Hey all, DLW here with a new chapter. A huge thank you to all the readers, follows,fav's and reviews (helps me think more so thank you all)! This arc is almost done and more info is at the bottom. Disclaimer: Zootopia and its characters are copyright Disney. (I own none of the characters in the story aside from the O/C's.).

The Dystopian Society

Chapter Two: Feelings Mutual

'Wild...Times?'

"I asked you once, long ago, 'How did our world become so cruel?'"

[February 4, 'Wild Times Theme Park' 2:43 PM]

Judy stood there for a moment, gathering her thoughts and resigning herself to the task just ahead. Jack had told her that the fox was needed and here she was.

Bracing herself for the worst, Judy huffed in annoyance. It was now or never, it was time to enter the scene of the crime.

She clicked the keys of the car to open the door and focused intently on any sudden movement. Her paw already on her taser, she pulled the door open and was greeted with a rather different sight than what she had mentally prepared herself for.

There was Nick, sitting idly with a casual look about him; his gaze affixed to her out of boredom from the long wait. This wasn't the same kind of attitude that she had seen from the fox when he shocked himself, this was a rather more relaxed mammal than before.

In the back of her thought, she was thankful that the tame collar was doing its job.

Not wanting to waste time, she pointed her paws towards the clinic door.

"Out." She commanded.

Nick's ears perked up at her orders. He had been sitting there for a while patiently waiting for something to happen as he recovered from the shock treatment he received.

Compliantly he rose to his feet, pushing off the seat cushion and shifting his weight to stand properly. Having the cuffs behind him made the short walk awkward and cumbersome, but within a few seconds, he was stepping down from the cruisers door.

As he took a step away from the car, he gasped at the sight of his former business. It was the first chance he had to see the place again.

Whereas when he was running the operation it was kept neat and orderly. Now, however, it was a shell of its former glory. The clinic itself was no more than a rundown shack now.

Judy herself wasn't impressed, she noticed that her prisoner wasn't moving.

"Come on fox." She announced, bringing Nick from his awestruck gaze and waving him closer to the building.

Flustered slightly at the repetition of the rabbit, Nick walked forward.

"I told you my name, do I need to spell it for you? It's N-I-C-." He said, brushing off Judy's belittlement of him before being pushed lightly from behind.

"Just get inside!" She demanded.

While Judy was nowhere near as tall as Nick, she had every intent on ushering him into the building. She had no qualms in using her taser if she needed to.

Nick found it interesting that the rabbit would go to such lengths to escort him, but he was once again impressed at how strong she may be as to literally make him move.

He barely had time to fully look over the area before he was face to face with the clinic's main entrance. He didn't get a chance to protest as an irate Judy pushed the door open and dragged him in.

"It's open?" He whispered in surprise, feeling his balance shift from the change of surface from concrete to linoleum.

He thought that they would need the set of keys that he had kept hidden away, but with the way the place looked, he remembered that wouldn't be necessary. The door itself had creaked shut, a victim of the harsh raid that had taken place before.

Coming to a halt as Judy let go of him, the two finally got a look inside the building. Though no overhead lights were on, it was easy to see sunlight from the various broken windows.

As Nick looked over the room, he felt as though he didn't know the place at all. He breathed heavily as he scanned over the ransacked remains of the clinic.

Ceiling tiles fallen and various papers and rubbish littered the floor. Furnishings had all but disappeared with doors to patient rooms knocked down and trampled.

The simple tanned paint had been either peeled or torn, and the welcome desk was turned over. There were lose nails in the wall that had once proudly hung pictures to show patients that this was a much happier place than it was now.

The place was a mess and there was nothing that could be done about it now. Whether this was all done in the raid or some act of vandalism, he didn't know.

Huffing in frustration, Nick walked forward with Judy trailing behind. He turned his head left and right, it was the same thing on either side of the short hallway.

Scratched walls where the swat team had made their entry, piles of dust and debris crisscrosses the floor; light fixtures somehow managing to become loose, and water damage speckled what was left.

Each step, made perilous from fallen obstacles, was a grim reminder of that fateful day some months ago.

Judy herself found traversing the vacant building difficult as well. Whereas Nick was tall and could step over various objects with slight ease, she was constantly hopping around.

