Hey all, DLW here with a new chapter. A huge thank you to all the readers, follows,fav's and reviews (Honestly, it helps me think)! This arc is 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
'Crowded'
"I asked you once, long ago, 'How did our world become so cruel?'"
[February 4, 'Wild Times Theme Park' 4:43 PM]
It had taken some time for the tension in the room to die down, but in no way did it disappear.
Nick once again managed to sit in his chair while the two rabbits stood on either side of him.
Judy, the frustrated rabbit she was, took solace in standing near the door. Her arms were folded and her ears drooped behind her. Should Nick try to escape or cause either of them harm, she'd be ready.
Jack, the more calm and experienced of the two, leaned against the wall. He surveyed the room, piecing as much information together as possible before he spoke a word.
He had just been notified about the blank pages that Nick had stored away, but it didn't make sense at all.
He thought patiently, eyeing either of the two while assessing what their next course of action should be. Playing the list of events in his mind, only one thing stood out.
Solemnly he adjusted his tie, catching glances from the others as he was the only one to move. He then stood tall and walked closer to Nick.
Clearing his throat he asked. "The two you mentioned earlier, this Clawhouser and Finnick, who are they?"
Slightly surprised by the question, Nick froze. Even though he suggested finding them earlier, he wondered what would become of his friends if they reached them.
From Judy's actions alone, he may end up with a few more cell mates. He would never betray his friends, even if he had to go back.
Nick, now unwilling to answer, leaned back in his chair and turned his head towards the window.
Judy, watching this scene unfold, started to seethe with rage. Here was Jack, the best of the best, trying to help him, but the fox ignored and hindered them.
She had to put an end to this. No fox could possibly be worth their time.
As she made up her mind to speak to Jack, she watched him shake his head and sigh.
"Come on Nick," Jack pleaded, walking around to see the fox face to face. "They won't get in trouble I assure you."
While still mulling over the endless scenarios that could happen, Nick snapped out of his thoughts long enough to see the sincere expression on Jack's face.
His stance was calm and he smiled slightly, none of his features or attitude drew flags of deception.
"This is a police investigation coordinated by FERAL, they won't be arrested for conspiracy or association." He continued, slightly eyeing Judy to get his message across plainly.
Taking all the information in, Nick felt slightly better. He leaned forward to speak, creaking his chair as he did so. Though still somewhat reserved, this was his chance to see his friends again without fear of them being taken down with him.
"They're the ones that helped me run," Nick began, taking a deep breath and tracing his eyes from one side of the room to the other. "What's left of this place."
His voice trailed off as a deep sorrow pooled within him. All the memories he had here were shattered remnants now. Only his friends would understand the same feeling.
At the mention of the others, Judy tore away from her sentry position and questioned. "You mean your accomplices?"
Nick immediately turned his head towards Judy, he couldn't believe what he heard. How could she demean them like common criminals?
"Accomplices?!" He spat out in anger, giving a warning sound for all to hear. "They're my friends, fluff!"
Equally angered now, Judy yelled back. "Don't call me fluff, fox!"
While both stared with fury at each other, they failed to see formerly casual rabbit step in-between them.
"Enough! Both of you!" Jack shouted, far louder than the two could imagine.
While Judy winced from the piercing and sudden sound, Nick jumped slightly in shock though his collar never went off. Neither were expecting Jack to have such a resounding voice, but experience told them that he wasn't one to be easily beaten in an argument.
As both the rabbit and fox had become silent, Jack finally regained control of the room. He turned to face Nick once more.
He sighed in frustration. "Can you describe them for us?"
Nick, a little nervous after the sudden outburst, shifted in his chair. Whether or not he did so to retreat into his mind or to make himself comfortable, he didn't know. He only needed to tell them who they were for now.
"Uh, Finnick is a fennec fox," He admitted, adjusting his foot as if to measure. "About yea high and always angry."
He himself chuckled at the thought. Jack merely smirked in response.
"And Clawhouser is a cheetah," Nick "Always cheerful and goes on forever about a singer we know."
Judy cringed the moment she heard the fox say cheerful and cheetah together. She had taken down many of their species before, fast and cunning with terrifying claws. So whatever cheer a cheetah could have couldn't possibly be good for her.
Nodding in response, Jack began to ponder and pace. "What were your usual hangout spots?"
Nick thought deeply about this. They had a whole slew of places that they visited. From their old hustling grounds and shelters, to their former vendor locations and recreation spots.
None stood out more than what was in front of them.
"Well, usually just hung out here," Nick announced, feeling his shoulders weigh heavy from the pains of loss. "Until it all fell apart."
Every moment his eyes were opened in the office he could feel them droop from the sight of the wreckage. He wanted to fix something or watch someone walk through the doors just to have fun.
