Chapter 3

"I think I need to rescind that celebratory toot-toot!"

"Hold on!"

Squealing train brakes gave way to an alarm clock's squawking, and Nick nearly fell out of bed in his efforts to turn the irritating device off. In the end, all he managed was to knock the clock to the floor, but as it went silent Nick found he didn't really care.

"Never should have let her choose the alarms," he groaned aloud. After a few minutes spent getting his brain back in working order, the fox disentangled himself from the bedspread and got up. Once a t-shirt had been pulled over his pajama shorts, he shuffled out into the living room. Unsurprisingly, Judy was already up, and preparing breakfast while singing along to one of Gazelle's most popular hits.

"~I won't give up, no I won't give in~! 'Til I reach the end, and then I'll start again!~ No I won't leave, I wanna try everything~ I wanna try even though I might fail~!"

"Not bad, Carrots," Nick grinned where he leaned against the counter. Judy just nodded her thanks, continuing on with the song as she put together their breakfast. Fruit salads were assembled in short order, along with a couple small bowls of oatmeal that the rabbit sprinkled liberal brown sugar over. By the time she gestured for Nick to come get his portion, he was veritably drooling.

"Sometimes I think you're out to double my clothes sizes, Cottontail."

"Not when you work it all off keeping up with me!" Judy grinned back, sitting down across from him at their tiny kitchen table. Both mammals quickly dug in, foregoing conversation for a while. After the food had been polished off, Judy went to retrieve some of paperwork that they'd been neglecting due to recent events, while Nick rinsed off the dishes in the sink.

At one point, the rabbit checked her phone for messages and let out a groan. "Another corporation's tech department got hit last night - only one security camera caught the thief, but it was definitely the same guy we've been after."

"What'd he take this time?"

"Some experimental drilling device's internal components. Owners have estimated their worth to be in the millions, to the right buyer." Nick let out a low whistle.

"And we still can't even tell what species this guy is?"

"Nope. The baggy clothes muffle his shape too much, and after the chase where he gave you those gashes, I found a pair of mechanical stilts in the alleyway."

"Sheesh... Wait a second." Judy looked up at him questioningly.

"What, Nick?"

"If he used stilts to disguise his height, what's to say he didn't use some kind of specialized glove to claw me, too? Kevlar stops claws and high-powered projectiles, but not necessarily knives."

The rabbit's eyes went wide. "Ohh, shoot. That's a good point - and means that any research on natural claws that strong goes straight out the window."

"And," Nick went on, warming to his theme. "If this thief is making his own enhancing gear, why shouldn't he be smart enough to also make use of the stuff he's been stealing?"

"Right! That could account for why our computer guys haven't found any sign of illegal sales going on. Maybe those laser refractors were how he got into the vault with the drilling device, which could also mean the next place he plans to break into will have a super-thick wall or door he'll need to get through!"

Grabbing a blank notepad and pen, Nick starting making a flow chart of all the places their thief had been hitting in the past few months. Starting with the original robbery, he included what was stolen, and how the next place was broken into. "This is it, Carrots; at every business he's gotten into, we found signs of the previously snatched tech and just didn't realize it. Do you know what this means?"

"He's building up his arsenal, probably in order to break into some final destination..." Judy flipped through her stack of files, looking for something in particular. "Ah-ha! Here, these are the locations fitting his profile that haven't been hit yet."

Nick finished his chart, and dropped it down next to the open folder. Eyes flicking back and forth between the two, he and Judy slowly went through all the as-of-yet untouched potential marks for their thief. And then they saw it.

"'The Zootopia Aeronautics and Space Administration will be completing the final tests for their all-purpose exploratory drone.'" Judy read aloud. "'The machine can carry up to three astronauts, or be remote-controlled from an independant location, and wields a wider assortment of the latest sampling tools than any of its predecessors. In addition, it can withstand any conditions encountered in the galaxy, from the intense solar winds that buffet Mercury, to the blisteringly frozen temperatures on Pluto, and beyond.' Nick, can you imagine how terrifying that thing would be in the hands of criminals here on Earth?"

"More so than I want to think about," he muttered back, staring at the included diagram. The space drone was a monster - the closest thing he could compare it too would be a tank with lots and lots of retractable arms. "This has to be his endgame."

"Well then, let's start figuring out what all he'd need in order to break into the institute where it's being tested, and go from there. If we can catch him when he goes to steal something vital for the final break-in, that stops the whole plot right there."

"Right, let's get this over to Bogo-"

"Ah! No you don't!" Judy caught ahold of her partner's shoulder before he could start to rise. "You are still off-duty for another two days."

Groaning, Nick slumped in his seat. "But Carr-oooots, I'm going stir crazy!"

"Too bad. You start with tidying up this mess we made, and then figure out other ways of entertaining yourself."

"Argh, you are an evil bunny..."

"You know you love me," she called back over her shoulder, hurrying towards her room to change into uniform.

"Do I know that?" Nick glanced over the mess of papers beside the remains of their breakfast, all on a table in the middle of their cozy shared apartment. "Why yes, yes I do."

A/N: Dear divinities, I last posted for this thing back in, what, March? April? And yet, re-watching the movie this evening with my dad (third time for me, first for him) was enough to kick me to finish up this chapter and get it to you guys. Will you accept my humble apology? Especially if I promise it won't be nearly so long before the next update?

Happy Holidays,

-Triscribe