Fox Point

by MaveriKat

Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it but so are those who cannot let the past go. With the rise of the Mammal Inclusion Initiative, one vixen is going to be uprooted from what she knew to live and breath the tenants of the ZPD: Trust, Integrity, and Bravery. Even if the city doesn't believe she can. Rated M for Violence, Adult Language, and Adult Situations.

16. Fiery Tempers

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.

Fox Point

By MaveriKat & Nanya
Beta Read By Innortal

Chapter 16: Fiery Tempers

Stepping outside of the doors to the Snow Palace, Carmelita did her best to suppress the shiver she felt trying to run its way along her spine due to the wind blasting over her with temperatures that were so cold, the woman was surprised she didn't have icicles forming in her fur. "Damn," she muttered under her breath as she crossed her arms over her chest and pressed them tight against her, trying her best to keep her body heat contained. "I'm beginning to realize it was actually warmer inside!" And the hotel had been made of snow and ice!

"That's T-Tundratown f-for you," her fellow red fox stuttered as he did the same as her, only he was in a worse position to try and keep warm as he only had a Hawaiian shirt over his torso. He brought his paws up to the front of his muzzle, blowing into them to try and create some warmth before he rubbed the pads of his paw together vigorously, hoping to use the friction to build up some body heat. "Cheeses H-for-Hummus Cuh-Crackers, Finnick! Why the heck are we wuh-waiting out here if they hotel valet service parked your van? We c-could be inside and out of this damn wind!" He complained to his diminutive partner.

Taking off his sunglasses with one hand, the fennec turned his gaze up to his somewhat partner in illegitimate business and let off a sigh of annoyance at taller male's whining. "Simple, Wilde," he began in a rather curt manner. "Because if I'm to get the parking comped by Mr. Cold, then I need Miss Fox here to sign it out for me." He then pointed at the woman for emphasis. "Otherwise I'd be out twenty-four bucks to let someone touch my van and I'll be damned if I pay to have someone to get in MY seat and ruin the controls."

"And the r-reason I'm out here?" Nick asked with a hint of irritation as the cold wore away at his patience at a rapid pace, his ability to maintain a calm demeanor dwindling as fast as the falling temperature.

Staring at his somewhat friend, a smile tugged at the corners of Finnick's muzzle. "Simple: if I gotta be out here then you sure as hell are getting punished with me, Mr. Wastes-Thirty-Grand-Liquor!" He snapped out angrily, letting the taller vulpine know that he hadn't forgiven him for wasting precious ice wine, let alone the chance to raise a luxury suite's mini-bar! I bet it had Toblerones, he thought with a bit of sadness at the chocolate he would never know.

The taller of the two male predators shivered in place from the cold as his left ear twitched; the auditory receptor catching the soft noise of Carmelita trying to stifle a chuckle. "Oh, have a heart, F-Finnick! I wuh-was drunk, d-damn i~iiiiit!" The canid con-mammal whined through his chattering teeth as his tail waved back and forth behind him wildly in an effort to keep his blood pumping.

"Still not letting you live it down," the annoyed desert fox replied in all seriousness as he lifted the cup of coffee he had in his left hand to his lips and took a sip. "Aahhh..." he murmured in relief. "It might not be Snarlbucks but this place does make a good cup." After all, nothing beat, 'free'. I definitely need to take more trips down here with Officer Fox in her downtime, he mentally promised himself with a bit of amusement. Even he found it to be ironic just how much he was coming to enjoy the cop's company; he hated police officers!

Watching the shortest male amongst them continue to drink from a large Styrofoam cup while the snow and hail continued to come down around them thanks to the Climate Wall mercilessly working overtime, Carmelita couldn't help but query, "Hey, Finnick? H-how are you handling this so well? We're freezing and yet you're standing there..."

"Like a boss?" Finnick suggested for her as he used his free paw to flick his sunglasses back into place on his face.

The Latina vulpine blinked her chocolate eyes once, twice. "...Sure, we'll go with that." Really, there was no use arguing with him over something so trivial. "So how?"

Smirking, the petite predator calmly replied, "Two reasons. First, I'm a desert mammal. A desert is more than just heat. When the sun goes down, it's not all that different from the tundra, temperature-wise at least. And second..." he gave the vixen a genuine smile. "I got used to it from my time dating Cherry. She's one cool customer, if you catch my drift?"

Nick smirked slightly as a thought occurred to him. "So she's a c-customer, huh?" He managed to query through his chattering teeth. "Fuh-funny. I thuh-thought it was the other way—"

"Finish that statement and I will make you eat your teeth!" The tiny tod interrupted the taller mammal with a snarl. A mammal could say all they wanted about him but if someone dared to diss his sweet Cherry, they were going to face the wrath of hell!

Blinking his eyes a couple of times in surprise at the show of the smaller fox's protective–and violent–nature, the crimson-pelted canid wisely decided not to finish the joke.

The Hispanic beauty merely stared down at the furious fennec, slowly mulling over what he told her. Finally, she had to ask, "That's it?" Needless to say, Carmelita was left slightly confused by that. For someone as loud and boisterous as the tiny tod, such seemed so... mundane.

"There's also the fact he's rather short," Nicholas chirruped, getting a dirty look from Finnick as he did so. Noticing the smaller mammal's glare, the canid hustler gave him a noncommittal shrug of his shoulders. "What? Ever notice that any animals that live up by the poles are either immense to maintain internal heat like polar bears or they're really short and tiny so their hearts don't have to pump blood as far? You fall into that latter category, buddy."

However, before the smallest of the vulpine trio could angrily answer, someone else responded in turn. "Are you calling us fat?" A thick, Russian-accented voice spoke up from behind the male vulpine, making his ears flatten against his scalp and his tail to go limp. Turning around, the crimson-pelted canid's eyes widened as he saw Kozlov standing there with Morris and a contingent of a half dozen guards at either side of them.

"...Oh no, certainly not my good Sir!" Nicholas managed to squeak out. "When I said, 'immense' I meant you have such big hearts full of kindness and generosity and caring and... and... and-oh-Gouda-please-don't-kill-me!" He managed to blurt out as the members of Mr. Cold's security were staring down at him with eyes narrowing in anger.

Sighing in exasperation, Carmelita decided she needed to save her friend from himself–something the Latina vulpine noticed was becoming a trend as of late. In truth though, she almost expected such a confrontation to occur before they could leave... sure, the vixen didn't think Kozlov would have gotten the bill this quickly but she hadn't been counting on it. "So, Mr. Kholodno," she spoke up politely to get the attention of the icy resort's owner on her rather than her friend. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your presence this fine chilly morning?"

And just like that, almost as if a switch had been flipped, the firm and menacing scowl of the former Russkaya Mafiya Don's face melted away in a warm smile. "Nothing much, konfetka," he said in a kind manner. "Is it too much for a man to want to see off the lovely lady who protected his only child yesterday?" He bent down a bit, and reached forward, taking her paw into his. He then held it up enough so that he could kiss the back of her hand...

