This chapter takes place less than two years following the prologue.
In a diner at the Southeast end of Savanna Central, the 3-7pm radio show played whilst two unlikely friends shared a table, trying to unwind before a busy day.
"...And all these missing mammals... It's an eerie reminder of that little incident two years ago," said one radio host.
"Except this time most of them are prey. I say most because one or two predators have disappeared too."
"And Bellwether is locked up good."
There came to be a somewhat awkward pause almost as if the normally talkative radio duo Ronno and Ren had run out of ideas.
Perhaps to kill said awkward pause,Ronno said, "Three cheeses, she sure was crazy,"
"Bonkers. Barmy," replied Ren.
"You know, they say that each night, in her cell, she hops in front of her mirror to count herself."
Ren could only snort in response to that comment.
"Yep. And then, after about twenty minutes she drops, dead tired, and falls asleep pretty much straight away," said Ronno in an informative tone.
"Oh. I think I heard about this, some Muzzlebook post or something."
"Hang on, I'll bring it up on my phone." There was a brief silence. "Here. So, from Geraldine Girafferty, the warden of the East Zootopian Centre For Female Convicts - affectionately named facility right there - posted this: 'I came across our dearest inmate Dawn Bellwether jumping about her cell in front of the mirror #Bellwether #WardenMoments.'"
"I just read further up. Girafferty only posts stuff about her inmates. If #WardenMoments weren't so disrespectful I think I'd laugh," after mere seconds, both of them gave way to laughter.
"Cut the moral high ground crap, Ren."
"Okay. It's a little funny, like watching people deliberately acting like idiots."
"Yeah, you make great comic relief, just like that."
"I learn from the best, mate."
The two laughed off the casual insults and gradually regained their composure so they could finish the segment.
"So as it turns out, sheep do count themselves at night," said Ronno, sounding intelligent. Ren giggled and snickered uncontrollably, creating some confusion in Ronno, "What?"
"Do you know how offensive that sounds?" asked Ren, mid-laugh.
"W-well... Okay. Some sheep count themselves at night."
Ren boldly suggested, "We should do a challenge, see how long we can hop in front of a mirror."
Ronno huffed, "I'm still recuperating from the 30 hour go-cart stint."
"Alright, 6:08 PM, we've got some Ewe2 lined up."
A fox watched the speaker as a familiar ballad started to play. He turned his attention away from the radio and to the bunny he sat across from.
"They stole my joke," He said after a short while.
"Hmmm? The sheep thing? Yeah. They stole the 'joke' you quipped two years ago."
"Well, I'll have you know, I neglected to wear my tinfoil hat that day. The government could've read my mind!" exclaimed the fox with a forced expression of fear. A sly smile spread across his features, "It'd be kinda handy if folks could read minds. My coffee would never be ordered wrong again."
"But I order our coffees..." said the rabbit, sounding a bit confused. The fox was quiet as the cogs whirred. Judy's expression turned from perplexed to annoyed and she threw a punch into the arm Nick was using to lean on the table.
"Ow!" yelped Nick as he crumpled onto the table. Despite the sudden pain, his smile held, "police brutality. That'll bruise!"
As a silence came between them, Nick began thinking of another way to be a pest when something caught his eye. He saw some kind of predator, about 3-foot tall, waiting tables. Judy often knew odd tidbits of information such as the specific name of an obscure species.
"Hey, Carrots..."
The rabbit looked up from her smartphone, "Hmm?"
"Over there... That... Feline. What is he?"
Judy turned in her seat to see what Nick was looking at. She saw him, the 'cat'. He had a small but slightly stocky stature, short but thick fur. It was a creamy gold colour, almost blonde, similar colouration to a Savanna dwelling feline. An elaborate striped pattern of a pale tan colour decorated his face and arms, suggesting some kind of East germanic wildcat. His height suggested something else altogether.
'Familiar profile...' she thought as the creature turned to face another table. "I-I don't know... Obviously some variety of Felidae but I couldn't say specifically..." her voice trailed off as a feeling of déjà vu settled in her shoulders.
"Don't stare," said Nick as the feline pivoted and started walking in their direction. Glancing briefly at his empty glass, Nick tapped the short predator on the shoulder as he passed, "Uh, Excuse me?"
The creature turned and habitually produced a notepad and pen which looked far too large for his paws. He spoke with a youthful but smooth voice: "Can I help you sir?"
"Yes. May I have a refill on the soda? Cola, couple of ice cubes, thanks," he turned to the rabbit, "Carrots, you want anything?"
Judy blinked, her mind still caught on identifying this cat's species. "Uh... Is it too late to get a slice of carrot cake?"
"No, not at all," came the confident reply from the cat whose name badge read 'KENNY'. He scribbled down some words on his notepad, mumbling as he went, "Cola, ice... c-a-r-r-o-t cake..."
"Sorry to cause a fuss, but can I get just a half or even quarter of a slice? I doubt I'd make it through a whole piece like the ones I saw in the case."
