"In times of peace, prepare for war." - Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus
About time that they didn't have something trying to kill one of them.
After going through hell and back, descending down every burning-hot step of the way there...
They could finally take the time to sit back, and and relax.
But times of peace can only last so long, in the end.
The fox shifted his weight around as he lay horizontally on the surface of the bed, the warm and soft sheets draping over his lower body in a sloppy, lackadaisical manner.
Certainly a better deal than having the talisman get stuffed into a box and left to gather dust in the back closet of one of the ZPD's evidence-archives...
The fox glanced to his right, and gazed at the still-sleeping form of his mate, whom lay in an entrancing and peaceful state of rest; Her legs intertwined with Nick's, and her arms wrapped around his furry chest as she nuzzled the top of her head into his neck.
A lovely sight, as it was.
Nick looked to his left, where the alarm clock had been placed and set for around 9:00 the previous night. The current time was 6:13 in the morning, and Nick was beyond appreciative of the fact that the chief had been lenient enough to give them extra time to sleep in: Their clock-in for that day was scheduled at around 10:00 that afternoon.
It was unlike Judy to sleep in past 6:30 on most days, but on special occasions, such as weekends: She was plenty willing to give herself in to the sweet folds of sleep, relishing every extra minute she could fit in before her biological (or physical) alarm clock roused her from her slumber, and she began her day with an attitude as optimistic as ever.
Nick on the other hand, was not a morning person whatsoever, and most days would find himself practically rolling out of bed and onto the floor whenever it was time for him to prepare for his work-day.
Nick sighed.
Long story short, he had plenty more time to kick back and relax until he had to file-in for work, where a no-doubt simple and laid-back schedule awaited him for the day.
Despite the extra sleeping hours that he would no doubt relish when he got the chance, there was one thing he wished to accomplish beforehand, or at least before he forgot.
Carefully removing himself from the dozing form of his mate, he quietly tip-toed his way to the kitchen counter on the other side of the apartment. As he crept to the other room, he tried not to notice the massive claw marks on the walls surrounding their bed, and made himself a mental note to get them fixed, sometime soon. He eventually made it to the counter, and there, he found the locket: Still undisturbed since it was placed there the previous night. Its soot-stained surface wasn't exactly a sight for sore eyes, so Nick decided to clean it.
He ran the locket under a gentle flow of water, cautiously scrubbing away the dirt and grime from it's surface until the pendant was shinier than it had ever looked before.
After drying it with a nearby cloth, he reverently opened the oval-shaped pendant and spared another look inside.
Nick made out the regal faces of a family of four bats, their formal postures and expressions signifying abundant their wealth and authority. The fox stared down at the face of Vladzotz, singling out as many differences between it and the real one as he could.
The Vladzotz in the picture was visibly younger than the one he had known and feared for most of his life. The bat's face was still somewhat lacking fur and wrinkled looking around the jaws and eyes, but Nick could spot out the age differences between the photograph and the real one, whose snarling face was still burned into his mind.
Nick shook his head before looking back down at the portrait.
Vladzotz looked almost normal in this photograph. There were no blood-stained fangs, no scarred and bony claws showing, and greatest of all perhaps: The insane and maddened light in his eyes was not present. The bat's eyes were still red, and had that same sternness and formality, but it was clear that this Vladzotz was a much happier bat than the one who had died last night. The fox closed the pendent's lid, a small pop of metal-on-metal reaching his ears as the lid snapped shut. He didn't want to look at the faces of Vladzotz's children, nor that of his now deceased mate, either: It was simply too painful. Nick wondered why he had bothered to keep the locket for himself, yet deep down, he knew the true answer to that inquiry: He wanted to remember the lives of those who had died from his mistakes. Netter than letting it gather dust in the ZPD archive.
Nick briefly glanced to the half-open bedroom door, which hung slightly ajar in the darkness, but through the shadows, he could make out the dozing outline of Judy.
A smile played at his lips. He had always wondered what having children of his own would be like, but since that fact was now biologically impossible as long as he was with Judy, he had long-since passed it from his mind every time it popped up.
