"Hey, those suckers really suck you know that," Nick snapped.

Judy raised an eyebrow. "About that; what's so harmful about the spray? I had never seen it in action yet," she asked, curious. I was intrigued as well – one being that I do wished to see how it worked in the movie; and second being that it mattered to me as well since it was relevant now. The closest guess I could base it off of was it being like a pepper spray, which was quite worrying as I have seen daredevils pulling off challenges involving exposing their faces to the spray. It definitely did not turn out well for them, of course.

"Getting a speck of that distasteful concoction into your eyes would make them burn like the eighteen layers of hell," Nick explained in a serious tone, ears pulled back and pointing a judgemental finger at the slot where Judy used to keep hold of that item. "I know that from past experiences."

"That must have hurt a lot," I pictured, making a mental note for myself. Fox repellent equals to pepper spray – avoid at all costs.

Judy snickered as she concentrated on the road ahead. "Then you are real lucky that I did not use that on you when you first hustled me."

"Believe it or not; I kept my eye on it throughout the whole time – could not afford a dumb bunny to be dousing me in that poison," Nick smirked as he spoke. "You should really get your dad to dump all those harmful products. I still have shivers thinking about him having a huge stash of multiple anti-predator related merchandises in the storeroom."

"He needs a while to adjust, Nick. It has not been long since he just started trusting predators," Judy noted, filtering to the side of the highway. She was silent for a brief moment. "So Richard, how old are you?"

Oh boy - here it comes.

"Sixteen," I answered.

"Gosh, you make me feel old just by saying that," Nick exclaimed. "I am exactly twice of that."

Judy chuckled slyly. "Maybe you should adopt him and be a father then."

"No thanks, I have Finnick to babysit already. I do not wish to be shorthanded," Nick noted casually, gazing out of the side window. "That fuzzy little stinker is already a tough one to handle – noisy, rude, violent… and always hungry for junk food."

"Aw, come on Nick; he isn't that awful. He helped me out went I was searching for you the previous time," Judy reminded him.

"Speaking of which, where do your parents live, Richard? We can escort you back home that way."

The question struck me like a crossbow bolt aimed straight into my forehead. My mind was a blank slate, devoid of an answer. It felt like as though I was a participant in a famous quiz show being riddled by a problem that I had zero knowledge of it. A set of multiple choices are shown; but only one was the correct answer. Should I approach it with a makeshift backstory, admit that I knew nothing of what happened, or give them a fake address? Worse still, the timer was ticking – counting down each and every precious second I wasted pondering on which course of action to choose from. As disarrayed as I was, I could not continue to entertain Judy with an absent-minded stare. I decided to go with my gut feeling.

"Actually, I don't really have a place there. My parents left me when I was very young; leaving me to fend for myself in the streets," I 'confessed'. Providing a fake address was dumb – I knew none of the street names to begin with.

Judy's ears drooped from my response as Nick somewhat appeared to freeze in his seat. "That must have been real tough for you, I'm so sorry," she apologized.

"It's fine. I have been doing this for many years already," I replied.

"You know what? You could use my rental apartment till you find yourself a place," Judy offered, eyes still on the road. "I can live inside my office for the time being."

Nick shook his head in opposition. "No, no, no; Carrots. I do not wish to see a bunny that has not showered and groomed for days coming to work smelling like a used sock."

"But Nick, he does not have a home," Judy argued back. "It would not hurt sacrificing a few days."

"Well, he can live with me. I have a bigger apartment than you, Whiskers. In fact, we do have a spare room now that I have mentioned of it," Nick clarified. I nearly choked on my own saliva as he spoke. Me - some random stranger out of nowhere… living with Nick? It was excessively sudden for my liking.

"We? What do you mean by that?" Judy was confused.

Nick smirked at her. "I live with my mother, you dumb bunny."

"Oh. Totally forgot about that."

"I really shouldn't," I cut in, declining their offers. They both glanced back at me.

"You don't really have a choice, actually. Knowing my buddy Carrots, she would not let you off the hook that easily," Nick chuckled, eyeing at Judy slyly. She flushed a tint of red from his statement. "She still has me on her hook ever since the day she first hustled me; and two days after that, I became her partner in the ZPD. How strange, isn't it? She must have 'possessed' me."

"That – that is not true! And secondly, I am not a ghost!" Judy shushed him, her grip on the steering wheel tightening from embarrassment. Out from the distance, I could see a large display of night lights come into view. We were approaching the lively city of Zootopia.