As they neared the patient room towards the back of the building, Judy remembered how well hidden the theme park was.

"Of all the hiding spots, you had to place it under a clinic, in a warehouse, on a dock?" She asked, hopping around a fallen shelf.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Nick faced down towards her. It was dim enough for them both inside, but as he couldn't remove his shades easily his night vision helped him out just enough.

Carefully stepping over a few books that had fallen he responded. "That's because I'm a vet, the space was large enough, and the only one available."

"No, you were a vet by fraudulent claim." Judy corrected him.

"Fraudulent? It took me two years to get the degree that I printed out." Nick shot back.

Not sure if he was serious or not, Judy continued to debunk his position.

"Only to have your license revoked, remember?" She stated, her voice on the rise.

"Im still capable of helping any mammal," Nick paused for a moment, studying Judy and turning his head towards the open door in front of them. "Except some rabbits it seems."

He didn't bother to gain any sense of expression from Judy, he just wanted to see what was left of his business.

Their exchange of facts given, they entered the back exam room. A solitary place where patients and guests alike were treated.

Though windowless itself, there was enough light from the surrounding area to illuminate all that was within.

This room, just like the others, had become a junk pile in the past few months. The cabinets were opened and various supplies had either accumulated dust or were outright thrown haphazardly across the room.

A painting that had rested on the wall had been torn asunder, various files lay in a heap across the exam table. Etchings of unknown characters ran from one side of the wall to the other.

Both Nick and Judy cringed from the putrid smell of expired medicines or other unknown odors.

The only thing that seemed untouched in the small space was the shelf that hid the entrance to his theme park. It was covered in dust with small scratches in it, but seemed relatively unharmed.

Nick smiled at this occurrence, this was his chance to see his home away from home again. Taking no further thought, he walked towards the hidden door.

Judy froze the moment she saw Nick make his way over. She didn't know what he would do as the two of them were alone. Her first instinct was to place her paw on her weapon.

Quietly and unfazed by the darkened room, Nick stood before the shelf and looked down towards its side. His ears perked up when he had found what he was looking for.

"Remember this, carrots?" Nick said with a smug grin, never taking his eyes off the floor.

Unable to use his hands to reach the hidden switch, Nick awkwardly kicked at it until he heard it give way.

"And voila!" Nick said with glee.

With a satisfying click and the creak of a panel, the door was open once more.

Nick turned back at the rabbit who was now poised to strike. Her stare was cold and unimpressed.

"No, nothing?" He chuckled.

Judy shook her head and lowered her paw from her weapon. He was still insufferable, but at least they were a step closer in the right direction.

She rounded the exam table up to the door. It was just as she remembered in the raid, and just as dark as well. She unclipped her phone and switched its light on to peer down the winding stairway.

Still cautious of Nick standing near her she waved him forward.

"Alright, let's get downstairs."

Nick walked next to her and looked down the stairs as well. He could easily see, but the light from Judy's phone helped a little.

Before he took another step, he had to ask "Mind un-cuffing me?"

He was somewhat joking in his tone, but still hopeful that Judy would at least let him walk downstairs and balance himself.

To which Judy replied. "Uh, no. Walk."

At least he had brief hope.

Nick shrugged his shoulders and stepped forward. He moved slowly as he could tell the material was beginning to lose its strength.

"Careful, the wood's rotting." He warned.

Every step down uttered a faint creak from the loose boards, and whenever either bumped into one of the walls it sounded like it would give way.

He could hear Judy hopping down step by step as cautious as he was. Even now more than ever he had wanted to see his glorious park again. But patience would be its own reward as a few of the wooden boards gave way slightly under his weight.

Each sound of the wood splinting halted their progress, and Nick did his best to shift his weight around enough to get solid footing to the next step.\

"Almost there." Nick announced.

He had known this place like the back of his paw, they were more than halfway down the stairs.

Judy found it just as difficult to follow the fox. The precarious structure made their decent slower than she had wanted, but her quick thinking and acute hearing had allowed her to nimbly avoid scrapes and bruises.

Heading down a few more perilous and tedious flights, the light from Judy's phone showed the two the bottom floor.

Never had she been more grateful see the end of stairs in her life.

