No Answers Yet

Nick threw himself on Judy's bed and quietly inhaled her scent which made him feel rather dizzy, as he tried not to think about the bear-witch he would have to face tomorrow for another exhausting day of training.

He felt the mattress retaliate as a familiar weight dropped itself next to him. Nick froze as he felt Judy's familiar paws grab his tail and hug herself with it. His fur spiked up, Nick swallowed thickly and proceeded to inquire. "What're you doing, Carrots?"

Judy grabbed the tail tighter. "It's cold." She mumbled sleepily.

"So make good use of the blanket. My tail is not a heater." Nick mumbled, trying to remind to himself that he had to act like this displeased him immensely, while in fact the effect was the exact opposite. Nick's tail had never been happier.

"But it's so warm and fluffy and you're in my bed so be quiet!" Judy told him and her back was glued to Nick's in an attempt to gain comfort. Nick's fur became even spikier and his breathing became hitched. He reminded himself to take deep breaths. "Nick?"

"Hm?" Nick answered, trying to balance his voice.

"Turn around and hug me, I'm cold." Judy replied. Nick's mind died for a second. After he rebooted, he remembered his usual thought around Judy, Why do you never think before you talk?

He pulled the blanket over them, flipped around and put his tail over Judy's body, curling it around her and pulled her into a sort of cuddly-hug. Judy let out a happy breath. "Pros of your best friend being a fox." She muttered. "You know, for a hot summer month it sure is freaking cold." She shivered for a second but then let out another happy breath.

Nick was almost at tears, amazed by how purely fantastic this felt. If simply cuddling Judy was this good, how good would – he cut himself off before his thoughts wandered there. The last thing he wanted was a hint that would break through his entire façade.

Nick awoke to a hazy memory of last night's sweetness and Judy's delicious scent and suddenly felt an emptiness. Judy was gone. As soon as his thoughts begun to clear up, he noticed the annoying ringing that would not stop. He opened his eyes, feeling unusually relaxed, only to be met by the raging alarm clock. A note was jabbed next to it. Training.

Nick didn't bother biting back a groan. How does one go from a lovely night to another horrid day of terrible training? He clicked his tongue as he got dressed up in his proper clothing and set off for the academy, much to his dislike.

"You're late." Said the Coach, glaring down at Nick.

Nick glared right back at her. "So what?"

"Seventy push-ups!" She commanded.

"No." Nick said, gritting his teeth.

"Insubordination! Eighty. Push-ups." She said, her tone getting sharper by the second.

"No." Nick said, refusing to obey what he considered a snowy version of Satan.

"If you do not do eighty push-ups, you will never become a cop again. It would be a tragedy, would it not, for you to never be by Judy's side again? Surely you wouldn't want her to have anyone else for her partner, huh?" Her grin put the word evil to shame.

Nick thought about glaring with all the might of his soul at her, but then reconsidered, thinking that if she were indeed Satan, she would probably only grow stronger by hatred. A small, logical part of his brain that wasn't ruled by rage spoke quietly, How does she know that you like Judy? That snapped him awake. "What are you implying?" He narrowed his eyes.

"I am a polar bear, Spiky. I know how a predator, more specifically a fox, would react to attraction. Not to mention, you smell like Judy. Must've felt nice, huh, snuggling into her bed? If I didn't think she were capable of taking care of herself, I'd have you arrested. I assume it was to her, nothing but a friendly stayover." If at all possible, the polar bear looked even more evil.

Nick balled his hands into fists. "What is wrong with you, do you feed on others' misery?"

The Coach grinned, revealing a teeth of dangerous, white teeth. "I do, as a matter of fact. To hate me is to give me strength. Now, eighty push-us."

Nick glared one last time, before he fell on the ground and started doing his push-ups.

"I hate her!" Nick hissed, entering Judy's room. "I wish she would be burned at the stake like most witches! I want her to be struck by a lightning! I hate her!" Nick hissed.

Judy was looking at her computer. She turned around to grin at him. "You only say that because you don't like the idea of another person enjoying your misery."

"Yeah, that's my job!" Nick hissed. He groaned as he threw himself on Judy's bed. "Every muscle in my body hurts."

