Doppleganger Chapter 1- Not Jessica!
Edited by BeeCroftA & DancingLunarWolves
Judy stretched her arms behind her head as Nick opened the door to Fitwik's Arcade. "Well, I had a ball," the fox yawned. "Didn't think that a chess experience would be fun to do."
Judy snorted. "It helped that you merged it with the kaiju experience. I'm glad Fitwik is experimenting with different ideas, though that was a rather odd mixture to beat a giant beast by checkmating them."
Nick shrugged. "Who knew that playing chess against giant monsters inside giant robots could be fun," Nick chuckled as he palmed the jump drive in his paw. "I only remember that to take a piece you had to win a battle or something, right? And you in that giant bunny robot..." Nick smiled as the memory briefly entertained him as he felt the jump drive in his pocket containing the experience. He'd definitely like to watch that one again.
The doe nodded as they walked down the sidewalk, Judy talking Nick's paw in hers while the other massaged her growing belly. "It will be fun to see what exactly happened. I just remember waking up, excited...as well as the kits." Judy then did a slight binky, leaping up a few inches to boop her nose against Nick's. The fox rolled his eyes as Judy let out an excited 'eeee!'
Leaning down, he gave her a proper nose boop, complete with a finishing kiss. "You forgot that last bit there, Darling," he snickered as her nose momentarily twitched. He didn't know why Judy seemed more playful now that she was nearing her full term for her pregnancy and had been put on maternity leave by Bogo. She'd been doing desk duty for the last two weeks since she had told Nick the news about them being parents.
The pair walked and talked down the road, their weekly date night so far a success. The experiences at Fitwik's Arcade were a welcome break from the tediousness and stress of their jobs, allowing them to unwind for a while. And with them being a rather famous couple in Zootopia, Fitwik had given them lifelong free membership to the arcade as many mammals wanted to be there to see if they could catch a glimpse or picture with the famous police couple.
It brought him business, and helped them to relax. Both saw the repeated trips as a definite win-win.
Especially after they'd had to arrest Gazelle the previous week when Judy found out she had been dodging paying her taxes. It was hard on Nick, given his own history, and for Judy, who had locked herself in the spare bedroom with several pints of carrot cake flavored ice cream after she had found the information through a web of sketchy transactions while on desk duty. Nick had finally managed to jimmy the lock of the room she was hiding in, bringing in another two quarts of Carrot Cake Frosting Ice cream from Tillamusk. He'd sat by her side the rest of the shift, distracting her with horrible puns and sketchy stories from his past.
It was at the end of the shift that they told Bogo, who, after looking so crestfallen that Nick almost felt bad for him, ordered an arrest. As they left his office, Judy could have sworn she heard the Chief weeping, though he'd later say it was hay fever.
Neither wanted to even bring up the oncoming arrest to Clawhauser. When they had walked Gazelle in, his eyes were alit with joy at seeing his favorite mammal, the angel with horns herself...only to see her hooves in cuffs and led by Judy and Nick.
The only look the portly cheetah had given them since then was his most serious glare and the only donuts he saved for them were three day old, crust-covered, dried out cinnamon buns...
Though to be honest, it more surprised them that he could have left any type of donut alone for that long. Between Clawhauser's new treatment of them, and the paperwork that came along with the case, and the angry messages they had been receiving from other diehard Gazelle fans, Nick and Judy had had an urge to escape all the drama; which was why they had gone to Fitwik's.
Neither noticed the hoodie wearing figure watching them from across the street.
"They look so happy today," the figure grumbled. Checking to make sure the street was clear in the fading sunlight of late evening, she slowly walked after them, her long ears twitching at the sounds of the unfamiliar city. The last time she had been here had been for their wedding and something inside her had just, snapped. Seeing Judy in that white gown, her lips pressing against that hunky fox's was a dream in and of itself. Good for her.
Yet that fox was simply a vision.
He had looked drop-dead handsome in his resplendent white tux, filling out his figure so grandly that she had nearly swooned into the other bridesmaids and could barely keep from fanning herself as she felt her insides churning in heat. Later at the reception, which had seen quite the eclectic variety of mammals show for it, she had nearly lost it again. One of the other police officers, an Officer Fangmeyer she thought, had casually mentioned to Judy on how nice canines were 'under cover' with a wink and a nod. The figure had looked hungrily at the dapper fox, only to see Judy giving him an even more amorous look.
Why did Judy get all the best ones!
