Author's note: To Lockdown00 I am working on the idea you asked from me, I will probably post the story when this one is finished, maybe a little earlier.
Chapter 4
A pungent overpowering smell invaded Nick's nose and forced him awake. It didn't took him long to regain his senses and become aware of his surroundings, beside him he saw Judy rubbing her paws over her face up and down in a very bunny like fashion. He placed his own paw on her back and was relieved when she stood up and blinked, seeming perfectly fine and lucid.
Both of them turned to see a gigantic feline towering over them, a small vial filled with what seen as smelling salts in his huge paws.
-"Did you enjoy your nap?"- The feline asked softly.
-"Yeah there's nothing I like more than being drugged against my will and dragged into"- Nick said looking at his surroundings –"A gutter?"-
-"I apologize for my methods but it is the only way I can make sure nobody knows where I work, especially if they are members of the force"- The feline said apologetically.
-"We didn't come here as police officers mister…"- Judy asked in her usual friendly way.
-"Oh forgive my poor manners, my name is Goliath"- He said holding his paw towards Judy, it was so big that all the small bunny could do was grab one of his fingers and shake it.
-"Judy Hopps"- She beamed at him –"And this is my partner Nick Wilde"-
Nick merely gave him a casual wave, still angry for the whole absinthe fiasco.
-"Nice to meet you both"- He said with a court nod –"Now I believe you are interested in purchasing some equipment. Am I right?"-
-"Yeah we are looking for surveillance, something that might allow us to access information stored in a private computer. And maybe some wires"- Judy said smiling, for some reason she liked Goliath even when she didn't know what kind of mammal he was.
He was much bigger than any other feline she had ever met; his fur was golden with a few subtle tiger like stripes and long hair around his neck but not as long as a lion's.
-"Very well, there are several options available but I need to know who the target is"- Goliath said gravely
-"I don't think that's any of your business, the whole reason we came here is to do it without anyone finding out about our plan"- Nick said standing defensively between him and Judy.
The bunny raised one eyebrow. Why was Nick acting so confrontational with a feline that wasn't hostile and could eat him alive in one gulp if he wanted to?
Judy leaned into her friend's shoulder and whispered in his ear -"Nick you do NOT want to make this guy angry, we need him and he could kill us both! Remember that nobody knows we are here"-
Goliath chuckled and shook his head -"It's all right Miss Hopps, your friend here cannot help himself he's just being an Alpha"- The feline had a prodigious sense of smell, even after the fox had recently bathed he reeked of male pheromones.
Judy threw a puzzled look at Nick who merely looked troubled.
The gigantic feline continued –"We do work on the underground mister Wilde, but there are limits we are not willing to cross. If you want to hack someone's computer to create terrorism of state for example, I am not going to help you"-
Judy stepped forward trying to put a distance between Nick and Goliath. –"Sir we are targeting a serial rapist and a murderer, but we can't do it by official means because he is too powerful. He is Zootopia's district attorney"-
At the mere mention of what Lapin had done Nick couldn't help the deep growl forming at the back of his throat.
Goliath gave her a large friendly smile –"You should have said it sooner, follow me to my office you can have anything you want free of charge"-.
-"Wow that's great! But why are you helping us?"- Judy said following the large feline with a kind smile, Nick was right behind her with a sullen expression. Looking around they realized they weren't inside a gutter but in a series of interconnected tunnels deep underground.
As they descended even deeper below, through large rock carved stairs Goliath explained –"Lapin works for the wealthiest mammals in Zootopia: politicians, judges, business tycoons you name it. When one of them commits a crime he makes sure to frame petty criminals, the powerful mammals get away literally with murder and since Lapin usually frames poor mammals with a criminal record when those saps go to jail no one bats an eyelid. In exchange he has a large portion of the federal court in his pocket, so whenever he brings a case to the court he wins, regardless if the defendant is innocent or not."-
Judy's ears dropped once more, her face invaded by sadness; she was ashamed of ever liking him.
