Disclaimer: "Zootopia" is owned by the Magical World of Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios. The "Sly Cooper" videogame series is owned by Sony, Sucker-Punch Productions, and Sanzaru Games. There are also aspects that will be borrowed from or directly inspired from Zootopia's pre-production works and concepts from Nicolaswilde's "Zistopia" Tumblr blog. Said story itself is a fan-based non-profit work of fiction written strictly for entertainment purposes only. Please support the official releases. Thank you.
Special Note: The portion of this chapter with Spanish dialogue will have English translations under the Author's Notes section at the end.
Fox Point
By MaveriKat & Nanya
Beta Read By Innortal
Chapter 3: The Road to Zootopia...
It had taken Carmelita eleven hours in air travel to get from the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle International in Paris, France to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle, Washington... and that wasn't including the stops that the red fox had to take along the way! With the layovers and plane changes at the JFK on the East coast of the Zoonited States and then the Chicago O'Hare by the Great Lakes, that bumped up the travel time to a solid fourteen hours for Inspector Fox! She'd managed to catch some sleep here and there inflight, but nothing more than an hour at a time. She was used to pushing herself for her work, but even the vixen was surprised by how exhausted the whole ordeal was leaving her. There was no denying that the lack of a regular sleep schedule combined with the jet lag was starting to hit her hard.
But she couldn't rest yet as even exiting from the airport, the vixen still wasn't anywhere close to her final destination! Zootopia, for all its frequently touted progress, only had a regional airport for city use; there was no coming in or out of the city via air travel. Hence, the Hispanic vulpine was going to be stuck on a bus for the next half hour or so. However, even that ride wouldn't bring Carmelita to her destination, oh no! She wasn't up for what would amount to a five hour bus-ride, especially when she could grab an hour-long train ride that went directly to and from Zootopia and one of its remaining dependent territories, Bunnyburrow.
And apparently, she wasn't the only one with the idea to use the train to reach the fabled City-State. There were numerous animals that lined up one after another, the group being slowly loaded into the BeeLine Tours shuttle; its roll-sign set to, 'Bunnyburrow' while either side of the vehicle was plastered with colorful Zootopia advertisements. The group of mammals gathered was an incredibly varied sort, including farmers in denim and t-shirts, starchy white-and-blue uniformed cheerleaders in miniskirts ready to come home from an out-of-state rally or game, pressed-suit yuppies returning to either home or work after their business affairs were finished, and other animals from all walks of life, all wanting to get either get back home, visit a destination, or enjoy a vacation amongst other things.
It was one very fatigued Carmelita Montoya Fox that stood among this throng of mammals. Fortunately, no one said or did anything with her as it was one of those rare occasions she got to actually travel out of uniform. While still an Interpol police officer, the woman wasn't an acting one at the moment. That fact combined with her jurisdiction switching over to Zootopia upon checking in, meant it was all right to go in plain clothes. Still, while it was undeniable the white blouse, blue denim jeans, and the new pair of white Nike sneakers all looked very nice on the vixen... the outfit looked completely out of place on the woman to those who knew her.
Such had been part of Carmelita's point for dressing that way.
The navy blue-tressed woman didn't want to stand out nor look the part of a member of law enforcement. The Latina vulpine wanted to see for herself if what Bentley told her was true. At least if it turned out things were just as bad as the turtle believed, then it was a good thing Carm still had her Interpol badge in her satchel. She would be able to withdraw it as needed to diffuse any situations. Hopefully any trouble makers she might run into would still have a healthy respect for if not fear of authority.
Finally, her turn onto the vehicle came up. Standing at the entrance of the shuttle bus, the woman reached out and handed the bus operator–a rather burly steer–her suitcase. She waited there for a moment, watching and making a mental note of where the man placed it on the luggage rack that was stationed behind the driver's seat, in this case the central shelf. When he motioned for her to hand over the carry-on she was holding as well, the red fox shook her head. "Thank you, but no thank you, sir. I've got this," she politely declined before she moved past him and made her way into the bus. Even though she kept her face expressionless and her posture unthreatening, the vixen couldn't help but notice a few prey animals already in seats watching her intently as she passed by them.
Finding an open set of seats halfway into the bus on the left, the woman was quick to slide in and settle herself next to the window; carefully placing her carry-on atop her lap. It was a bit of weight to rest on her legs but the leather satchel bag held the majority of her important possessions. She wasn't about to risk any of it getting lost or to be more precise... misplaced. Not that she felt everyone on this bus had the possibility of being a specist asshole but considering they were all likely heading towards Zootopia? She wasn't about to risk it. If anything happened to the vixen's suitcase, she'd merely be out a wardrobe and some equipment she could get replaced easily enough. The satchel held far more precious things.
Soon, the shuttle bus began filling up with more passengers. Her poker face firmly in place, Carmelita took note of how people would act as they came neat her. While this did include studying the actions of larger predators, Carmelita was particularly interested in anyone of the herbivore set. The animals like the tigers, wolves, and a small badger family merely paid her no mind as they looked for seats. But all the pigs, sheep, rabbits, and one elderly cow... were hesitant. They would stop short, taking up all the open seats up front–but not directly in front of her–that they could before they HAD to move past her. Those that did were quick to get by her and kept on walking. The triangular ears atop her scalp rose high above her navy blue tresses, twitching as they strained to hear the rustling of personal baggage and purses. Apparently these people were paranoid of her presence to the point of not feeling safe with her merely being there.
Oh this is not off to a good start, the vixen thought glumly as she continued to sit there stoically, fingers gently drumming along the brown surface of her carry-on. Even if the Hispanic beauty was fretting a bit internally, she was able to externally portray herself as a person of a calm attitude and collected presence; as unthreatening a demeanor as possible. On the plus side, she mentally added. If this keeps up I can just sit my bag next to me.
Within mere minutes, the bus' seating filled in one after another behind her as paranoid prey did their best to keep clear of her. The vulpine officer was just about to give up and chalk another point up to Bentley's intelligence gathering... except for one final passenger getting on the shuttle. He was a solidly built panther, dressed in a casual albeit preppy style with a white dress shirt that was tucked into a pair of evergreen slacks. The collar of said buttoned-up shirt was popped up, showing off the black tie he had around his neck in done a Granchester knot. To finish off the look, the black-furred jaguar had a flat cap atop his scalp, the same shade of blue-green as his pants. The feline brought his right hand up and tipped the stiff brim of his rounded cap up, so he could look out into the bus with vibrant green eyes, searching about for something–likely any open seating... before settling on her.
Nodding his head at the direction of the vulpine, the ebony-furred feline handed the muscular bull driver his forest green duffel bag before making his way along the rows of seats, before coming to a stop beside padded sectional that that vixen was sitting in. Giving her a nervous smile, he queried in heavily accented English, "Excuse me, Señorita Zorra... is this seat taken?"
Carmelita couldn't help but give the man a small albeit genuine smile. "No, it's not. Go ahead, Señor Pantera." Feeling a little cheeky as she saw his eyes widen in surprise, she told him to take a load off in her–likely their–native tongue, "Tome un peso de encima."
At those words, the jaguar was suddenly grinning from ear-to-ear. "Alabado sea el Señor!" He cheered with obvious relief as he settled down next to the vixen. He became very animated, talking quickly to the woman. "No tienes idea de lo difícil que es encontrar a alguien que hable Español tan al Norte!" He inhaled to get much needed breath. "La verdad es que es un alivio! Me siento tan cansado me sale de sonar como un idiota! Mi comprensión de Inglés no es tan fluido como me gustaría..." he shook his head in disgust with himself.
The man's fluent Spanish did manage to do something the female red fox hadn't been able to do in a long while. Relax. Sly picked up phrases to whisper sweet nothings to her but she hadn't had a real conversation in her native tongue since the last time she talked with her folks. There was something familiar and comfortable about sliding back into her first language. "No es de por aquí, verdad?" She queried, wondering if the panther was from around there or not.