The final straw was seeing them in the news yet again, this time on a sting at the Palm Hotel where they had gone undercover as pool life guards to stop a ring of hippos using the Palm's aquatic center for planning drug deals. Seeing that fox walking out of the pool in his red swimsuit, shaking the water from his fur as he dragged a cuffed hippo behind him...
She licked her lips hungrily...
At that point, her lustful thoughts won out and she had begun to plan...leading to this past week when she'd taken only her second trip ever from Bunnyburrow to Zootopia, telling her parents she needed a week vacation and wanted to visit her sister and her husband.
It wasn't a lie, as she wanted to see Judy after so long, but she really, really, wanted to see that sinfully delicious fox. It hadn't taken her long to find them, as they were minor celebrities in the city after arresting Gazelle for tax evasion. Glad I'm more of a Bearyonce fan...the figure thought as she hungrily took in the fox walking down the street.
She had been watching them for several days now, waiting for the perfect opportunity to formulate her plan, which was still muddled beyond all reason despite what she had already been doing to put it into effect. Crossing the street, she quietly walked after them on padless paws. Speeding up slightly, she got within several feet before she leapt forward at the fox. She could feel the warmth of his fur already, that soothing, comfortable and luscious coat of scarlet as he enveloped him in her open arms...
Judy's ears swiveled behind her moments before a mass of grey fur and pink hoodie nearly tackled her to the ground.
"What the...!"
Nick heard Judy's shout. Instinctively he reached out, grabbed her and pulled her against his chest as he backed up against a nearby elephant-sized parked car as a grey blur tumbled past them on the cement...
"Oww..." the figure groaned as she pushed herself off the cement, only to have her hood pulled back and pushed onto her back, a pair of amethyst eyes glaring down into...
"Jessica?" Judy said, staring down in stunned silence at her sibling who had the most confused look upon her own face. "What are you doing here?"
"Hiya sis!" the dark grey rabbit giggled. How did I miss? He was three feet in front of me! Pushing away from her sister, she nervously accepted the paw Judy offered to her to help her up. As soon as she was standing again, her gaze flickered to Nick. "Hiya handsome."
"Jessica," Judy glowered as she placed her paws against her hips. The grey doe was already not liking the tone her sister had taken with Nick. "What have I told you about-"
"Flirting with Nick, yeah, yeah..." Jessica said with a flippant wave of her paw. "I know you're all super paranoid that this," Jessica waved her paws down her body while lowering her eyelids, "lovely bunny would snatch up such a delicious looking hunk of-"
"Jessica!" Judy yelled while stomping her foot.
"Fine, fine!" Jessica giggled as she put her paws in the air and stepped away from her sister. "Just trying to be friendly. Besides, aren't you glad to see me? Ta-da! I'm here!"
"Why are you in Zootopia?" Nick asked, careful to move as close as possible to Judy as he wrapped his tail and right arm around his wife. "Not that I'm horribly annoyed to see you at all, or angry at you for interrupting our date night, or even your terrible attempt at tackling my wife to the ground unannounced when we have our tasers with us."
Jessica looked at them with a curious smirk. "Didn't mom and dad tell you, Jude the Dude?"
"Tell me what?" Judy asked, unfolding her paws from across her chest while sighing in annoyance at the nickname.
"Oh," Jessica replied, a grin alighting on her face. "I'm visiting Zootopia for a week! Yay!" She waved her paws in the air in a celebratory manner.
"Great...yay." Judy said, repeating the hand waving gesture, without even a hint of happiness in her voice.
Jessica huffed. "Ah, come on now, Jude." She punched her sister lightly on her arm. "You know you're glad to see me."
"Really?" Nick asked, mock astonishment on his face.
"Shush you," Judy replied, elbowing his side. Her gaze returned to her sister. "So, why were you following Nick and I? I thought I heard someone behind us but you were the last mammal I was expecting."
Jessica rolled back and forth on her feet. "Because."
"Because..." Judy drawled out.
"Because that's what big sisters are for!" Jessica stated merrily, wrapping Judy up in a hug. Glancing up at Nick, she shot him a wink while licking her lips. While still hugging her sister, she turned so she could bump the back of her hip against his.
Nick grimaced and gently pushed Jessica away from Judy. "Alright, I think Judy and I have an important meeting to go to now, so we'll have to bid you adieu." Again wrapping an arm, and his tail around Judy, he led her down the street, leaving the other grey doe behind them before she could even utter another word.
