Chapter Eight
"Don't call me Edward, you prey loving skanky! I am now called Adolf," the young fox resorted as Husky hold him tightly to prevent his escape attempt.
"Don't call me 'skanky', buddy," Nick growled. "Your uncle will be happy to hear that we found you but he will be very disappointed by your actions and your bigotry. He has been looking for you for the last 2 years. There is the picture of you on that missing child posters in our police station. When he found out that I joined ZPD, he was the first to congratulate me after Judy and asked me to find you."
Wile found something on the ground, put on the latex glove before picking it up, and showed the object to Nick and Husky who recognized it as remote control for the drone.
"I take it that it is yours, Edward," Nick said.
"What do you care? I don't have to answer this to you or any of skanky or inferior scrubber! So what? And don't call me that dishonorable name! I am Adolf! They will honor me if I succeed!" Edward retorted, trying to free himself from Husky but he held him back. Nick turned back to Edward.
"Who will 'honor' you if I may ask?"
"Society of the Predator Supremacy!" Edward said with glee as Nick and Judy looked at him with dismay. SPC has been suspected of terrorism and eating their prey victims as they believed in their supremacy over the prey and demanded to exercise their 'rights' to hunt and eat the prey species.
"Oh? Is that where you have been in the last two years?"
"What do you care? They are now my family! Not my prey loving uncle skanky!"
"Tsk. Tsk," Nick said with disappointed voice, "You send the bomb through our room window and try to kill us but luckily for us. Judy got an excellent hearing and warned us just in time for us to go under the table but it fell on my tail, injuring it. I would be upset with you for hurting my tail, however, that is not the case anymore. Wanna know why? Let me tell you. I really hate being the bearer of bad news to my dear old friend about their missing nephew who have joined that disgusting racist group! Your aunt took care of you and you ran away and did this! You know how she would feel about your association with those terrorists!"
"Who care about my aunt?! She's not my mother! She's an inferior scrubber!" Edward spat at Nick's face.
"Don't you dare call her that! She has worked hard to raise you!" He angrily said as he wiped the spit from his face with handkerchief and turned to Husky, "Get that piece of crap outta my face before he tempts me to hit him hard!" he growled at the wolf, who complied and took the teen to his patrol car. "Oh, one more thing, tell Chief Bogo that I believe that SPS is involved in this situation," Nick added.
"Of course, Officer," Wile said as he opened the patrol car's back door to let Husky put Edward in. Nick cursed loudly as he and Judy walked back to their patrol. He hit his right paw hard on the car's hood, left a little dent in it. Husky and Wily went their separate way to the station directly while Nick and Judy go to the nearest medical clinic.
"You drive as I am no mood to do it, Judy," Nick said angrily as he opened the passenger side door while gripping his now-pained paw. Judy understood and complied. "Besides, I gonna call Alex," he said as he sat down in the car. He dialed his phone while flexing his painful paw as Judy started the car. The phone answered after two rings.
"This is Alex," the cheerful voice said. "What a pleasure to hear from you, ol' Nicky! What's up, man?"
"Yes, I have news for you but, first you need to sit down," Nick answered.
"What?" Alex asked, "I am sitting now. Is it about Eddie?"
"Yes," Nick continued, "we found him. He's alive and well, but he has gone astray and joined the SPS group and demanded that we call him 'Adolf.'"
"SPS?" Alex said sadly, "Oh, damn. This is bad. Eddie always hangs out with the wrong crowd. 'Adolf', he said? Just like the Fuhrer, Adolf Fitler, eh?"
"Seems that way, bud."
"Damn, Molly won't like that news because SPS is suspected of killing some prey victims and eat them like the Fitler's Naxi did during the Great War and her family was one of their victims," he sighed, "But thanks for the news, Nicky. We owe you one."
"Not a problem, Alex. We'll meet with you later, part of normal police procedure as you are Edward's legal guardians, you know. I need to stop someplace first before going to your place. Tell Molly that if she got any blueberry pie left, save it for me so it'll improve my mood."
"Of course, and it is always a great pleasure to see you and we can't wait to meet your partner, Judy."
"Of course, see ya."
"Great! See y'all soon!"
Nick disconnected the phone and sighed. Judy looked at him with concerns.
"Do you mind my asking you some questions about Edward and family?" Judy asked, "If you do, I understand and I am sorry that this happens to you. I know it is hard to you."