"Uh, yup..." his voiced trailed off and his caramel brow furrowed, "About the c-cake..." he started, nervously glancing toward the serve-over. "t-tell you what, I'll see w-what I can do. About th-that." he turned to look at Judy, " I'll do my best to um, s-sort that out for you."
"Thank you... Kenny," said Judy, reading the badge pinned to his polo. She noticed he didn't really make eye contact, he just focused on a point somewhere between her eyes, perhaps her nose.
Nick watched the creature turn and make his way towards what must have been the kitchen. The predator certainly spoke well, rendering perfect customer service. At least until a complication arose, breaking a façade and inducing a noticeable stutter.
"Oh you..." said Nick in a patronizing tone.
"What? You remember what happened last time."
Nick shuddered, "That was awful, you threw up everywhere... Ruining the car's upholstery. We had to walk everywhere for ages."
"For one week – make that 6 days. And hello? A: you have a license. B: you have a car."
'I knew that,' he thought, 'I just conveniently forgot... For some reason...'
"Hey, dopey!" Judy waved a paw in front of the fox's face, "Earth to Officer Wilde, Hello?"
Nick swiped the fluffy mitt away, not realising how long he'd zoned out for, "Cut it out," he said.
"Whatcha thinkin' about, Slick?"
'Stuff... Things,' he thought. Nick remembered the radio and gave a nonchalant answer; "Just current events."
"There's less uncertainties this time... Well, different uncertainties," Judy tapped on the table looking thoughtful, "You worried about Finnick? You two were close."
A year and a half ago, mammals had started to vanish, increasing in frequency since then. Now, as of November of 2018, there are twenty missing. Prey, predator, large and small; whatever made them disappear was indiscriminate. Finnick was among the first reported missing, Nick had filed that case himself.
Nick said morosely, "...Yeah. I try not to think about it, keep my mind on the present," then he felt a warm paw on his shoulder.
"Sleuthing is all about the past. Besides, it'll all look clearer tomorrow, I'm sure. "
"Will it now?" he asked, sounding quizzical.
"My money's on the mystery mammal."
"Oh right. The 'crimelord'. And I thought I was the tacky one," thoughts clouded Nick's expression, "you seem certain he's connected with the missing mammals..."
"Well... I'm not certain of a whole lot... Yet," as she spoke, a grin spread across her features, her eyes had a sudden spark, "yes, this mysterious character only came to our attention recently, but he's more of a puppeteer than an overlord. What we've heard correlates with a lot of political movement that occurred just before we busted Bellwether. There's a trail of things amiss in not only the mayoral administration but also low-tier government proceedings. It fits together too well. But..." her voice petered out slowly.
Nick's heart sank as the enthusiasm drained from his friend, "but what...?"
"I haven't got the slightest hint of a name, he/she has covered his/her tracks far too well," she paused before adding, "can't afford to be sexist these days."
Before the fox could try to console the disheartened lagomorph, the cat had returned. On a comically large tray was a glass of fizzing something adorned with a bendy straw and a saucer with a bunny sized slice of carrot cake. The feline had to rest the edge of the tray on the table to pass out the items.
"Cola for sir," he said as he placed the glass in front of Nick, "aaaand an appropriately sized piece of carrot cake for ma'am," he deftly maneouvered the saucer to it's intended recipient, "I spoke to my manager, there'll be a note on the bill so you only get charged half for the slice."
"Oh, thank you!"
"Not a problem. You two have a lovely evening," said he, stepping away with the tray in his paws. He stopped a few meters away, and leaving the tray on a vacant table, he turned and paced back to the fox and bunny.
"Hi, sorry to bother you," he said, "you wouldn't happen to be officer Hopps, would you?"
Judy held a paw up, finishing a mouthful of cake, "yes, that would be me."
"Oh really? Wow, you know, it's not everyday you meet a real hero."
Nick watched the cat closely. Something about him made the fox very uncomfortable. He seemed nice enough, friendly and polite, if a little awkward. But a kind of indescribable vibe came off him, the vibe of someone not completely honest – be it with himself or with others. Nick knew the type.
"Well, I wasn't alone. I couldn't have done it without this guy-" she turned to point out Nick, who'd disappeared from his seat. The sight that met her eyes next took her aback.
Without even making a sound, Nick came to be standing opposite 'Kenny'. A clear foot taller, he stood over the blonde cat, staring him down. The feline stared back, his blue eyes taking on a sudden chill.
Judy watched the two for what felt like several minutes. 'Are they... Sizing each other up?' thought Judy as she pondered likely outcomes. If a fight broke out, Nick had some advantages but he was no combat master – she couldn't afford to be presumptuous about his opponent. Judy also noted a sort of protectiveness surrounding Nick's current impulsive behaviour.
"Don't you have a job you should be doing?" Nick asked flatly.
That seemed to strike a nerve, "don't you? Officer? Don't you have a job to do?" the cat's eyes burned as he bared his small, sharp teeth. His speech carried a muted hiss, "you kick back with your cute little bunny friend while the world around you turns to shit!"
