The Wild Side

by True Radical Dreamer

Judy Hopps graduates from the ZPD Academy faster than anyone at City Hall anticipated. Without any support or equipment ready in time, Chief Bogo has to come up with some way other than parking duty to keep the rabbit out of his horns. What job can he give the junior officer that will send her running back to her burrow? Why, the most thankless of all: Undercover Duty.

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2! Over 5,000 words! Have I said already how much I like writing stuff like this? Because I do.

Big thanks to everyone who has given me some encouragement. And for not lynching me for starting something new. That helps as well.

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Judy jiggled the key, praying that it would finally catch on the lock. She had been standing there at the door of her new apartment for a solid five minutes, trying to get her key to work. So far, two badgers and a coyote had gone past and none of them looked too happy to see a little rabbit in their apartment building. The coyote had even lingered, watching, until she flashed the too-small bottle of fox repellent at him menacingly. He'd smiled and snapped his teeth at her, which scared her enough that she'd dropped her duffle bag full of new clothes. He'd gotten a great laugh out of it, but Judy's nerves were in tatters.

Open, open, open, open…yes! She surged into the new space as fast as she could kick her bag inside and slammed the door behind her. This was stupid. She was going to have to work with animals like coyotes. Work well with them, in fact. She couldn't be scared of them or it would blow her cover.

The little rabbit picked up her abused bag and took stock of her new digs. It was annoyingly better than the apartment she had managed to land Downtown. There was a bedroom, small kitchen, and a bath with a combination shower and bathtub. Judy supposed that getting to live here rent-free was one of the few perks of this assignment - if you could look past the building being full of predators.

And then she saw it: the air conditioner. Suddenly predators were worth it. An entire boatload of foxes were worth it. Judy turned it on full-blast with only the slightest bit of unprofessional smugness when she realized Bogo would be getting the utilities bill as well.

With that little bit of vengeance dealt, Judy started making a tally of everything she would have to buy. The agent that had been here before her had cleaned the place out, or maybe it had been emptied by the other tenants (which would explain the lock's shape), but there was still a bed and a ratty old sofa. Judy plugged in her laptop tossed it onto the cushions to charge while she went about unpacking the clothes she'd bought. Fortunately her bedroom had a small dressing mirror that was bolted into the wall.

The role they had given her back at the station was for Judy Lop (both annoyingly-common rabbit names) – a former small time sneak thief from the Burrows district. Oswalt had a case file made for Judy Lop and put a few small active warrants on her just to give the alias some credibility. Anyone who seriously inquired for references would find them thanks to a few select agents embedded into the prison system who were there for just that sort of business.

Judy held up a black turtleneck she'd bought against her chest and looked at her reflection. It just screamed burglar to her. She even bought matching pants and a ski cap, just like all the thugs in the crime movies she loved so much wore.

In fact…

Ten minutes later and Judy was looking at an all-new bunny. The ski cap even had two cut-outs for her ears. She tried to make a menacing face, just like the Slowker would do in a Bat Detective comic book. Judy Hopps would never be caught dead admitting that she looked kind of cool like this, but Judy Lopps couldn't have any such qualms. And darn did she wear it well.

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooooooooh~

Judy nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone started going off. She scrambled for her bed and flipped it open on the third ring. "J-Judy here!"

Oswalt's cackling filled the earpiece. "Someone's wound tight. I'm guessing you've settled in? Met the neighbors? Most of them have rap sheets longer than you are tall, so I wouldn't invite them over for tea and carrots."

"I'm settled, Lieuten- Professor."

Judy had no idea why she was whispering, but she was. Wasn't that what criminals were supposed to do on their phones? Oswalt seemed to find that even more amusing and spoke in his normal, scratchy baritone. "Good, good. I hope you've got that wardrobe change we spoke about because you're on the clock tonight."

Instantly Judy perked up. On the clock! "What is it?"

