. Mulerson and Gazelle.
"So we're going to go through an entire box of tissues again... I'm not complaining. I'm just annoyed by the nosebleeds." Nick said.
"Nick, Judy. Pandora needs quiet in order to recover." The Nanny-Bot said.
"The children's bedroom is on the other side of the house from here. As good as her hearing is, I doubt Pandora can hear us from here." Judy said as her nose began to bleed.
"I will get the tissues." The Nanny-Bot said, she quickly got a box of tissues. "How was the party for you?"
"You wouldn't believe us if we told you... Anna's Halloween parties can get PRET-TY crazy... thankfully nobody dies, they just leave you emotionally scarred if you're unprepared." Nick said.