The man was about to answer, only to pause as the bus went into motion. Relaxing back into his half of the seat, he smiled. "Oh, pero estoy," he said proudly, surprising her. "Puede que sea originario de Venezuela pero trabajar y vivir en la Tundra-Ciudad Distrito del Zootopia. Sólo estoy volviendo de un viaje de vuelta allí para ver a mis padres." Then, almost as an afterthought, he asked, "Y usted, Señorita?"
Catching the drift, the vulpine woman gave her fellow Latin mammal the name, "Fox. Carmelita Fox." She then politely held out her hand to him in greeting. "Soy originaria de España, pero he estado viviendo en París durante los últimos ocho años. Voy a estar viviendo en Zootopia para los próximos seis meses, Señor...?" she trailed off, wanting his name in return.
Taking the woman's hand, he panther surprised the female vulpine by holding it up to his face. "Ah, un Europeo. Me sorprendió ver que tan lejos..." he gave it a kiss, pleased to see a slight flush to the woman's face. "Perdóneme, Señorita Fox. Soy Renato Manchas. Un placer conocerte."
Feeling a flush of heat in her cheeks in embarrassment at the rather romantic gesture from a man she just met, Carmelita went back to speaking English... she didn't want the suave feline trying to pursue this course of action. Just because they spoke the same language didn't mean she wanted to get romantic or anything! Still, the Hispanic vulpine was polite about it as she said, "Ah yes... it is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Manchas." She carefully withdrew her hand and tried to change the topic of conversation. "So, you live in Zootopia's Tundratown District? What do you do there?"
"I work as professional driver," the black-furred jaguar replied with a grin. "I work..." he paused, trying to think of the word. "I work as Chauffer for Tundratown Limo-Service. Lot of people love to be driven in style and for the locals... well, lots don't like to do driving in a permanently frozen terrain. Takes lot of skill and experience to get around Tundratown without causing damage to car." He clenched the fingers of his right hand a few times. "I have found my natural feline reflexes to be a... how you say... godsend?" He chuckled and shook his head good-naturedly as he lowered his hand. His green eyes then met the vixen's chocolate orbs again. "And you, Miss Fox?"
Considering the man's words–of only slightly broken English–for a moment, the red fox nodded her head in understanding and in all honestly, a little relief. The feline gentleman seemed to be well-adjusted enough, all things considered. Although that probably comes from the fact he wasn't born in Zootopia but Venezuela, she surmised. Realizing the man was waiting for her to answer, she finally spoke, "Well, let's just say I got a municipal position and you'll be able to find me at the Savanna Central District easily enough." She didn't want to come out and say she was a cop, in case anyone else was listening in on their conversation.
The panther raised an eyebrow at that. "Municipalis, huh?" He murmured for a moment as he considered that. "So you got some corporate gig, huh? So you is going to be some kind of administrator then?"
Nodding her head slowly in confirmation, the vixen answered, "Sí, something like that." She wasn't lying a she would be administrating law and order to the masses. "It's going to be a very people-oriented job."
Smiling, Renato replied, "Ah, I see... well, if you ever need real fancy ride somewhere for important events, I'm your man." He blinked his eyes as a realization came to him. "Ah! Uno momento!" He then reached his right hand behind him and into his back pants' pocket. Withdrawing his wallet, the jaguar flipped it open and removed a small business card from it. "Here! Take it!" He chirped excitedly. "I would be happy to drive you, Señorita Fox!"
Blinking her chocolate eyes at that, the woman reached out for and accepted the small white card that toted the name of the business he worked for, the address, phone number, and the panther's extension. "Gracias, Señor Manchas," she thanked him as she slid the card into one of the small pockets on the exterior of her satchel. "I will keep that in mind." Not that she ever thought she would need such a service but experience had taught the vulpine detective that it was always good idea to keep options open.
Chuckling as he placed his wallet back into his back pocket, Renato waved her off. "No problema, hermosa," he told her nonchalantly as he straightened himself up. "Anything for a compañero Latín mamífero." He grinned. "And a lovely one at that." He wagged his eyebrows at the woman sitting to his right in a rather cheeky fashion.
Carmelita couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Seems someone thinks himself quite the charmer..." she whispered. Not that she was trying to degrade the man, but she was trying to gently let him know that she wasn't interested in the jaguar in that way.
Smiling, the jaguar was about to pursue matters further when the sound of jazzy, ragtime trumpets began emanating from his pocket. "Oh! Perdóname! Work calling," he explained as he dove his hand into the pocket of his left side; the vixen's ear catching the sound of jingling keys amongst the smooth sound of band music.
Raising a navy blue eyebrow in curiosity, the female red fox was quite curious as to what was going on... before the velvety tones of Frank Sinatra and Jerry Voles came could be heard. "...Is your ring-tone, 'Bye, Bye Blackbird'?" She queried as Renato fished out his cell-phone.
However, the ebony-furred jaguar ignored her for the moment as he slid his thumb across the screen of the device and brought it to the side of his head. "Hola, Señor Big!" He chimed out before nodding his head rapidly. "Sí, sí... I'm back. On bus to Bunnyburrow. Sí, the folks are doing well, thank you for asking..."
Realizing that her current conversation was on hold, Officer Fox turned her head away from the panther in an effort to give him some privacy. She gazed out the window, watching as they passed by some rather lovely landscape. Lots of greenery with all kinds of plant-life, trees, the rolling hills further back practically acting as a backdrop piece for blue skies. It was almost unnaturally beautiful. Seems they weren't kidding about the lengths Washington went through for their Scenic and Recreational Highways program, she vulpine thought with a bit of awe at the natural beauty that was displayed. Still, no matter how pretty it was, such was one of the many aspects of the problem. Even if all of this originated from a state office, it was an excuse that allowed Zootopia and its surrounding areas to be more worried about the image they portrayed to the public and not what was going on within it.
Sighing, Carmelita couldn't help but think back to all the little turtle told her.
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Eyes fluttering open, the Latina vulpine's nostrils flared as they slowly inhaled a certain scent. It was a rather delicious aroma that worked to lull her out of her sleepy state. "Is that..." the woman trailed off as she pushed herself up into a sitting position atop her bed. "Bacon?" She looked about her room, gazing into the darkness that filled it thanks to her natural night vision kicking in. She frowned slightly as she saw the digital clock on her nightstand read, '8:37 pm'. "Maldición..." she cursed under her breath. "I slept the day away!"
Swiveling herself atop her bed, the vixen threw her legs over the side before pushing off. "Ugh... twelve hours sleep and I still feel like shit..." she growled irritably as the female red fox threw her arms out to either side of her. Leaning back a bit, she winced as she both heard and felt the crack in her spine. "I'm beginning to think Barkley was right. I haven't been getting enough sleep." Despite having passed out during the daylight hours, it had been a dreamless sleep, leaving the woman feeling as though no time had passed.
Opening her maw wide and releasing a yawn, the canid woman smacked her lips for a moment. While it was odd that there was the smell of cooking going on in her home, the policewoman's practical mind realized who it had to be. She had sent her friend a message to meet up with her tonight; told him what happened at the office and that she needed his help. The Hispanic vulpine had been expecting to wake up and have a chance to clean up and ready herself beforehand but it appeared such wasn't the case. "Ugh... I've been wearing the same clothes for two days now. I really need to shower after this talk too."
So with that promise made, the red fox took a moment to steady herself before she made her way to the door of her bedroom. Hand on the doorknob, the woman had to peer through nearly closed eyelids as she pulled it open; the hallways lights were on and her eyes needed a moment to adjust. When they had, the Interpol officer blinked her eyes as they focused once more, before making her way towards the kitchen. Coming to a stop at the entrance, the female fox caught sight of the wheelchair-bound turtle as he made his way about the cooking area. Decked out in glasses, a short sleeved dress shirt, a red bow tie around his neck, a gold watch around his wrist, and gloves on his hands to make it easier for him to grip the wheels of his chair, he was handily moving back and forth between the stove and the toaster.
