Boxing Bunny

Chapter 1 - They're making me do what?!

Cover Art by Gokhan16

Additional art by Alamarus & Drawin-4Ever (so if you want to see that artwork, check out the Ao3 version of this story)

Edited by Johnsoneer, BeecroftA & OnceNeverTwiceAlways

Based upon Pace -Maker's comic on DA

AN: So, this story is a bit different than my normal ones. One, I knew absolutely nothing about this topic before it was picked as part of the "Alliteration Adventures of Animal Athleticism" and Two, this is the only surviving idea from that grouping, as Chessmaster Cheetah went down in flames before it made it to voting on DA, and Fencing Fox claimed 0 votes in the polls. Three, this story is based upon a friend's comic, so if you'd like spoilers, then you can read that on his site. :)

Now, onto..."Boxing Bunny"

The flames had long been extinguished, yet the work was far from over. Nick impatiently tapped his foot against the ground, alternating between watching the crowd for gawkers trying to cross the police tape and staring at the mound of rubble that used to be an apartment building.

I hope you're doing alright in there, Judy...he thought, looking back for the umpteenth time at the tiny crevasse she had crawled into searching for survivors. Another bunny from the Zootopia Fire Department had followed her in, and the two of them had been the only emergency responders who could fit inside. The ruins were as structurally sound as they could be after the collapse, and when Judy had heard crying from within the debris, she had acted immediately.

Before all this, Nick and Judy were responding to a call of a disturbance in Sahara Square while on patrol. When they arrived at the apartment building, they had found the suspect, a male Addax, had already drenched his apartment in gasoline and was trying to strike a match.

Judy had managed to distract him for a crucial second which had allowed Nick to dart him, making the antelope fall to the floor, but it was too late. The match had snapped in his hoof, lighting the soaked floor in an instant. The two officers were barely able to drag him from the apartment as it had been engulfed in flames.

Nick looked at the blackened spots and holes in his uniform where the fire had scorched through it, leaving burnt tinges of russet fur beneath. The sled Judy had seen leaning against the wall had been the Addax's only salvation, as it was the only way the two tinier mammals had managed to pull him to safety. Although the fire department had arrived at that point, Nick and Judy continued leading residents out of the building until the firefighters were ready to take over entirely.

The building was a complete loss, yet Judy was now inside the rubble, looking for survivors. Nick found himself staring back at the hole she had dug through, followed closely behind by Bianca, their rabbit friend in the fire department. The cream-toned bunny had been the first of her species in the ZFD thanks to the Mammal Inclusion Initiative. Shaking his head, he knew that Judy and their friend would be alright and turned back to his duty of watching the crowd, glaring at a lynx that tried to sneak under the police tape.

A cheer rose up behind him, and he couldn't help the proverbial tug of his eyes towards the scene. He finally felt like he could breathe again when his mate crawled from the rubble with a basket in her paws, helped out by Bianca. Both rabbits appeared, their face masks surrounded by blackened soot and ash. Bright blue and red uniforms now stained a dingy black.

But they were alright.

"I got this."

Nick looked up to see Fangton, a coyote he recognized from the local Precinct Three, standing next to him.

"Go see Judy. I already cleared it with your Chief, so you two can be relieved. It's been quite a night."

"Thanks Carson," Nick replied before taking off towards his wife and friend. The two bunnies were passing along the baskets, which Nick recognized as tiny mammal containers. Smiling, the two does offered the containers to some camel paramedics, their white teeth showing brilliantly against their soot covered faces.

Judy had heard her husband approaching and threw out her arms, enjoying the feeling of him wrapping her up in a hug.

"Wish I had my own fox," Bianca said.

"I've tried to set you up with Finnick," Judy laughed and ended the hug with her husband.

Bianca sighed as she looked at Nick. "Yeah…. Desert fox just ain't the same as a red. Especially yours, Judy. I mean, if I could have Nick for just one day, he might never want to go back."

Judy groaned as she playfully hip-bumped her friend. "Nick's mine, so you'll just have to settle for someone else's fox."

"We'll find you a fox to call your own one day," Nick chimed in before clapping his paws together. "So, you two ready to head out?"