The fox also knew that Judy had always wanted to be a mother, and that her family and friends had highly encouraged her to do so back when she was living in the Burrows. According to Judy, it was quite common for her species to start having children at fairly young ages, ranging from sixteen and above. Judy however, had had her sights set and her goals set even stronger, and relentlessly pursued her dream of becoming a big-city police officer, even if it had put a dent in her relationship with her own family back home.
Nick greatly admired that about her: Not giving in to expected and blatant cultural outings that she didn't agree with. It took guts to do that.
But still... It didn't keep him from wondering if Judy ever dreamed about mating and settling down with another bunny: That thought worried him for multiple reasons, the most obvious being that as long as Judy and him were married, her dreams of having a family were nil to none unless they adopted; a long and difficult process, especially with a mammal of his background. Nick refused to let those thoughts enter his mind: He shook his head fervidly and tenderly rubbed his sinuses, trying to think about something else.
Eventually, he paced over to the night-stand near his bed, and placed the locket right next to the alarm-clock, which now read as 6:17 A.M.
He then rolled back into bed, once again wrapping his arms around Judy's warm and soft frame before drifting off into dreamless sleep.
9:15 A.M
It had been roughly a quarter of an hour since their alarm clock had buzzed; its pestilent and annoying ring rousing both fox and bunny from their peaceful rest.
Though the memories of last night's events were still fresh on their minds, there was little talk as both mammals idly went about their morning routines, ranging from teeth-brushing to breakfast.
After some time had passed, Judy had begun to organize her police outfit for the day, placing each clothing item on the surface of the bedroom mattress, when a sparkling glitter had caught her eye. She looked over to it's source, which happened to be atop Nick's night-stand.
The bunny walked over to the tiny table, and picked up the silver necklace.
It wasn't very large, and could have easily been worn around her neck. She seriously doubted it was meant for her to wear, as she wasn't exactly a jewelry mammal. She turned and examined it in her paws, eyeing over the intricate line designs that had been etched into the metal. It looked quite fancy, too, and was a gorgeous little thing, in her eyes.
While gliding her fingers over the oval-shaped pendant that dangled from the chain, she unintentionally popped off half of the pendant; part of it swinging open on hinges like some sort of lid. She gazed inside with curiosity, and then nearly dropped the locket from shock.
Within the silver oval-shaped pendent was a photograph hidden behind a tiny wall of glass: A family of bats, all dressed formidably and posing regally, save for a single small and fluffy baby-bat, which was swaddled in a blanket and cradled in the wings of the mother bat. She knew without even thinking that the large bat that stood in the background was Vladzotz: She recognized his facial features, even though he looked visibly younger in the photo than from what she'd seen of him the past few days.
What surprised her the most was the fact that his facial expression was the only thing that made him recognizable to her.
Gone was the crazy look in his eyes, and the burning flame of hate that was hidden behind his blood-red irises.
His terrifying talons weren't visible in the photograph, and his lips were sealed for the most part, concealing his razor fangs from the camera that took the photograph.
This Vladzotz looked so much different from the one that she knew. It was almost unbelievable how the death of his family had turned him into that monster.
She turned her head and stole a glance at Nick, who was filling himself a glass of water from the nearby kitchen faucet, completely oblivious to the bunny watching him.
Because of him...
The bunny may have accepted him back into her life and forgiven him for what he had done: But she still had a gnawing sensation tugging at her conscious. She and Nick had mutually agreed not to tell Chief Bogo about the fox's former and accidental arson against the house of the Fangpyre family. They both believed that it was for the best.
But that didn't stop her from feeling as if she was going against everything she'd been working for as a police officer at the ZPD. As it turned out, her career had more holes in it than she would have originally imagined: Working with Mr. Big to capture Duke Weaselton, marrying a former con-artist, and now trying to brush his old crimes under the rug.
She shook her head.
Stop it, you dumb bunny! You married him for a reason! You love him, don't you? That voice in her head chided to her irritably.