"Bentley!" She called out to the reptile in question. "Don't you know it's impolite to enter a woman's home without knocking?" She queried good-naturedly. She didn't expect too much from him, as he was a thief after all.
"True," the vertically-challenged turtle replied without missing a beat as he used the spatula in his right hand to stir some eggs he had frying up in a cast-iron pan. "But you had invited me earlier so I felt I had free reign. And being the good guest, I didn't want to disturb your beauty sleep so I decided I'd make it worth your while to get up." He placed the spatula down atop some paper-towels set on the countertop and used one of his gloved hands to turn his chair about to face her. "Besides, checking out your fridge, I saw you had some foods that were reaching their expiration dates so I thought I'd help you finish them off."
Walking into the room, the woman shook her head good-naturedly. "Dios bueno, Bentley... that sounds like something Murray would say." She was almost up to a turtle when he held a hand up in a warding motion for her to stop. "What?" The Latina beauty queried as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't you want some help?"
A small smile split across the reptile's face. "Relax. If I need a hand..." he pressed a button on the left armrest of his wheelchair, causing a pair of mechanical limbs to extend from a device connected to the backrest of the chair. "I have them. You just sit down and let me be a nice guy by making you breakfast, okay?"
Pouting a little, the woman was quick to defer to the turtle's wishes. "Fine, you win..." she huffed cutely. Turning towards the table, she made her way over to it, gently grasping a chair and pulling it back before coming around to sit in it. "But you should know, if you wanted to be a real gentleman, you would have made me dinner. It's more appropriate!"
Another chuckle sounded from Bentley's throat. "Please! In our lines of work, this time of night is the start of our proverbial day!" Picking up the spatula, the wagged it at her in a teasingly chiding fashion as he proclaimed, "And breakfast is the most important meal of the day!"
"I may work late hours but don't think of it as my norm. Not all of us make our livings skulking around at night," Carmelita replied, but didn't push the matter any further as she wanted to at least try to relax. Besides, the vulpine officer wouldn't turn away a nice hot cooked meal, that much was certain. However, since it looked like the shelled reptile still needed to do a bit more, the vixen felt she might as well make some small-talk in the meantime. "When did you learn how to cook anyway?"
"Well, when it came to the gang, one of us had to learn," Bentley said with a bit of mock-seriousness. Looking over his shoulder at the woman sitting at the table by the placemat he set up, the computer genius added, "Otherwise we would have been eating fast food and take-out around the clock." He turned his attention back to the stove, slowly slicing the rubber spatula through the eggs and sliding some of the cooked portions up into the rest of the egg mix as he scrambled them slowly but surely.
Nodding her head in understanding, the Hispanic vulpine had to agree, "I can attest to that." She lost track of how many dingy airport fast food stands she had to eat at during her travels with Interpol... and that was nothing to say about how it was almost universal law that every base they set up for missions, somehow donuts would find their way into it. Shaking her head a little to clear her thoughts, the woman then told the turtle, "Still... I thank you for cooking. I can't remember the last time I had a home-cooked meal."
"I can tell," the turtle replied, the man still stirring the large utensil along the scrambled goodness he was creating. "I had to empty half your fridge. You had so many items that had turned that... if I may be frank? I'm surprised this place doesn't smell like a garbage dump." Then as an afterthought, he added, "Although you may want to invest in a lot of baking soda... and I mean a lot. I think the stench permeated into the interior plastic components of your refrigerator."
Carmelita grimaced at being told that. It was going to be a pain to try and deal with that if she were gone on this mission. "I guess I can look into it..." she murmured, wondering if she could get an industrial box and toss it all into the refrigeration unit. "Just please tell me you didn't find any bugs or anything in the fridge." She practically pleaded with Bentley.
Fortunately, the wheelchair-bound genius shook his head in affirmation. "Well good news in that regard. There were thankfully no bugs to be found."
Closing her eyes, the vulpine woman released a big sigh of relief. "Thank God for small miracles," she murmured quietly. That was the last thing she needed, to have bugs everywhere. The policewoman still remembered the time she and Sly had to go into abandoned farmland to arrest an international drug dealer. He had been using the farming area he had holed himself up in as drug lab; just making more of his trade was lying low in preparation for when he felt everything would have blown over...
The female red fox and her raccoon partner brought the fiend to justice... and she ended up with so many deer ticks on her that it wasn't even funny. Even now, anytime the canid cop thought about it, the vixen had to pick at her fur-covered skin to make sure there weren't any hiding on her butt or someplace else.
Sitting up straight as a shiver went through her spine at the thought, the female vulpine shook her head in disgust at the memories. She needed to get her mind on something else, STAT. "Anyway," she spoke up, deciding to get back to the old standby of small-talk. "Please know that while I appreciate you making me food very much, that wasn't the reason why I had contacted you with a request to come over to my place."
"I know it's not," the wheelchair-bound reptilian replied. "However, before we talk business, I need you mentally alert. You were sleeping like the dead when I arrived..." he smirked. "It almost sounded like you were chopping down trees or at least cutting up your furniture. I would have sworn you were revving up a chainsaw in there."
Rolling her eyes, the female red fox let off a little snort of annoyance. "Oh, hardy-har-har..." she grumbled sarcastically in annoyance as the small turtle began to turn away from the stove. She raised her eyes as she realized those mechanical appendages that came from the back of his chair were holding plates of food as he turned the wheels with his hands. "Still, I do thank you for going to all this trouble. What did you find out? Can you get me out of this stupid assignment?"
The turtle brought his right fist up to his face, his index finger rising up before his lips. "Shhh..." he shushed her softly. "Just relax. Eat up, get your thoughts together, and then we'll talk." As he said that, one of the mechanical mitts placed the plate down on the table atop the place setting he'd positioned earlier. "For now, please enjoy your food."
Although she was more than a little anxious to learn what the man had discovered, Carmelita nodded her head in resignation before she did as told. Cutting off a piece of the scrambled eggs on her plate with a fork, the woman opened her mouth before placing it in there. Closing her lips around the helping of egg delight, she slid the utensil out and chewed vigorously... before her eyes went wide. "MMM! Dis ith..." the Latina vulpine stopped what she was saying and swallowed her mouthful of food–she could already envision her mother yelling at her about minding proper table manners. The woman then began to praise once more with a much clearer tone, "This is pretty darn good!"
The shelled reptile couldn't help but puff up a little with pride. "Thank you, Carm. You're very welcome." Bentley smiled as he started to dig in to his own food. It may have been simple fare, but genuine gratitude for one's cooking was always something to he enjoyed. "I tell you, Carmelita," the turtle began with a pleased tone of voice. "While cooking is just another form of chemistry, I can't help but find it amazing just how far a little paprika can take something." He scooped up another mouthful of eggs and chewed vigorously before swallowing as well.
The policewoman managed a small smile. She had to admit that this was... nice. Probably the first time she was able to actually relax in God knew how long. The vulpine beauty had been working around the clock as much as she could, either with her primary job or her own private investigation into Sly's whereabouts. Honestly, it reminded the red fox of her early days working as an Interpol Inspector, only now it wasn't as easy to shake off the effects of pushing her mind and body to the limit... and she wasn't even thirty yet!
Within a good fifteen minutes–and a bit more praise from that vixen that such was the best bacon she ever had in her life–the plates were cleaned... and then genuinely cleaned! Almost as soon as she had finished her meal, those mechanical arms of the turtle's advanced, high-tech wheelchair grasped her plate for her before the male reptile went over to the sink and began washing dishes. She was amazed those mechanized limbs could be delicate enough TO wash dishes. "That... that is a neat trick."
A chuckle could be heard from the turtle. Even if he kept his attention towards the sink, Bentley couldn't help but remark, "Speaking from experience? The best way to avoid dish-pan hands is to use someone or in this case, something else's!"