Bianca and Judy shook their heads simultaneously. "I have work still to do." Both said at once. The two does looked at each other and giggled.

"Still will never get used to that," Nick groaned. "You two are like twins."

The two does side-hugged one another before Bianca spoke. "Though I'm the better half."

Judy laughed and playfully shoved her. "ZPD is better than the ZFD any day," she playfully responded.

"We can always let Nick decide which is better?" Bianca countered.

"That would be Judy, paws down," Nick chuckled to his wife's delight.

Bianca rolled her eyes before looking over the scene. "You two did good tonight. Might make firemammals out of you two just yet. Maybe as good as myself one day."

Laughing, the three friends made their way across the scene.

"So," Nick began. "I just learned we've been relieved for the night, Judy. So we're good to go and get cleaned up."

Judy's ears perked up as she looked at her soot stained uniform. "A shower would be really good right now."

"Flauers!" a darker voice barked.

Bianca turned and saw her station chief approaching her. "You did a good job here tonight. Second shift is coming in to handle any flare-ups, and, after that rescue, you have the night off."

Bianca shrugged. "Guess that makes three of us with the night off." She turned to Nick and Judy. "The night is still young. Want to do something after getting cleaned up?"

"Sure!" Judy replied. "What would you like to do?"

The two bunnies and fox discussed various ideas as they walked to Judy and Nick's cruiser. With Bianca having arrived with her crew, the officers asked her if she'd like to ride with them to the staion and then to her home. With approval from her Chief, as she still technically had an hour left on the clock, the three went to the cruiser, Nick pulling out plastic sheets for them to sit on so not to dirty the cruiser's interior.

Judy and Bianca strapped into the front seat since it was big enough for both of them to be comfortable as Nick drove.

"So, you guys going to the Charity Match Saturday?" Bianca asked.

"Absolutely!" Judy grinned, nudging her seatmate. "Ready to see Wolford and the ZPD win?"

Bianca scoffed. "I doubt that your wolf can beat our kangaroo. Jackson is unstoppable when he spars."

"Except against you," Judy added with a grin.

"Except against me," Bianca agreed. "Gotta remind those larger mammals not to underestimate us bunnies."

Both does laughed. Nick shook his head as the two rabbits continued conversing. The two debated who would win the annual boxing match the ZPD and ZFD held for charity each year, with both finally agreeing that it would be a good matchup whatever happened.

Eventually, Nick heard Bianca sigh. "I wish I was chosen..."

His ears perked at that. "Why? Isn't it done by random lottery?"

Bianca nodded. "Yeah, lottery by weight and size. This year the ZFD got to draw first. So with Jackson picked, it had to be a medium sized mammal as his opponent." She grinned and nudged Judy. "Though if I had been chosen, I think that you and Nick are the only small sized mammals the ZPD has still, right? Wouldn't be much of a match if that were to happen."

"Count me out," Nick said immediately. "I wouldn't want to be facing either of you, sparring or otherwise. I know how hard a bunny can hit and who would win."

Both does laughed as Bianca shot him a cheeky grin.

"Against either of us that would be a certainty. You'd be on the mat in no time flat," Bianca snarked.

"Ouch..." the fox replied, placing a paw upon his chest. "I would know better than to face either of you in that ring. A former boxer—" he pointed at Bianca who smiled—"and Judy. No other descriptions needed there."

"Hey!" The grey rabbit shouted at Nick, but couldn't help the grin forming on her muzzle.

"Face it, Carrots. Nobody wants to face you in the ring. You're basically One-Punch Bun in there."

Judy smiled. She reached over and patted Nick on his arm. "You're not so bad yourself. You did manage to knock out the same rhino instructor I did."

Nick groaned at the memory. "Only to have him fall on me. I'm still wondering if saying he had a spider crawling on him was worth the broken arm."

Bianca laughed. "You'll have to tell me that story someday, Judy."

The grey doe nodded. "I will. Though if you or I are ever chosen, and Nick would forfeit..."

The fox nodded all too vigorously, much to both does' amusement.

"...then who would win between us?" Bianca finished for her with a smirk. "I mean, I know I'd win."