"No, I don't mind," Nick replied, "So, what do you want to know?"
"Well, I noticed that your friend has custody of Edward so I am guessing that his parents are gone or something, am I right?"
"Yes, that's correct," Nick answered, "Edward's father, Harry, who was an older brother of Alex, died in an auto accident with his wife when Alex was in his first year of college. Edward survived because he was at home with Alex while Harry and his wife went out on a date – needed a break from baby caring. It was very difficult time for Alex, balancing his school studies and raising that kid who was only about two and a half years at the time. He almost quitted his college but his college classmate, Molly, encouraged him to stay and helped with the raising. They married shortly after graduation from college and have had two own kids. But Edward was always a troublesome child for them. He ran away few times but came back until two years ago when he finally ran away for good."
"Wow, and from what I heard about Edward saying that his aunt is an 'inferior', I'm guessing that she's not a fox and is a prey, am I correct?"
"You are right. Molly is a wonderful capybara. She's the one who helped Alex with patience and supports in raising the troublesome child. It was hard for their parents to accept their love but, ironically, it was the young Edward who convinced them to accept the eventual marriage between them. Molly also was the one who brought back my faith in harmony between predators and preys after that incident at a scout meeting, which is another reason why I do not have any problem with the interspecies relationship. A couple of times, I found Edward and brought him back when he ran away. Now, it's the third time I did it. When I join ZPD recently, Edward told me that he had changed their will, giving me custody of Edward if they die too soon before he's eighteen, which will be in few months from now. After that, he would be on his own and there would be nothing I can do about him."
"Unbelievable," Judy sighed as she drove along, "I never thought this would happen. Molly wasn't a fox and she raised the young fox the best she can and now he has turned against his own surrogate mother, and even using insulting terms against her."
"Yes," Nick sighed as well, "Alex had matured faster than I did because of Edward. I have helped Alex for the first few years after that accident until Molly took over full time in raising that child. He often asked me to find him whenever he ran away because I know hustling and other stuff that had enabled me to find him. As he got older, he knew my hustling ways so he had finally able to learned to avoid me in the last two years."
Nick and Judy arrived at the small mammal medical clinic, went to the front desk and request the medical service with the secretary, then they went and wait in the lobby. Judy noticed that Nick still looked angry. She wanted to comfort her best friend but she was unsure exactly what to say so she decided to stay quiet and hug him gently, trying to soothe him. They stayed that way for few minutes. It seems to have worked as he became calmer and relaxed. She smiled because she felt that she had achieved with calming him.
Soon, the nurse, a ferret, called Nick in and she led Nick and Judy to one of the rooms. Nick sat on the examination bed while Judy sat at one of the chairs in the room. Shortly, the doctor, an armadillo, came in.
"Hello, I am Dr. Tejanillo and what can I do for you, officer?" the man said as he took out the pad from the wall folder.
"We had a situation at one of the schools today and my tail got injured in the progress," Nick answered, more calmly, "I don't know if it's just bruised or a broken bone."
"We have to do an x-ray to make that determination, officer," the doctor said, "But first let me see your tail for a moment."
Nick obliged by letting the doctor handles his tail, inspecting it from the end to the tip. He yelped quietly when the doctor touched the part at the third of four way of his tail. Judy was tempted to run over and hold Nick but she sat still.
"Okay, that's the spot where it was injured," the doctor remarked matter of fact, "How did that happen?"
"There was a drone carrying the bomb and it exploded in the room we were in and one end of table fell on my tail," Nick answered.
"Fell on it, eh? Hopefully, it's just a bruise but let's take an x-ray. Let me check your heart before we do that," He said as he took his stereoscope, attached the earpieces to his ears and put the scope on Nick's chest. Then he put the blood pressure device on Nick's arm. After a few moments.
"Your heart rate and blood pressure are normal, officer. Any other discomfort?" the doctor said.
"No," Nick began but was interrupted by Judy who said, "His right paw. He hit his paw hard on car's hood recently."
The doctor looked at Judy and then back to Nick, who resorted, "My paw is fine!"
"Let me be a judge of that, son," the doctor said as he picked up Nick's right paw to examine it as Nick gave the dirty look at Judy and yelped as the doctor pressed the side of his paw. Judy gave her 'I told you so' look at Nick.
"Your partner is right," the doctor said, "but I daresay that it's probably only a bruise. We'll take x-ray for both tail and paw to be sure."
