Chapter 9 Twisted Intentions
The buffalo stared into the fort in utter shock. Not only had the cursed bunny made it to Zootopia, but apparently also had somehow managed to get the usually insubordinate troops to be prepared for his surprise visit.
How in mammaldom did she do that...he thought, striding forward into the fort in between the two lines of saluting soldiers. He saluted crisply, dropping his hoof and was again amazed to see that the soldiers all dropped their salutes at nearly the same time as well.
It infuriated him.
His shock turned to disgust as he focused his rage on the tiny bunny standing at attention at the end of the parallel rows of troops, paws clasped behind her back.
"Why are you here," Bogo demanded as he drew to stop only a few feet ahead of the rabbit.
"Comandante Bogo, sir," Judy began. "This is your welcome to the city, and as the Capitan of Fort Zootopia, it is my honor to welcome-"
"No," Bogo interrupted, glaring at her. "Why are you here." The cape buffalo noticed the rabbit flinch slightly before answering.
"Sir, you told me that this was my new assignment."
"No," the Comandante replied with a snort. "I told you your assignment was to catch The Fox, and you simply jumped to conclusions about your position as Capitan here."
"With all due respect sir," Judy retorted, a hint of anger tinging her words. "You told me that since none of your other Capitans wanted the position that I could have it."
"Is that what I said, rabbit?" Before Judy could reply, Bogo straightened and turned to his entourage that had joined him on his tour of Califurnia. "Who here thinks they could do a better job of policing this city than this bunny could, raise your paw!"
His shout echoed across the fort. Slowly, one by one, the assembled Capitans, lieutenants and even a few of Bogo's Corporals raised their paws or hooves. Some held leering grins at the bunny, while others were chuckling to themselves.
"Now again, by raise of paw, who here thinks that Hopps here will make a great Capitan?"
This time, the paws fell swifty, and with the lowering of each arm, Judy felt more and more crushed inside. Finally, as the last paw lowered, Judy felt a bit of her die on the inside.
They truly don't care for me...she thought, turning to see if anyone had their paws still raised in support of her. At the end of the rows, she saw the raised paws of Clawhauser and Wolford, a whisper of hope building inside of her until two bison officers that Bogo had brought with them walked to each mammal and forced their arms down. Clawhauser attempted to raise his free paw, but was halted from doing so when the Bison forcibly grabbed it and yanked it behind his body, getting a howl of pain from the cheetah.
Judy saw the pain in Sergeant Clawhauser's eyes, and took a step forward, only to have Bogo move in front of her.
"Do you see anyone that supports you in this position, bunny?"
Judy narrowed her eyes, raising her paw and pointing it at the Comandante. "Yes, I saw mammals that supported me, and I'm sure that given more time here that I will have every soldier here fully behind me, one hundred percent."
"Really? You actually think that?"
An amused smile graced Bogo's lips and the harsh sound of laughter came from him, then spread to the rest of his officers and group.
"Did you hear that everyone?" Bogo shouted, loud enough to be heard throughout the barracks. "She actually thinks she can be a real Capitan."
The laughter increased in volume, with even some of her own soldiers joining in. Judy was beyond mortified by the scene, as she knew she could lead this station. She knew that given time her soldiers would grow to love her.
She knew, that she could catch Zorro. Even if it was the last thing she'd do.
"Give me two months."
Bogo's laughter died down as he stared down at the bunny. "What did you say, Hopps?"
"I said," Judy repeated, sending her own glare back at him. "Give me two months to prove to you, and everybody else, that I will be a complete and utter failure."
Bogo snorted in amusement. "What ever do you mean?"
Judy pointed at the buffalo. "I said exactly what I mean. You think I'll fail..."
"Along with everyone else," he snorted, a comment which Judy chose to ignore.
"Again, you think I'll fail. And maybe you're right. I could fail. A lot of things could happen in two months." She narrowed her eyes, grinning at her superior officer. "How long did the other capitans last in this station?"
Bogo gazed down at her, wondering exactly how long each of the previous capitans had served in Zootopia before calling it quits.
"Four months," Judy supplied for him, holding up one paw. "I'm only asking for half that time to prove I can't handle this position."
She grinned when the frown on the buffalo's face intensified, knowing that she had him. "Besides," she stated, pointing up at her Comandante. "Maybe if you keep me here long enough, you can have Zorro do your dirty work and get rid of me for you. How would you like it if he was your weapon of humiliation against me...sir."
Bogo paused, thinking over the request. It was a good request, he gave her that. No matter what happened, he'd be rid of her within two months. And with this section of Califurnia being the most dangerous, he was sure that she'd probably be killed or suffer some sort of crippling injury way before then.
He smiled wickedly.
"I believe we have a deal, Hopps."
Judy reached out her paw, realizing that for the first time, he had actually called her by her last name, instead of just referring to her as 'rabbit', 'bunny', or her personal least favorite, 'sidewalk paste'. Bogo took it in his hoof, shaking it once before rising back up to his full height.
"Now, sir," Judy began. "You must have had a long journey, and I know that I have refreshment in my quarters."
"Splendid," Bogo replied, clasping his hooves behind his back as he followed the Capitan to her quarters.