"Oh not so fast," Judy replied. The car went silent for several moments before Judy's posture changed while both bunnies grinned at each other. She straightened and tapped Bianca's side. "Fitwik can decide!"

"Fitwik?" Bianca repeated.

Judy nodded. "It's an arcade with an alternate reality simulator. We could just simulate that experience on there."

"With no bruising afterwards," Nick added in.

Judy smiled at her friend. "We could even do it tonight. He should still be open. Unless you don't want to find out how quickly I'd win."

Bianca grinned. "You mean how fast you'd be hitting the mat? I'm game."

Nick nodded as they pulled up to the fire department. "Sounds like a plan. You get cleaned up, then stop by and we can head out together. The kits are out in BunnyBurrow with Stu and Bonnie, so we have the time."

"Fitwik's it is, then!" Judy replied.

The two rabbits fistbumped, Nick chuckling in the front seat as he shook his head.

"Bunnies…"

tcka, tcka, tcka...tcka

The steady drumming of paws on keyboards were the only sounds coming from the quaint office within the halls of ZPD's Precinct One. Inside, Nick and Judy studiously worked on their reports from the previous few days after yet another successful series of arrests of some of Zootopia's more wanted criminals.

Which meant paperwork...

Lots...and lots...of paperwork.

Nick groaned, arching his back and bringing his paws clasped above him. Hearing a loud 'pop', he let out a happy sigh while he leaned back in his seat. "Hey Judy?"

"Hmm?" the rabbit replied, not even looking away from her screen as she filled out yet another arrest form.

"Should we cash in some of our vacation time? Just the two of us? Maybe go see a few movies, or go out to dinner? Maybe head down to the beach..."

"Maybe when our reports have been finished," Judy answered before glancing over at his rather stuffed 'IN' box sitting on his desk. "So by the look of that stack, probably next...year."

Nick cracked a smile. "Have I mentioned that I love how you're growing out your fur this winter? The new style looks great on you!"

Judy shook her head and rolled her eyes at his compliment. Internally, she was glad that he had noticed what she was trying out with a longer head fur style, but she also knew he was trying to butter her up.

"I know what you're trying, Nick. So thank you for the compliment, but no to the vacation until after the paperwork is finished."

Nick groaned and spun his seat to face the bunny's.

"Carrots..." he whispered.

She did her best to ignore him.

"Hey Carrots..."

"..."

"Juuuuudy..."

With a heavy sigh, she faced him. "We have to get our paperwork done, Nick. As much as I'd rather be out there, making Zootopia a better place, this needs to be done so that criminals don't slip through the cracks and walk free due to a filing error."

Nick's hopeful grin faltered. The fox returned to his computer, typing slowly with one paw as he drained the last dregs of his coffee.

A knock at their open door drew their attention to a smiling tiger.

"Hey Hopps, good luck!"

Both bunny and fox raised an eyebrow as Officer Fangmeyer walked past. Her partner, Officer Wolford, trailed behind her, shooting a thumbs up at the rabbit.

Judy turned to Nick with a confused expression. "Did they mean about our arrests?"

He shrugged. "I doubt it. "We didn't do anything extraordinary."

"Hmm..."

The duo went back to their computers, filling out and filing more paperwork than either wanted to know existed. A half hour had passed, when another, heavier, knock sounded on their door.

"Hey, Hopps."

The doe turned her head to see McHorn grinning at her.

"Do the ZPD proud this year, alright? We have a reputation to maintain."

"Wh..what?" was all Judy could stammer out before the rhino was gone. "What was that about?"

Again, her question was met with a shrug from Nick. "No idea. Though, if anyone is the paradigm of the ZPD's illustrious reputation, it would be you."

Judy's ears burned slightly at the compliment. Muttering a quiet 'thank you' which gained a rather obvious happy smile from Nick, the two again went back to work. Barely a minute had passed before yet another interruption happened, though they heard this one coming a mile away.

Thud, thud, thud, thudthudthudthudTHUDTHUDTHUD...

Both were already facing the door when a breathless Clawhauser appeared, panting heavily and steadying himself against the doorframe with one paw while holding his chest with the other.