"There's a local dive called Oasis. I'll send the directions to your phone. Point is, it's a major hangout for criminals in your district. It's billed as a members-only club that's it's been raided half a dozen times in three years. Each time we've caught at least four animals with a warrant out on them. You're going to have to be a regular there from now on."

A nighttime rendezvous at a seedy bar? It was just like one of her crime serials now! "You can count on me, Sir! I won't let you down!"

"Hopps, seriously, drop that 'eager young cop' shit or you're going to be marked the second you get inside."

"Yes, Sir. I mean, I'll try. Sir. Professor." Judy flushed at the annoyed groan Oswalt let slip through the phone. "I won't mess this up."

"For your sake, I hope not. The nearest marked patrol to the Oasis is a five minute drive in good traffic." There was that sigh again. "Good luck." The 'you're going to need it' was understood to be at the end. "Just sit there, order a few drinks, and don't start any conversations. If someone talks to you first, go nuts, but don't start peppering everyone with questions like some up-jumped rookie cop. This is the long con. Patience and routine are your weapons. And don't forget your cover, Lopps."

Judy took a breath. "Patience. Routine. Long con. Judy Lopps. Got it." Suddenly things seemed a lot more real than they had while she was shopping, or even getting into her apartment. Five minute wait on backup, if she could even figure out a way to call for it. She was going to see actual criminals and have to get along with them.

Oswalt clicked his teeth when Judy didn't follow her repetitions up with anything. "Don't think about it too much. You remember what it was like to not be a cop, right? Just act like that. It was only a few months ago that you were pussyfooting around with your rabbit pals back in the sticks without a badge or training or anything else. Just shoot the shit with someone if they start talking first. Make some connections. Try and make it look natural."

That was easy for him to say back at the precinct. "I'll try," she said, realizing that all that talk about friends and being a civilian didn't really apply to her. Becoming a cop had been her entire life. When you turn in an entire high school party for underage drinking so you could spend a few hours talking to the police, you tend to fall out of certain social circles.

Her phone buzzed. Oswalt hand hung up and sent her the directions to the Oasis. She nervously adjusted her ski cap and, after a moment's deliberation, pocketed the taser she'd been issued. It wouldn't put down anything bigger than a wildebeest but it was better than nothing. The little black shocker slid easily into one of the pouches on the utility belt she was wearing.

Judy stopped at her apartment door. That coyote could be out there.

But…so what if he was? The worst he had done was snap his teeth to get a jump out of her. There would be animals at the Oasis that were actual thieves, thugs, and maybe even murderers. Who would be scared of some bored coyote?

"Judy Hopps is scared of him," she whispered to herself, "but Judy Lopps isn't. Judy Lopps climbs buildings and steals jewels. Judy Lopps has been a bouncer at a bar." Judy smiled. "Judy Lopps once beat up a fox. No! Two foxes. At the same time. Judy Lopps used to run a moonshine operation in high school."

She unlocked the door and took a step out. No coyotes. Judy squared her shoulders and put on her best scowl. "Judy Lopps can walk all the way to a seedy bar at nine o'clock at night without looking over her shoulder once," Judy whispered to herself. "Judy Lopps wouldn't be nervous on her first case."

Technically, Judy Lopps would never even be on a case. She'd be skulking around, looking for new marks. Judy thought it would take some time to work up to that, though, so she stuck with just trying to project confidence as she stepped out into the cold Saharan night.

Judy shunned the sandstone sidewalks to stroll on the dunes. The cool sand felt amazing on her hocks, unbound as they were, after days of walking on concrete. She took the time to exult in the feeling of the natural surface for as long as she could. More conveniently, she missed all the night traffic from non-desert-friendly animals and made excellent time. In the distance the massive Palms Hotel blazed like a torch in the night sky.

The Oasis Bar was, just as Oswalt had explained, a complete dive. There was a gaudy neon palm tree splashed across the front of the building that buzzed on and off. As Judy approached, that sign lit up a shadowed door where something lurked in the darkness. She watched one mammal, a sleek mountain lion, walk up to the door, saying something, and then get let inside.