Carmelita barked out a laugh. True, his joke wasn't that funny but it was light-hearted enough to warrant a laugh from her. "Still, I do want to thank you again. That was a good meal." The blue-tressed fox felt like her eyes were going to water up from how stuffed she was with all that food. On the plus side of things, the Inspector didn't feel as exhausted as she hard earlier, so she decided that perhaps now as the time to make her inquiry. "So, Bentley, I just..." she sighed as she trailed off. The vulpine policewoman needed to collect her thoughts coherently and not just ramble. Finally, she began, "I'm not sure about taking this job. I mean, what if Sly turns up in the next few days? What would he say if I wasn't there?" Heck, the vixen knew she would be disappointed in him if the situations were reversed. "He's alive, I know it..."
"Oh, you don't need to convince me," Bentley replied as he rolled his eyes, even if the action was hidden by the thick lenses of his glasses. "Believe me, I've known Sly since we were both eight-years-old! He could have been at ground zero of a nuclear blast and would have survived!"
"By hiding in a fridge, no doubt," Carmelita snorted, getting a laugh out of both of them over the thought of the master thief surviving that by hiding like that. It was an asinine thought but the raccoon seemed to have the luck of the devil so doing something so crazy likely would have worked for him.
As his laughter began to subside, the turtle nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah... and he would probably end up in the hospital longer than I had been if he did that. His limbs would be broken beyond the ability of modern medical science." The artificial limbs on his chair settled the plates down to the right of the sink, atop the kitchen counter that was aligned with the wall. His gloved hands came down to the wheels and he turned himself about to face the vixen once more. Wheeling over to her as the mechanical appendages withdrew back into the chair, he settled up next to the woman. "Now, I will admit that you sounded a bit, to be polite... out of it... when you called and explained things to me," he said in all seriousness. "But I decided to take a look for myself on your behalf."
There was suddenly a very bright, almost intimidating gleam that shone across the lenses of the aquatic reptile's glasses as he raised his head to look up at her; the reflection of her ceiling lights almost an unearthly glow within them. "Carmelita... in all honesty, I think it would be best for you to accept the mission they're requesting you for. If their reasoning–and that goes for both your boss and the ZPD–for having you head over to the States is true, you would be doing a world of good for a lot of people."
The Latina vixen looked like she was going to respond, but Bentley cut her off. "And if you think, even for one moment, that you wouldn't be the first to hear about it if I found Sly, you're completely insane." The woman blinked her soft brown eyes in surprise as Bentley shook his head slowly. "Do you really think that I, of all people, would give up on him? Now don't get me wrong. If there was a body, I would be drinking myself into an early grave right now... but there's not, which means I won't give up."
Carmelita nodded slowly, impressed with the intelligent reptile's convictions. She knew the turtle was really good friends with Sly and would find a way to move Heaven and Hell if it meant finding his brother in all but blood. "I know. But this... I mean, this is just..."
"Besides..." he gently interrupted, smiling softly at her. "It's not something that would take all that long in the grand scheme of things is it? I mean, you would be gone for what? Six months? Seven? Ten at most if things go sour, right?"
All the Hispanic woman could do was nod her head slowly in affirmation, wondering what he was up to.
The knowing grin grew across the turtle's beak. "See? That's not forever. Besides, it might do you some good to get away from it all, get distracted a little bit. And who knows else! Maybe you'll discover something while you're there that will help us figure out where Sly is." Granted, it was a longshot but at this point? Going any extra length would help in the long run. "And in the meantime, your presence would be just what that city needs. Trust me on this."
The woman looked at her friend for the longest time, trying to process what he was telling her. Honestly, she never thought of it as a chance to continue her investigation into what happened to Sly, only that it would be a distraction from her goal. "You really think so?" The vixen queried most curiously. She didn't think that was possible but stranger things had happened before.
The turtle nodded his head in affirmation. "Carmelita, I don't think. I know so," he told her firmly. "Frankly, getting any information about Zootopia outside of what they allow for public relations purposes and press releases is, shall we say... more difficult than pulling teeth!" He said in all seriousness. "There is information to be had but you've got to dig, go down into the deep web... find whatever tiny scraps you can atop of looking for ghosts."
The woman raised a navy blue eyebrow at the shelled genius' choice of expression. "Looking for ghosts?" She repeated, a frown plastered across her muzzle. "Does this concern the, 'rich history' of Zootopia I've been hearing about?" Barkley had already laid down why they were trying to change the status quo... particularly with the shock collars. Yet the tone of the male reptilian's voice spoke volumes to the canid cop, as if warning her that it was possibly even worse than the old badger let on.
"Oh indeed it does," Bentley replied in positive confirmation. "A history rich in protein, cholesterol, iron, glucagon, insulin, lead, iodine, and all the other components that make up the blood of the innocents spilt on that soil."
That made the vixen blink her chocolate eyes once, twice, thrice. "What are you saying, Bentley?" The somber tone of his voice was more than an indication that this was no joking matter... yet for him to go into such scientific detail kind of derailed the seriousness of it.
Sighing, the wheelchair-bound reptile reached behind him, sliding his gloved hand into a compartment that was built into the device that comprised part of the backrest of his mode of transportation. The bespectacled man dug around for a moment before he finally withdrew a manila folder of all things.
Watching as he placed the documentation labeled, 'Zootopia' on the table before her, the vixen frowned as she stared down at it. "I'm probably not going to like what I'm about to see, am I?" Carmelita asked as she reached forward and took hold of the folder.
"You'd probably enjoy being covered in ticks more than what you're about to see," the turtle said as he brought his hand up, pressing a finger to the bridge of his glasses to settle them back into proper place, adjusting the eyewear on the bridge of his beak. "Normally, I would give you any information I find on a flash drive but... I think what I found needed to be printed on photo stock for maximum effect."
Nodding her head in understanding, the vulpine woman went and flipped open the cover of the folder... and her eyes went wide at what she saw. The first article was that of black and white photograph. The image portrayed numerous children standing behind a chain-link fence. A couple of wolves pups holding onto each other, a fox kit with his hand on the fence the boy's fingers curled around a bit of metal barrier, a lion cub a little further off with a tiny badger in front of him. So many sad expressions broken up by the diamond-shaped pattern of inter-linked metal... and in view, to the top right corner of the photo was a sign hung over the front of the fence that read, 'Preds Only'.
She flipped the image and her eyes widened even further at the cruelty that lay within. It was a picture of a fallen black-furred wolf with a twisted leg, the male predator's arm outstretched for a wooden crutch just out of reach. The wolf was in a mid-howl as a quartet of male gazelle in prep school clothes were beating him down; kicking him with their cloven hooved feet while they had rocks in their hands to throw down at him. One of the boys was even holding up a trashcan lid in, his legs spread and arms held high in a stance that could only be preparation to slam the circular metal lid down on the lame lupine with all his strength.
Twitching irritably, the woman quickly flipped the photograph to the next one in the procession. She blinked her chocolate eyes in surprise as it was a nice photo that portrayed a rather lovely section of a city. So many store, so many animals dressed in their Sunday best. She began to relax a little until her Inspector's Intuition kicked in; orange sparkles flickering through her vision in strategic places over the black and white picture to bring her attention to the little details. All the people on the streets of this peaceful scene were herbivores–mostly sheep... and to top it off, all the store-fronts were listed as, 'Prey Only'.
Snorting in disgust at seeing self-aggrandizement on such a grand scale, the red fox flipped the photo over to look at the next image in the set... and the woman felt a clench of horror in her chest. It was a mob of prey around a tree. Yes, a mob. Such a word was the only way to describe the gathered animals in the picture. Even if they were dressed nicely with men in pressed suits and women in fine dresses, they were gathered around cheetah hanging from the tree; neck bent at an unnatural angle on the noose tied around it. She started to tremble with unbridled fury from not only such inanimality but from the realization there were police officers in the image as well, the uniformed men a part of the problem. Men who had sworn to serve and protect upon taking up the badge were actively abetting a hate crime!
She was quick to turn the image over, not wanting to stare any longer at that atrocity... but that meant she saw the next one in the line of imagery. Carmelita would have sworn she felt her heart drop into her stomach as she saw a bunch of young predator children lined up, a massive elephant decked out in a white lab-coat and vintage doctor's headband with reflector was clasping a collar around the neck of a young bear cub at the front of the line. The large device protruding on the side of it testament to what the restraint could do... he was adorning these children with shock collars.
