The early rays of sunlight peeked through the half opened blinds of the office window, painting strips of gold on Nick's face; One of them masking perfectly over his eyelids. The disturbed fox mumbled in discomfort from the bright light, instinctively shading his eyes with an arm. But doing that placed him in an awkward sleeping position. Groaning a little louder, this time, he rolled his body over to the other side, which was inhabited by completely nothing but air. Nick let out a surprised yelp as he fell, landing face first on the navy blue carpeted floor with a gruesome thud.

"Owww, my muzzle!" Nick cried out in pain, paws reached out immediately to his face, massaging his muzzle. Apparently he had fallen from an enormous office chair. Why in the world was he sleeping on a ridiculously large chair? He thought to himself. Oh, right, the traffic cameras... Judy's oversized office. One paw still tending his bruised snout, he retrieved his phone to check the time. It was six in the morning. "Why do I always get injured...? Maybe I should start applying for health insurances now that I am being paid a fixed salary," he muttered, annoyed that it was already the second bruise he had collected since yesterday. The previous one was not even done recovering yet and now he had obtained another.

"Nick? You all right? That's quite a fall," Judy exclaimed worriedly as her head peered precariously over the edge of the chair's seat. She was awake as soon as she heard Nick land hard on the ground. "I heard a loud thud, does it hurt?"

"I'm okay, next time remind me not to fall asleep on a giant piece of furniture," Nick said as he smacked his lips and bared his teeth, using his tongue to check for any injuries in his muzzle. Luckily, there were none. "I have yet to tackle my first criminal but here I am, slowly killing myself," he added solemnly, earning a giggle from her. Nick stretched himself, relieving the knots which accumulated in his body overnight. He half frowned, still feeling the tension and soreness in his arm and back muscles from yesterday's "exercises". Rubbing his drowsy eyes, he turned to face the rabbit. Judy had already hopped off the chair and was walking in his direction.

"I will try to next time," Judy replied, peeling a strand of loose string which had attached itself onto Nick's arm. "You really are a klutz, you know that."

"Hey, I am pretty sure I am not that clumsy," Nick said with a smirk. "I do not think that slipping off the car seat from an unannounced emergency break and falling off a high chair when my body is half dead from heavy labour are accountable for being called as a klutz."

"And I would not count pressing keys on a keyboard as heavy labour," Judy chuckled as she eyed him condescendingly. "Speaking of which, how are we supposed to infiltrate the black sheep market? I am certain they do not have a welcome policy for police officers."

"We will perform our espionage during night time," Nick answered, ironing his wrinkled uniform with his paws. "Entering the market would be a piece of cake. We just need to disguise ourselves."

Judy placed her paws on her hips, sceptical of his plan. "And where are we going to find such wonderful disguises?"

"Leave it to me."

It was nearly ten in the late hours of night time when the pair arrived at the outer perimeters of the presumed market. To avoid detection, they had parked their police cruiser several blocks away and travelled the rest of the journey by foot. They hid behind a turquoise dumpster, watching as several black sedans rode past them.

"Are you sure about this?" Judy hissed at Nick. She was suited in a tuxedo and so was the fox beside her. Apparently Nick had managed to get his hands on two fancy and visibly costly suits to wear as a disguise. She had earlier tried to pry him of how he got his paws onto such high-class fashion wear but the only answer he could provide was that he asked for Finnick's help. She shifted uncomfortably in her spot. "I feel rather out of place."

"It will be fine! Just follow my lead," Nick spoke softly, observing through the wired fence as the sedans drove into the narrow alleyway in a single file. Seconds after the last car entered, an elephant clad in formal business attire stepped out, scanned the surroundings for a good period of time before heading back inside, accompanied by the sound of a heavy metal gate being pulled shut.

"We will enter through that same passage, hopefully, the guard would not recognize me," Nick whispered, tightening his bow tie. He looked undeniably smart wearing the tuxedo. "If he does, your elephant tranquilizer would come into handy, Carrots."

"Didn't I already explained to you that I shot you on purpose," Judy remarked.