Judy Lopps wouldn't be scared of a bouncer.

This particular bouncer she recognized, though. It was the coyote from her apartment building! He recognized her about the same time as she recognized him and a wide smile came over his muzzle. He had changed out of his dirty wife beater and into somewhat nice duds; his looking more civilized help steel Judy's nerves.

"Well, if it isn't Carrot Cottontail. Did you get lost on the bunny trail?"

Judy bit the inside of her lip. Think Lopps, not Hopps. She stomped right up to the nonplussed coyote and poked him in the stomach (coincidently, the highest part of his body she could reach).

"Listen, Buster. I want a drink and you're in my way." She would have added a snappy 'so move!' at the end of that, but there was no reason to be outright rude.

The coyote mouthed buster? to himself before out an aggravated puff of air and swatting Judy's finger away. "Okay, I'm being nice here because I know you rabbits are a bit impaired, but you're really going to have to move along. This is a private establishment."

Ah, the dumb bunny insult. Even after hearing it from a dozen different predators it never lost its unique ability to get right under Judy's fur. Her foot began a quick drumbeat all on its own. "Funny that I don't see a sign saying it's private."

"You see me standing out here, don't you?"

"I see you loitering."

"Loitering? You on the neighborhood watch or something?" He let out a yipping laugh. "Hit the bricks, Bunny, before I hit them with your face."

That laugh showcased rows of pearly ivories. The canine grinned wider when Judy started backing up.

And then he snapped his teeth again.

Would Judy Lopps take something like that from a two-bit fleabag? A glorified weekend bouncer with no better way to make money?

"I resent that," the coyote growled. Judy hadn't realized she'd said most of that out loud. She almost apologized, even, until she remembered she was Judy Lopps - tough as nails hare who was one of Bunnyburrow's most notorious burglars. When the coyote took a threatening step forward, Judy lifted her chin and took one toward him as well. Her hair was only standing up a little as the bigger canine loomed over her.

When staring down the stubborn bunny didn't work, the coyote did something rash: he grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. Most prey, when grabbed just the right way, instinctively (and conveniently) folded up and in like luggage.

Most prey hadn't been at the ZPD Police Academy for the better part of ten months.

Judy reacted on pure police instinct and kicked the coyote's leg right where all the delicate little bones of a canine's foot had so nicely bunched up together with the springy force of a jackhammer. She didn't break anything, but the predator went down like a sack of sore bricks. Normally this is where another officer would come and make the actual arrest, but Judy was left with only watching the tough-looking animal rolling on the ground.

"You crazy rabbit!" he screamed. Judy hopped out of the way of a wild swipe of his paw, but the movement caused his foot to scrape on the sidewalk and he howled again in pain. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

She was still a little in shock from the whole affair. She had just dropped a predator! By herself! On the street! On a case! Judy actually felt around her waist for a set of cuffs before she remembered she was undercover. Could undercover cops even arrest people? Surely she wasn't supposed to just leave a violent predator where he could hurt some other innocent passerby?

The coyote let out a shrill yelp when Judy's taser put two electrified needles into his side. Judy felt horrible about it, but she didn't have a choice. She justified the spat of violence to herself as keeping her cover. She certainly couldn't have just left the coyote flopping around on the bar's front door, could she? It was a difficult weight to manage. Luckily, Judy was fairly athletic for a rabbit and could pull the lean canine around to the side of the bar. He would wake up in a few hours with a bad headache and a sore foot. All that was left to do now was enjoy the seedy little bar for all it was worth! Judy covered the coyote with an old piece of cardboard and hopped back around to the door.

Oh, but it was a little bit exciting. Not that she enjoyed beating up anyone! Not even a big, scary coyote who had called her 'Carrot Cottontail'. She was just happy that she had (temporarily) taken her first criminal off the streets. If only Chief Bogo could see her now! That dog would be out for a few hours at least, which was more than enough time for her to make her face known inside.

