"Be sure to record the press conference for me," Ariel suggested as she zipped up her swim jacket. "I don't want to miss it because of my meet."
"I won't be surprised if ZNN gunks up the details with bias," Calvin snarked.
"I'm just glad that Judy Hopps and her fox freind were able to figure it all out," Mrs. Hobbes added, ignoring her son. "Who would have thought Mayor Lionheart was behind the disappearances?"
Mr. Hobbes added, "Don't forget how they've been turning savage. This is going to be the biggest news story Zootopia has seen in months! I'll send a couple of reporters to cover it myself."
"Either way, I'm gonna be late," Ariel pointed out. "Wish me luck!" Out the door she dashed.
Mrs. Hobbes chuckled, "She's almost as fast on her paws as she is in the water."
Ariel glanced around at the competition. An bison, a pig, and a horse were clambering onto the starting platforms on her right. On her left was a goat and a koala. No otters or bears this time around, Ariel thought with some relief. First place has my name on it!
Ariel's deep blue goggles restricted her vision somewhat, but she thought she heard Kiki and Diego cheering her name. They'd shown her the sign they'd made the night before, as a surprise and - inevitably - trophy. Ariel had no intention of letting her friends down today. She would win this race even if it killed her.
"Take your marks!" Jill called out. Once the beep sounded, Ariel was instantly in the water. She flew through the water, kicking her legs and pumping her arms until she broke the surface of the pool. Windmill my arms, she chanted. Pinkie out, thumb in. Pinkie out, thumb in. The bubbles flew past her as she focused on the black tiles that marked the lanes. Every time she poked her head up for a gulp of air, she could hear the crowd roaring with excitement over the splashes of water. As the opposite wall approached, a tune became stuck in Ariel's head. It was from a movie based on her favorite kid's TV show, and in her opinion, the music fit the occasion perfectly.
Choose a path, do the math!
Cause the days are numbered til the end of time!
Is it wrong for a song
To be so intense but still have words that rhyme?!
The world is all you have, my freind!
A world you must defend!
Pawed Squad forever!
Pawed Squad forever!
As Ariel reached the wall, shed did a swift underwater turn and kicked off, gaining an extra speed boost. She only had to make it to the start one more time to win the race. Her legs kicked furiously, her arms windmilling faster than ever. She was burning, but the water cooled her off instantly. She barely felt her paw touch the wall, but knew that she had made it.
Ariel surfaced once more and glanced around. She had left the other swimmers in her bubbles.
She had won the race.
Several races later (a few of which Ariel participated in), it was time to bestow the prizes for the girls; 100-meter freestyle. Mr. Jaffers, a giraffe who taught at a different aquatic center, was doing the honors. Adjusting his glasses, he read aloud from his paper: "In third place, Lucy South." The koala Ariel had seen ran forward to claim her trophy. "In second place, Lillian Rye." The horse came forward. "And in first place..."
Ariel held her breath. This was the moment of truth. The moment where everything she worked for was fulfilled...
"Flora Bisonix."
Ariel couldn't believe her ears. The bison was getting first prize? Not her?! She'd been the one to win the race! Something snapped within Ariel as the words echoed inside her head. She leaped out of her chair and cried out, "Hey, wait a minute! I won that race, fair and square!"
"I'm sorry, but we can't give the trophy to a predator, now can we?" Mr. Jaffers jeered.
Ariel yelled, "You sure can if she had the fastest time on the clock!"
"No, we can't. Predators have an unfair advantage."
"I'll show you an unfair advantage!" Ariel was all but ready to attack the giraffe right then and there, but Jill held her back.
"Relax, Ariel," the possum whispered. "He's being unreasonable. I don't know what's gotten into him. You're a winner in my book, that's for certain."
Ariel barely heard her.
"I'm so sorry, Ariel," Kiki sighed, placing a hand on her best friend's shoulder. "That was uncalled for. I saw you. You won those races."
"You can keep the sign," Diego offered. "More room on your walls than shelves, right?"
"Yeah. Sure." Ariel wasn't paying attention to her friends, instead watching the city of Zootopia go by as they all rode the ZTA homewards. Ariel noticed an elderly panda shaking her fist at a passing dingo. What was going on? What was with the sudden discrimination against predators?
It wasn't her fault she'd been born with teeth and claws.
Ariel was speechless as she watched the recorded press conference. Thanks to the leading questions the reporters asked, Judy Hopps announced that it was biology that had made the predators go savage, their natural instincts.
"That explains everything," she whispered in horror.
She didn't know what was going on, but she did know that it would not be good.