Goliath noticed the change in demeanor of the bunny and gently placed his paw on her back. -"You are a much respected officer miss Hopps, so is your partner. If anyone can bring him to justice that is both of you"-
-"If you knew what he was doing, then why didn't YOU do anything to stop him?"- Nick said placing an arm round Judy's shoulders; the doe leaned into him finding comfort in the physical contact.
-"If I had found evidence against him I would have leaked it on the internet, but all I have is the testimony of vagrants and criminals. Besides, as a hybrid, nobody would pay any attention to what I have to say."-
-"What do you mean?"- Judy said finally understanding Goliath was a Liger –"Why would it matter if you are a hybrid?"-
-"We are barely considered mammals worthy of rights miss Hopps, at least my parents were of a similar species, but no matter how much they tried to usher me into society I have faced a lot of rejection. Still I lived a charmed life compared to some of my friends"- The liger informed them in a detached tone.
As they arrived to the bottom of the stairs several mammals came out of the shadows to meet the duo. –"Guys this is Nick and Judy, they are our clients"- Goliath said to the group.
A female mule waved at them –"Hi I'm Maria"-, beside her a Zorse crossed his arms and looked at them with distrust –"I'm Shabani"- he said tilting his head. Behind them, still on the shadows two large red eyes floated above them, their owner stepped forward in the dim light of the cave. At first she seemed like a regular female panther, her face a little bit flatter than what was usual on her species but it suited her, Judy thought she was pretty. Then as she came closer they noticed she had bat like wings on her back, she spread them wide as if trying to show them off, they were huge. –"Hello, my name is Angela"- the large creature said extending her hand. Both Nick and Judy shook it nervously.
Judy had heard of hybrids between species of the same genus, she knew that while some of them could be powerful like Goliath, who came from two very similar species, many were born with deformities. In fact the more dissimilar the species the higher chance of malformations their offspring had. It was the foundation of the current rejection of interspecies relationships; Judy thought that was stupid because species of too different genus could never even conceive.
But in front of them was a bat-panther hybrid, could she be called a "Banther"? Not only that was possible but the creature in front of them wasn't deformed, she was in fact quite beautiful.
She looked at Nick hoping he might explain what they were seeing but he seemed as shocked as her. For now the smaller non hybrid mammals chose to act like it was no big deal and focus in the task at hand.
The walls of the room were filled with equipment, from wires and computers to bombs and bazookas; it was a good thing they didn't work for terrorists because they had enough fire power to blow Zootopia to smithereens.
-"For you guys I think the smaller the better, I have a cloner and a leech"- Goliath said handing them what seemed to be two very small pieces of plastic –"The cloner works with cell phones, all you need is to put this baby within a radius of three feet from your target for at least ten minutes and his phone will be cloned into yours. You will have access to all his stored data and every call he makes from then on, everything will be cloned into your own cellphone."- He gave them an I-carrot that was clean and untraceable –"Then there's the leech, place it inside the computer so he won't notice it and it will send every information that device has to an internet address of your choosing"-
-"Thank you very much Goliath, could we ask you some wires as well? Just in case we can catch him saying something incriminating outside his phone"- Judy said shy
-"And maybe something that will let me monitor Judy while he is with Lapin, in case he catches us and tries to hurt her"- Nicks eyes were turning into dark green slits.
Angela nodded –"I have just the right thing for you"- Five minutes later she was giving Judy a bracelet made of black pearls with matching earrings. –"The pearls in the bracelet are tiny listening devices, it is not uncommon for females to break their bracelets and scatter pearls all over the place, it shouldn't arise too much suspicion at first. As for the earrings you place them close to your ears, they are Bluetooth devices, that way you can communicate with Nick at all times"- She gave the fox a tiny black Bluetooth device as well, he could easily hide it in his ears.
-"That's great guys, thanks for helping us"- Nick said finally relaxing in front of the hybrids, foxes were suspicious by nature, it took them time to feel at ease with strangers.
-"Yeah we should be going now"- Judy said a little nervous, she had no idea of how to get out of the tunnel since she wasn't awake when she got there.