The door to the bar was still closed. Judy's ears detected a subtle thrumming through the door that she hadn't noticed before. It wasn't Gazelle, but it was definitely music. Somehow she hadn't expected a bar full of criminals to even have that. One deep, calmer, breath later and Judy inside.

It wasn't, Judy immediately noticed, a normal bar. She had to push her way through a waterfall of beads that jingled when her ears disturbed them. The floor space was generous and mammals were lounging on massive throw pillows instead of sitting at tables or on regular chairs. Judy was surprised that her feet sank into a finer sand inside the building than on the ground outside. There were no windows and the lights were dialed down to almost nothing. What little light there was reflected brilliantly off the pearl white sand like a starry night.

She plodded through the indoor desert to an open throw pillow that was about twice as big as she was. A few animals gave her odd looks (she was by far the smallest mammal in the house), but most were distracted by their smoking or the modest stage at the end of the bar. There was a mongoose playing some strange lute-like instrument that seemed to have quite the local following judging by how much attention he was getting.

There was a rattle and Judy's ears swiveled, her head following a second later. Someone hadn't gone back to their own business when Judy settled. A massive porcupine shuffled his way over to her pillow and dipped his head. He was wearing a bright red fez and silk pants and fit in with the desert motif as well as a porcupine could.

"I hope you didn't harm Vincent too much getting inside?" His voice reminded Judy of a set of deep wind chimes. He was carrying one of the pipe-like things many of the other animals were smoking from. It had a broad, fat base with a tube coming out the neck. He set it down on the ground beside Judy and held out the tube.

The lute hit a high note and Judy's ears twitched. "Don't know a Vincent," she muttered, puzzling over the strange thing she'd been given. Judy Hopps wasn't a smoker, but maybe Judy Lopps was? Even though she was undercover she didn't want to pick up such a horrible habit like smoking, though.

"He is my bouncer. Usually new arrivals to the Oasis go through a heavy vetting process – unless they get by him through more unorthodox means." The porcupine smiled at the unsettled look on Judy's face. Whether it was to put her at ease or not was not clear. "But I'm being rude. I am Pinyon, the humble proprietor of the Oasis Bar and Lounge. Won't you enjoy a hookah? I've loaded it with a mix of flavored tobacco I think you'll enjoy."

Closer, the little mouthpiece of polished wood had a subtle smell of carrots under the smoke. Judy had no idea what a 'hookah' was, but most everyone else had one of the little tubes in their mouths so it didn't look too dangerous. Trying it would give her a little more time to think about what to say about Vincent, too. She smiled and put the open end of the tube up to her lips and took a deep puff. Predictably she began hacking and coughing from the smoke.

"It's an acquired taste," Pinyon said, patting her on the back. "I recommended smaller, deeper inhales until you get used to it, but I cannot fault your enthusiasm. Could you taste the carrot flavoring?"

"S-Sure. I just had to get through all the smoke to taste it." A few low chuckles came from the shadowy patrons around her. Bravely, Judy tried a smaller, slower puff and was surprised when she did detect the familiar taste of carrots. She still coughed most of the smoke up, but the more even puffs started to ease her racing heart.

Pinyon was still waiting on an answer. He just stood there with his placid smile and silly little fez. Judy took a deep puff and gagged out the smoke to waste more time. "Vincent, right. The coyote."

"That would be him, yes."

"Well, he grabbed me! And …I hid him out back by your dumpster."

The porcupine's quills rattled and started to puff out to their full length. "I trust he is still with us? He has been with the Oasis now for a number of years now."

Judy spit out a cloud of smoke as she began coughing and hacking again. "I didn't kill him!" she hissed. Pinyon visibly relaxed and Judy took a few calming puffs from her increasingly-favorite time waster. "I just tased him! He's my neighbor, for goodness' sake!"