The policewoman could barely stand what she was seeing. Again and again, Inspector Fox quickly flipped through atrocity after atrocity! Hate crime after hate crime! Home-grown act of terrorism after home-grown act terrorism! The sensation of dread only grew worse as the photos went to color. Where most iconic images of the Civil Rights Movement remained in the era of black and white, the fact that there were photographs that went into Technicolor was further proof of just how long the specist attitudes of Zootopia had lasted.
The woman kept flipping images, just wanting to see something that wasn't horrible... only to come to a stop on a photo that broke her heart outright. It was that of a crying fox cub, the kit obviously screaming at the top of his lung in terror while the young boy was tightly gripped in the oversized hand of a rhinoceros police officer. Another, finely dressed fox–probably the boy's father–was crying, holding onto the sleeve of larger herbivore's uniform shirt, obviously pleading to deaf ears while trying to reach for the boy who so desperately tried to reach back.
That did it for her. Unable to bring herself to look any further, the Latina vulpine closed the folder, visibly shaken by what she had witnessed. That last image hit her to the core. "I... I can't..." she whispered, her voice trembling. "I can't look at any more."
The turtle nodded somberly. "That last one you looked at was dated in 1988... think about that, Carm. This was the prevalent attitude of the population and such was likely common-day occurrence up to nearly the Nineties!"
Swallowing in an effort to get moisture to a suddenly dry throat, the woman brought her right hand to her face, gently rubbing her forehead as she closed her eyes. "Why is it that I find the most 'liberal', 'progressive', and 'open' societies are usually the ones that have the darkest pasts?" She didn't even want to think about how bad it was there now. The Eighties wasn't that long ago; any children who grew up during that time would likely have an innate hatred towards the other side. Hell, at the moment she felt like asking Bentley to use his time machine so they could go back and break a few kneecaps in Zootopia. "That was..." she trailed off, unable to even think of a way to put it properly. "That was what it was like when Jim Crow was in charge, huh?"
The turtle could only offer a shrug of his shoulders. "I wasn't there. I wouldn't know exactly but I will say it was most likely," Bentley replied somberly. "But still... that isn't the only thing that they've done..." a frown firmly set itself on his features. "They've also committed outright exile under the guise of religious tolerance."
That made the woman blink her eyes once, twice. "Exile?"
"You closed the folder before you got to the last few pages... but they're dated around '95. There are no more collars in those images, thank God but..." he sighed. "Turn the folder over and just open it that way so if you want, you don't have to see the rest of the images. Grab the four pictures on top."
Looking down at the manila folder as if it were a cobra ready to strike, the vixen slowly turned her gaze upwards. She looked towards the wheelchair-bound reptile rather uncertainly.
"I mean it, Carm," the short-statured turtle said firmly. "They say a picture is worth a thousand words... those images there have enough to fill in a volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica."
The man's choice of words made the Latina vulpine cringe. Still, he seemed very serious about this and so she conceded to his request. Turning the tan-colored folder over, the female red fox opened the back lord of the folder. Upon doing so, she was greeted to the sight of the white backings of the photographs within. Bracing her nerves, the policewoman reached in and took hold of the initial quartet of photos before her and flipped them over.
The top image portrayed a scene that looked as though it were a business meeting of some sort, with two figures in particular as the main focus. The first was that of a rotund hippo, the aquatic mammal decked out in a fine three-piece green business suit; a cigar hanging out from the right corner of the man's wide mouth. The other individual who was shaking hands with the first was a sunglasses-adored camel garbed in the traditional white thawb gown and ghutra cap of Saddle Arabia. There were also numerous attendees that looked on, both predator and prey cheering them on. Carmelita was rather confused as to how this was a bad thing... in fact, it was probably the first openly multi-cultural and multi-species image in the whole set!
However, once she turned to the next picture... her jaw dropped. It was a photo that contained reptiles of all sorts. Tortoises, toads, and lizards... so many lizards! There were horned lizard, fringed lizards, iguanas, and geckos to name a few of the species. All these reptilian animals were being forced out into the sandy streets of a rather desert-like area, all of them holding onto luggage or what few possessions they had or could manage to grab. The Zootopia police were out in force with a number of them placing, 'condemned' signs on buildings in what had to be evidence of the most heavy-handed eminent domain ever caught on film.
The Latina woman flipped it over, hoping to get some answers. What the vixen saw in the third image was the SAME area... only now the house decorations were different and everyone on the streets were camels. Everywhere was camels, camels, and MORE CAMELS! A number of them were in clad in more Western casual clothing but a few in the image were still dressed in the traditional style of the humped herbivore that was in that first image. And not one reptile to be seen anywhere...
"What the..." Carmelita murmured before going to the last picture of the set. The fourth image was that of a side-by-side aerial view of an area that was listed as, 'Sahara Square'. On the left of the photograph was a very simple but lovely township with the majority of structures being made of stone and red brick. On the right was a bright, shimmering, almost Las Vegas-like area; a place the vulpine would have described as being a cross between Palm Springs and Dubai. Whereas every building before was close to the ground, now there were minarets and unique structures rising up above the rest of the buildings. However, even they weren't the focus as they were all placed so that they circled around a central area: a giant building designed in reminiscence of a palm tree, with gold bark and emerald leaves glistening in the bright noon day sun, almost as tall as some of the buildings that could be seen rising above the wall of another city-like area in the background. It was only thanks to that combined with the shape of the land and the sections of wall bordering the area acting as proof to that the segment on the right of the photograph WAS indeed the same place as that on the left.
Even as she looked on, the turtle explained, "In the early 1990's, Zootopia allowed Saddle Arabian oil tycoons to invest their money into the City-State. While the rest of the world had to deal with the oil price shock that was resulting from the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, OPEC offered them incredible breaks the rest of the world didn't have access to... on one condition. Respect for their religion. And to do that, it meant the camels would not be forced to interact with reptiles. At all." There was a growing anger in Bentley's voice. "Without the Predator-Prey specism running rampant–at least openly–the attitude of, 'survival of the fittest' was taking its place as the mainstream mindset. Such came together with the camels' ideals which amounted to persecution and discrimination based on religious grounds, and the politicians backed them up whole-heartedly. This resulted in the reptile population–a smaller and weaker species that was different from their mammal neighbors–being forced out of their homes in a mass exodus... worse, as if to add insult to injury the Zootopian government gave their newfound camel allies ownership of the reptile population's former homesteads the police evicted them from in their hostile takeover."
The Hispanic vulpine raised her head staring at the turtle in shock.
The reptile genius just met her gaze with a firm stare of his own. "To put bluntly... Zootopia has been reptile-free for over two decades now in return for energy stability and reduced oil prices. To this day, petroleum is extremely cheap over there... especially when one compares it to the price-gouging going on across the rest of the world."
The woman shook her head, having trouble coming to terms with all this. Barkley had let her know it had been bad but to find out the mammals in charge had let it continue to this degree? "This is... beyond disgusting at this point." Heck, if there were any reptiles that committed acts of terrorism against Zootopia, she wasn't sure she could find it in herself to blame them. "Tell me, Bentley... did it get better?"
"If you mean officially, then yes, it did improve in a lot of regards. Unofficially however..." the short-statured genius sighed. "There are still some real tensions there. You know it takes at least around thirty years and two generations for specist tensions to start easing off. That is, unless people in positions of power start stroking old wounds." He snorted. "Namely by blaming everyone who had never been oppressed, even if they weren't guilty of the terrible things their parents and grandparents had done." Oh yes, the social climate over there was definitely going to turn on the herbivores if someone in power tried to do anything like they had done to the reptiles anytime within the next decade.