And then in turn, the security staff began to do the same. Over and over, tall muscular armed ursine men in black suits kept on displaying their loyalty to the woman Kozlov had chosen to throw his support behind.

Needless to say, Inspector Fox's eyes were daring back and forth, hoping to God above that no one that was around to see this had either a camera or cell phone on them to record it.

Man, I wish I had a camera right now...well that or my phone, Finnick thought to himself as he looked on, surprised by what he was witnessing. After all, it never hurt to have blackmail material on anyone; doubly so if they were a cop!

Just because he liked her didn't mean that he fully trusted her. Sure, she may have saved his life... twice... but the lovely Latina's presence at the Cash Cow still caused him to get shot in the ass! The policewoman owed him at least one more life-saving–and a pizza–at bare minimum before he considered things between them settled!

When all the men had finished kissing her right paw, Morris came in and gave the slightly taller vixen a tight hug, making her gasp out as the air rushed out from her lungs; he may have been a child but in being a polar predator the boy was beginning to show strength even at such a young age. "Thank you, Miss Fox!" The young bear cub chirruped sweetly. "We need to go out for pizza again sometime!"

Inhaling as deeply as she could for some air to reply, the Hispanic beauty turned her gaze to the child. "...As long as it doesn't turn out like last night, I don't see why not," the woman allowed as she slowly brought her arms down to return the hug. She might not have been comfortable with public displays of affection but kids were kids. It was easier and came more naturally with them.

The boy nodded his head repeatedly, doing an unintentional but nonetheless impressive impression of a bobble-head doll. "Yeah! It's no fun when mean people show up and do bad things," Morris agreed as he finally released the hug, allowing Carmelita to take a deep breath as her lungs filled with oxygen. "Are you okay?"

The woman was quick to nod her head to stave off any worry the boy might have for her. "Yeah, just..." the vixen paused to pant softly for a moment. "Just a little tip for the future Morris," the policewoman began as she smiled at him. "Don't hug smaller mammals so hard, okay? I know they're called, 'bear hugs' for a reason but do be careful, all right?"

The little boy blinked his bright blue eyes a couple of times as he processed what the older woman was telling him. "Ah! Got'cha! I promise to be more careful, Miss Fox!"

"Now, now, my dear Morris... there's no need for you to be so formal with our friend here..." the large polar bear told his son as he reached down to affectionately rub the boy's head with one of his impressive paws. "You can call her, Aunty Carmelita." He smirked as said, 'Aunty' glared daggers at him.

The young Arctic ursine didn't seem to notice the visual exchange between the two adults as he instead went wide-eyed with delight at the prospect of more family. "Right! Thank you again, Aunty Carmelita!" He chimed happily as he hugged the vixen again, this time being more mindful of how tightly he grasped her. His new Aunty had told him to mind his strength and he was a good boy!

His teeth chattering as he continued to rub his paws over his biceps as he held himself, the vulpine stared about at the gathered adults. "N-no offense..." Nick spoke up carefully as he shivered considerably. "But where's the van? I think my assss~ets are frozen!" He quickly corrected his language as he realized from the way he was being glared at that no one was allowed to talk any sort of vulgar language around the Kozlov's kid.

Looking down at the small male predator that wasn't built for the continued exposure to a snowy mountain environment, the former Bratva boss's smile strained slightly. "Don't worry, Wilde. I'm certain my staff will have your friend's Ford POS ready in no time," he said with the utmost confidence.

Blinking his amber eyes from behind the lenses of his sunglasses at the statement, the fennec turned about to look up at the much larger predator. "Actually, it's a Ford Lobos. A '71 edition to be precise."

His smile becoming more devious, the large polar bear decked out in numerous pieces of gold jewelry lifted up his sunglasses. Leaning in and staring at Mr. Zerdan with those icy blue eyes of his, the Arctic ursine calmly replied, "Did I stutter?"

His large ears flattening back against his skull enough that the tips touched the snowy ground, the tiny tod blinked his eyes before gulping nervously. He'd forgotten that despite being the boyfriend of one of the resort's darlings, he didn't have the same kind of clout with the man Wilde did, let alone the sheer adoration Miss Fox was subjected to. "...N-no..." he finally managed to stutter out.

Nodding his head firmly, the polar predator replied, "Exactly." The white-pelted ursine then straightened up his posture, his right paw rising to the side of his head and flipping his sunglasses with amber-colored lenses back into place–the reflection of the sunlight across the snow was awfully bright that day.

The taller male vulpine managed to smile a little. He always loved one someone else held the large polar bear's ire. It meant he was safe for the time being. "If we're done picking on Finnick..."

"NEVER!" A female voice yelled out from somewhere on the resort grounds that Nick would have sworn was Angel's.

Still, he continued on as if he hadn't been interrupted. "I would like to get a bit warmer than I am right now, if that's fine with everyone, My toes and my sides are numb..." he brought his hands up and wiggled his digits. "Actually I can't feel my fingers either."

Rolling his eyes at the male canid con-mammals' incessant whining, Kozlov sighed. "Just wait for your ride to arrive and be on your way... trust me. We want to make sure you head off safely..." he turned about to look at the smaller male red fox, letting Nicholas know he had his attention. "So just tough it out now and you can wrap yourself up in blankets on the ride home."

Even as she was being hugged by the white-furred bear cub who refused to release her, Carmelita raised an eyebrow at the answer the hotel owner gave her friends. There was something about the man's insistence that they just be patient as they would get going immediately was raising some red flags in her mind. "Excuse me, Mr. Kholodno?" She spoke up, hoping to get the larger mammal's attention. "...You wouldn't happen to need us to leave right now for any particular reason, do you?"

"Of course not," the polar predator replied as he nodded his head; a visual cue that was in complete opposite of what he was telling her. "We certainly don't need you to leave because some lapin visitors have decided to call the cops and want to press charges, most definitely not."

"Oh..." she replied slowly. Sadly, that made far too much sense. The Latina vulpine certainly didn't want to be implicated in anything at the moment. Even if she was in the right, she didn't want to have this hanging over her head. Who knew how the politicians would try spinning it?

Kozlov nodded at that, glad the woman understood. The vixen was definitely more on the ball than her two compatriots were, at least that much was certain. "So as you can see, we're just going to have you leave the Snow Palace and get you out of Tundratown as quickly as possible and you'll be quite fine, no need to worry in the slightest."

The woman sighed. While such seemed cowardly to her, she was beginning to realize from her time in Zootopia that in some cases, a tactical retreat was the better part of valor. "I understand," Carmelita said in all seriousness as she looked back and forth, feeling a bit of relief as the familiar visage of the fennec fox's van decked out in the very vibrant paint-job came rolling up to them. Looking down at the man's son who was still hugging her like a stuffed safety animal, she calmly told him, "Okay Morris, you can let go now. Your..." her smile twitched as it strained to stay up. "Your Aunty Carmelita needs to get going now. You stay here where you'll be safe. And remember to be a good boy for your daddy, okay?"