"Judy?! Did you see...the news...on the bulletin board?" He groaned as he flopped to a sitting position.

"What news?" she asked. Hopping off her chair, she walked over to the cheetah, only to find him completely breathless. She rolled her eyes. Hearing Nick stepping off his chair as well, she maneuvered past the nearly-comatose cheetah who was currently blocking most of their doorway. Nick followed, the pair making their way downstairs to the bullpen.

"Think this has to do with what McHorn and Fangmeyer said earlier?" Judy asked.

"Probably," Nick held up a paw and pointing at his fingers. "One wishes you good luck, and the other says to do the ZPD proud…. Sounds like another speaking tour from the ZPD's only rabbit."

Judy groaned. "I hope not..."

Plodding towards the bullpen, several more officers gave her thumbs up or hoots of encouragement while others offered their support and more. When they finally reached the bullpen and walked inside, they made a beeline for the announcement board at the back. Nick chuckled when he saw the top flier.

"I think that might be what they meant," he said with a grin, pointing to the advertisement.

Judy looked up, letting out yet another groan. "Not again..."

The top flier on the board was for the annual ZPD Calendar, produced every year as a way of the officers having a good laugh. It proceeds were donated to local charities, as the calendars sold rather well, so nobody minded a bit of light-hearted humor.

Nick was secretly grinning inwardly. He'd been trying to get Judy to go out for it, even going so far as to put nearly a dozen tickets with her name on it into the raffle two years prior before getting caught by Ursus. The older detective, a wizened and cantankerous Grizzly bear, had yelled at him for a solid ten minutes before ordering the fox to pull every last card he had placed with Judy's name on it out of the box.

Judy had not been pleased when she'd found out. Though, it had the added side effect that the following discussion had led to revealed feelings that neither had felt comfortable sharing before. Those revelations hadn't been intentional, but after several minutes of arguing with each other, Nick had let slip the one line he had been trying to keep secret, after Judy had ordered him to tell her why he had tried to sabotage the raffle.

"Because I think you're the most beautiful mammal I've ever met!"

And that was how it had all began. That single comment had led to a date...then another, and another. Their already fast friendship had led to little awkwardness on their dates, and, helpfully enough, Bogo had supported them.

It may have also helped that Judy had talked with Ursus and may have convinced him to slide her in for February's slot, making sure that Valentine's Day was one Nick would never forgot.

Thinking back on the memory, as well as her hustling him, Nick found a weight against his side. Looking down, he spotted Judy's head leaning against his chest, her arm wrapped around his waist while his tail had curled around her legs. The rabbit smiled up at him.

"So, I guess you put my name in the drawing again?" she asked, a slightly raised eyebrow and knowing smirk lighting across her face.

"Actually, I'd forgotten it was going on..." he said truthfully, though cast his own trademark smirk towards the doe. "Though if I had remembered, I would have signed you up for all 12 months for my own personal calendar." He waggled his eyebrows as Judy snorted, trying to hide her laughter.

"I think according to our agreement, Slick—" Judy retorted—"that you still owe me a month on that calendar."

A tender and soft-spoken voice behind them silenced their flirting. "Actually, it isn't that. You may want to look lower."

Judy and Nick turned and smiled at the officer greeting them. "Afternoon, Kitsun. How have you been?" both asked the newcomer at once.

The female red fox smiled, though she laughed nervously. She fidgeted with the bright orange and yellow meter maid vest she wore while the blue bowler cap sat perched between her ears. "Very well, though that meter maid cart is a little cramped for my liking..."

She quickly found a paw on her shoulder, with Judy smiling up at her. "It happens to all of us. Nick and I had to do the same thing. Apparently after graduation, it still takes two weeks for the paperwork to process new officers into their precincts, so in this one Bogo has them on parking duty until he can get them their equipment and partners assigned."

"That..." Kitsun began with wide eyes— "doesn't sound very good of a practice. Has this been brought up with city hall?"

Nick nodded. "It has been., Though, like any government, anything that would make it more efficient gets lost in the woodworks. It's brought up every meeting he has with City Hall, but Bogo's been brushed off each time."