A few more creaks sounded as Judy followed Nick down to the end. They were met with what seemed to be a more solid floor, though only time could tell if they wouldn't fall through it as well.

Not wasting a moment and wanting to see where the files were, Judy hastily asked. "Where are the lights?"

Still able to see Nick from the dim light, he nodded his head towards a wall just by them.

"Power circuit's in that room."

Flashing her phone in the direction he had told her, they walked over to a small cut out room.

With Nick behind her, Judy mentally readied herself incase he tried to attack or make a break for it.

In the room, Judy caught sight of a few machines and a single panel labeled 'power'.

Knowing that this would be her chance to see, she quickly flipped it and heard the roar of the machinery as it came to life.

Light burst from the door allowing her to see a more than jubilant fox furiously wag his tail. For the first time she could see that his sunshades were no longer dimmed, but clearly showing his green gleaming eyes.

"Welcome Carrots," He said with excitement that she never knew he had.

So much was his excitement that the both of them could hear the signature beep of his collar.

Judy herself took a step back in caution. An excitable pred wasn't something that she would like to deal with now, much less the fox that she had accompanying her.

"To the Wild Times!" Nick announced with glee, spinning around to peer out the door and to his masterpiece of a business.

The moment he did so, his countenance dropped.

While he received only a jolt from his collar this time, the shock of what lay before him felt much worse.

"Theme...Park?" His voice, merely a whisper as he could clearly see what had become of his beloved hidden world.

Nick couldn't tell whether he had shuddered from the relapse of the shock or the sheer sight that was before him. Nevertheless, a chill ran down his spine and his tail refused to move.

Judy took notice of the sudden mood change and slowly walked beside him. Whatever was upsetting him clearly couldn't be that serious, she thought.

Rounding the corner to the entry way, Judy knew then what was wrong.

Just as the clinic above them, this place too had been trashed. But compared to the medical office's broken state, the theme park was in complete shambles.

All across the wide warehouse there were broken columns of wood and splintered attractions that collapsed onto one another. Wide arrays of neon lights that once hung to welcome guests now lay shattered about.

Miniature pred dolls hung from random points throughout, each with some random appendage or head missing.

The fliers and advertisements that he had adorned the wall with were now covered in various hate speeches and crude drawings against predators.

On the entry way, they could see signs that were horribly written. Nick cringed at every one of them.

'Go skulk somewhere else.' Was the first one that he took notice of, written across the entrance to the park in massive blue and red paint.

'No preds allowed.' Had been carved and sprayed onto the massive Roar a Coaster.

Horror shot through Nick as he turned to see the more and more ruin.

'Every pred deserves a muzzle.' Was plastered onto the bite strength machine and it was given a metal muzzle of its own.

'Go back to the jungle.' Was sprawled across the ball of yarn pit that now had carvings of preds fleeing into the grasslands.

But by far the worst of all Nick could only stare in disbelief as he looked ahead. The 'Wild Times' sign that he had placed up as the namesake of his park had been torn down to the ground and broken.

The paint peeled and wood split, it was a heap of its former glorious self.

'Put down the preds.' Was now written in place of its name, though most horrifying of all was the fox doll that had been strapped down to it with red tape around its neck and blue sparks drawn around it.

Having seen everything possible in the park, the lights seemed to draw themselves in on Nick alone. He breathed heavily, unable to focus his gaze on one thing or another.

"Who's been here?" He asked frantically.

Judy didn't know how to truly answer that. She didn't know who had possibly been down here. It had been shut down since the raid and investigations stopped months ago.

"It's been abandoned," She stated, thinking of any recent activity. "But it's been on the news."

Barely even paying attention to her, Nick walked towards the fallen sign.

It lacked the radiant glow that it used to bear, every light was out and it was split and splintered into unfathomable pieces.

The fox that was taped down had an uncanny resemblance to himself. It had the same style of clothes he wore but had no glasses to perfect it.

He could feel his neck itch as the red tape that bound the doll to the wood reminded him too much about his current ordeal.

Unable to bear more of the sight, he tore his vision away from the sigh and looked over the room again.

"This was my dream," He muttered to himself. "They had so much fun here."

Lights flickered about the area as he reminisced about the time he had here. He had enjoyed this more than he could say, but now it was over.