Giving his newly christened aunt a firm nod of his head, the little–in age, not size–ursine child replied, "Okay, Aunty Carmelita. I'll stay here where I'm safe." He smiled wide, showing off his pearly white teeth. "At least I'll have Aunties Vanilla and Cherry to play with me!"

Raising an eyebrow, the woman queried, "What about Angel?"

Releasing the woman, all the boy could do was shrug his shoulders. "Aunty Angel is interesting but not all that fun to be around. She's like Uncle Finny when he doesn't have Aunty Cherry around."

The male red fox couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter at that explanation. "Trust me on this one, kiddo! Uncle Finnick's just not that much fun in general, let alone when he isn't around Cherry for long." He smirked as he could hear the petite predator growling at him.

Surprised by that response, Morris blinked his eyes in confusion. "But when he's around Aunty Cherry he seems so happy, " the young ursine replied as said vulpine they were talking to huffed in annoyance before marching off to the driver's side of the van to claim his baby back.

Nodding his head the pawpsicle hustler told the youth, "Well yes. That's because your Aunty Cherry has the special ability to take whatever happiness I feel and siphon it into him. Otherwise he's a bit of a sourpuss in his natural, Cherry-less state."

Although she raised one of her navy blue eyebrows at Nicholas' choice of words–and at the sounds of Mr. Zerdan arguing with the Seal valet of what he should be tipped–the Hispanic vulpine didn't pry as to why the youngest of the Arctic vixen trio made the male red fox unhappy. Instead, she merely interjected, "As it stands, it's time for us to head back to Savana Central. Remember: you mind your father and be a good boy for him, okay Morris?"

Turning his attention to the woman and giving her a warm smile, the boy straightened his posture and gave the female vulpine a salute. "You got it, Aunty! I'll be a good boy!"

Despite any misgivings she may have felt about this, there was something about the kid that the Latina vixen couldn't deny. So she merely smiled and nodded her head to him. "That's right, Morris." She turned to her fellow red fox and motioned to the van. "Come on, Nick. Let's head home. I'm sure Honey is probably worried sick by now." And probably wondering where her next meal was but she left that unsaid.

His eyes darting about to look at the numerous polar bears standing guard, Wilde merely nodded his head in agreement as he told her, "I can give her a call on the way back. Hopefully she'll understand." While the badger might have been used to him disappearing for weeks at a time, he understood that the vixen's presence would be sorely missed, considering she was living in the older predator's home for the time being.

Huffing in annoyance as the damn valet driver managed to walk away with a ten dollar tip out of his pocket despite not being responsible for paying for the service, the petite predator turned about towards his two passengers to get their attention. "All right you two! Time to fight over who gets to ride shotgun. We're getting out of here," Finnick said as he crawled into the driver's side door, before jumping up to grab the handle.

Watching for a moment as the little mammal opened his door and then swung back inside it with the motion, the Hawaiian shirt-clad canid started making a beeline for the vehicle. "I'm too cold to think about that, Finnick! I'm just gonna grab some of the blankets in the back and warm up," Nick replied as jumped onto the bumper and opened the back door. The vulpine male then climbed inside before slamming the metal barrier shut behind him.

Looking over his shoulder and into the back of the vehicle, the petite vulpine in the driver's seat frowned. "Just remember, Wilde! You might be freezing your tail off but there is no getting in my bed! That is my bed and my bed only! I don't want you soaking your wet fur into it!"

Huffing in annoyance at the man's protectiveness of his stuff while he pulled the blanket off of Finnick's mattress, the taller of the two male foxes calmly replied, "Oh please! Don't think so low of me! I might have had accepted some odd sleeping spaces now and then–including the time I spent sleeping underneath the kitchen sink of a hotel restaurant I was washing the dishes for–but you haven't changed those sheets in as long as I know you! I might be desperate at times but I'm never that desperate!"

Snorting, the desert fox shot back, "That's your problem, Wilde: too much of a wimp. One whiff of my manly musk and you're emasculated. I swear, if we pulled down those pants, we'll find out you wear panties!"

"...No, no you won't." Nick replied calmly. After all, Carmelita's panties were in his pocket. Going commando allowed him to maintain some level of masculinity at least... even if it did chaff down there.

Rolling her eyes at the banter between the two, the woman shook her head good naturedly. "Gentlemen..." Carmelita started to speak as she climbed onto the front passenger's seat. "Let's just get going. You guys can tease each other while we're driving," she told them in all seriousness. "Because the longer we take, the more likely it is we'll be giving statements we don't have time for and I'm already on thin ice with the ZPD as it is because of the City Council!" Granted, she wouldn't have said Chief M'Bogo was a pain at all–in fact, he had been doing everything he could to help her–but she didn't want to give the politicians any more reason to sow distrust between her and the other officers beyond what they had already managed.

"Right, right..." the desert fox replied as he placed both his left paw on the steering wheel as his other hand took hold of the lever at the right of the wheel's base, shifting the gear out of parking and into drive. "Everyone buckle up because it's going to be a bumpy ride down the mountain!" He might have had four-wheel drive and all-terrain tires but the van sure as hell wasn't an off-road vehicle, let alone designed for the steep vertical inclines of the mountains!

Nicholas blinked his eyes as the van started to move. "Wait, I'm not seat~ACK!" He yelped out as he slipped on some water that had come from the snow on his tail melting in conjunction with the Ford's forward motion. Needless to say, he was not a happy blanket-bundled fox.

Watching as the vehicle adorned with Aztec iconography started to take off from the front of the Snow Palace, the owner of said resort released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Well, at least that's settled," Kozlov said as the van took off out of sight. He then turned about and gazed over the gathered members of hotel security. "All right, gentlemen. I want everyone back to work. We need to prepare for our... appointment."

"Yes Sir!" The dozen polar bears called chimed out and saluted in perfect synchronization. They needed to get everything together before the police arrived. They would defend their Patron Saint Carmelita's honor at any cost!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was snowing late in the morning as a massive police cruiser made its way through the icy streets of the Tundratown District. While one of the heavily armored police cars wasn't an uncommon sight in this section of Zootopia, what did stand out was how it drove. Instead of the ski planks and heavy-duty multi-plate treads combination that were on all of the Tundratown cruisers, this had the specially treaded all-terrain studded tires of the Savanna Central models. As such, the hummer's weight pressed down firmly on the tires, allowing it to spray snow out from either side of the vehicle as it touched asphalt instead of swiftly gliding over; maintaining considerable speed despite the icy conditions.

What was even more of an oddity was the mammal behind the wheel. This wasn't just any member of the ZPD making their way to Tundratown's Precinct Fourteen... or rather, 'Fourteen-Below' as the chilly establishment had come to be known as due to the construction crew following the snow and ice-oriented building codes that were common to the district. Oh no, behind the steering wheel was a massively muscled bovidae, his ebony skin and horns standing out like a chipped hoof amongst all the white that surrounded him.

Chief Idriis M'Bogo of Precinct One, the central police authority of the grand City-State of Zootopia was on the move.