"That's unfortunate..." the vixen replied. Her eyes lit up as she looked back at Nick and Judy. "But what am I saying!" Before Judy could move, the red fox had wrapped her up in a tight hug. "Congratulations Judy! I bet you are so proud to be representing the ZPD this year!"

"In what?" Judy managed to ask while caught in the suffocatingly tight hug.

"For the annual ZPD versus ZFD Charity Boxing match, of course!" Kitsun stated merrily. "I've heard that Snarlovitch had been trying to get you to do it the past three years due to your academy record."

Nick snickered, earning a hard stare from Judy. "What?" he asked. "Can't a fox find it funny that a polar bear knows a bunny is tougher than he is?"

Judy rolled her eyes, though she also stepped out of the hug. "An annual event?" she asked, before looking to see the flier at the bottom of the tackboard. "How come I haven't seen or heard of this before if it is an annual event?"

She read off the flier, murmuring the words quietly to herself.

Annual ZPD vs ZFD Charity Boxing event

Hosted August 4th

Officer Hopps will be representing the ZPD for this event.

Please wish her good luck in representing the ZPD.

More information coming...

Nick walked up behind her, reading the words from between her perked ears. "I think I figured out why you haven't heard of this before."

Judy leaned her head up, looking up at Nick who looked down at her. Both blushed when their muzzles touched in an accidental kiss. Kitsun tried to suppress her giggles at the scene, covering her mouth with her paws as the two slightly embarrassed officers took a step away from each other while smiling.

"So," Judy stated, "What have you figured out about why neither of us had heard of this before?"

Nick smiled. "Kitsun, this is always in August, correct?"

The vixen nodded. "Yes, early August. Usually a barbeque follows the next day. Though. two years ago they moved it to May as the arena they held it at was going to be renovated from July to September."

Nick nodded. "That would explain it. Judy," he turned to the bunny, "Three years ago in August, you were home in BunnyBurrow after the Nighthowlers incident."

Judy's ears wilted. "Oh..."

She remembered that incident quite well, especially the look on Nick's face as she blamed the entire incident on predators 'primitive savage ways'. After she had realized her horrible mistake while watching her best friend leaving her, she had spent every waking moment trying to fix that mistake, locate Nick, and apologize.

She had failed on all three, and so had resigned and left for home at the end of July. A paw on her shoulder brought her out of the sad memories. Glancing up, she saw Nick giving her a happy smile.

"That's all in the past, Carrots," he said. "You did everything you could to fix your mistakes, and you did. I mean, I'm here now, aren't I? With the best partner a fox could ever ask for."

Judy wrapped her arms around Nick, ignoring the 'awwww' coming from behind them. She just hoped Officer Fanghanel wouldn't walk in and ruin the moment with his nonstop talk of wedding plans for her and Nick.

Judy locked her gaze with Nick's, a soft, warm smile appearing. "So if that why I missed it that year, that would mean the next year was when I was speaking at your graduation."

"Exactly," he replied as they broke the hug. "I doubt they'd want the speaker at a graduation ceremony to have a black eye. Not that any firefighter could possibly even land a hit on you, Miss One-Punch Bun."

"Hey!" She laughed as Nick playfully tossed a light jab into her shoulder. "I get hit."

He raised an eyebrow. "I think maybe once every five matches. Seriously, Fluff, I think you have the best record out of everyone in the ZPD, or probably the city. Nobody bigger than a wolf can even keep up with you, let alone catch you. I think the ZFD is in big trouble this year unless they stick a cheetah in the ring against you."

Judy blushed under the compliments. Wanting to change the subject, she looked back up at the notice. "So if that was two years ago..." she tapped her foot against the floor while placing a paw against her chin. "That would mean that last year was when we went undercover for five weeks during the Meowlaria case."

Nick thought for a moment, then nodded. "That would match up the time frame." He offered a quick chuckle. "So I guess the fire department has been lucky they haven't had to face you the past three years."

"Still," She said with a glower at the poster. "I think we need to have a word with Chief about this. It would have been nice to at least been notified I was in the drawing for this so I could prepare. That and we have so much case work to do on the Martin and Fisher case that could take weeks to sort through and..."