Judy looked back over to where she had last seen Nick, but saw that he was no longer in sight. She imagined him standing there, his handsome green eyes locking with hers, and that obnoxious smile materializing on his face. A brief memory from the past then flashed inside her head; the first night that the two of them had mated with one another.
The rabbit felt her face begin to heat up, and instinctively raised her paws and drooped her ears to hide her blushing face from anyone that might have been watching.
After the hotness in her cheeks and the pulling feeling in her belly had subsided, she raised her head and looked through the window and to the Zootopian skyline, where the rising sun over Savanna-central was still as bright and fiery as it had ever been.
"I do love him." She murmured softly to herself.
Taking one last look at the locket, she closed the pendent and placed it back in its spot atop the night-stand before setting out in the direction of her husband. When she found him fixing his tie in the rest-room mirror, she promptly grabbed him by the shoulders, turned him around until he was facing her, and planted a long and drawn-out kiss right on his lips.
Her actions momentarily took the fox by surprise, who wasn't expecting his mate to be so up-close and personal this close to leaving for work. He soon gave in to the act though: placing his paws upon the back of her head and adding more pressure to their kiss.
After several more seconds had passed, both animals severed their connection in sync, staring at one-another and breathing heavily to recuperate from the lack of air that they had inhaled while smooching.
"That," Judy began, panting in between words. "Is for being the stupidest, and greatest thing to ever happen to me."
Without further elaboration, the bunny turned around and began pacing towards the front door, intent on leaving for the nearby parking-lot.
Meanwhile, Nick just watched her as she exited the bathroom, his eyes trained on her fluffy tail as she strutted off and turned the corner. Nick smirked before putting the finishing touches on his tie, effectively eyeing the mirror and shooting his reflection with a pair of double finger-guns before going off in search of Judy, whom he found standing by the door, holding it open for him with a warm smile upon her face.
Peace at last.
10:00
Right on time.
Nick Wilde wasn't one who liked showing up early, and disliked showing up late just as much.: His time was too precious to spend waiting to clock-in, and his job was too precious to lose for not being on time. Finding the appropriate middle-ground was something that Nick prided himself in, truthfully, for as minor as it was.
After holding the door open for his wife as he did every day, he let himself in to the ZPD head-quarters. He glanced at the ceiling far above him, taking in the view through the massive domed windows that adorned the roof of the commons area. He eventually found himself beside Clawhauser's desk, where the jovial cheetah was busy relaying communications back and forth between different officers out on patrol. He waved at Nick and Judy, but otherwise kept his attention focused on the computers in front of him.
Clearly seeing that he was too busy to talk at the moment, Nick decided to skip his usual morning chit-chat with the cheetah and head straight to the cubicle-offices.
Seeing that Judy had picked up her pace and walked ahead of him substantially, he quickly jogged back up to her side before inquiring her of today's work.
"So, Whiskers," He started. "What does the chief want us to get done today, huh?"
The bunny reached into her utility belt and pulled out her note-pad and carrot pen, messily and quickly scribbling something down before responding.
"Well... Last night he told us that today wasn't gonna be very strenuous, remember? So don't expect anything big, I guess. Fine by me, given all we went through last night."
Nick fashioned his favorite smirk while he rubbed his mate's shoulder, pulling her slightly closer as he did. He reasoned that a dose of sarcasm would be appropriate.
"Aw, c'mon Carrots! Who wouldn't want to tango with badgers, coons, and bats while simultaneously fighting for their lives in a flaming mansion as it burned to the ground?"
The bunny giggled warmly before lazily raising one of her paws and pointing to the ceiling.
"Me." She muttered half-jokingly.
"Oh, don't be like that fluff! Dangerous cop-work is the best cop-work!"
The bunny elbowed him in the rib-cage with perhaps a little more force than necessary.
"Not funny, Nick. We almost died!" She chided, though she did have a smile on her face and a friendly tone lacing her words. She cleared her throat before continuing.