I knew I shouldn't have answered that damn phone, the cape buffalo thought bitterly as he continued to drive through the snowy streets. He was no stranger to any of the police stations in the city: he may have had his main office in Savanna Central but he had to visit the other stations from time-to-time. However when it came down to it, 'Fourteen-Below' was his most detested stop... yes, even more so than Precinct Thirty-Eight in the Nocturnal District with its super-caffeinated and sugar-laden coffee that he swore gave him diabetes...

Because at least when he was in the underground district, he didn't have the worry that his prairie oysters were going to freeze off and leave him an ox!

Finally though, after having to go through the traffic of three districts, the police chief made it to his destination. The building itself was a breath-taking sight, with an appeal that lured a mammal to it in an almost mysterious way. Where Precinct One took its construction cues from Stone Hedge and the crown of the Statue of Liberty, this police station was similar to the Colosseum of Rome in its aesthetics albeit entirely of snow and ice. A wintery three story castle of superimposed carved ice which was pierced by windows interspersed at regular intervals with corbels positioned completely around the circular roof. However, one shouldn't be fooled by its turn of the century architecture as it was a modern facility. Even with the classical appearance, Precinct Fourteen contained within its walls and the special composite-insulated plumbing and various sorts of electrical wiring that the local houses and businesses used.

As amazing as it was, in truth, the building was just another one of the city's spectacles. It was but an opportunity for Zootopia to show off to the rest of the world as well as impose and intimidate the local populace. Perhaps it was only fitting that such a Romanesque landmark would cause the rise of Little Italy in this part of the city... let alone cause Tundratown to become the district of the city-state that became flooded with organized crime. Sometimes karma is a real bitch, the muscular bovine thought, unable to help but mull over the poetic justice of it in the back of his mind as he drove into the station's parking lot.

Finally within less than a minute, he pulled into one of the parking spaces in the section of the lot reserved for visitor parking. Leaning back intot he driver's seat, the big and beefy bovine male took a deep breath from the warm air of the car's heater before he had to turn the key in the ignition and shut off the engine. Pulling it out and placing the key within the right pocket of his black overcoat, the African buffalo reached for the driver's side window with his left hooved hand and stepped out. He didn't have to unbuckle as the mammal had a bad habit of not using it... often enough the safety restraint couldn't reach around the bulk of his massive chest anyway and he felt the extenders they made for the larger mammals in the field–such as the hippos–just looked stupid on him.

But there he was... possibly the only dark-skinned mammal for miles around... a speck of imperfection on the pure white blanket of snow that stretched on for miles around him.

"Blasted snow, trying to keep a good water buffalo down," Idriis quietly grumbled to himself as he brought his hands up to his neck and grasped at the collar of his jacket with his hooved digits, pulling it up and holding it closer to his body. He carefully made his way to the staircase, being careful not to slip on the slick surface. Sure, such material was natural for the Arctic animals that made up the majority of the district's population but for someone with cloven hooved feet like him? It was a trial and a half!

Successfully making it to the top of the steps, the horned herbivore placed his right hand against one of the translucent ice doors of the building that was carved with an image of the ZPD badge and the motto of the department ringed around it. Pushing inward, the mammal was glad to step out of the freezing temperature and into the, 'very cold' instead. Gouda All-Bitey, I hate Precinct Fourteen-Below, he thought with annoyance as he lowered his arms to his sides and strode into the foyer of the main entrance proper amongst the throngs of busy police mammals and other municipal employees.

Almost immediately, police officers were quick to drop whatever they were doing and salute the man; the Chief of the ZPD. Bogo wasn't surprised they noticed him so quickly as he really did stand out amongst the various animals that made up the police force of the Tundratown Precinct. The uniformed Polar bears, Arctic wolves, Siberian tigers Canadian lynxes, Alaskan moose, Alaskan elk, caribou, snow leopards, and so many more white-furred, haired, or pelted mammals.

Of course, it didn't help the horned herbivore that he also stood out because they wore pressed black uniforms with silver accents while he had a traditional series of blue hues and metallic gold tones that were more traditionally associated with the ZPD.

"At ease gentleman, at ease," he said as he brought his right hand up and flicked his wrist a number of times while motioning towards the floor in a signal to get them to stand down. As the officers did so and returned to what they were previously doing, the cape buffalo made his way to the front desk where a lovely white-pelted mink receptionist was positioned. He didn't know how a tiny and petite lady like this had managed to become an officer but he had the distinct impression that she was at least a competent secretary.

"Greetings," he said to her as he slowly came up to the desk. "I was contacted by Deputy Chief Alekseevich. Is he available to see me, Officer..." he trailed off for a moment as his eyes gazed over to the plaque. "Aleutian?"

The lovely mustela smiled up at the much, MUCH larger mammal. "Oh please, Chief Bogo! Call me Minerva!" She cooed as she batted her eyelashes at the man.

The bovine blinked his eyes. Was the blonde mink hitting on him? "... Er, all right... Minerva," Bogo coughed into his hand. "I would engage in small talk but I am here at the request of the Deputy Chief. If he's available, would you please tell him that I have arrived?"

Smiling sweetly, the woman nodded her head. "Certainly," she chirruped kindly as she picked the phone up; bringing to the side of her head before she pressed a button on the cradle. She only waited a moment before speaking, "Hello, Chief Alekseevich? The Department Chief Bogo is here to see you. Yes. Uh-huh. Right then," the petite yet buxom predator replied quickly, nodding her head each time she did so. "Okay, I'll send him right in." She then hung the phone back onto the rest of the unit before turning her attention back to the bovidae. Smiling at him, she told the man, "Just go through, the Chief is available to see you."

The African buffalo nodded his head in gratitude before making his way past the dispatch desk and towards the interior of the building, wondering how someone with an obviously Russian name could manage such a genuine valley girl accent. Must just come from strong family lines, he idly mused as he continued towards the back. Unlike Precinct One which had dual staircases on either side of the lobby, Fourteen-Below had a trio of stairwells to use that were situated at the Northern, Western, and Eastern points of the building: the Southern area being reserved for the public entranceway. Being as he was here to see ol' Konstantin, the mammal walked in a straight line to reach the end of that hallway.

And as Bogo walked, he passed rooms and offices; snow gathering everywhere as if it were dust run amok. Why, there was so much of the powdery white stuff that the mammal had to wonder if the place even had a custodial staff!

Coming across a seal in such a utility uniform purposely shoveling snow onto the floor from the large bucket connected to the front end of the maintenance cart, the herbivore breathed in deeply through his nostrils, blowing out a fox of frigid air before continued walking. He really should have known that such would be par the course for this place. Next thing he knew there would be elephant figure skaters around and he really didn't think the ice was thick enough to survive THAT!

"Maybe a glacier could handle it... maybe," the uniformed prey mammal muttered as he got to the door that lead to the stairwell. Again, it was yet another trial to climb the steps but at least this area had a handrail to use. He trembled slightly as, like much of the place, it had been carved from ice. Still, Bogo was one to persevere and eventually managed to get to the third floor without falling... as he'd had happen on more than one occasion. Turning directly to the left as he stepped past the doorway to the stairwell, he came upon the Chief's office and knocked on the doorframe with the knuckles of his right hand.