"That's good." Pinyon shook himself and most of the quills went back to lying down flat, though there were a few he had to smooth down by hand. "The Oasis has worked hard to avoid certain types of attention over the years and we do not need something like that to undo all of the work. I trust that you won't break that rule." Judy nodded quickly, still unnerved that the porcupine thought she could have murdered someone. "Good. There is normally a system for membership here, but we make rare exceptions for those who can get past Vincent. I admit that you are the first rabbit member of the Oasis, but, as they say, times are changing."

Pinyon held out his hand. After a moment's hesitation, Judy took it. "Welcome to the Oasis," he said, giving her a firm handshake.

Judy smiled. Not because she was happy to be a member of what was obviously some kind of criminal enterprise, oh no. Judy was happy because she was officially on the 'inside'.

"Of course, we still are going to go through the registration process." Her smile faltered. Pinyon reached back into his back quills and pulled out a small book. "Name?"

"Judy Lopps."

"Occupation?"

Oswalt hadn't given her an answer to this! Judy struggled for a moment before she remembered a line from a crime drama she'd watched once. "I'm freelance right now."

Pinyon grinned and jotted that down. "Aren't we all? Any criminal convictions?"

"Two," Judy automatically chirped. This actually was part of the profile that Oswalt had created for her. She hoped that all the paperwork had gone through for it, though. It wasn't supposed to have gotten this type of scrutiny yet.

"Warrants?" A nod. "Active?" Another nod. Pinyon gave her a flat look. "We protect our member's privacy here, but if the ZPD tracks you down to the bar I won't be standing between them and you. Understand?" A furious nod.

The little book snapped closed and Pinyon tucked it back into his forest of quills. "Good. I have everything I need, so feel free to enjoy the Oasis. We stay open from sun up to sun down. We have live entertainment and plenty of privacy. Your first membership due will come in six months. I'm waving the entrance fees since Vincent was so rude."

"Thanks. Do you want this…hookah back?" Judy would be a little sad if he did.

"No need, they're free to use. You simply have to buy the tobacco and coals. We sell them at the bar." Pinyon waved a stubby little arm toward the back of the room where a massive stone bar was set against the far wall. It was being run by a spotted hyena bartender and off to one side there was a little kiosk advertising different flavors of tobacco. "There is one more thing, but-"

Judy let out a surprised shriek when something sharp grabbed onto her ears. She tumbled out of the pillow and hit the sand. Before she could get up, a tiny foot stepped on her head and used her as a springboard.

Pinyon helped her up. "Apologies. That is what I was going to mention. You were sitting in a cushion reserved for one of our regulars."

"He could have just said something," Judy groused as she shook the sand out of her fur. When her eyes fell on the new occupant of the cushion, her breath caught.

The small, angular face of a fox stared back at her. He was tiny, with big, floppy ears that made him look a little silly, but there was no denying the long snout or the sharp little teeth – teeth that seemed to exponentially multiply when he started chuckling.

"I thought you'd be more comfortable on the ground. Don't you little bunnies like to dig around in the dirt?"

Judy clenched her fist. It wasn't the first time other animals had made a burrowing joke, but fact that this was a fox had gotten to her. "Should someone who's half my size be calling me little? My foot is bigger than you, Fox."

The fennec just laughed harder and deeper (which, amazingly, his already-gravelly voice could do). Pinyon put a hand on Judy's shoulder before she could do anything and he gave the fox a look of his own. "Finnick, you know our rules about antagonizing other members."

"Members? You made Dust Bunny there a member? Do we let habitual jaywalkers in now? What's next? People who don't pay their parking tickets? If so, I think I should get bumped up to gold membership because I've got a whole glove compartment full of the damn things."

"No, she tased Vincent and left him by the dumpster. She seems like our kind of clientele."