Nick laughed. "It's just a joke, Fluff; you do not have to take it that seriously."

"Now you are the one that is milking it," Judy sighed.

"All learned from that particular rabbit," Nick answered tactfully as he went back on topic. "If there are no objections, I shall take it that we have come to an agreement."

He studied Judy and me individually in silence, waiting patiently for any signs of violent objection from either of us. On one hand, Judy was in deep thought but did not seem to have any complaints about the matter. I on the other hand, was speechless. Seeing that both of our traps were sealed, he smirked conscientiously.

"My apartment it is then," Nick confirmed.

As we entered the city, the first thing I saw was the huge Broadway sign mounted on a building. As usual, it boldly framed the welcome video that highlighted the famous popstar of Zootopia – Gazelle.

"Hi, I'm Gazelle; and welcome to Zootopia," the message played out on the screen before looping back to the start of the recording once more, replaying the song 'Try everything' as it did. I had always find it weird that the idolized celebrity was named after her own species; I could never imagine naming myself as 'Human' or 'Homo Sapient'.

"Mammals who work near here are only hard core Gazelle lovers, I can tell you that. Nobody could stand listening to the same song on repeat for the entire day to night," Nick quipped. "I'd rather listen to Finnick's nasty collection; at least he doesn't only listen to one song over and over. Working around here would drive me insane."

Judy nodded, slowing the cruiser as we left the highway. "Even though I like that song, I still agree that it gets really bothersome after a few replays."

"It sure is quite a sight, don't you think so?" Nick remarked abruptly. He was busy checking his phone as he spoke.

I looked out through the side windows of the police car. Just by first glance, New York City's Time Square was the first thing that came to mind. The sides of the street were bombarded with beautiful clutter; mounted with layers and layers of bright logos, large scaled posters and flamboyant neon signs. Roadside pavements were packed full of all kinds of mammals of varying sizes. Even the iconic street lamp that hosted a bundle of several directional signs was present there as well. It was literally Zootopia's take of the famed district.

"It's like a fireworks display set to pause," I exclaimed in awe. I never had a chance to visit that part of the city back in the human world; and now I could safely say that I have had the experience of being inside the Times Square. Somehow, it made me feel like a million bucks even though I clearly was not. Twenty bucks of mismatching currency was all I had in my miserable wallet for emergencies during the camping trip; not like as though there were any shops located inside the forest anyway.

"A fascinating lightshow indeed," Judy agreed. She turned to Nick. "What is your address again?"

"1955 Cypress Grove Lane, just pass Moss Street via Rainforest District," Nick answered.

Judy glanced at him quizzically. "Why do you live in the rainforest district? That isn't an appropriate habitat for a fox."

"Being the heaviest discriminated species in the population then, my mother and I had no chance renting any sort of apartments in the city central. Nevertheless, we managed to get a decent apartment over there. We were already blessed knowing that we would not have to visit areas like Shady place or Fog Street; for those were unknown territories which house the shadiest of strangers. Even I myself do not know of anyone who lives there."

"That place sounds like a whole lot of fun," I commented cynically.

Nick nodded as kept his phone. "Sure is, buddy."

"This is strange," Judy spoke.

"It is indeed a strange part of town," Nick replied.

Judy shook her head. "No, no. Not that, Nick. I mean up ahead, there is a huge crowd right outside the main city bank." She pointed towards a large commercial building. True enough, there were dozens of civilians massing right outside of its main doors. "I think something bad is happening."

Some of the mammals began to frantically wave at us the instant they noticed the police cruiser arriving at the scene. I exhaled anxiously; I guess life still works the same way even in a different universe – never once would it give you a break from stressful situations.

"Let me guess. Someone is robbing a bank," Nick hypothesized semi-placidly. He was hastily putting on his police equipment as he spoke. Judy parked the cruiser right in front of the building before attending to her own gear.

"Seems like so," Judy acknowledged, giving the tranquilizer a check before slotting it back onto her belt's holster. "There should be smoke emanating from the building if it was a fire instead."

Nick opened the car door slightly before closing it again. "Is anyone present at the HQ? We definitely need backup if those robbers are that confident of robbing the biggest fish in the market. They must have been well prepared to perform such a reckless heist."

Judy checked her watch. "It is almost ten. We may have to call Chief Bogo via his contact number instead as Clawhauser has definitely left the premises by this time from the looks of it."

"What do I do?" I asked. The pair looked at me simultaneously.

"You can guard our car till we are back I guess," Judy exclaimed.