"Come in, come in!" A male voice from within called out. Taking that as his cue, the cape buffalo grasped the handle and gave it a twist; the man surprised that ice was able to move that much smoother than his damned metal doorknob would! Still, pushing the door in, the muscular herbivore was greeted to the sight of the head of Precinct Fourteen-Below, Deputy Chief of Police Konstantin Alekseevich sitting behind his desk... the piece of furniture made out of ice, much like everything else in the room.

While Konstantin was a white leopard to be certain, the ebony uniformed male with a pair of silver stars on either side of his shirt collar was of the felidae breed rather than the classic uncia species of snow leopard. As such, the mammal was build more like a tiger, heavy muscled rather than soft and fluffy with golden dots in the center of his rosettes instead of it being a continuous silver or white like the interior of traditional snow leopard was... not to mention the man had a tail that was sleek rather puffed up with fluffiness. Is that a phrase I can use or is, 'fluffiness' one of their words? He idly thought as his eyes turned to the other mammal in the room.

And just like that, the cape buffalo understood the nature of the call as a long-earned herbivore in fine suit that was sitting down in one of the two guest chairs. Still, he wasn't going to just jump into that mess unless it was forced on it. Instead, the black-skinned bovine turned his gaze towards his subordinate. "Chief Alekseevich."

From where he sat behind his workstation carved by the finest of Arctic artisans, the pardus nodded his head firmly in acknowledgement to his superior officer. "Chief Bogo," he greeted in return.

Hearing a cough from the other mammal in the room, the Police Chief had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Realizing there was no putting this off, the African buffalo turned his deep brown eyes to stare down at the white-pelted hair. "And Councilman Velveteen..." Idriis continued. When the lapin merely glared at him, the ebony-skinned herbivore continued, "To what do I owe the honor of being summoned to Tundratown for?" Granted, he was being polite and cordial but he never appreciated having to come to the frozen reaches of Zootopia unless it was important.

With one of the City Council members involved, he got the distinct feeling it wasn't.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news," he began slowly. A sentiment that came from the fact the Arctic hare thought of polar bears as simply awful mammals. "But one of your police officers," he practically spat out the term as if it were a curse. "Was causing problems here in Tundratown, Chief Bogo... and supposedly off the clock at that," the Councilman added pointedly. Leaning forward in his powdered snow-cushioned ice chair, he snapped at the much larger herbivore, "You know we don't appreciate wasting tax-payer dollars paying police officers overtime if they're not supposed to be working–especially when they're working outside of their jurisdiction as if they were some Dirty Harry!"

Bogo blinked his eyes. His gut instinct was telling him where this was going but rather than tip his hand, he merely asked, "Was the officer in uniform?"

The smaller Councilman continued as if the horned herbivore hadn't said a thing. "She hurt my boys, Bogo," he snarled out the man's name, foregoing his title. "I demand satisfaction for the injustices that have been delivered on my family. You will make amends for their pain and humiliation immediately!"

His deep brown eyes turning to look at the gold of the feline's, the cape buffalo's features became deep-set as the Deputy Chief's expression was a perfect poker face in return. Obviously this had to be about Carmelita–Velveteen had used the term, 'she'–and the predator didn't want to get involved with this and the possible trouble it would lead to with Zootopia's political class. So taking a deep breath, the muscular slab of beef turned his attention to the small lapin once more. "Was the officer in uniform?" He asked a second time.

Instead of answering the man, the Arctic hare continued his tirade. "My sons have broken noses, Chief! Broken! Noses! What the hell does the department think it's doing, taking in and federalizing such despicable predators!?" He straightened up in his seat, as he continued to verbally reprimand the African buffalo. "The police are here to protect and serve the people of Zootopia! Not intimidate and enslave!"

The ebony-skinned bovidae didn't back down from the member of his department's oversight group. "Was the officer in uniform?" He repeated a third time.

Fuming as he angrily glared up at the much larger prey mammal who refused to take the bait, the white-pelted hare let off a huff. Finally, he answered, "No. She wasn't."

The black-skinned bovine nodded his head. "Then obviously she wasn't abusing authority not costing the city a dime. Sounds to me like she was off-duty and off-the-clock," Idriis said, using a tone that an adult would reserve for calmly explaining things to a child. "While I have the authority during working hours, I can't be there twenty-four/seven to police the police! What someone does on their own time would require internal affairs," he winced as he hated thinking of that group. "So why drag me down here to freeze my ass!?"

"Because she's the Mayor's... pet project..." Chief Alekseevich explained as he let off an exasperated sigh, effectively confirming Bogo's suspicions: specism was involved. "It also doesn't help that she was staying at a hotel here in Tundratown."

The muscular bovine stared down at the Deputy Chief from where he stood. "...And?" He queried. "There are plenty of hotels to stay at in Tundratown, let alone Zootopia in general."

The white leopard's face was now apologetic as he explained, "It was the one run by Mr. Kozlov Kholodno: the Snow Palace Resort."

The bovine's expression went as stone-faced as the snow leopard's. "Well be that as it may, I'll have you know that Officer Fox is currently suspended, Konstantin," he told the spotted feline in a serious manner. "She has been caught acting off-duty fully uniformed and has been taken to task for it. That she wasn't decked out in her gear this time shows she is at least trying to keep her nose clean in that regard... or possibly just using her down time for a vacation." Finally walking further into the room, the cape buffalo pulled the free chair away from where it was besides Councilman Velveteen as he inquired, "So what did she do this time? Was she stopping a robbery in progress... again?"

"She. Broke. My. Sons'. Noses!" The Arctic hare snarled angrily as he watched the burly bovidae inspect the chair carved from ice. "I mean, how dare she? HOW DARE SHE!?" He demanded, his fingers clenching and unclenching into fists. How dare some no good Yiffer lay a hand on one of his perfect offspring?"

As the member of the City Council continued to rant and rave, the Deputy Chief felt sympathy for Bogo. If the damn rabbit hadn't put him up to this, he wouldn't have dragged the good mammal all the way over to the coldest district of the city. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't try to help out his superior officer. "Details are a little sketchy and there are some conflicting reports but it seems that Officer Fox did, in fact, break the noses of the two boys."

The African buffalo immediately caught onto the hidden lifeline. "What kind of conflicting reports are we talking about here?"

Privately grateful that he didn't have to prod further and risk the lapin catching on to his bias for truth and justice, the snow leopard nodded his head to the Chief of the ZPD as he explained, "The Velveteen boys and their girlfriends claim Officer Fox started the altercation."

"SHE HAD TO HAVE!" Edward snapped angrily. After all, she was a predator! Fear, treachery, and bloodlust were part of their uncontrollable biological urges! Hell, I'm taking a risk standing in here with this damn pelt! He thought angrily; especially since he didn't trust the slab of beef to protect him in an emergency.