The vixen was quiet for a long, long time as she considered that. Finally, she was able to meet her turtle friend's gaze once more. "Well then... I guess I better do my laundry." Carmelita stood up, much to Bentley's confusion. "I would rather not go traveling with smelly clothes." She knew Bentley would watch out for Sly, she knew that Bentley would let her know any updates, and she knew that this demanded her attention. Even if things had gotten better, there were a lot of people who grew up through those terrible times... animals with lots of emotional, physical, and psychological scars that would try to push their insecurities and specism onto a generation that never went through that. I'd fear for the future if that was what they were teaching in colleges, she thought to herself.
Hearing the woman talk about her laundry, the turtle was surprised for a moment until she sounded out her intentions. He solemnly nodded his head in understanding. "So you plan to go through with it then?" He queried of her seriously. "To become the first officer of their new, Mammal Inclusion Initiative and start showing those dumb animals just what a vulpine is capable of in a position of authority? That there's nothing to fear and a fox will take it just as seriously as they would, given half a chance?" Yeah, he knew he was laying it on a wee bit thick there, but he felt he needed to hear Inspector Fox say it.
"More like I'm worried that something big might happen if I'm not there to prevent it," the vixen said before visibly shuddering. "History like that doesn't just up and disappear overnight. It hasn't even been a generation, Bentley." She sighed wearily. "It's like you said. It takes at least thirty years plus a generation for tensions to start easing up."
The turtle started nodding his head. "And counting the reptile exodus? While it's coming close, it hasn't even been twenty-five years since it happened. Still more than enough time for someone to screw things up and spark old hatreds." He placed his gloved hands on the tires of his chair and started wheeling himself over to her. "Carmelita?"
Looking down at the reptile that made his way up to her, the vulpine craned her head forward. "Sí, Bentley?" The woman queried curiously... before blinking her eyes in surprise as the turtle leaned forward in his seat and hugged her around the waist.
"Thank you," he told her, relief evident in his voice. "You're doing an incredible thing here. These people might be pushing the right thing for the wrong reasons but it is the right thing." Releasing the embrace, he sat back and told the red fox, "Please don't worry. I'll keep an eye out for your affairs on this end of things while you're over in Zootopia so you won't have to think about it. I know Interpol probably mentioned something about handling such for you but let's be honest..." he managed to smirk slightly. "We know I'll do a better job."
Carmelita couldn't help but smirk at the reptile's almost infectious confidence. "Someone had to get Sly all his intel before, right?" Besides that, she knew she could trust him with her life, even if he was just a thief.
Relaxing a bit, the turtle released a good-natured sigh. "You got that right. And remember, if you ever need any help, you know how to contact me. Getting in there might be a bit of trouble but if you call in the cavalry, you'll get it."
"Thank you," the Latina vixen replied with obvious relief to her voice. "You have no idea how much I appreciate that."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Carmelita was torn from her thoughts when she was suddenly jerked forward; the bus coming to a firm stop. "All right," the steer at the front called over his shoulder out to the rest of the shuttle bus' occupants. "Welcome to Bunnyburrow! Everyone, please disembark one at a time starting from the front and moving on towards the back." He reached over and pulled a lever, causing the shutter-doors at the front of the bus to open before he got up to stand by the luggage rack to aid the passengers in retrieving their bags.
Straightening up in her seat after the ungraceful dive into the backrest of sectional in front of her, the vixen turned her head and gazed out the window to get a look at the little hamlet that was used as Zootopia's personal breadbasket... and her eyes went wide in awe. All she could see for miles and miles were rolling green hills and farmland. All around, spotted here and there on the land parcels were charming farm houses that were built with a very lapin esthetic in mind... meaning that with the rounded, almost egg-shaped buildings were surprisingly cute!
As she settled herself back into her seat, her right ear twitched as she heard a now familiar voice pipe up a bit louder than before. "Sí, sí... the bus has arrived at Bunnyburrow. I will call you when I'm back in city-limits, Señor Big. Adiós." He then slid his thumb over the front of his phone, shutting the connection. He turned his attention back to the vulpine beauty sitting beside him and apologized, "Please forgive, Señorita Fox. The Boss-man called and..." he shrugged. "Well, you just don't leave Boss-man on hold for nothin'!"
Unperturbed but the sudden apologetic nature for doing something that needed to forgiveness, the vixen waved off the jaguar's worries. "It's all right. Been there, done that, got enough t-shirts to kill the population of Australia." Although if what the mercenary troupe had told her was to be believed, the woman could have done it with a single massive one...
Blinking his eyes in surprise at that response, Renato could only guess that apparently, mocking bosses was one thing everyone had in common. After a moment more of considering that, the jaguar let off a hearty chuckle. "I admit it was still most shameful of me to leave you alone like that. And here I hoped to get to know lovely lady even better." He offered her a very friendly smile.
Sighing, the vulpine woman shook her head good naturedly, realizing where he was leading with that compliment. "It's all right, Señor Manchas. Really," she told him in a kind voice. "I won't have much time for any dating while I'm here. I have no doubt that my job is going to keep me extremely busy." She then offered him a gentle smile. "Still, your generosity is appreciated very much. Thank you."
Even though he was being shot down, the feline maintained that silly little grin of his. "Ya veo, ya veo..." he murmured, letting her know that he understood. "Still, it wouldn't hurt to try and hit up one of the stalls together, would it?" He queried honestly, an almost expectant look shining in his emerald gaze.
The vixen blinked her eyes curiously at that question. "Stalls?" She answered with her own inquiry. "What stalls are you talking about?"
"Sí!" The panther clapped his hands together and rubbed them with growing excitement. "You not from around here, so you may not know. But I promise you in for real treat! You can get fresh produce and baked goods out here in Bunnyburrow. Always best straight from the source."
Considering what her fellow Latin mammal was telling her, Carmelita nodded her head in understanding. With this place obviously being an agricultural community, such made sense to her. "Well then, which way is it to the stalls from here?" She asked politely.
"When we get off bus, I show you, Señorita Fox," he told the woman as he turned his attention towards the open aisle of the shuttle bus, watching as the other animals were slowly but surely getting up one after another before heading down to the front of the vehicle to reclaim their luggage and head off. When it was their turn to disembark, Renato motioned for the vixen to get up with him. "Come. We get bags and I lead you to it. I know a guy who makes great baked goods. Will make you look at Wonder bread and wonder how you ever put up with such basura!"
Taking a moment to settle the strap of her satchel over her left shoulder, the Hispanic vulpine followed after the panther. She waited for him to retrieve him dark green duffel bag before she allowed the bus operating steer to help get her large travel suitcase down. "Gracias," she told the bovine bus driver in thanks as she took hold of it with her right hand. Turning about, she went to follow the ebony-furred jaguar through the open door and off the bus into Bunnyburrow proper. All around her, the female red fox could see that this was an area that promoted an agricultural-based society. Everywhere her eyes gazed about were animals–admittedly, mostly rabbits–that were dressed in farm attire, plain clothes, or already dirty garments from a hard day's work.
For the Interpol policewoman, the phrase, 'blue collar' immediately jumped to mind but in a good way. These were likely salt-of-the-earth folk, the working class and day laborers who busted their backs so that others in cities and suburbs could rest easy and have food ready for the table. She had much respect for that.
"This way," Renato called out to the vixen as he motioned down a worn dirty path that cut through the rolling sprawl of grass. "You'll also find the train station this way!" He told her as he began walking. As the moved forward with the grace felines were known for, he took a moment to look over his shoulder as he explained, "They do best business this way, making it more convenient for visiting city folk."
Well, that was good enough for her. Even if the fox saw nothing there she wanted, it wasn't like she would be going out of her way to see it. As they travelled over the path that cut through the hills, Carmelita's eyes soon widened as she saw what Mr. Manchas was obviously gushing about. It was possibly the largest farmers' market she'd ever seen! There were booths, tables, and stands everywhere, all done up with splashes of bright, eye-catching color; particularly the ones bearing the undeniably patriotic combination of red, white, and blue! All of the stalls were selling something delicious, with various kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables and even some vendors with prepared foods such as baked goods... heck, a whole line of those stands looked like they were for beverages! Booths with refreshing fruit smoothies, healthy vegetable drinks, and even an open-air bar for those who wanted to drink something a little harder.