Mulling over more common spots, another came to him.
"Oh, they might be back at my place." He exclaimed.
Jack, continuing to pace back and forth, stopped in his tracks.
"Wait, your apartment in the Rainforest District?" He asked, with a sense of urgency coursing through his voice.
Nick nodded. "Yeah, why?"
Jack stood frozen in place, his expression dropped along with his ears. He noticed Nick looked worried as well, this wouldn't be easy to tell him.
"That's the second place the ZPD looked for evidence," Disclosing this, he got a horrified look from Nick, he could have sworn Judy smiled. "Also, it kind of collapsed from all the leaking."
In an instant, Nick had his ears pinned behind him. He heard a faint beep as he thought about his friends.
He leaned forward. "Were they-"
Jack waved his paws stopping Nick from further questions. "No, no news reports of any dead tenants."
Only slightly relieved that they weren't in the collapse or found in the search of his apartment, Nick was still worried as to where they were.
While he was still in thought, Jack reached into his vest and pulled out his phone.
Unlocking it and searching for a specific item, he added. "We did, however, manage to impound a van."
Nick hopped down from his chair, eager to find out more.
"What did it look like?" He asked, holding his breath in hopes that it was the right one.
Jack flipped from screen to screen, searching diligently for the vehicle in question. There had to have been hundreds of pictures of various crime scenes or evidence.
Finally, after a solid minute of searching, he finally found the van he was looking for.
"Here." He said, holding the phone just in front of Nick and zooming in.
There it was in all its glory. Orange with four wheels, and bearing the image of a wolf carrying a vixen in his arms. It was the only van in the city that looked like this.
Now more confused than worried, Nick questioned himself as to where they went. This place was a wreck, they couldn't have gone to his apartment, and the van was impounded.
He only came up with one answer, one place left to go, and even he thought it was crazy.
Huffing in disbelief, he answered. "The only person that may know where they are lives in the Nocturnal District."
Upon hearing the location, Jack smirked.
"The underground, huh?" He stated excitedly.
He turned to Judy who had a rather confused stare.
Grinning and shrugging his shoulders, he gave the next assignment. "Well, I guess your search will have to pick up there."
Whereas Jack was beaming with confidence, Judy was nothing but horrified.
"Nocturnal District?" She whispered, catching mixed glances from the others.
Jack, trying not to let tensions flare again, spoke calmly. "Judy, surely you've been there?"
She scratched her ear nervously, but never once changed her expression.
"I've heard of it a couple of times," She admitted. "But I've never been there."
Somewhere in her mind, she didn't want to go. She remembered some of her fellow officers talk of the sheer number of preds there.
It was no place for a lone bunny to be, even if she was a lieutenant.
While Judy contemplated every aspect of the 'underground', she failed to hear Nick snickering at her.
"Yep," He exclaimed, finally gaining her attention. "It's the darkest place in Zootopia, but you'll love it."
Ever so slowly, her ears fell to the side and her mouth fell with them. Her eye twitched slightly as her anger rose.
With a heated and slow tone, she asked. "Why... would I love... to be in the dark... with you?"
Noting her change in voice and motion, Nick continued to badger her.
"Well, with a perfectly balanced carrot only diet, you should have excellent enough night vision escort me." He said mockingly as if it were a fact.
As he finished his little poke at her, he nodded several times to let his glasses fall to his eyes and give him a 'without these I can't see' kind of look.
Though she fumed, and her teeth chattered, Jack couldn't help but laugh at the spectacle.
She visibly shook and started to search for words to say. She hated everything he said, she couldn't do this again.
She turned away from the two and muttered. "You... preds."
Both Nick and Jack stopped their laughing the moment she spoke. Nick, more or less expecting this, resumed his nonchalant stance. Jack, however, knew not to let things get out of hand.
Walking towards the door, he turned to wave at Nick who quizzically looked at him.
"Will you excuse us?" He asked politely, tapping Judy on the shoulder.
She jumped slightly at the sudden touch but recognized that it wasn't the fox.
Tilting his head for her to follow, the two exited the room. Jack closed the door behind them to leave Nick by himself.
The two now entering the park grounds in complete silence, stood just before the wreckage of the roar a coaster.
The soft glow of what was left of the red and blue neon lights helped them see the other in this small time of theirs. Thought the mess itself did nothing to help put their minds at ease, they were at least able to have a reprieve to themselves.
"He's difficult." Judy mumbled.
She had her arms folded and her ears still behind her, she didn't really understand why Jack of all mammals wouldn't just have the fox locked up. He was a hunter, she admired him for what he did.
She heard shuffling behind her but didn't care to see what Jack was doing.