"I also have an update on The Fox, for you as well."
Bogo snorted. "Already? How so?"
"He paid the fort a visit last night, and myself and a platoon of soldiers chased him away."
"Really? You better have a good explanation for this Hopps..." Bogo growled.
"I can assure you sir, that..." Judy pushed open the door to her quarters, "I will have The Fox caught by the time you come back to the fort in two months time."
The two entered her quarters, and as Judy went to the cupboards to fetch some glasses for the two of them, she heard, and felt, the front door slam. Turning back to the sound, her eyes widened as she felt hooves around her neck, the rush of wind as she was picked up off the floor, followed by the pain of being slammed against the adobe wall. Caught inside the massive hoof of Comandante Bogo, she couldn't do anything as he smiled at her.
"I didn't come in here to share drinks with you, rabbit," Bogo began, raising his free hoof to point into her face. "I came in here to remind you that I...don't...like...you."
"And why would that be...sir?" Judy gasped out as his grip tightened around her body. Having his hoof nearly completely grip her entire frame reminded her of just how small she was compared to him.
"I only agreed to our little wager, because I would be happier to see you come back to San Furcisco in a tiny cedar box than you succeed at anything. And with your predisposition to making dangerous and stupid decisions, being here for two months should be enough time to show you that being a soldier is no job for a cute little bunny."
Even through her current pain, Judy managed a smirk. "Is all this about me humiliating your favorite officer Wolvington a year ago by both disarming and slicing his belt off so his pants would fall?" Judy asked. She took that in the affirmative when Bogo's grip tightened a fraction and the massive pressure on her body increased causing her to gasp. She pawed at the hoof, trying to loosen it but only succeeding in hurting her paw on the sharp keratin of his hoof.
"No," Bogo replied in an eerily quiet voice. Moving closer to her to where she could feel each and every breath the buffalo took, Bogo's scowl grew even more furious. "All this is because I don't have another officer to do that job here, or at least want this position so at one of our country's greatest cities, I have the most pathetic of officers. Does that sound like something I'm happy about?"
Suddenly, Bogo's grip around her body loosened, and she dropped to the floor in a rough pile, gasping for air and rubbing at her neck. Through the pain, she stared up into Bogo's eyes, still trying to show him respect as his subordinate, but finding it hard to do so after what he had just done. His harsh glare was returned with her own of fiery indignation and her determination to prove him wrong.
"I'll prove you wrong...sir."
"Of course you'd say that," Bogo snorted. "Which is why I'm going to be leaving someone here to keep a careful eye on you."
Judy's thoughts were broken for a moment as the implications of what he said fell upon her. Her eyes widened, at first in surprise, then narrowed in anger. "You're giving me a babysitter?" she said in the most accusing tone she could muster while gulping air after nearly being crushed. "Why?"
"I'm glad you asked," he replied, clasping his hooves together. "I'll be leaving Magistrate Dawn Bellwether here to watch over the fort. She'll be under my immediate command, and her word, is law. I expect you to follow any, and all orders from her." Bogo paused, his grin becoming a smirk. "And if you don't, you'll be brought up on charges of insubordination and accorded the proper and due punishment. Understood, rabbit?"
Judy nodded, still rubbing at her neck.
"Excellent," Bogo hummed. "She'll be making sure you take every risk possible to alleviate me of your nuisance. Zootopia is a dangerous city after all. Who better than the first bunny Capitan to try, and fail, to be rid of them."
Judy felt her world closing in around her and it was suddenly becoming harder to breathe, and not because of what Bogo had done earlier. She was still the Capitan, however, it now was a title in name only at the cannonball he just dropped on her. "Why would you do this? Do you have something against the soldiers here to have them take unnecessary risk? You know that for patrols more than one soldier makes up a platoon."
"I have nothing against them," Bogo growled, lowering himself until he was only a few feet away from her. "I just despise you. If Magistrate Bellwether says you need to do a single patrol, you will do a single patrol. If she asks you to single pawdedly take on a band of marauders..." Bogo sneered at her, "Then you will do it and be grateful for the opportunity. Got it?"
Bogo turned to leave, crossing the room quickly. "Magistrate Bellwether will be here in ten days, so I suggest you enjoy your last few days of freedom as well as you can."
Judy slammed her fist on the floorboard, needing to vent her frustrations as Comandante Bogo left, the buffalo slamming the door on his way out with enough force to cause a breeze to blow through the room, knocking a few papers into the air and a hat to fall off of the table. It lazily drifted to directly in front of her, though in the rabbit's despondency and sadness that washed over her in waves, she didn't notice anything else in the room but herself.
Why me...Judy thought as she, finally finding herself alone, let the huge weight and despair hanging over her to complete its humiliating destruction of her psyche. The tears fell freely as she hung her head. Tears flowed from the pain she felt, both physically and emotionally as her dreams, which before had flown proudly like flags in the wind, now felt more like ripped shreds of cloth caught in a thorn bush.
She had reached her goal of becoming a Capitan, but for what? She couldn't understand why Bogo hated her so much, as to imply that he was willing to put her in situations to where she could die for no reason at all but to satiate what? Some sick hatred he had towards her?