"All right, color me impressed," the vixen whispered quietly to herself. She had been to rural areas before, all over the world even. While markets common enough back in Paris, she found events like this were rare in the States during this modern age, if they ever happened anymore. "Is this common around here?" If it was, the policewoman was going to be making more than a few stops out here when it was convenient. Heck, her brown eyes were drawn to one stand in particular that she noticed was selling fresh strawberries! They were always so much better than the store bought ones, very juicy and sweet!
The jaguar energetically nodded his head in positive confirmation. "Sí, Señorita! There are always some stalls here, run by local families. Better still, Bunnyburrow hosts this big farmers' market every weekend. People come from all over state to sell their wares and produce here. Is good business opportunity." He raised his left hand, making a beckoning motion. "Come. I show you where you can get best pie!"
Raising one of her lovely navy blue eyebrows up to where it joined her hairline, the vixen couldn't help but smirk. "Oh? The best pie, huh?" She shook her head and released a soft chuckle. "I'll be the judge of that." If there was one thing she had to give Sly, it was that while his skills in the kitchen were subpar, the raccoon could bake with the best of them. The Latina vulpine would swear by his waffles as the best she ever had! Although I must admit, Bentley makes the best bacon, she mentally added.
Walking amongst the fair ground, Carmelita did notice a pattern as she travelled about the area. And that was rabbits. Rabbits were everywhere, so many happy bunnies of all ages! She had thought the term, 'multiplying like rabbits' was just a phrase but this was seriously giving her some doubts that it was merely an old wives' tale. "I guess these families need a lot of hands for their farms," she murmured softly.
The black-furred feline turned his head to look over his shoulder. "What was that? You say something, Señorita?"
"Nothing," Carmelita called back to the panther ahead of her, making sure he heard her that time. "I was just thinking out loud."
Nodding his head in acceptance, the ebony-furred jaguar turned his head back to look ahead. "Ah... I understand... but hey! We here!" He chimed as he motioned to one of the stands, this one decorated with a white cloth on the front of the booth that was embroidered with blue stitching that read, 'Grey Bakery'. Coming up to the booth, the panther looked left and right before calling out, "Oi! Gideon! You there, mi amigo?"
"I'm-a comin'!" A male voice with a heavy rustic Southern accent chimed out. "You jess hold yer horses now! I be right wit'chu!"
The vixen's chocolate eyes widened in surprise as she was greeted to the sight of a fellow red fox coming out from behind the booth, his muscular arms carrying a tray that held a quartet of freshly baked pies; the treats obviously homemade. He was a rather rotund vulpine with very puffy-furred cheeks, and his crimson locks atop his head combed finely to where his hair was evenly slicked to either side of his scalp. He was decked out in a white muscle shirt but over that, a mostly buttoned up blue flannel shirt and dark navy blue jeans...
...And Carmelita had to admit... the white and pink-striped apron with a pie smiley face the man was wearing was just too damn adorable on him!
The male fox smiled in a friendly fashion as he caught sight of the panther. "Ah! Seen-yer Manchas!" He greeted in his thick, Southern drawl. "How ya doin' good sir?" However, he blinked his bright blue eyes a couple of times as he saw the woman standing next to the feline. "Oh ho! Now ain't you just the most gosh durn prettiest fox I ever did see!" He chimed as he placed the tray on the table amongst the bagged loaves of bread that were already out. "What can I do ya fer?"
Leaning up against the table so he was closer to the confectionary masterpieces, Renato was grinning from ear-to-ear, his nostrils flared as he inhaled the heavenly aroma of the man's baked goods. "Tell me, Gideon. What you have for pies today?" The jaguar asked curiously as he took another sniff of the air. "I swear, I smell bananas..." he cooed happily.
The portly fox chuckled softly. "Ah should've guessed, you only come fer my pies." Not that he was complaining. It was good to have steady customers. "Well, there's rhubarb, chocolate and I got two banana creams for the three flavors today."
Carmelita looked quite pleased at that. "Chocolate?" She queried as she got closer and gazed down at one of the pies on the tray. Her eyes widened as she saw that the pie looked as though it had melted chunks of chocolate in it, resting in a deliciously warm puddle of cocoa that was practically a pudding consistency served piping hot. "Dulce bebé Jesús!" She chimed out as she inhaled the scent that could only be described as, 'divine'.
Gideon just smiled at the woman's reaction, causing his cheeks to puff out further from his head. The sturdy baker was quite pleased with the woman's obvious enjoyment of his craft. "Ah, so yer a chocolate lover huh..." the portly male fox chuckled. "Tell me something, Missy? Can I get a name to go with the lovely face?"
The woman blinked her eyes, forcing her gaze from the baker's cocoa confection to look up. She met her fellow vulpine's blue orbs with her lovely brown eyes. "AH! Forgive my manners, Sir." She straightened up and settled her suitcase beside her. She then held her right hand out to him in greeting. "I'm Carmelita. Carmelita Montoya Fox. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance!" Especially if it turned out he made pie that tasted as good as it smelled!
Letting out a whistle, the chubby canid baker replied, "Well, shucks. You sure came a ways up from the border." He took her soft and smooth hand in his rough, calloused one and shook it. "I hope the travel's been treating you well."
The female red fox blinked her eyes a couple of times as she processed that comment. "Up from..." the vulpine policewoman trailed off before her eyes widened in understanding. "AH! No, no! I'm actually from Spain but I've been living and working in France for the past eight or so years now."
That caught the male fox by surprise in return. "Spain?" The man chuckled as he withdrew his hand so he could get to serving up her pie. "My, oh my... now that is quite a long ways from here. I reckon you've seen a few dumb Americans go, 'I can get from here to Moscow in only two hours driving'," he said, quoting the old stereotype.
Carmelita laughed and shook her head in response. "If there are, I haven't met any. Although I've heard rumors, I feel being in Paris for nearly a decade has spared me from it," she admitted.
The male fox nodded his head. "Well now, I feel jess plain honored. You come all the gosh durn way from Paris and this pie's gonna be the first thing you have here?" He asked most curiously.
The woman nodded her head back at the man behind the booth. "Oh yes," she replied, trying to stick to English for his benefit. "The last meal I had was on the flight over the Atlantic. Only thing I've had since then were inflight drinks and peanuts. So something with a bit more substance would be appreciated."
Nodding his head in understanding, the male fox told her, "Well, it is a delight and a pleasure to make yer ack-quaint-aynce, Miss Fox." The man's Southern twang made itself readily apparent as he smiled at her. "But then, where are MY manners. The name is Gideon Grey." He said as he took a moment to withdraw a knife from beneath the tabletop of the booth. As he began to slice up her pie, he continued, "I jess started my own bakery last year. Trying to find a way to work with the folks round here and make myself a part of the community a bit more than I have been." Seeing the woman reaching for a wallet, he held out his hand and shook his head in refusal. "No, no. Don't you fret about money there, Missy. This one's on the house!"
That caught the Hispanic woman by surprise. "Well... thank you!" She smiled gratefully to her fellow vulpine as she accepted the pie and took a slice out of it. "I feel a little guilty though..."
"Bah!" the portly red fox scoffed. "No worries, Miss. You jess think of it as a free sample. If you like what'chu eat, jess spread the word to anyone who asks." He smiled at her. "Best way to make money is advertising. And what better way to advertise than with satisfied customers?"
Carmelita offered him a smile in return. "Indeed!" The woman tilted her head and looked at him curiously as a thought occurred to her. This would actually be a decent chance to get an unbiased opinion. "Hey, can you tell me something, Mr. Grey?" Seeing the vulpine baker nod his head, the woman continued, "What do you think about Zootopia?"
The male fox blinked his bright blue eyes in surprise at the vixen's inquiry. "Zootopia? Well shoot now... I can't really say. I've never been; folks moved out here from the city before I was even born. But I ain't ever seen what the big deal was. I kind'a enjoy being a big fish in a small pond round here, you know?"