"All that work, just rubble." He added, finding himself turning to Judy for some reason. "I just wanted to give preds a chance to smile for once in their lives."

Judy had no idea of why he was telling her this. It wasn't her job to sympathize over his misdeed, nor did she have any intention to do so.

"You ran this for years and had your fun." Judy argued. "What you did was break the law and endanger lives."

Nick froze when he heard this, but he had half expected this kind of an answer. "So, you think I made the world worse, huh?"

Frustrated with his unwillingness to take the blame for what he did, Judy pointed straight at him. "What you did was against the Predation Clause."

Nick stood silent for a moment. He scratched his collar as best as he could with his shoulder alone and replied.

"The clause is a joke." He said sternly. "It's a joke that's been going on for decades, and preds are the punchline."

Judy waved her hand in protest. "Our law is there to protect us."

Nick grit his teeth at her mention of the law, he wouldn't let his side of the argument die. "And what may I ask is protecting us from you?"

Judy didn't know how to answer this one.

Nick took the time to add to his issue. "Every time I hear the news, it's always about some pred doing something horrible."

Without thinking, Judy shouted back. "That's because you preds are dangerous, and that's why the Predation Clause exists, fox."

It was at this time that Nick couldn't find the words to say.

"You broke the three major rules," Judy continued, counting the crimes he committed on her paw "You were charged with 'Violent Actions' when you attacked me, 'Malicious Intent' when you un-collared preds for non-medical services, and 'Conspiracy' for running this place!"

Holding up a finger for each major offense he had, Judy stared him down with fire in her eyes.

"And, to top it off, you did that all in one day!" She exclaimed, furthering her attempt to get him to understand. "So congratulations on making the world a better place for you and making my work harder."

Catching her breath from the near screaming she did, Judy continued to stare daggers at Nick who only gave her a cold blank stare back.

"Can you stop calling me fox?" He asked.

Judy wasn't the least bit amused. "What, are you something other than a fox now?"

Bearing a slight snicker, Nick replied "Well, sometimes other mammals think I'm a kitty."

"But in the end, you're still only a fox," Judy interrupted him and watched as his brow began to twitch. "Just stating the facts."

"Oh, like how prey outnumber preds." Nick wasted no time in countering her observation. "Or how every pred has to wear one of these or they'll be arrested?"

His tone was on the edge of shouting. "You prey are just as dangerous as us."

Judy couldn't particularly argue with him. She had seen plenty of prey animals in her time on the force that were dangerous until their arrest. But one thing distinguished them from preds under their law.

Pointing at Nick she adamantly stated her claim. "You'd never see any prey caught wearing those."

Nick knew that she was pointing more so at his tame collar than anything; and in that instant, he began to smile.

"Ha, good one," He laughed. "I think they can find one for a speedster your size."

Nick flit his ears and chuckled slightly from the thought, but Judy gave him a disgusted stare.

The thought alone to her was disturbing. "Is everything a game to you?"

Nick couldn't help but turn to see his beloved ruin. Every haunting image from the split wood to every painted word, and most of all the small fox doll; everything in his world had turned against him.

With a pained sigh, he answered. "I was hoping that even for a moment it could have been."

"Without concern, you told me 'It's when we didn't see eye to eye.'"

Hello there, and welcome to the end notes! I'm still chipping away a this massive story and I hope you're enjoying it as much as I love writing it. Truly it's only begun and I hope you stick around for more. The next chapter should be up in the next few days since I've revised it from being long chapters to short and more managable chapters.

A new "Nick n' Finnick" should be up soon as well. (more of a slice of life kind compared to this dark story.)

And I hope you get a chance to read this and the other in your leisure. Also, these stories can be found here as well:

fanfiction:
~dancinglunarwolves

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dancinglunarwolves

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users/DancingLunarWolves/works

If you'd like updates, please check the profile page and or P.M. me. I feel as thought I'm writing a lot more these days.

Also, I'm placing my other stories (non zootopia) on hold (just on hold) until I'm done with a good chunk of these. More info on my profile page.

If you liked this story and have time please post a review, and if you would like to keep up with the story please fav or follow. Questions, comments, concerns, feel free to message me about anything... More to come soon.

Till Next Time
-DLW