Taking a deep breath, the feline policeman exhaled slowly as he turned to look towards the much smaller Arctic animal. "Councilman, please," Konstantin stated firmly, interrupting the hare before the polar prey mammal could go onto another tirade. "The other reports were from on-duty hotel staff members saying that they witnessed the boys were acting, 'very rude' and in an, 'aggressive thuggish manner' towards her."

Bringing his hands up before him, the ebony-skinned bovidae tapped his hooved digits together as he nodded his head in understanding, taking a moment to consider his options on how to proceed without giving the lapin the ammo he needed to drag the City Council into this. "Do we have any evidence to suggest the truth one way or the other?" The muscular mammal asked in all seriousness, keeping his voice calm and neutral.

"We do," Deputy Chief Alekseevich replied as he gently tapped his paw atop the frozen surface of his icy desk. "However, at the insistence of Councilman Velveteen, we are having forensics inspect the contents of the video recording on the most minuet pixel level to make certain there was no digital tampering."

Chief Bogo snorted at the obvious tactic to delay justice; the only reason he would demand such an investigation would be if it blatantly showed his sons being idiots. "So what does the video show to begin with?" The African buffalo asked as if he didn't already know.

Seeing the finely-dressed hare glare at him in warning, Konstantin cringed as his ears pressing back against his scalp as his tail brushed back and forth along the floor in aggravation. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn't because as much as he wanted to not piss off the rather influential local, the white leopard's superior in the ZPD chain of command had given him direct inquiry. "It shows his sons acting thuggish towards her with one of them pulling a knife; in turn she dispatches them rather handily before hotel security shows up."

The ebony-skinned prey mammal nodded his head, feeling sympathy for his subordinate. He understood that it couldn't have been easy for the feline to admit such in front of the Councilman and the bovine appreciated it. "And do we have the knife?" The horned herbivore queried, trying to focus on practical evidence and not act on emotions like Mr. Velveteen seemed to want to do.

Nodding his head once more, the white-pelted pardus answered, "Yes. The Forensics Department also has it right now, analyzing for prints and hairs for DNA matches and anything else they can." Left unspoken but clear in the leopard's eyes was the addition of, 'to validate the Councilman's narrative'.

"So what are you going to do about your rogue agent, Chief Bogo?" The Councilman practically snarled at the much taller and muscular herbivore. "Someone like that cannot be allowed to roam our fair streets, even if she is the face of Lionheart's Mammal Inclusion Initiative!"

Rolling his eyes at the theatrics on display full force, the head of Precinct One turned his face towards the petite prey mammal. "Well first of all, I would like to see all the evidence before I make a judgment call on what to do with her. Secondly..." the buffalo he began slowly, knowing full well that this was going to come back to bite him in the ass later. "I will have to press charges against the one who pulled a knife."

The Tundratown banker saw red. "YOU WOULDN'T DARE!" Velveteen roared at the Police Chief, the hare's lips pulled back across his muzzle in a sneer. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT WOULD DO TO MY SON!?" He demanded of the horned mammal.

The bovine furrowed his thick eyebrows, causing his deep-set brown eyes to narrow as he stared down at the Arctic hare in a finely pressed suit. "Listen Councilman: for your sake we might be able to bend the law a little and ignore the fact that he assaulted a police officer since she was neither on the clock nor uniformed. However, no matter how you look at it, your son attempted to assault another mammal with a deadly weapon." He held up his left hand as a motion to stop the lapin before continuing, "I'm being as fair with you as I can. It would far more serious if he were to be slapped with the former set of charges rather than the latter."

Nodding his head, the snow leopard firmly agreed, "It's true. With normal aggravated assault, you can at least post bail and take him home to await his court date. If he were to attack a police officer–especially with a deadly weapon–your son would be held at the station's zoo until his hearing." Although he kept the smile off his muzzle, the feline could admit he appreciated the Chief of the ZPD giving him the opportunity to do this. "While the final sentencing would be up to the judge, it would be a rather simple affair to give your son a slap on the wrist and a few hundred hours of community service." Konstantin held up his paws at the incredulous look the hare gave him. "No judge will go for less than that in this case, even if it's your son."

After all, even if the judicial system was biased towards the rich and powerful more often than not, most judges tended to enforce things pretty straight-forward. The problems occurred at the District, Federal, and Supreme Courts of the country, since those rulings tended to have far-reaching effects beyond just the case in question.

The white-pelted lapin snarled angrily at what he was being told. "You have got to be joking." He said in a threatening manner, giving the predatory feline a chance to retract his statement... or else!

Realizing the much smaller prey mammal was going to try and bully the local law enforcement, the ebony-skinned bovine spoke up again. "Actually Deputy Chief Alekseevich is being more than generous with you, due to your position in the city council and standing within Tundratown as the manager of the Snow Bank. I will personally look over the evidence as soon as the department clears it but—"

"The statements are cleared," Konstantin said as he pulled open a drawer of solid ice from the equally frozen water-crafted desk. Grasping a manila folder by his right paw, the predator retrieved it as he slowly rose up from his seat. The rosette-patterned felidae then leaned forward and reached out with the papers, offering them to the Chief of Police.

Leaning forward in his own seat–and thankful to have his butt off the block of ice for a moment or two–the horned herbivore reached out with one hooved hand to grasp it while the other pulled aside his black trench-coat a bit so he could reach fish his glasses in his chest pocket. Slowly withdrawing them, the African buffalo carefully placed his spectacles on the bridge of his muzzle and opened the folder and began to read.

His long ears flattening back and pressing down past his shoulders in irritation as his fellow prey mammal chose to read instead of lead, the Councilman began to speak up, "Now see here, Chief Bogo! We don't have time for—"

"We have plenty of time, Edward," the horned mammal replied, effectively interrupting whatever the hare had to say even as his eyes scanned across the first written statement. He murmured under his breath a few, 'uh-huh' a number of, 'mmhmm', and a few, 'ah' sounds were voiced as he flipped pages and read through the various reports. "There are quite a few of these," he murmured as he got halfway into them.

Nodding his head at that statement, the uniformed snow leopard replied, "Besides the quartet of Arctic hares involved, we had over two dozen eye-witnesses step forward..." he frowned a little. "Sadly, the vixen who was involved, a red fox identified as off-duty Carmelita Montoya Fox had already checked out of the Snow Palace Resort by the time Precinct Fourteen officers arrived."

Blinking his eyes at that, the horned herbivore brought his right hooved hand up to the side of his head and took off his glasses, staring at the white leopard. "...Two dozen?" As the Deputy Chief nodded his head once more, the prey mammal grunted and put his reading specs back into place before returning to his perusal of the reports, pointedly ignoring the grinding sound of the lapin gritting his teeth in barely restrained rabbit rage.