Judy was thankful there was some kind of party happening in the diner to reduce the number of mammals aware of this strange confrontation. The rabbit prepared her usual response to the trigger word however Nick beat her to it.
"I was just a little suspicious before. But now you've crossed a line, pal," the fox raised a finger and pointed it at the cat, "you do not call a bunny cute! It's, it's..."
"Offensive? You think I don't know?" the feline's unsheathed claws glinted in the somewhat pale light as he gesticulated.
"Nick, relax. I can handle this," said, Judy in a somewhat vain attempt to defuse the situation. This was going nowhere fast.
"Yes. Perhaps you should let the lady speak for herself. Being stereotyped is hard, but I imagine it must be like much worse when you've got a big orange mouthpiece following you around!"
"M-mouthpiece?"
Before the tension could get any more palpable, the room went dark with a dull zap.
Judy felt her ears twist as tyres screeched outside while someone in the diner had fallen over. Though she could see very little, she knew the two predators could still see each other thanks to their reflective tapeta lucida.
After half a dozen car horns, everything was silent. From somewhere down the road, a voice called out: "You alright down there...?"
"Yeah... I think..." came another voice. After a brief silence, the same voice rang out, sounding shocked: "Mother of God, the skyscrapers have gone dark!"
Murmuring in the diner brought Judy's attention front and center. Her eyes had adjusted – sort of – and she could see two pairs of glowing dots, green on the left and a deep blue on the right.
Judy idly thought, 'Now what?'
These blackouts had become more and more common since Judy moved to the city. The worst was in Tundratown when the enviro-wall lost all power for 48 hours. The resulting defrost destroyed thousands of dollars of frozen infrastructure, including the novel ice-floe based public transport utilized there.
The speakers on the walls started to emit quiet static, flourescent tubes clicked and flickered into life. As music from the radio faded in, mammals throughout the diner went about their business. Some were visibly nervous, maybe even a little shook up, others were merely pissed at the disruption.
The two predators hadn't moved.
A gruff voice emanating from a beaver, sounded beside them, "Kenneth. Out back. Now."
"Damn it," the colour seemed to drain from the cat's pelt. His icy expression dropped and he skulked off toward a distant door.
The beaver, who Judy figured must've been the proprietor of this establishment, shook a hairy limb at Nick, mumbling something indistinct and waddling off in the direction 'Kenny' went.
After a thoughtful glance around the room, Judy daintily hopped down from her seat and sauntered off, also headed for the door beside the serve-over case.
"Where are you going?" asked Nick, his neck fur still settling from the confrontation.
The bunny stopped and turned to say "I'm grabbing a mop." Briefly pausing after her metaphor she said, "don't fill my tab with blueberry stuff again," before continuing on her way.
'Ever the arbiter,' thought Nick as he watched Judy push through the door into what must have been 'the back'. The fox had to admit this wasn't a good situation for a cop. He also had to admit he may have started it.
Judy looked about the space she had entered. Multiple health and safety violations were apparent but that wasn't what she was here for.
'I'll pin that on the board for if I need it later,' she thought, following the sound of dialogue.
She recognized the proprietor's voice straight away: "You are lucky to have this job."
"I know. That's why I'd never do anything to deliberately jeopardize my employment here."
The Beaver said, "You know, you weren't the only one of your sort to apply," his voice carring derogatory inflections and a scolding tone
'His sort? Does he mean predator?' thought Judy as she edged closer to the voices. There was a short silence as the cat had nothing to say.
"I hear things. About your kind. That you don't care for nothing but yourselves."
"Anything," came the immediate though slightly sheepish retort.
"What?"
"Double negative," his voice was still quiet, "you should say 'don't care for anything but yourselves'"
"That's another thing what I hear about you!" grumbled the beaver, sounding suitably unimpressed, "You could have a bloody gun to your head, you'll still correct everybody's grammar!"
The cat looked like he was going to say something but thought better of it, choosing instead to sit silently. This was the arbiter's cue.
Judy called out: "Hello?"
"Hmm? Oh..." mumbling unintelligibly for a few seconds, the beaver then properly acknowledged her, "staff only, ma'am. Please get out."
"Just hear me out," she said, taking a few steps closer to the proprietor and thusly the cat, who watched her with an intently curious expression, "I'm officer Judy Hopps – obviously off-duty but that's neither here nor there."
"And...?"
'You're an ass.' she thought, "I'd just like to apologise on behalf of my colleague. With everything that's happening in the city, he's gotten a little paranoid is all – maybe a little tetchy, too. That's all, thank you."
Not sure what to do next, Judy left with a quiet nod. The beaver turned to look at Kenny, who just shrugged with a 'don't look at me, how should I know?' expression.
[In accordance with feedback, I've been fixing my dialogue punctuation. Oh what a mess I've found myself in, it's like mowing an entire lawn without realizing there's not a bag on the mower.]