"Slow down," He said, placing a paw on both of Judy's shoulders. "We'll go talk to Bogo now and see what we can do about this."

Judy smiled as her ears perked up. "Yeah, I think he should be available now, actually."

Nick's ears perked up. "Really? How do you...know..." He looked behind Judy, who was smiling rather wide, and at the entrance of the bullpen where Bogo stomped through the doorway. "Bunny hearing...of course."

"Don't knock the ears, Slick," Judy said, tossing a jab into his side. The fox let out a small 'ow' as Judy turned, mirth gone and replaced by a completely serious expression. "Chief Bogo."

The buffalo straightened with a grunt, looking around the room. Not seeing anyone, he shook his head until he saw Judy standing in front of him. He recovered quickly from nearly dropping the files in his arm. "Hopps, why are you here? Do you have the paperwork on the wool cutting ring done already?"

"Uh, noooo..." Judy said, elongating the 'o'. "Actually, I need to talk to you about something else."

"Oh?"

She jumped onto the desk next to the Cape buffalo. It wasn't nearly eye level, but the look she was giving him was more intimidating than any his larger officers could ever pull off. "Yes. Why didn't you tell me about the annual boxing match and have me participating in it without letting me prepare?"

Bogo's serious expression cracked slightly. "Oh..."

"Yes. 'Oh…'" Judy repeated back. "Now, what are we going to do about this? As Nick and I have several open cases and our regular duties to perform. I can't possibly prepare for something like this on top of all of this work, which is much more important than a boxing match for fun between departments."

"That was something I was going to talk to you about, Hopps," Bogo stated quickly. "I'm delegating your paperwork onto the other officers involved in these cases."

"But!" she began, only to be silenced by a glare from the buffalo.

"That is an order, Hopps. They are just as knowledgeable on the cases as you and Wilde are."

The rabbit scoffed. "But Nick and I were there. We have firstpaw knowledge of the crime scenes that—"

"The others have that as well from reviewing your body cams," Bogo interrupted. "Trust me on this, Hopps. I'd rather have you two doing this paperwork, but this charity event comes first. And this comes straight from the mayor's office. Sorry, but not even I can go against Gisbourne's orders."

Judy sighed, tapping her foot before looking back up at her boss. "Why is this boxing event such a big deal? And why have me do it when the ZFD only employs large mammals? I know I'm trained to take down rhinos and elephants, but I can't imagine how an event like this could raise money."

She heard Nick chuckle. "It's why I wanted the calendar."

The glare she shot him shut him up immediately.

Bogo held in a snort at how quickly Nick had been silenced. However, the glare Judy had sent towards her partner was now leveled at him, and he suppressed it quickly. "Hopps, the past few years have not been good for this event. We raise money by selling tickets for it, as well as selling it on television as it is a pay-per-view event. Sales the past decade have been going down exponentially, making it so that we get less and less money to donate to the Zootopia Kits Hospital."

Judy's ears wilted. She had firstpaw knowledge of the work that went on at that hospital, as several of her brothers and sisters had undergone operations during her childhood. She had never gone on those trips with her parents, but was ever so grateful when they would return with the good news that her siblings would recover from their illnesses.

She thought on what the Chief had said, her ears shooting up as she slowly looked him in the eye. "So you're betting that if the most well known officer in the ZPD was to be participating in the charity event..."

Nick chimed in. "Then it might attract more attention, and thus raise more money for the hospital."

Bogo nodded. "That's correct." He let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry that this is so last minute, Hopps. The Police Commissioner has been in meetings with the Fire Chief on this for the past two weeks and only now settled upon this decision last night. It is why I'm giving you the next few weeks off to prepare and train for this event so that I don't have an injured officer off on medical afterwards."

The mammals in the room turned at a snort from Nick.

"Sorry," the fox lazily waved a paw at his partner, who blushed slightly at the compliment. "But I doubt any of those hose draggers would be able to lay a paw or hoof on Carrots if barely anyone here at the precinct can."

Bogo snorted. "That's where you're wrong, Wilde."