"You should know that he's doing this all in good fun." He replied.
Clenching her paw, she turned to face him. "Why are you taking his side?"
He stood only a few feet behind her, basking in a deep blue and subtle light. He looked somehow different as he stared at her confidently.
Not moving from his relaxed stance he continued. "Had you shot him, you'd both be dead."
Wanting to say something more to her case, Judy leaned in closer, though she stopped because what he had just said made her feel uneasy.
"What?" She inquired.
Jack never took his eyes off her as he spoke. "Remember when I said that a polar bear died from the kill collar?"
Remembering the story, she nodded meekly.
For a moment Jack said nothing, ensuring that he had her full attention. When he did finally feel as though it was time, he crossed his arms.
"It took seconds for it to combust from the voltage, you would have been cooked in an instant." His voice was far calmer than it should have been.
Finally realizing the danger that she was in with the fox's collar close to her, she felt her foot move back slightly on its own. Pulling that trigger would have ended them both.
Jack shook his head at this, uncrossing his arms and looking towards the office.
"I can't help but try to keep him calm, I really don't want to see anyone else die from a kill collar." His voice trailed off as if saddened by the loss of the predator.
Though Judy noticed his change in tone, she could only question what heinous crime the pred did to have the collar on in the first place.
Jack having taken long enough, shook his head and grinned.
He shrugged his shoulders and waved his hands towards the rides. "I mean really, this place is mostly wood,and I like barbecue sauce."
Though he didn't hear any response from Judy, he turned to meet her eye to eye.
"I don't think, however, that barbecued rabbit and roasted fox sounds appetizing." Chuckling at his own sense of humor, he relaxed slightly.
He wanted her to say something, anything to that matter, but she stood there seemingly annoyed. He had hoped she would understand.
"Look, Judy." He sighed. "I'm trying to help the two of you so you can both get what you wanted out of the deal."
Looking her straight in the eye, he could see how tense she had become. She never unclenched her paw, and her ears had risen to match his.
He pointed towards her. "You want to be a huntress? Then you need to gather info and find your target."
He then pointed towards the office. "He wants to gain his freedom? Then he has to help us find who's responsible for this mess."
Hoping his message had gotten across, he waited patiently for her to say something.
Though for a moment nothing was heard, he could see Judy slowly raise her paw and point towards the office door.
"He's still a pred though," She answered with no pity in her tone. "He's earned his collar like all the rest of-"
That was enough.
"He's earned his citizenship like every mammal in this city!" Jack shouted, his echo ringing off the walls of the empty park.
So loud was his voice that they could hear the wood creaking and the lights flickered from the resonance.
Judy took a step back in astonishment. She heard Jack yell before, but not like this. Whereas before, he was trying to make a point, this time, he was far angrier than she could be.
Nearly backing down in fear, Judy felt as though she should say something in apology. As she tried to find the words to do so, she saw Jack begin to clutch at his chest and tremble.
"Jack, are you okay?" She whispered, worried that something may be wrong.
She took a step forward and watched as he fell to his knees, groaning in pain and gasping for breath.
"Jack!" She shrieked, running towards him only to be stopped halfway when he held up his paw.
She watched as he reached into his vest and pull out a small white capsule, shakily swallowing it the second he could.
Though still inching forward as he coughed and sputtered, Judy could see that he had begun to recover slightly.
It took him a few seconds to finally rise to his feet once more, regaining his composure for the moment but huffing from the momentary pain.
"I'm fine." He wheezed.
Despite his reassurance, she was still worried about his wellbeing. "What was that?"
"Nerve damage. Had it since I was young." He informed, breathing steadily and reaching his paws to fix his tie.
"It flares up from time to time, especially when I over stress myself." He admitted, fixing the final loop of his tie and adjusting his suit. "It almost got me and my partner killed on our first mission."
Fully recovering for now, Jack turned his head towards the ceiling. He didn't know how long he stood there, or how long Judy had watched him.
"When you look at this place, Judy," His mellow voice drifted as he watched the lights flicker and fade. "What do you see?"
Taken aback by the sudden change of mood and the question at hand, Judy thought. She knew what she saw here, she didn't need to look around.
"I see the den of the fox that tried to attack me," She began "And a cesspool for lawbreaking preds."
It was quiet after she spoke, not a sound aside from the buzz of the lights.
Jack, still gazing skyward, sighed as he began to speak. "I see someone that, like you, followed their dreams against all odds."
In her mind, she tried to form an argument. She had trained as hard as she could to become a cop. The fox, on the other hand, lied his way into this sham of a business.
Before she could form the words she wanted to say, she watched as Jack slowly turned from his upward stare and looked straight at her.
His visage was that of when he had spoken to Nick earlier, calm and sincere.