Finally, when it seemed not much else could be had from reading what amounted to the same account of events over and over again, the Chief of Police closed the manila folder. "Well, it would appear that the stories all line up," Bogo murmured under his breath as he shook his head for a few moments before turning his attention towards the seated banker. "To be blunt about it: if Edwin wasn't your son, he would be facing several years of prison time just from these statements alone," the bovidae officer said as his face set into a deep frown. "Not to mention toxicology on site has shown that both sons were inebriated over the legal limit and the notes here showed they drove in on their jet skis."

"You don't need a license to drive a jet ski," the financially-inclined lapin spoke up in defense of his children.

"Of course not... but you also don't need one to drink and drive," Idriis stated in all seriousness. "Still, that might be to your benefit," he began as he carefully withdrew his glasses from his face. Slipping them back into his chest pocket, he explained, "Being under the influence, while still a criminal charge, is better to have slapped on... the younger son, was it?" He looked over to the snow leopard who nodded his head. "Frankly, it would get him charged with drunk and disorderly conduct rather than aggravated assault..." he explained before allowing himself to smirk. "Although that means we would have to charge BOTH your sons and Edmond would be in legal trouble as well."

The Councilman twitched at that observation. Threatening both his boys!? Oh, that was going too far! "What else?" He growled out as his paws pressed down so hard into the icy base of the chair's cushion that it cracked.

Once more, the horned herbivore had to school his features, the smile that had been on his face gone without a trace. He couldn't allow the small piece of shit to know just how much he was enjoying this. "To be frank with you Councilman Velveteen, if the evidence that was gathered lines up with the majority of these reports? You've got those two choices: let one son face the courts for a moderate felony or let both of them go before a judge over a high-end misdemeanor. Either way your boys did this to themselves and they will have to face the consequences."

Jumping up to stand on the seat of his chair, the angered hare shouted, "HOW DARE YOU!?" Obviously, he didn't appreciate the fact that the ZPD was actually following the law when it came to their betters.

Pursing his lips together for a moment, the bovine male then opened his mouth and inhaled deeply. Closing his eyes and taking a few seconds to count backwards from ten, Bogo then opened his eyes and explained, "Maybe if you had actually raised your children to respect other mammals instead of sheltering them like precious snowflakes, they would have had some modicum of an idea about how the real world works and not gotten themselves into this situation!" He stood up from his seat and stared down at the much small prey mammal. "To a point: they are spoiled brats who finally had reality bite them in their fluffy white tails!"

Oh yes, the Chief of the Zootopia Police Department knew he would be in trouble with the City Council for this, but to be honest with himself? The look of shock that graced the Councilman's face was, in his mind, definitely worth the aggravation that was going to follow.

The Deputy Chief looked at about the room shock and tried to hide his own amusement at the situation. This was better than most daytime talk shows but he didn't have the kind of clout Bogo did to get away with such. While the African buffalo was only beholden to Mayor Lionheart as the City Council still hadn't hired on or promoted a new Police Commissioner since old man Rangifer retired two years back, Alekseevich had all of City Hall atop his shoulders and couldn't take the luxury of mouthing off himself.

Remaining unperturbed by the anger that was about to boil over, the cap buffalo calmly queried, "So, Councilman Velveteen... what will it be? One son or both?"

His fur bristling angrily, the Arctic hare growled out through his teeth, "Listen here, you slab of beef! I'll have you—"

"Keep in mind, Councilman," Bogo interrupted him again before he said anything he would regret and possibly make things worse for his misbegotten spawn. "That if we don't press charges against your sons, Inspector Fox may take such as a slight against her and she will be more than, shall we say, vindictive when dealing with you or other members of the Mayor's Office and City Council than she might otherwise be." Not that he believed she was but playing on the fears of such specist assholes was an easy thing to do.

The lapin went stock-still almost immediately. His nose twitching for a second, the Arctic hare eyes rolled back to look up at the much larger prey mammal. "Are you saying..."

"That she's corrupt?" At the man's nod, the bovine male let off a snort of disgust. "Heaven's no! She wouldn't go out of her way to make your lives miserable. But she will realize, as you do, that the ZPD is quite... shall we say, lenient when it comes to traffic tickets and other small crimes that members of the City Council and their families commit. For the longest time, it's been that as long as no one has gotten hurt over the course of such infractions, we quietly slid them under the rug. However, there are limits and this is past them. In fact, I dare say that other police officers, upon hearing about this, may pay extra-special attention to members of the City Council and that would just be a hassle for everyone involved."

The Arctic hare grit his teeth so hard that it both looked and sounded as if his buck teeth were going to break off. "Are you threatening us? Threatening me and my family!?" He practically barked out as his eyes went blood shot, the arteries very prominent and bright red across the white sclera. Velveteen had never known the buffalo to show such brass balls before and frankly, he didn't like it!

Watching as the lapin's nose twitched wildly and his left foot began tapping to the beat of a hummingbird's wing flap, the Chief of the Zootopia Police Department explained, "No more than you are us. You and the other Council members keep pushing for this and that yet you don't seem to understand one simple fact in this instance." He leaned forward, bringing his face closer to the Councilman's. "Your sons crossed the line, Edward. Even if we tried to sweep this under the rug and let your sons go, the news of what happened would get out–and you know that it will!" He stated firmly. "Then the accusations about obstruction of justice would come about, your family would be in the news, and then? Oh look! There would suddenly be a run on the Snow Bank as mammals eagerly pull their money out faster than a bear market on the New York Stock Exchange!"

Bringing his left paw up to his muzzle Konstantin coughed and cleared his throat. "If I may intervene, gentlemen?" He quickly spoke up, hoping to diffuse things before the damn rabbit was set off beyond the point of no return. As they both turned to look at him, the feline continued, "Councilman, if you go for either disorderly conduct or aggravated assault, there can be a plea bargain with the DA to reduce the sentencing if possible. The citizens would see that justice is brought to those who are seen as above the law and are placated. As Chief Bogo has pointed out, the City Council gets away with quite a lot, and ZPD officers feel that we're looking out for their best interests if we don't go falsely accusing another officer. In exchange, well... the worst that happens is that your family has some egg on its face and you'll have to deal with reporters for a few days." He shrugged his shoulders as the lapin male continued to glare. "Hey now, compared to what Chief Bogo has outlined, this is far more preferable for everyone involved. Of course, you could decide to, as has been mentioned, try and sweep this under the rug and risk the worst case scenario. I personally wouldn't but that's just me," he said, trying to get both sides to calmly come to a decision.

Continuing to grit his teeth in impotent rage, the Councilman glared at Chief Bogo one more time before turning to the damned predator in the room. "Fine. You bastards can go with the attempted assault charge for Edwin. At least this way in the worst case scenario, I still have a son who can take over as needed." He jumped off the chair and onto the carved ice desk of the snow leopard. Glaring straight into the sitting man's face, he commanded, "Call one of your officers and have them escort me to the holding area. I need to post bail for my boys so we can go home and sort things out... you've given me a lot of work."

Slowly, the white leopard nodded his head. He didn't like the obvious hostility coming off the polar prey mammal but he wasn't going to be upset about the Council member's compliance. "But of course, Councilman Velveteen. Would you prefer speed or comfort on your way to lock-up?"