"The most dangerous thing that could happen here is getting a paper-cut." She said as she pushed open the office doors, leading the two of them to their assigned cubicle.
The fox simply shrugged. "I suppose we have earned ourselves a little break, eh?" He asked innocently.
Judy blew a stream of air through her mouth before replying.
"You got that right." She admitted.
Though it was true that the two of them would never turn down an opportunity for action: The past few days had proven a bit too suspenseful for fox and bunny alike.
Aside from almost dying half-a-million times, they had managed to explore a completely new world: The Nocturnal-District itself was rarely visited by surface-dwellers, and after Bogo himself had saw the disheveled crime statistics, and all-around unsatisfactory living conditions for himself firsthand, he had claimed that he would write a letter to city-hall encouraging more up-to-date law-enforcement systems, construction, and a number of other important factors that needed some improvement, apparently. It was no real surprise to the aforementioned water buffalo that the conditions down there were sub-par in comparison to the main districts on the surface. The Nocturnal-District was even farther away from the city limits than most of the other primary districts, which made it somewhat difficult for the ZPD to support, even with its own precinct down there, too.
City-hall had been irresponsible in it's efforts to maintain a balanced status between every district, respectively. It seemed that they had nearly forgotten the Nocturnal-District even existed, thus allowing all sorts of fodder and dishevel to grow in those plumbless depths.
In fact, both Nick and Judy figured that it must've been one of the main reasons behind Vladzotz's rise to power. The local ZPD department in the Nocturnal-District needed some serious refinements, and same with the fire-station, and even the construction; as the roads down there weren't exactly smooth-sailing. However, it was clear thatthe local police department in the Nocturnal-District - Precinct Six - needed the most attention. If they in particular had been better funded by city-hall, the bat lord never would have become so powerful.
Then again, all the other city districts were pretty well managed law-enforcement wise, yet they had their own top crime-lords, too... Vladzotz was no exception to that rule.
That thought made the fox think...
Perhaps if we had even better Intel on all these crime-lords, then maybe we could prevent someone as crazy as him from ever rising again... He thought to himself.
He took a glance at the stack of paperwork on his desk, then proceeded to turn around and eye Judy, who had her back to him as she sorted through her own pile of work.
The fox sighed, then stood up and began walking towards out of his cubicle. From behind, Judy's questioning voice momentarily stopped him in his tracks.
"Hey Nick! Where you going?" She inquired, causing the fox to quickly turn around and shoot her a sly wink.
"Don't worry. I won't be gone for that long. Just headin' over to the archive. There's one thing I wanna do before I tackle that mess." He said pointing to his stack of paperwork.
The bunny just shrugged and nodded before turning her attention back to her computer. And at that, Nick set off in the direction of the criminal-archives room.
It took some time to find it at first: Packs of curious officers had frequently stopped him and begun to ask questions regarding the previous night's fire and shoot-out at the manor in the Nocturnal-District. Nick just shrugged off the majority of the questions, even giving out a few falsetto answers and untruthful claims, just to get them off his back.
As he made his way to the evidence archive, the fox took to pondering over his plan of action.
Since Vladzotz and his mob had been so well-hidden and elusive from the eyes of the ZPD, Nick reasoned that there must have been relatively little to no Intel in regards to him or his criminal outings. Not wanting anyone to ever gain such anonymity or power again, and to serve as Nick's final payment of respect, the fox intended to fill in the blanks on Vladzotz and his criminal activities within the ZPD's criminal data-base; where the memories of the bat lord would finally be etched in stone, and would also serve as a memento and lesson to all who think that they can hide from the law forever. It just couldn't be done.
Ironically, Nick was currently the only living mammal who knew Vladzotz better than anyone else: Entering all his knowledge of the bat lord into the ZPD's criminal data-base would provide new and helpful insight as to the criminal workings behind the Nocturnal-District, and to how Vladzotz and his mob had managed to evade justice for so long.