That makes the fox pause and reevaluate. Judy could see the sly intelligence behind his eyes as he takes her in – the clothing, the attitude, the pros and cons of pushing further. It was something Judy had specially learned to do at the Academy as a cop, but it came naturally to some animals. Some shifty animals, she mentally corrected. Normal mammals didn't think like foxes. They didn't look for weaknesses or ways they could cheat and swindle people.

Judy's own analysis helped calm her nerves. He was a fox, but a fennec. That was the smallest breed there was. There weren't any of them in Bunnyburrow. She could stomp him flat if he tried anything.

"A rabbit meathead. Ain't that a kick in the teeth? Gonna rough me up, Flopsy?"

Something crashed through the beaded entrance to the bar. The lute-playing mongoose hit a bad note and the twang reverberated through the bar like the shot of a gun. Animals who had been engaged in their own conversations now looked up. Judy's back was to the commotion, but Finnick's slack-jawed expression was enough to make her spin around.

Vincent. He was thoroughly ruffled (and maybe a bit charred), but he was standing. And walking. And very, very angry. His yellow eyes caught Judy's blues and he was in motion, bounding through the sand on all fours with a furious intensity. So much for those Academy lessons about crippling a canine's ability to run!

Judy jumped for her life and the furious coyote bulldozed right over Finnick and his cushion. Animals were starting to get to their feet now, but Judy landed right in the middle of the floor and Vincent was right back after her. "Rabbit!" He yelled, snapping and snarling, "Get back here!"

They zigged and zagged between cushions and larger animals. Annoyed hands swatted and clutched at them as they made a sandy mess of the bar. An elephant trumpeted when Victor clipped his massive hookah pipe and his trunk slammed down on the sand in front of Judy. She scampered up the enormous appendage and used his tusk as a springboard to get up to the bar's rafters.

Vincent thought he had won and circled the ground directly under her. Pinyon and Finnick were closing in with the porcupine furiously shouting at his bouncer. The coyote got to his hind legs like nothing had happened and dusted himself off.

Pinyon pushed his way past the canine and cupped his hands. "We'll get you a ladder, Miss Lopps. Just hold tight!"

Unfortunately for Vincent, Judy wasn't just waiting for rescue. The second the elephant moved his massive head out of the way she let go of her perch and dropped the giraffe-approved distance.

Several animals gasped, some moved to catch her. Others just watched. Vincent, however, was laughing at something Finnick had said. He wasn't paying attention until the pads of Judy's feet landed on the back of his head.

It was too late then.

The fall had added to Judy's powerful momentum so that when she unloosed her pent-up kick it sent the coyote's head forward like the cocked hammer of a gun. His impact set up another cloud of fine sand that produced another round of complaining from the patrons who hadn't been watching the spectacle, but it was clear as it settled that the chase was over.

Judy clapped her hands and brushed herself off. She gave the scared little fox a lopsided smile. "Sorry about that, Mr. Finnick. We were talking about roughing animals up, right?"

"Shit no we weren't! I was just going to welcome you to the club, Kid."

Behind her, Vincent stirred. All he managed to do is roll over so that his muzzle wasn't completely buried in the sand, though. Pinyon reached down and pulled off his plastic 'event manager' badge that showed he was the bouncer. "I'm so fired," he groaned before he flopped back into unconsciousness.

The porcupine waddled up to Judy. "I've seen Vincent take out a wolf before," he said, awestruck. "No one has ever played him like that." The badge jingled in his hand as he ran a thumb over it. "Miss Lopps, has your employment situation changed in the last…" he checked his watch, "five minutes?"

"Can't say that it has."

Pinyon held up the badge. "Want a job?"

Oswalt had said to be a fixture at the Oasis, hadn't he? She looked down at the little plastic badge in Pinyon's hand and wiggled her nose. It was a poor replacement for her real badge. The one for Judy Hopps, law enforcement officer.

She smiled. "On one condition: print my full name on there."

For Judy Lopps, this badge was enough. For now.