-"No problem, just tell us where do you want us to drop you"- Shabani said giving them two plastic cups with absinthe in it.
-"Is this necessary?"- Nick asked them annoyed.
-"Yes!"- The hybrids said in unison.
-"Give them your address Nick, the ball is tonight and we have to get ready"- The bunny then turned towards Goliath –"Could you take us there as fast as you can?"-
The Liger nodded.
Before the fox could react Judy took the cup and drank the content in one gulp, he had to catch her so she wouldn't fall and hit her head on the floor. He placed her on the ground carefully and with a grumpy expression he laid flat on his back. Told the hybrids where he lived and drank the absinthe.
…
Back in Nick's apartment, Judy saw herself in the bathroom mirror. The dress Julien had bought her was much more revealing than she thought, it was very long to the point that she would have to drag the tail of it on the floor. On the front it had a v shaped cleavage so deep it got practically to her belly button, which forbid her from wearing a bra and below her hips a large slit placed in the middle of the dress exposed her legs. She couldn't ignore the fact that she was an uncalculated movement away from indecent exposure.
The ridiculously expensive ruby jewelry on her neck looked more like a choke collar than an embellishment, it made her feel trapped, as if Julien was claiming ownership over her.
She came out of the bathroom and saw her partner dressed as a waiter, he had a cheap suit with a white t-shirt and a bowtie. He looked up to see her and his jaw dropped.
-"You look nice"- The fox said in a neutral tone "Understatement of the year" he thought, she looked like the most gorgeous creature he had ever laid his eyes upon.
She slouched and bowed her head in shame –"I look like a slut, I think he just wants to shame me in public"- She said placing her paws below her hips, terrified that the slit at the bottom of her dress would reveal too much.
Nick always had the ability to get in other mammal's head, something very useful in his conmammal past and essential in his current days as a cop. He guessed Lapin was probably taking a preventive maneuver inviting her to the ball. He would make sure she was seen with him in public like a gold digger hussy, the expensive necklace would hammer that point, so even if she filed a claim against him no one would believe her. The shame Judy would feel forced to parade by his side like a prized trophy would be icing on the cake.
He took her paw and guided her in front of the long mirror he had in his front door, the one he used to check himself right before leaving for work. He placed his paw below her chin, forcing her to look at her own reflection.
-"There is nothing shameful in the way you look, not unless you are ashamed of yourself. You are a very beautiful female and you have a nice… um… figure"- He struggled to get his point across without sounding like a creep. –"It is your divine right to show it off, don't give him the pleasure to make you feel embarrassed at who you are"-
Her ears perked up, a sly smile crept on her muzzle that didn't reach her eyes –"Don't let them see that they get to you, right slick?"-
-"It shouldn't get to you, you are gorgeous and I think it's about time for other mammals to see that."- For a moment he was intoxicated at the pheromones her skin was releasing, it took all his willpower not to dig under her fur with his muzzle so he could inhale them more deeply. The little exposed skin she had near her ears was turning a lovely shade of pink; giving him hope that maybe he wasn't the only one with inappropriate feelings in his heart. He tore away from her like flesh from bone, forced to get some distance and regain composure, he placed the mask of sly fox on himself one more and talked to her reflection. –"If you got it, flaunt it"- he shrugged with nonchalance.
She took a deep breath, stood up straight and posed by the mirror. A new air of confidence invaded her as she gave a hundred and eighty turn on her heels, the velvet of her dress twirling with flair around her. For the first time in her life she realized that she could be sexy, that sensuality wasn't something to be ashamed of or looked down upon, it was her god given right and not even monsters like Lapin should be entitled to take it away from her.
She turned towards Nick, with a genuine sultry smile, her Muzzle inches from his. She relished in the way he seemed mesmerized at the sight of her new confident self, her paw gently caressed the side of his face causing tiny shivers under his fur.
-"Well what are we waiting for? We have a rabbit to hunt"- Judy purred, then she opened the door and went outside, indicating with a nod of her head he should be following suit.
A lopsided grin formed in the fox's lips, his eyes glinted with malicious glee
–"That's my girl"-