Eventually, the fox managed to find the room: Large, and lined with dozens of wooden shelves and a few number of computers strewn about, yet most impressive of all, perhaps, being the many metal filing-cabinets choked full of information on just about every mammal to ever have the unfortunate pleasure of getting a mugshot at the ZPD.
Nick trudged over to one of the largest filing cabinets, and after a decent and frustrating amount of time searching, he came across one large binder, with several small folders tucked away within it. Pulling it out of the cabinet, he slammed it on a nearby table and opened it, flipping through the documents on the biggest criminals names in Zootopia.
Flipping through the binder, he pulled out one of the folders hidden within: A thick green folder with lots of documentations and other paper evidence inside. Its cover read;
RAINFOREST- DISTRICT / TOP RANKING CRIMINALS - SUBJECT: ALPHONSE 'AL' CATPONE.
The fox flipped open the folder, revealing a diverse amount of pictures and sheets of paper. Gazing at the different photographs, he saw one in particular contain a tall and heavy-set jaguar, a large cigar jutting out from his lips as he loomed over several crate-fulls of various flora and other plant material. The yellow-spotted jaguar's burly frame was covered by a thick brown trench-coat, and the top of his head was capped off with a pure white fedora, the bowl of which was wrapped in vines. Nick thought back to what Vladzotz had once told him about Al Catpone during his time at the manor, the other night; About how the jaguar was one of the five crime-lords of the different Zootopian districts, and how he resided over the Rainforest-District, gaining the majority of his profits by smuggling drugs and other illegal plant-based material across the district borders.
Past that, it seemed that Catpone wasn't all that bad of mammal. According to his file, his mob, the so-called Rainforest-Outfit, had set up a number of soup kitchens in the neighborhood of Happy-Town down in Savannah-Central, and wasn't infrequent to making financial donations towards aid groups that assisted predator families living in poverty. Catpone must have had a soft spot for them. Nick could respect that, even if he was still a shifty drug kingpin. The file certainly had a lot of stories to tell.
Not quite what he was intentionally looking for, but still curious nevertheless, Nick set aside Al's folder and flipped through the big binder some more, soon pulling out another folder, this one being yellow-colored and slightly thinner than the previous one. The fox set it down on the table beside him before eyeing over the label on the front of the item.
SAHARA-SQUARE / TOP RANKING CRIMINALS - SUBJECT: SHAHAZ 'THE STINGER' PHOLMOK.
Nick opened the folder, his eyes instantly greeted with even more pictures and papers. Eyeing through the many pictures, he managed to gather that Shahaz was a pangolin: A rare and scaly desert-dwelling mammal related to the armadillo. Apparently, he had earned the nickname 'The Stinger' for his creative torture methods, which involved using live scorpions to interrogate his victims. The document papers claimed that although Shahaz was well known for being cruel to his enemies, his main source of income was arms-trade deals, which primarily went back and forth between Tundra-Town and Sahara-Square. However, the documents also seemed to point to Shahaz having a penchant for racketeering and high-class fraud, with his most prominent ties being to the many sleazy casinos in his home district, the most notable one being the Grand Palm Hotel.
A few pictures were stuffed into the folder, though none of them were very clear or precise. Past their blurriness, Nick managed to make out the shape of a spiky-looking thing with a long snout and large, thick tail. The mammal's scales seemed to be engraved with colored tattoos and other peculiar line art. He didn't look like the nicest guy around.
Closing the yellow-tinted folder before setting it aside, the fox then spared a glance at a nearby blue-colored folder, which donned Mr. Big's true name, Cristoforo Biggit. Nick already knew enough about the ill-tempered arctic shrew, so he slid that folder back into the binder and continued digging around. The fox figured no more need be said on him.
He soon came across another folder, this one colored a deep shade of orange.