The doctor took Nick to the x-ray room while Judy followed and sat in the chair outside the door to the x-ray room. They returned to the examination room. The doctor said that he would be back with some x-ray results. They are alone for a moment and Judy took the opportunity.
"Nick," Judy said, "I am scared now that SPS is most likely involved in this case. I heard bad things about SPS as it is a neo-Naxi group. Hunting the prey like sports and eat them during the Great War. There were some murders of prey victims in the city that were linked to SPS and other neo-Naxi groups. Some bodies never recovered because of the possibility of them eating them and burning the bones to cover the crimes. They also killed some police officers and ate them. They also kill some predators because of their disabilities and it is possible that they are targeting the deaf children because they considered deafness as disability and inferior. This is worse than the Savage case we had last year."
"You are right about that, Carrots," Nick said, "I'm scared too. Molly said that her great-grandparents were murdered and, most likely, eaten by the Naxi during the war. Our Allied soldiers found evidence of cannibalism along with eating of the prey victims. Some small predators, including foxes, were also hunted and eaten by the Naxi who considered small size to be inferior as well. She also said that some predator survivors felt guilty about the crimes and became vegans – refused to eat chicken, fishes and such but their new diet went against them and died younger than usual. It was difficult for both sides. Molly's grandparents were lucky as they escaped to Switzooland, a neutral country, and then moved to Zootopia after the war. My family has never gone through this horror so I knew little about it until I met Molly. I learned a lot from her and made me appreciate the importance of harmony and peace between predators and prey in our modern society. Oh, Mr. Big mentioned that his distant family members were also killed by the Naxi because of their small size. So, you can see why they need polar bear as bodyguard."
"Mr. Big?" Judy said in shock, "I never thought of that but I am glad that he will be on our side in this case in case we need his help."
The door opened and the doctor returned with the x-ray results.
"Good news, Officer Wilde," the doctor said, "Both tail and paw came up negative so both have bruises but you need to be extra careful with your tail as it is tender at the moment."
Nick and Judy thank the doctor and left the clinic to go to his friend's home in Savannah district. Judy was surprised to see that the fox living in a nice home as most foxes are not well-to-do folks.
"I'm curious, Nick," Judy said as they pulled up the driveway to the house, "What do Alex and Molly do?"
"Alex is the supervisor at the post office while Molly is an elementary teacher at one of the public schools," Nick answered, "Not all foxes are sly as most animals thought. It was Molly's father who helped Alex getting the job at the post office."
"Ah, I got it," Judy said as she and Nick got out of the car and went up to the front door. Nick knocked on the door. The door opened to reveal a young fox-capybara boy. His fur is light brown and his muzzle resembled his mother's while his ears resembled his father's, however, his tail was more like a cat instead of fox fluffy tail. He was almost as tall as Judy. The boy was happy to see Nick and greeted him.
"Hello, Jon!" Nick greeted, "This is my partner, Officer Judy Hopps." He turned to Judy, "This is Jon, son of Alex and Molly."
The trio went inside and greeted Alex, who was a little taller than Nick with a bit of chubbiness around his waist – almost like Judy's old school bully, Gideon Grey but bit taller, in the living room.
"Hey, you crazy sly fox!" Alex greeted as he grabbed Nick's head and gave him the noogie as Judy and Jon giggled. Nick pushed him away with an elbow against Alex's rib.
"All right, you silly goofy fox," Nick resorted as he smoothed his head fur, "This is my partner, Judy."
"About time!" Alex rejoiced, "Ol' Nicky told me a lot about you! I could not attend his graduation from ZPD Academy few months ago so we missed the opportunity to meet you until now. Molly would be so thrilled to see you but she's in her room, having her crying spell because of Eddie. Give her time to settle down. Hopefully, she'll come see you before you leave."
Nick and Judy looked at each other, unsure of what to say next but it was another person who broke the brief silent. It was a female young fox-capybara but her muzzle and tail resembled her father's and ears her mother's with grey fur.
"I heard someone come in so I want to come out and meet Judy whom I have heard so much from Dad and Nick."
"This is my daughter, Hayley," Alex proudly introduced, "Let's sit down in the dining room for a late lunch and tell me all about Eddie and whatnots!"
They went to the dining room. There were bread and foods on plates in the center of the table. They sat down at the table.
"All righty, Nicky," Alex said matter of fact, "Let talk about Eddie."