"Eew, stinky don't just fall on my bed! Go take a shower, we've got people to investigate and I've got things to tell you!" Judy told him.

"Later…" Nick mumbled, his eyelids closed.

Judy groaned. "Go take a shower and I'll give you a massage." Judy told him.

Nick's eyes snapped up. "You better be a good masseur." He said and left for the bathroom, before Judy could see his fur spiking up.

He put his clothes in the laundry can and entered the shower. Hot steaming water poured down on him as he let out a relaxing breath. Perhaps, some time alone in the shower could prove useful.

Nick felt rejuvenated after that shower. Because of the hot water, of course. He let out a sigh as he went back to the main room. Judy's apartment was grossly small. "So Nick, I've been thinking," Judy said.

"Hm?" Nick said, putting on his pyjamas.

"Since you've practically decided to invade my poor house, don't you think it would be nice if we rented a place together? It would be bigger than both our apartments and for the same rent." She said.

Nick was extremely relaxed, which kept his fur from reacting. Can she really not hear herself? "Yeah, that'd be nice. We should look into it."

"Cool," Judy replied. "Now, come and see what I found out about Arcapolo."

Nick walked over to Judy's desk and raised an eyebrow, looking at the website Judy had opened.

Arcapolo, or Arcas Polo, was an unwritten law ancient Zoomerians lived their lives by. An ethical code which was the base of their very society. According to the tablets found, Arcapolo means "As Once Shall Always", meaning that mammals in ancient Zoomeria were never to forget the bloodshed which existed between Predator and Prey.

However, during the latest times when Zoomeria lost its peak and begun its downfall, some cultists believed that Arcas Polo was actually a message by their divine goddess, Panzooa – a divine mother which was believed to be the spirit of our planet.

Panzooa was neither predator nor prey, she was in fact believed to be a perfect hybrid of the two. As is usual with religious extremity, the Cult leaders saw Arcapolo as Panzooa's way of remaining unique. They believed that predator and prey were minorities in our world, born to serve Panzooa and thus were never meant to create a unity only existing in her.

It was that belief which gave birth to the idea that the two Species, Predator and Prey were forever to remain enemies so as that Panzooa would never be matched as a unique creation.

"You think whoever is behind these attacks is an idiot who thinks that mammals live only to serve… what was her name, Panzooa?" Nick inquired.

"Of course not, don't be silly. But if I wanted to gather power, I would create a name with history." Judy said.

"What if it's not about power, though? What if whoever is behind these attacks, actually wants to unify prey and predator? I mean, you saw first-hand of the duality Zootopia exists in? What if, by showing that both predator and prey can become savage, they aim to unite us?" Nick contemplated.

"That sounds simply too good to be true, Nick. There are easier ways to unify the world."

"Yeah, but are there, Judy? What if whoever is behind this really does think that the only way is by fear?" Nick looked at the screen more intently.

"It just doesn't feel like it's true, to me. Hey, I found another website too." Judy said, switching tabs. Nick looked at the laptop.

Arcapolo was a movement that happened in Zootopia 90 years ago. Based on ideals from Zoomerians, a few scientists but also Spiritual folk said they were trying to bring about a super species. One that was both predator and prey, thus ending the eternal rivalry.

However, their attempts were met with nothing but failure, as experiments lead to nothing. The mothers which were experimented on produced normal children, with no genetic anomalies. Predator gave birth to predator and prey gave birth to prey.

The scientific part of the movement gave up and dissolved, while the Spiritual side remained for another twenty years, claiming that change had already begun and soon nature would re-forge mammals into a better species.

In time, while an extremely rare occurrence, there have instances of predator having traits of prey and vice versa, but the individuals were so random and generic it was regarded as merely a genetic anomaly which occurred through time and has occurred through time for thousands of years, without any relation whatsoever to the Arcapolo movement.

Scientific attempts were retried 30 years ago, with no success.

"So we got cults wanting to divide us all, and mad scientists trying to create a super-species." Nick said, all of this seeming all the more ridiculous to him.