"Oh? So you consider yourself successful out here in Bunnyburrow?" The female red fox queried as Renato came up to the table, the panther holding out a ten dollar bill and motioning towards one of the two banana cream pies on the table.
Accepting the money from the feline gentleman, the portly Southern fox answered, "Well, I'm tryin' to anyhow. When I say big, I mean literally." He gave her a devilish grin. "I stand heads and shoulders above all the long-eared bunnies and short sheep around here. Just makes me the sort to really stand out in a crowd, ya dig?"
Carmelita nodded in acceptance. Such sentiment was easy enough to understand. "Well, that's always a benefit, right?"
The other fox nodded back at her. He looked left and right a couple of times before he leaned closer to the vixen and whispered. "Though jess between you and me? I'd rather jess avoid the big city. Too many people make me nervous." He leaned back and he let out a sigh. Cleaning off the knife with a towel he had on the table, he then went to cutting Renato's pastry. "I always had problems with crowds and... jess being the only major predator around here is more than enough to deal with. I'm comin' out of my shell more, found a lot of confidence with my baking. Not gonna lie though, Miss Fox. I was a real hellion as a kid." He chuckled. "Kind of surprised the herbivores around here will do any business with me, actually."
The woman shook her head as the other fox handed the panther's pie to him. "We all need to find ourselves when we're younger..." the Hispanic vixen told the man behind the stall seriously. "At least you found a constructive way to work out your feelings. Anyone can break something, but it takes a special skill to be constructive. And I have a feeling that your pies and breads are something wonderful."
The man blushed through his facial fur deep enough that the new shade of red could be seen on his cheeks. "Well, shucks now... ya sure are kind with yer words, Miss Fox. You keep up that sweet talk an' I jess may give ya a free pie whenever yer pretty little self shows up."
"Hey now!" Renato called out as he looked up from his delightful pastry of banana custard and whipped cream. "I've been coming since you started and you never offered me any free pies!"
"Well you sure ain't as purty as she is neither," Gideon snapped back at the feline. "But all the same, thank ya fer bringing her over. Always nice to meet fellow foxes. I don't see too many of them out here in the Burrows."
Letting off a soft giggle at the banter between the two Carmelita shook her head good-naturedly before turning her attention to her lunch. She lifted a slide from the tin and took a bite of her pie. In less than a second, her eyes lit up from just that first mouthful. "NNNNNGH!" She cried out around the chocolaty goodness. It was like an orgasm in her mouth! Without a doubt, it was the absolute best pie she'd had in her life!
At least she could come to terms with the truth by consoling herself with the fact Sly still made the best waffles.
Gideon couldn't help but puff up with pride at the woman's reaction. "Like it that much, huh?" The red fox chuckled a bit. "I get that reaction a lot from people who never had my pies before. You should have heard the purr that came out of Mr. Manchas here the first time he had one of my blueberry confections."
The panther shrugged his shoulders a little guiltily. "I couldn't help myself. Those were some damn good blueberries!"
Carmelita nodded her head, both in confirmation to the baker and understanding to her new panther friend as she swallowed the bite slowly. Oh damn! If I have to live here, at least there are pies like this to enjoy. She was going to have to make sure that she got plenty of exercise if she came out here more than once a month. "Seriously, Mr. Grey! Don't you go selling yourself short. This is simply incredible!"
Gideon smiled wider at the praise. "My stall is open every day, but I make sure to bring out all the special pies on Saturday for the farmers' market. So make sure you drop by with that lovely fluffy tail of yers and we'll see how well I can knock yer socks off with even more flavors."
The Latina vixen turned her head to stare at him. Yes, it sounded like he was hitting on her... but for pie this good she'd put up with a few sweet words. "Deal!" She most happily proclaimed. "Any weekend my job gives me off, I'll be here!"
Grinning wider at the woman's jubilant reply, the portly vulpine nodded his head. "That's all I kin ask of ya." He chuckled as he watched the woman take another bite, making a churring sound as she did.
Renato merely shook his head as he laughed under his breath. "Oi... still can't believe it. I've been coming to your stall since you opened and you never gave me any free pies."
Gideon turned his attention towards the panther. "Again, no offence Mr. Manchas... yer just not as purty as Miss Fox here."
Carmelita laughed softly before taking another bite of the pie. "MMM~MMMM!" Her body shivered and she nearly fell to her knees. If it was this good, the Hispanic red fox wondered if she was going to be able to get through this slice at all today. It was so heavenly, that she didn't want the pie to end!
But still, it called forth to her. And since Señor Manchas was eating his as well, the vixen figured she might as well do her best to enjoy her impromptu late lunch. Bite after bite of that pure, molten chocolate goodness helped the woman feel as if she were in cocoa nirvana. The vulpine woman had to admit, this was doing far more to ease her stress than any amount of sleep she'd managed to get in the past two months. "S'good," she murmured between bites...
...Only to slow down in her eating as she noticed a very young female bunny in a yellow sundress looking up at her, staring at the big pie she had in her hands. Always having had a soft spot for children, Carmelita smiled down at the kid and kneeled to get to her eye-level. "Hey, sweetie," she spoke softly to the little blonde-furred rabbit. "Would you like a slice of this pie?" She said as she held out the pastry towards the child.
Her bright blue eyes wide with delight, the little bunny nodded her head energetically and reached out towards the chocolate dessert... only to be stopped at the last second as an older, portlier brown-furred rabbit grabbed the younger one by her other arm and pull her away quickly. "Now what the heck are you doing, Melanie? You know better than to bother strangers like that! You don't even know what kind of person she is, she might have hurt you! Now come along, we're taking you back to the booth where it's safe from predators!"
The vulpine policewoman blinked her eyes at the tone the rabbit in denim overalls and green trucker cap snapped out with. "Hey! Excuse me, Sir!" She called out irritably as she quickly stood up. "It's just a pie from a local baker! If I want to share it's my right to—"
His eyes going wide as the female predator stood tall above him and one of his youngest daughters, the father rabbit's protective instinct kicked in. "Standing my ground!" The male bunny wailed at the top of his lungs as his right hand came forward with a pink TV remote-like device from one of his overall's pockets; a bright spark of light arcing in front of piece of equipment before he jammed it into the larger woman's abdomen.
Carmelita's eyes widened in horror as her body stiffened up in reaction to the severe amounts of electricity coursing through it. The initial, instant flex of her muscles was incredibly painful as any and all motor skills she had ceased to be in that instant, unable to even voice a scream. However, even as she dropped to the ground, the woman was completely cognizant of what was going on around here. It would have been strangest feeling in the world if it wasn't being overridden by the immense pain of the electric charge pulsing throughout her very being.
She wasn't able to think of much outside of the fact she was Tasered but one thing was certain. Even amidst all the intense agony she was going through, one idle thought managed to flitter its way through the back of the vulpine policewoman's consciousness. So THIS is how Sly felt all those times I managed to tag him with my shock pistol...
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Author's Notes: No matter how much I try, Zootopia keeps getting darker and darker. I can't help but wonder if this is how the staff felt when they first began working on the movie. When it comes to foreign language segments I'll try not to do such in the future but this time felt appropriate, to where if this were a film there would have been subtitles included as they spoke.
For those curious as to the two Latin mammals' conversation...
Manchas: "Praise the lord! You have no idea how difficult it is to find someone who speaks Spanish this far North! Honestly it's a relief! I get so tired of sounding like an idiot! My grasp of English isn't as fluid as I would like."
Carmelita: "Not from around here, are you?"
Manchas: "Oh, I am. I may originally be from Venezuela but I work and live in the Tundratown District of Zootopia. I'm just returning from a trip back there to check up on my folks. How about you, Miss?"
Carmelita: "Fox. Carmelita Fox. I'm originally from Spain but I've been living in Paris for the past eight years. I'm going to be living in Zootopia for the next six months, Mister?"
Manchas: "Ah, a European. Surprised to see you this far out... Forgive me, Miss Fox. I am Renato Manchas. A pleasure to meet you."