He held his paw towards the ceiling and asked. "If this was your dream, in a world that treated you unfairly, how far would you go to hold on it?"
Judy couldn't help but stare at him. From everything she had known about him from news and other sources, he was a ruthless force of nature that never failed to take down the pred he was after.
This, however, was a different Jack than what she had known her whole life. He was far more sympathetic than she could have ever imagined.
Having spoken everything he needed to say, Jack let his paw fall to his side as he walked towards the office again.
"Wait right here." He instructed, prying the door open and turning his head back to her.
Easing his way in, he found one last word of wisdom for her. "We've all lost a lot, Judy. Hopefully now we can help someone before they lose everything."
Having said all that was needed, Jack closed the door. Now Judy herself was alone with her thoughts.
Like before, all Judy could hear was the sound of the lights and creaking wood from time to time. Now, however, she had a lot to think about.
There was so much she wanted to say to Jack, but it always seemed like he was miles ahead of her. She had so many questions, and he had answered her with riddles and what ifs'.
Why did he choose her? She wondered. Why did he choose sympathy for the preds that were so obviously criminals? She questioned.
Jack didn't make sense, even if he was the best of the best.
She mulled over these thoughts for a time, pacing back and forth with only more questions being added with each step.
Soon after so many paces, she could hear the door creak just behind her. She turned to see Jack walk out with Nick close behind him.
The two appeared to be relatively at ease. Though Jack was back to his regal and stalwart self, Nick was more back to the casual fox she had seen before.
"Let's head upstairs." Jack announced, walking briskly past Judy and towards the parks entrance.
She wanted some of her questions answered, but the urgency in his step was far more important now. She quickly followed suit.
Their time spent in backtracking was far easier than their journey downwards. It was brighter and fewer missteps happened. Though there were a few times when new floorboards nearly snapped under them, it was less tedious now.
When they had reached the parking lot, Judy unlocked her cruiser and watched as Jack assisted Nick inside. She herself caught a glimpse of his vehicle.
It sat further back in the lot, solid black and nearly as large as the police car itself. Though it looked interesting, she did notice a fairly large dent on the driver's side and one headlight missing.
She wondered if it was always like that, or if it had something to do with her call. Scratching her ear, she walked back to her vehicle. She'd have to ask him sometime.
Rounding the corner to the driver's side, she met Jack face to face.
He waited until he was sure that she would listen before he spoke.
"There's a terminal in the Savannah by Sousten and Walnut that will take you straight to the underground," He directed her, pointing towards the bridge they came over on the way here. "Nick should know how to access it."
Hearing no protest from Judy, he then tilted his head towards the vehicle. "He doesn't need to be cuffed all the time, he won't harm you."
Judy huffed as she felt frustrated from having the fox around for so long. She wanted to keep him in cuffs for safety but refused to argue with Jack as that was still in her power.
"And yes it's dark, but there are plenty of lights down there," Furthering his instruction, Jack looked down to his watch. "The Nocturnal District comes to life about now, so head there and find his friends."
Nodding in agreement, Judy took a step forward to ask something of him. "Where will you be?"
Jack pointed towards the clinic. "I'm gonna search a bit more for anything the ZPD may have looked over."
Though she questioned how thorough a search he could do, she remembered how the ZPD had missed a very important document on its own.
As Jack began to walk towards the clinic, he called out to her. "Also, I've made arrangements for a colleague of mine to watch over you when you arrive, but call me when you're done."
Relieved slightly that Jack had a fellow FERAL member looking out for her, she popped open the driver's side door.
Before she hopped in, she heard Jack, only a few feet away, call her again. "And Judy, if you want better results, don't call him fox or pred, call him by his name!"
As this little bit of information rang through her ears, she froze. She traced her memories but never once remembered calling him anything other than 'fox' or 'pred'.
Carefully, she looked up into the rearview mirror to see Nick grinning at her.
She shook her head, closed the door, and started the car. It was going to be one long drive.
* Next time on Zootopia Au: Predation *
Deep deep down, we find ourselves constantly waking
We sleep and slumber, but toss and turn in the night
But at what moment do you sleep, and when are you awake?
It was eerily quiet and far darker than she could bear without her flashlight.
"Carrots, put away the gun before she sees it!"
"It was the Bellweathers that started this whole mess."
"Zealously you accused me 'It's because of what you are!'"
Hello there, and welcome to the end notes! It's done, this is the end of chapter two (Feeling's Mutual). And so begins chapter 3... I'm loving writing it...
A new Nick and Finnick will be out sometime next week!
And I hope you get a chance to read this and the other at your leisure. Also, these stories can be found here as well:
fanfiction:
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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.
I hope you all enjoy.
Till Next Time
-DLW