"Which is why I will always bring it up every so often, Officer Toot Toot," Nick replied heedlessly, pulling out a festival mask from his pant pocket. It was composed of mainly purple and white, the two solid colours separated by a horizontal cut through the centre. The edges were trimmed with an intricate gold braiding, patterned with silver. Judy took out her own mask as well; it was similar to Nick's one design wise with additional decorations but was a bold vermillion instead of a royal indigo. Even though Nick had the mask covering his face, he still looked like the same old fox in front of her. No way was he getting through that security guard scot free.

"Why do I feel that we would have to resort to the dart gun," Judy exclaimed, unsatisfied.

"Well, we would not know until we have tried, right?" Nick said, topping his tuxedo with a delicate rose. Judy stared at the flower. "What?"

"Where did you get that from?" Judy asked, strapping on her mask.

"Passed by Emmet's boutique when I was decked out in this fine suit, he offered me one to compliment my tuxedo as thanks," Nick answered with a smirk on his face. "Like it?"

"Never imagined a fox like you to have a glint of fashion sense," Judy noted sarcastically.

"Try being extremely poor first, then share with me as to how you are still shopping for fashionable clothing," Nick retorted.

"Fair enough," Judy replied, the pair retreating behind the foul smelling dumpster once more as an off-white limousine drove out of the entrance. Nick kept watch as the expensive car exited the premise. Positive that the coast was clear, he gave her the signal. Carefully, they made their way towards the alley. With every step she took, Judy could not shrug off the feeling that they were being watched. The ominous aura dampened the air as they inched closer towards the entrance. The elephant stepped out, stopping them dead in their tracks. Thankfully, they were masked by the dark of night that their distinctive features were hidden. The guard eyed the both of them sternly. Judy's disguise seemed to have proved its worth but as for Nick, the elephant squinted his eyes in suspicion when he scrutinized the fox.

"You look darn familiar, step into the light, would you?" the guard demanded, gesturing a finger at the area underneath a working lamppost. Nick gulped hard.

"You see, I am allergic to bright light sources. Are there any other methods that I could prove my identity?" Nick requested kindly.

"Well, actually yes, there is... wait a minute! You sound very familiar as well! Now who might you be?" The elephant exclaimed, this time forcefully grabbing onto the collar of Nick's tuxedo, dragging him under the light source. The guard frowned when he stripped the mask off Nick. "Nicholas Wilde. My, would the boss be happy to beat you up with baseball bats when I send you to him."

"Carrots!" Nick shouted desperately for help, struggling to remove his collar from the elephant's grip as he kicked aimlessly in the air. Judy hastily reached for her tranquilizer. Taking aim from a short distance, she darted the elephant in the abdomen.

"Tranquilizer? You brought... a... dart gun?" The guard's body gradually became limp, slurred words escaped his mouth as he sprawled messily onto the floor, releasing Nick from his firm grasp. Judy gave the elephant two more darts just to make sure that he would not be waking anytime soon.

"That... was a very close call," Nick noted sheepishly, shaken from the incident. He pulled his shirt down and straightened his jacket. "Cannot get through security with disguise; got it. As for now, how do we hide this big guy?"

"Beats me," Judy replied. They had obviously not taken into account about darting such a large animal out in the open. Nick made his way back to the dumpster. Taking a deep breath, he opened the cover and scavenged through the rubbish. His ears perked up as an idea struck him. Retrieving a banana peel from the stinking pile of garbage, he sauntered back over to the unconscious guard and placed the rotten piece of fruit on the elephant's head.

"Looks like Dumbo here tripped on a slippery banana peel on a winter night, seems about fitting," Nick mused as he evaluated the sleeping animal like a piece of priceless art in a gallery.

"Sometimes you are a genius at solving problems, but this..." Judy exclaimed with uncertainty as she scratched her chin. "Would they believe in such a thing being possible?"

"Well, got a better plan, Whiskers?" Nick inquired, arms wide open for suggestions.

"Just... make sure to wash your hands thoroughly once we get inside," Judy said dismissively as she looked at his dirtied paws in disgust.