"What is wrong with him," she muttered. At first she thought his endless anger towards her was because she was just what he constantly reminded her she was, a rabbit. And that rabbits usually did nothing more than farm, not join the army and most certainly not aim for the rank of Capitan. Maybe she had worked too hard at the military academy, or somehow ticked him off enough for him hold such a vendetta against her?
But this took hatred to a whole new level. She had heard of commanders throughout history ordering their troops into hopeless situations, but only with a strategy to somehow bring a victory out of the jaws of defeat. History was replete with such actions, yet she couldn't fathom a single instance when a leader of soldiers would order a single one of his troops to purposefully put themselves into situations that would get them injured, or even killed. And even putting them under the control of a Magistrate who could order then around willy-nilly to whatever fancied their whims on a given day.
Judy shook her head. This wasn't what she signed up for, but, she was in the thick of it now, and couldn't back out. She pushed herself off the ground, feeling her chest ache after Bogo's assault. Shuffling forward, she stopped when her foot caught onto something beneath her. Gazing down, she noticed a familiar looking bolero beneath her paw.
"Isn't that...Don Wilde's cap?" Judy said to herself as she gently picked up the hat. Flipping it over, she noticed an inscribing inside of it, which, even through the subsiding pain in her chest, she managed a smile at what it said.
"Owned by the most handsome of foxes this side of anywhere. Don Nicholas Diego de la Wilde."
"Best get this back to him," she muttered as she heard a bugle sound outside, and could only hope that it was Comandante Bogo leaving. She silently hoped that the next two months would be the longest of her life, just so she wouldn't have to see that doubting smirk of his again.
She'd prove the cape buffalo wrong, just as she proved everyone else wrong in the academy, then on through officer's training school. She wasn't just a bunny. She was a soldier, and as one, she'd go above and beyond what was expected of her.
"I said two months to capture The Fox," Judy stated, rising to her full height while brushing at the moist fur of her cheeks. Her body still hurt, but she couldn't let that stop her. "I won't capture him in two months. I'll capture him in one..." Judy strode towards the door, cap in paw as she began planning on how she'd be able to overcome this latest obstacle in her way. Maybe if she was lucky she could do it in nine days and not even have to deal with Bellwether.
Wouldn't that be a nice housewarming present for her...Judy thought. Maybe it could even placate some of Bogo's wraith against her. As suddenly as that idea came, she frowned.
No...that will require soldiers to do that. Trained soldiers, and right now I don't have those...
As she made her way out the door, watching the dust of Bogo's entourage hanging in the air, Judy began planning a training regimen for her troops. She'll win over the Comandante with a present of The Fox...she just needed to survive training her troops, and whatever this Magistrate Bellwether would try and force upon her first.
Upstairs, the wide eyed fox heard the door close and felt like he could finally let out his breath he had been holding him.
"That buffalo is loco..." he whispered, trying to calm his fast beating heart. "At least now I know where all the other Capitan's got their behavior from; that sick, twisted Comandante."
Nick pushed himself off the floor and made his way to the window, pulling back the drapes to spy what was happening outside. He noticed the dust trail leaving the fort, meaning that the crazed Comandante had left, and also noticed his now favorite-least-favorite Capitan speaking with the mammal he knew as Sergeant Clawhauser. What had begun as contempt for the rabbit with their first meeting, now had turned to...something else. He mulled the thought over in his mind. What did what just happened downstairs remind him of?
All of a sudden, it clicked, and he felt incredibly foolish instantly afterwards.
"Over-judgemental boss, no care for subordinates, picks favorites and insults all others...
It reminded him of his own father.
"Could it be that we are not so much different after all Carrots?" Nick said aloud, now knowing that this poor creature was struggling with something he was all too familiar with. He understood the hurtful looks, and comments laced with barbs and constructed just to hurt and maim. The Don suddenly felt sorry for the rabbit, a layer of guilt welling up inside of him for how he had treated her.
She wasn't evil, not even close to it. When she lashed out, it probably didn't come from a residual darkness inside of her, but maybe, was simply built up over how others had treated her and came out at the least opportune times?
"Maybe I can work with her after all," Nick mused as a small grin began to form. He looked upon the Capitan a little more closely as his smile widened. Maybe I can help keep her around for a bit...
His thoughts came to a crashing halt when his gaze fell upon something she held in her paws.
His hat.
"Ah, caramba..." Nick whispered as he noticed Clawhauser pointing in the direction of where Nick's home was. The rabbit soon took off in that direction, making him realize that she was most likely going there, expecting him to be there.
Nick ran out of the room and down the hall towards the roof access, shooting up the ladder and jumping through the open hatch. Thankfully, his race across the rooftop and over the fort's wall went unnoticed as he raced off into the underbrush, both panic and a silent urgency pulling at him.
"Today just gets stranger and stranger..."
AN: Well, I initially had a lot of fluff planned for this chapter, but then this came out and...yeah. But don't worry, the fluff is coming shortly. And by fluff, I mean the kind that rots your teeth and gives you diabetes. Along with some action as well, because, who doesn't like action, right? XD