"Oh?" Nick asked in an amused voice as Kitsun walked over to his side, raising her own eyebrow at the police chief's concern.

The vixen coughed into her paw"Chief Bogo,why would you be concerned over who Judy is facing? I have sparred with her many times, and, even as a boxer myself growing up, I would consider Judy one of the best I've ever sparred with."

"Thank you," Judy said, smiling at her friend. The three smaller mammals turned back to face the Chief, who was shuffling through the paperwork in his hooves.

"Have you three heard of the ZFD's latest recruit who came about due to the Mammal Inclusion Initiative?"

The three shook their heads, so he found the page he was looking for and passed it to Judy. The rabbit took it in her paws, her eyes widening and a happy expression taking over her features.

"The ZFD hired a bunny!" she shouted, gleefully jumping in the air and fistpumping once. "That's great news!"

"She's also your opponent," Bogo added.

Judy nodded and looked back down at the cream toned bunny with sparkling blue eyes staring up at her from the page. She flipped the page over, creasing it over the staple as she continued to read.

She heard an involuntary gasp behind her. As she looked back, the two foxes she had been friends with for years had the color draining from their faces. An impressive feat, Judy thought, for mammals with bright red fur.

"Cream fur..." Nick began, counting off his fingers. "Worried Bogo..."

"And those blue eyes..." Kitsun stammered before looking up at Bogo. "Chief, did Bianca Flauers really become a firefighter?"

Bogo nodded, and Judy saw the vixen gulp nervously. The bunny looked between all three animals from her spot on the table. "What's going on? Do you two know her?"

Both foxes nodded before Kitsun spoke up. "I boxed against her several times growing up. My record was split, two–two, going against her."

Judy's ears dropped low. "Oh..."

That was information that now concerned her, as Kitsun was one of the few in the precinct who could keep up with her in the sparring ring. Her gaze turned to Nick, whose face was ashen and pale. She almost didn't want to ask him how he knew her.

"And...you, Nick?" Judy finally asked. Her voice seemed to break through the fog surrounding him and a little color returned to his face. The fox looked at Bogo and nodded.

"Sir, I will make sure that Judy doesn't touch a single document in the next two weeks."

"Wait….What?" Judy shouted, ears shooting up. "Nick!" she yelled when he reached up to her on the table and nearly pulled her off it. She hopped down and was almost dragged behind him as he walked to the door. "What are you doing? How do you know who she is? And why are you suddenly scared for me?"

She shook her paw from his as he froze at the door. Judy took the opportunity to walk in front of him, paws on her hips. "How do you know Bianca Flauers, Nick?"

The smooth-talking, lovable fox that she had known for three years and dated for two had been replaced by one who looked worried, nervous, and definitely no longer a smooth talker.

He gulped, then finally spoke. "Bianca is a former boxer in the Zootopia League. Nicknamed 'The Shotgun' for how she peppered her opponents with surgical hits to incapacitate them. Usually, her bouts only lasted one to two rounds before a KO. She was forced to retire nearly a decade ago due to an injury and went home. She's as fast as you, as strong as you, but knows much more about boxing than you'll ever know."

Judy looked stunned at how Nick just listed off fact after fact on this mammal, as he hadn't even seen the sheet Bogo had given her. "How do you know all this about her? It sounds like you know her personally?" she asked.

Nick slowly nodded. "Bianca Flauer..." His voice caught as he gently grabbed Judy's paw in his, and it took a moment for him to begin again.

"Nevermind, Carrots..." Nick said and just as Judy was about to protest, he turned away. "Let's get you to training."

AN: Okay, so a lot of thanks for this story lol. A big thanks to Koraru-san for letting me mention their amazingly fun Stalker-Wolf Eliot Fanghanel. Also to Pace-Maker on DA for allowing me to use his OC, Bianca Flauer, for this story. Another shoutout to AryaSamasta90(Denslife) on DA for letting me use Kitsun and Ryan for this story. And thanks to Fox in the Henhouse for looking this over to make sure it made sense. Whew...I hope I remembered everyone. Like I mentioned before, I have no experience with this subject matter, so it's all brand new to me. XD