Judy rolled her eyes. "Nick, don't be stupid. It's neither – of course it's neither. But whoever is behind these attacks, adopted this name obviously aiming to bring about fear or awe. It's not a generic name."

"Or, that made was simply trying to throw us further off our tracks." Nick told her.

Judy sighed. "Yeah, that's quite possible too." She looked up at him. "You too tired, or do you want to go ask another one of Suela's fans why they are buying rainbow-coloured feathers?"

Nick groaned. "Tomorrow, Carrots. That horrible witch had me do two-hundred push-ups. Two-hundred fucking push-ups. I want to sleep for a month."

This time Judy smiled at him. "Let's sleep, then." Nick smiled right back.

The animal before them was a Panther. It was odd, seeing such a huge company in the Rainforest District. Apparently, all who had taken after Suela's rainbow feathers were rich businessmen. Something which made sense, considering The Peacock Club was considerably a fancy place.

Still, a Panther in the Rainforest District wearing a suit was most uncommon. On his sleek metallic desk, was a simple laptop, undoubtedly the newest model, and next to eat a simple crystal vase with a large rainbow-feather.

"I saw Suela, a magnificent singer she is, wearing a suit of dazzling rainbow-feathers. They were astonishing. I immediately took a liking to them. That's all." The Panther said simply.

"Have you never seen anything peculiar about these feathers?" Judy asked.

"Nothing that I know of. Just ordinary fake feathers." The Panther replied. He let out a deep breath. "My dear officer Hopps. I generously give 35% of my monthly income to charity organisations. Among them is Mammals United, one specifically intended to heal the rift between Predator and Prey. It is almost an insult to me, to tell me that I am trying to tear Zootopia apart. I, like you, am simply trying to fix it."

Judy let out a sigh. "There just has to be an explanation. The rainbow-feathers always follow the victims of the attacks."

"Then perhaps whoever is behind them has taken a similar liking to these feathers." The Panther fixed his composure behind the desk, only enough for a simple word to appear on his very expensive, tailored suit. Arcapolo.

Nick's eyes flashed, as he noticed Judy's ear shoot up, she must've noticed exactly what he had. Nick immediately fixed his expression. "That's an interesting word," He said, his voice having the perfect amount of innocence to mask it.

The Panther's face remained cool as he replied. "Arcapolo?"

"Yes." Nick nodded.

The Panther smiled, revealing a set of oddly tamed teeth. Not the dangerous fang-like things you'd expect. Odd, Nick thought. No doubt work had been done to them. "It is derived from Arcas Polo. A life-code ancient Zoomerians used to live by. It means the unification of all mammals."

"So you support it, then?" Nick lifted an eyebrow.

"Why, of course I do. Mammals are meant to be united. We are not species that should be divided, rather we should all unite as one. For the best of everyone's interest." The Panther replied, his face still cool though a smile still tainting his lips.

"You've done research on the Zoomerian culture?" Judy asked.

The Panther nodded. "It is most interesting. It is the closest we have come as entities to Harmony. We can only hope that Zootopia one day outmatches ancient Zoomeria. Hopefully, it does not meet the same end."

Nick tried to prevent his eyes from narrowing. So he does know about Zoomeria's unhappy ending? "Well, that would be all. Thank you most kindly for you time. And for the history lesson." Nick smiled.

The Panther smiled right back at him. "My sincerest pleasure."

They left the office, closing the door behind him. "So he does know…" Judy muttered.

"Yeah, but I don't think it means anything." Nick told her.

"But what of the note that maid gave us?"

"What if it was not as literal as we try to make it? What if Arcapolo is just the idea these attacks are based on and nothing more?" Nick looked at her.

Judy frowned. "It's too much of a coincidence, don't you think?"

Nick shrugged. "Time will show. I'm dead tired, let's go home. Tomorrow it's my day off from that horrid academy."

Judy smiled at him. "Then, let's look for an apartment!"

Nick felt a smile form on his lips, or rather – a goofy grin. "Yeah, let's."

=Author's Notes=

I had sooooo much fun coming up with the history behind Arcapolo. Almost as much fun as it was to come up with all these "Zoo"-related puns. As always, follow and favourite the story if you liked it and review this chapter to let me know what you think!