OUTBACK-ISLAND / TOP RANKING CRIMINALS - SUBJECT: ILUKA ROMBAHE
Nick had heard of the peculiar outback island, but had never set foot upon the location a single time in his entire life so far. He'd heard things about the place though: Outback Island was an archipelago of several islands, where some of the strangest mammal species resided: Marsupials, they called themselves, which included a weird conglomeration of equally weird mammals such as dingos, kangaroos, wombats, platypus, tasmanian-devils, echidnas, and koalas. Nick had unfortunately never had the pleasure of touching a koala. He had heard tales of their legendary softness, and made himself a mental note to add 'touching a koala' to his personal bucket-list. The fox shook his head and focused.
There was a lot of information on Iluka himself, who happened to be a tasmanian-devil. Apparently, the crime-lord had been arrested in the recent past, and so there was plenty of evidence in the folder for Nick to view over. His mugshot showed a muscular, canine-like mammal with jet-black fur and a few white stripes displayed on his neck. The fur on Iluka's large head was braided with multicolored wooden beads, and his mouth was split into a wide grin, as though he were proud to have gotten himself caught by the police.
According to the marsupial's file, he had been a former museum curator who specialized in ancient marsupial culture. At night, however, he put his particular set of skills to use as the resident crime-lord of Outback-Island; smuggling and selling priceless marsupial treasures and other artifacts off his home island and across the sea to the mainland city. After getting caught, Iluka had all of his archaeological titles stripped away before being sent to jail. He had, however, managed to escape from prison with the help of a crooked dingo officer who, as it turned out, was actually one of his own lackeys, and had undergone the entire recruitment process at the Zootopia Police Academy just to bust him out.
Talk about dedicated.
The file continued to list some more information about Iluka, some of it not very eye-catching, such as his height and weight, with other more interesting bits laden throughout. It went on to explain how after escaping from prison, Iluka had returned to Outback-Island and rejoined with his mob, and has been hiding out with them ever since his escape.
Although all of the information on Iluka was fascinating, it still not the folder that Nick was looking for. He stashed away Iluka's folder before searching through the binder again.
Aha! Here we are... He thought to himself as he pulled out a pure black folder, this one being titled under the Nocturnal-District.
NOCTURNAL- DISTRICT / TOP RANKING CRIMINALS - SUBJECT: VLADZOTZ FANGPYRE III
This folder was the smallest of them all; only containing a total of two sheets of paper. There were no photos, and the only real information it had on its subject, old Flappy-Bat himself, was that he had been an elusive mobster and wealthy businessmammal before his supposed death of seven years ago. The ZPD truly thought he had died in that fire.
But Nick knew better.
He resorted and refiled all the outdated and inaccurate information about Vlad, rewriting several newly updated papers in regards to his criminal past and likeness. After about an hour of working, the folder was now completely updated, and brimming full of new information that Nick had personally recalled for the sake of the archive. He wrote about Vladzotz's merciless and blood-thirsty homicides, and his elusive business practices that made him virtually invisible to the eyes of the ZPD. He even went as far as to bring up the fact that after his family had passed away in a house fire, Vladzotz has begun to develop mental problems, and could probably be safely diagnosed as a psychopath, sociopath, and every other synonym for 'nut-job' under the sun. After reorganizing Vlad's file, Nick promptly took to uploading the same information into the computer archive.
The fox continued his good work, that was, until there was a sudden knock at the door, which he had closed and locked upon his earlier entrance into the archives.
Nick paced over to the door and opened it, where he was met with the smiling face of Judy gazing up at him through purple irises brimming with excitement.
Her jovial look brought a grin to the fox's face, and he gave her a lazy salute before asking;
"What's the occasion, officer toot-toot?"
The bunny grabbed his paw and slightly pulled him away from the archive room. It was clear that she was in a hurry, and really wanted Nick to come with her.
Her smooth voice caught his attention and brought him his answer;
"Chief Bogo wants to talk... I think he's got another case for us!"
Hey Everyone!
Hope you enjoyed chapter 25, and as always: Feel free to follow, favorite, or drop a review if you wish! They're all greatly appreciated! :D
But for now, do tell me your thoughts on this new chapter! What do you think of the other criminal lords that were just introduced, in specific? I'd love to know!
'Till next time...
Peace!