"There it is! There's the lizard!" A marmot pointed at a vivid yellow, spotted reptile who scurried into a back alley. The marmot approached Nick and Judy, who had just come out of a coffee shop with their favorite beverages. "Hey you two are cops, right!?"
"We are, in fact," Nick quipped, slurping his coffee. The two were indeed in their police uniforms.
"I just saw the lizard, the one from the news!" The marmot said, pointing. "It went that way!"
"Nuts, these things cost an arm and a leg," Nick smirked, taking another swig of his coffee and then chucking it into a nearby trash can. Judy followed suit and the two headed into the alleyway.
"It's a dead end," Judy said quietly. She drew her stun gun. "Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you, just give yourself up!"
"We say, drawing our stun guns," Nick made a "tsk" sound. "Hopps, your dial is up way too high! Set it on low!"
"Huh, it's a leopard gecko, isn't it?" Judy replied in confusion.
"They're only a foot tall, max!" Nick indicated the empty-looking alleyway. "You see anywhere for a leopard-sized animal to be hiding?"
"Okay, okay," Judy turned the dial down on her gun. "I've never seen a reptile before, period."
The leopard gecko in question cursed the fact that she didn't have the sharpest of claws, nor the sticky pads other similar species to her possessed. Cowering behind a trash can and hearing voices she only barely understood, she was prepared for the inevitable. She still jumped in surprise, however, when the fox whirled around the trash can and quickly took hold of her.
"Got her," Nick said, and heard the gecko say things he didn't understand. They were sad, mournful things.
"Wow, she is tiny," Judy approached the gecko in wonder, looking over the brightly-colored small form of the gecko. She took out a zip-tie and bound the distraught-looking reptile's hands at the wrist. "So this is our illegal alien, huh? Looks like her luck finally ran out."
Nick said nothing as the leopard gecko was placed into Judy's cruiser. She looked terrified, and something didn't sit right with the fox.
"So what's next, Hopps, we just turn her over to Immigration Customs Enforcement?" Nick suddenly asked derisively while they were on the road. "'Ice' her?"
"Uh, that is procedure, after all," Judy nodded. Nick turned his head back to look at the scared-looking, little reptile.
"What's your name?" Nick asked slowly, trying to sound calm.
"I know... little mammal words... yes?" The gecko spoke very slowly and haltingly. "I... Jiji."
"My name is Officer Wilde, and this is Officer Hopps," Nick introduced. Jiji looked at them both sadly.
"Nick, what, are you trying to be her friend?" Judy sucked at her teeth.
"She's got a story to tell," Nick narrowed his eyes, looking at Judy. "We all do. I don't think she wants to get deported."
"Well obviously, but she shouldn't have come here illegally in the first place!" Judy snapped. "If she wanted to come to Zootopia, she should have done it through normal channels. She should just go back to... uh, where are reptiles from again?"
"Pawaii, most likely," Nick said, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Jiji flinch and look like she might cry. "And something tells me it might not be that easy."
"What am I supposed to do, let her go?" Judy shot back. "Am I supposed to not do my job just because you think this lizard could have some sort of tragic backstory that you can't understand?"
"Gecko!" Nick corrected, and ran a hand through his ears in irritation. He started imputing commands into his phone. "Listen. Just humor me. We don't have to let her go. We can even leave her zip-tie on. But I want to know her story."
"Is this one of your 'I know everyone' moments?" Judy gave an exasperated sigh.
"It is indeed," Nick looked back at Jiji. "And before the day is over I plan to know one more." He set the phone near her. "Drive here."
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Judy said, diverting her course with the cruiser curtly, making Nick and Jiji both shift wildly in their seats.
"Least we're not holding some weasel's feet to the ice," Nick grinned.
"Yeah but that time we weren't technically police officers," Judy wasn't smiling. "If this brings us any reproach..."
"You blame it all on me."
Both Judy and Jiji seemed confused when the police cruiser rolled to a halt in a somewhat-seedy looking area of Savanna Central. Judy looked at the building they were next to. The sign on the front read "Dragon Treasures" in ornate lettering.
"You brought me to a jewelry shop?" Judy said in a completely dry voice. "You really shouldn't have."
"Well, maybe it would be better for you to wait in the car then," Nick offered a smug smile. "After all, my friend in here has some... opinions about bunnies."
"Really?" Judy threw back in a challenging voice. "Then I think I might like to come after all."
Jiji felt both fear and confusion as the mammals brought her to this strange, unofficial-looking building. She gasped in surprise, however, when she saw what was inside. So many enchanting looking rings, necklaces, and other adornments, and gems of every color she could think of on display as if waiting to be crafted into jewelry. She made a terse sound of realization when she saw another reptile minding the store.
"Uh, whoa," Judy said flatly. The reptile was nearly six feet tall, towering over even Nick. He had a sort of greenish and yellowish pattern to his scales, and a somewhat thin face compared to some other reptiles of similar species. He was wearing a blue headband, a colorful tie-dye vest, and a gold pendant with a ruby set in it. Judy was equally confused and interested at his appearance, both because he was the second reptile she'd ever seen before and that he looked like he'd stepped out of another decade.
"Ah, Nick, hello!" The reptile said. Judy was also not expecting the reptile to speak perfect mammalian, in an airy, polite voice that had only the barest hint of an accent to it. "Goodness, what is going on with you these days? You're a police officer? Working with a... a bunny!?" The reptiles face lit up when he saw Judy, causing her to flinch a bit.
"Let's be formal, Roa'Ahm," Nick chuckled. "This is Judy Hopps. Judy, this is Roa'Ahm." Judy's expression read confusion. "He's a perentie."