Jessica watched them go, smiling until they disappeared around the corner. Her smile turned into a smirk and a light chuckle as she clapped her paws together. "Oh, this is going to be fun! He likes me already!" She hopped and spun in the air, binkying about. Turning the opposite way as her sister, she began to hum a song. After about a block, she began vocalizing the lyrics she had been mentally humming.
"I can't wait to make Nick mine, do da, do da..."
"I can't wait to make that fox mine, o the do da day."
"Be with him all night, then again all day."
"I can't wait to kiss that fox, again and again all day."
The next day couldn't come soon enough for Judy and Nick. Their dreams had been plagued by Judy's sister, though each for separate reasons. Nick couldn't escape no matter how much he ran away from the crazy doe who for some reason was wearing a bridal dress, while Judy had nightmares of Nick kissing her sister. Both had woken an hour earlier than normal, bleary-eyed and suddenly desperately wanting each other's embrace and affections.
The rest of the morning had wiped away all the haunting traces that Judy's sister had done to plague their minds during the night, replaced by their irrevocable love towards one another. Though it didn't mean the grey doe was out of mind entirely. While Nick was in the shower, Judy had made a phone call home to confirm that Jessica had indeed come for a week to Zootopia on a 'spur of the moment' decision but other than that, her family hadn't known why Judy's twin was in the big city.
Just what we need...a week of her here...Judy groaned. The last time they had seen Jessica was at the New Year's Party that they had celebrated at Bunnyburrow on their annual leave. Jessica, wearing a glittering red strapless gown, had 'accidentally' fallen into Nick roughly ten seconds to midnight, attempting to kiss him before he had managed to shove her off and make it to Judy in time to kiss his wife at the stroke of the new year.
In the shower, Nick was having similar thoughts. That doe is crazy. He grabbed the fur shampoo and rubbed it into his tail. I still don't know why she thought those bachelor's and bachelorette parties were good that she planned for Judy and I...
Finishing their morning routine and trying their best to shake those morose and mortifying thoughts from their minds, the pair made their way from home to the ZPD, as Judy needing to finish filling out the final forms for maternity leave, then would head over to the Honeywell Center for a tri-weekly checkup with Dave. Nick said goodbye to his wife, and after leaving her with Clawhauser at the front desk, made his way to the Bullpen, grateful for the distractions it offered. It was rowdy as ever, though with McHorn and Pennington out on paid migration, it felt quite a bit roomier.
The front door opened and Bogo stormed in to hoots and hollers. The clamoring mammals were joined by Nick, who smirked as he let loose a howl, then snickered when several of the wolves began to do the same before their various partners could clamp a paw or hoof over their muzzles.
Bogo sent a death glare at Nick, who simply sent him his world famous smirk back. "Good to see you Chief. Howl've you been doing today?"
"Shut it, Wilde!"
After the snickering died down, and the murderous glares from the wolves sent Nick's way cooled off, Bogo began the morning briefing. Several mundane items were on the docket; one birthday for Officer Leopardson, a few assignments for patrol duty, and Officers Grizzoli and Shiras, the latest moose recruit from the academy, were assigned to help watch over a march happening in Sahara Square.
"And now for Officer Wilde…" Bogo grunted, holding out a red file. "It would appear we have a fan of yours vandalizing several recent businesses. Find them, bring them in."
"On it sir!" Nick said with a broad grin as he leapt up to snatch the file from Bogo's raised hoof. He was already perusing it before he had even left the room.
"Anything good in there?"
Nick jumped, not hearing his wife approaching him. He clutched at his heart. "Give a fox a heart attack," he grumbled. "I thought you were heading over to the center?"
"The appointment isn't for another hour and a half, so I thought I'd see what you're up to today." She eyed the red folder in his paw. "So, what's in there?"
Nick passed the folder over. "Just seems to be someone tagging local businesses with anti-bunny slurs and pictures." Nick led Judy towards their offices as she looked through the files. "I have to wonder what would make a mammal do something like this, especially with all the jam cams about."
"That will just make this case easier for you than even picking carrots," Judy chimed in as she sat in his chair, spinning it around until she faced Nick. She placed her paws on her lap as she shot him a broad, toothy grin. "Of which, I do believe that we need to pick some up on the way home tonight."
Nick rolled her eyes as she hopped off her chair. Nick leaned over, smiling as she pressed a light kiss against his cheek.
Judy 'hmmed' as she let the kiss linger before pulling away. "I think I might head over early to the center and catch up with everyone there. See you for dinner!"
"See you my darling doe!" Nick said as he waved her goodbye, attempting to playfully mess with her ears though she quickly darted around the move. As soon as her fluffy tail disappeared around the door, which he totally had not leaned back in his seat to watch for longer, he quickly logged into the traffic cam database. "What was the address for the first building tagged?"
After several minutes of perusing the file Nick found his answer.
"2016 March Ave," Nick mused aloud. He whistled, flipping through page after page as he brought up the nearest camera. This mammals been busy. Seems like they've tagged almost twenty businesses in just the past five days and these tags are just... Nick grimaced as he looked at several of the pictures that the 'artist' had drawn. "I think I know why Bogo assigned this to me now...only I wish Judy was here."
Bogo had mentioned that the artwork had been anti-lagomorph, but had seemed to forget that at least this one was anti-Hopps...
He could clearly see a crude drawing of his wife in the picture, the gold badge on the rabbit's chest quite apparent...though that seemed to be the only article of clothing on the drawn bunny. After reading the words written above the picture, he quickly put the paper down. "I did not need to see that."
Nick jumped into the database, scouring the hours of footage of the estimated times when the businesses had been tagged. Most were in areas where lamp lights were out, the camera was too far away, or the picture was too hazy. He'd seen a few glimpses of a dark-clothed mammal, but could only make out the generalized height of a smaller mammal from those fleeting glances.
It wasn't until two hours in of reviewing footage and a third cup of coffee that he had made his discovery. It was in the video of the second business tagged in Tundratown, a small mammal wrapped head to toe in winter garb.
All he could make out was the mammal's black hoodie and covered face. Their tail had a long black wrap around it and as he slowed the camera to normal speed, he watched as the mammal disappeared into the alley for only about a minute before they reappeared. They then looked up at the nearby jam cam and flashed their gloved paw in a peace sign.
Checking the date, he began to scratch his chin. Not a very well visited part of Tundratown and it hasn't snowed since this tag. Though that is usually Larry's route for heading to work...
Nick grimaced at the memory of the last time he had met the polar bear for a job, then pressed fast forward on the video. A few hours blurred past before he halted the camera feed as a massive polar bear, wearing nothing but a wooden barrel held up by suspenders, came shuffling up the sidewalk.
"Yep...good old Larry," Nick said with a chuckle.
A caribou strolled up towards the bear and waved, though the friendly gesture seemed only to startle the larger, twitchy mammal. The ursine jumped into the air, landing heavily on his butt, then tried rolling down the alleyway to avoid the perplexed prey.
Nick groaned and leaned back in his chair as he watched all of the footprints wiped out by one rolling polar bear. "Just my luck..." Nick huffed.
After a momentary groan, he looked back at the screen, some of Judy's optimism inserting itself into his mind. Maybe there are some tracks left?
He continued watching the screen, as the now barrel-less bear rolled out of the alleyway before seeing the perplexed caribou again and rolled back into the alley. Draining the last dregs of his coffee, savoring the warmth he knew would be gone in a few short minutes, he jumped out of his chair. "Well, time to blow this pawpsicle stand then," he said to nobody in particular as he grabbed his heavier coat from the rack near the door. He briefly wondered how Judy was doing as he left the office, leaving the door open as he tossed his empty cup into the garbage.
A few minutes later, the large shrub in the corner of the office moved. Two grey ears slowly poked their way out of the top of it, a familiar face following soon after.
Good, he's finally gone!
Jessica jumped out from behind the plant, grinning as she hopped up to the computer. She had tried to listen in on him on a few of his phone calls, but couldn't make out any of the details.
"Maybe this will help me with my plan..." the sister of Judy wondered aloud with a grin. She instantly recognized the location of the video on the screen. "Not one of my better works, but still decent."
Jessica lighted from the chair, leaving it spinning as she jumped from it to the floor and skipped towards the door, pausing as she saw a police radio on her sister's desk.
"I'll take that, thank you!" she chirped as she jumped up and grabbed the device before walking out the door. Several officers greeted her as she passed, evidently mistaking her for her sister. I guess they think all bunny's must look alike...she snickered. Though it does help we're twins. She waved merrily at a few of them, who nodded and thought nothing of the cheerful bunny making their way towards the exit of the precinct.
"Now, to make that fox mine..." Jessica said cheerfully as she made her way over to her rented car. Opening the front door, she climbed inside, making sure to unzip the bag on the passenger side once more to check her equipment. "Fox taser...rope...Judy's perfume..."
She closed the bag with a grin as she started the car, heading towards Tundratown. "She is not going to marry that fox before me!"
AN: Oh boy...I wonder what everyone's least favorite Hopps sibling is up to...