"A what?" Judy said in bafflement.
"A species of monitor lizard," Roa'Ahm clarified. "But wow, I can't believe this, you're working with a bunny?"
"What's so strange about that, 'Roahm'?" Judy put her hands on her hips.
"Haha, close enough, I suppose. And it's, well, it's not strange, I actually find bunnies to be quite cute!" Roa'Ahm's enthusiastic expression became sheepish as he saw Judy glare daggers at him. "Oh dear, that's not polite, is it... what's a good word? Delightful?"
"Okay, I suppose I can accept that," Judy sighed. "Can we get down to business here?"
"Oh, of course!" Roa'Ahm said, shooting Nick a quick, nervous glance. Nick made a twitch of his head subtly, then brought up Jiji, who was in his hands. Roa'Ahm had on a worried face as he saw her come up over the counter. "Oh, so you're the one that caught her, huh? To be honest, I was hoping she'd continue to lay low, myself."
"We'd like to get to know her story, at least," Nick explained.
Roa'Ahm let out a deep breath. "It's been so long since I had to speak reptilian, I hope I haven't gotten rusty."
The perentie began to speak earnestly with the leopard gecko. The language was of course completely foreign to the two mammals. It did include a lot of "s" sounds. Judy's eyes went a little larger as she saw a hint of the larger lizard's rather huge forked tongue. Jiji's looked rather mundane by comparison. She heard "Pawaii" spoken a few times.
"Surprised I know a reptile?" Nick wiggled his eyebrows a couple of times.
"I'm going to say yes," Judy grumbled. "But I'm not sure why anything you do surprises me anymore."
Roa'Ahm sighed as he came to a lull in the conversation with Jiji. "It's as I feared. Things in Pawaii are still not so good. It's the main reason I left the place, to be honest. Lovely sights, corrupt government."
"Really?" Judy blinked. "I know next to nothing about the place."
"The government is run by larger reptiles such as monitors, crocodiles, alligators, and larger snakes," Roa'Ahm explained. "They quelled an uprising by the smaller reptiles a long time ago and have forced them into... less than ideal conditions. I try to abstain from conflict, like this young lady does, so I left while I could."
"I'm guessing she left while she couldn't?" Nick pursued, nodding his head towards Jiji.
"Indeed," Roa'Ahm nodded. "Her heart burns to work in the service industry, but many smaller animals like her are forced into sweatshop-like working conditions, merely cogs of an unfeeling machine. She stowed away on a ship bound for this country, then retreated as far inland as she could."
Judy winced.
"So, what shall you do with her?" Roa'Ahm had a bit of concern on his face.
"Well, guess we'll be shipping her off to Immigration Customs Enforcement," Nick said in a jovial tone.
"Nick!" Judy flashed him a dirty look. "I know you wouldn't be so pointlessly cruel as to get her life story from her just so we knew exactly why we were ruining her life."
"You know me too well, my dear," Nick grinned. "I suppose it's completely possible that we might have lost sight of her, that wily little gecko." Nick set her down on the counter nearest Roa'Ahm. Jiji looked beneath her; there were sparkling rings under her feet. It was quite a captivating sight, though what was occurring still confused her. "That is, if that's okay with you, big guy."
"While you're imposing on me, I can't say I mind too much," Roa'Ahm gave a short chuckle. "Hopefully at some point the government of Pawaii will get the hint that it's just wrong to oppress the small like this." He spoke in reptilian to Jiji, who seemed utterly astonished, and then her face lit up. She turned to Nick and Judy, disbelieving.
"I can't believe I'm doing something that is like, one hundred percent illegal," Judy said with a wry smirk, taking a small pair of clippers out and snapping the zip tie free of Jiji's wrists. Jiji still looked rather shocked that she seemed suddenly free once more. Her speckled green eyes seemed to sparkle.
"Oh, but exploding a train was fine," Nick said evenly, smirking.
"Quiet, you," Judy grinned.
"Exploding a train...?" Roa'Ahm repeated, his eyes opening in a bit of surprise.
"Never mind. Thanks for this, Roa'Ahm," Nick said. "We owe ya."
"Thank you..." Jiji said in mammalian, looking like she was on the verge of tears. Judy turned to leave, and was surprised when Nick didn't follow. She looked back at him, puzzled.
"Ah, give me a minute, okay?" Nick said. "Just want to go over a few things."
"Sure," Judy shrugged. "I'll fire up the cruiser."
"So that's 'the one'?" Roa'Ahm gave a sudden sly smirk, flicking his tongue.
"Mm hm," Nick nodded, putting his arm on the counter. "So, how's 'it' going?"
Roa'Ahm gave a somewhat proud chuckle. "Oh, 'it' is going just fine. The quality of the stones will be peerless, and the gold will dazzle, I'm sure. Am I running out of time?"
"No," Nick said, his eyes darting away suddenly, "I'm still, uh... deliberating."
"Cold feet?" Roa'Ahm smirked. "I thought only reptiles were cold-blooded."
"Trying to choose the right moment, you overgrown lizard," Nick shot back. "But yeah, I'd like it soon."
"So you command, so it shall be done," Roa'Ahm chuckled. Nick nodded and waved.
"Catch you later, Roa'Ahm!"
"Until next time, Nick! Fare thee well!" Roa'Ahm waved as well.
Jiji gave the much larger lizard a skeptical look at all of the plotting looks they were giving each other.
"What was that all about?" Jiji wondered in reptilian, mostly to herself.
"Just a little something the fox wants to surprise the bunny with", Roa'Ahm beckoned her. "Now come. I may not have the most comfortable arrangements, but we'll see what we can do."
"Thank you..." Jiji followed the perentie.