"Whatever you have available is fine. I'm in no mood for anything in particular," he grumbled irritably. The hare needed to get his sons out of the place and contact his lawyers. He was certain his boys would be upset that he wasn't going to waste the money bailing out their harlots but they had already caused him and the Velveteen name enough embarrassment for the day!

"Of course." Konstantin said as he reached over to the phone to his right and picked up in his paw; his pinkie pressing down on a button in the cradle before he brought the receiver to the side of his head. "Hello, Minerva? Yes, it's me. Could you please get someone to pick up the Councilman and take him down to lock-up? No, not for him, but for his sons." He sighed. "Yes I know, just do it. All right, thank you." He hung up the phone before his eyes turned to look at the lapin. "They'll be right out, sir."

The Councilman harrumphed angrily as he turned about to glare at the bovine. "Don't think for a second that this is over, Idriis..." he bit out venomously before he jumped off the desk and made his way for the door, having no stomach for waiting with these two traitors to the Council. Oh, he would fix them, he would fix them good! But not before I take care of that damned Yiffer, he thought angrily. Damn what the Council wants, I'm doing this my way!

As the door slammed shut, the horned herbivore carefully dropped back into one of the two chairs; wincing as he felt the cold of the ice try and surge into and throughout his body. As his muscles slowly relaxed, the prey mammal turned to the spotted feline sitting behind the desk. "Nasty little shit, isn't he?"

Rolling his eyes, the felidae let off a little snort. "You have no idea." Konstantin said before letting off a long-suffering sigh. Shaking his head a few time to clear his thoughts, he turned his attention back to his superior officer. "I'm sorry for making you come down here," the ebony uniformed white leopard apologized. "But when a member of the Council says, 'jump' you make the leap and don't even ask how high."

Clasping his hooved digits together in front of his chest, Bogo nodded his head in understanding. "I know, I know..." he murmured. He was glad to have done this for James but he knew where everyone would be turning their attention to over Carmelita. He just hoped that Mayor Lionheart's Mammal Inclusion Initiative would be worth it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Her violet eyes were wide and bright as they managed to reflect what little light was available through the gray clouds of this dull morning but she knew it was her spirit that gave her energy to claim her dream. Dressed in a body-hugging blue leotard and leggings in comparison to everyone else's blue t-shirt and navy gym shorts uniform, Judy barely noticed the slight cool of the air as she kneeled on the grass of the Academy's courtyard alongside her fellow recruits. The petite rabbit and her much larger mammal compatriots were gathered in a circle as they awaited their instructor. While the all the cadets had remained on academy grounds for a day or two as they settled in their dorms, today was the first official day of classes and training. All those present were ready to give it their all; each mammal present hopeful that they had what it took to join the ranks of the prestigious Zootopia Police Department...

Now if only they could just hit the ground running!

However, as alert and energetic as they all were, the numerous Academy inductees remained silent but tense. They were all eager to prove themselves but it was almost instinctual insight that let them know on a base level their ability to remain calm in itself was a test from how their instructor made her way around them, scrutinizing them with such a sharp gaze it felt like daggers were being dropped on them. Despite the slight limp to her gait and the fact a number of the, were even larger than she was, the female polar bear maintained a commanding if not intimidating presence that let them know she was the top of the pecking order.

Coach Fuchsia–or to be more precise, retired Major Fuchsia Friedkin–circled about the new recruits, sizing each and every one of them up and making mental notes of what she was going to have to work with for the next half year. Of the fourteen animals that were gathered, nearly half the class was made up of her fellow ursine species but there was still a variety to be had. The current crop also consisted of a trio of large horned prey mammals, a pair of large felines, a hippo that looked out of place, a lone wolf... and the Mayor's special project capped off the menagerie of police hopefuls.

Honestly? She didn't know what that fool Lionheart was even thinking with this and she meant that in the literal sense! To try and discover if there was something special about her, the polar predator spent the past two days personally handling the rabbit's background check once the Assistant Mayor finished signing her in: everything from Judith's medical history to her non-existent criminal records. Even the authenticity of the city seals and signatures on the Academy paperwork were proven legitimate! It made no sense to her! A tiny bunny shouldn't have even made it through the initial screening process let alone to the training phase and yet there she was, bright eyed and bushy tailed even on this drab gray morning that threatened to break out into a thunderstorm.

Yes, a thunderstorm. With the Academy being situated outside of Zootopia itself, the Police Academy was able to experience the rigors of real weather and not the artificially-controlled spectacle of the city-state's climate walls. It was something she'd come to appreciate considerably as it added an element of realism to the otherwise controlled conditions of the obstacle course she was going to have them partake. Hopefully it would help weed out the weak links in this new chain that was going to be forged under her watch.

And by, 'weak links' the polar predator was sure as hell referring to Miss Hopps! It didn't matter to the Major that City Hall forcibly steamrolled the rabbit's enrollment into the Academy! Despite all the obvious favoritism, there was no way on Gouda's green earth she would allow such blatant disrespect for protocol pay off for the politicians and their personal project. She was going to treat the powder puff like everyone else! The lapin would either pass or fail by her merits and her merits alone. And from what the female ursine could already see of her, Fuchsia was willing to bet good money that the girl was going to run back home to the countryside with her fuzzy tail tucked between her legs within the week.

Time for the moment of truth, the white-pelted woman thought as she brought her right paw up to the brim of her ZPD baseball cap and straightened it before making her way around the gathered recruits once more. The time had come to put them through the ringer. "Listen up, Cadets!" Fuchsia called out as she brought her hand down and clasped them together behind her; all heads raised and eyes on her. Good. They could be attentive at least. "Zootopia has twelve unique ecosystems within its city limits. Tundratown," she said as she brought her right paw up and motioned to the obstacle course that represented Zootopia's frozen District. It was an in-ground pool with a sheet of ice atop the surface that had a glacier-like structure that had broken through it at the midpoint; allowing a tall ice wall to rise up and make a water hazard for anyone that couldn't make the climb. A special filtration/temperature unit kept the water at a chilly thirty degrees Fahrenheit and a snow maker set to maximum as it continued to drop snow over said frozen barrier. While the Major could admit it wasn't anything like her neighborhood, the constant fog that rose from the clash of ice and warm air was a nice touch.

But she wasn't done yet. That was only the first round of physical fitness. "Sahara Square," the polar predator continued as her right hand then motioned to the literal sand box past the freezing pool. It was a quarter mile stretch that was filled with so much sand with a curved wall with camouflage-adorned panels at one end and a trio of high-powered industrial fans at the other. To really add to the authenticity, four dozen sunlamps were set up at either corner of the boxed area to mercilessly beat down with blinding light and scorching heat while three dump-trucks were backed up to the pit with plenty of shovels available to add more sand, particularly straight to the fans themselves! In Major Friedkin's professional opinion, the desert section was the absolute worst part of the obstacle course.

But such wasn't the last of the challenges to be faced. "And the Rainforest District, to name a few!" She bellowed out as she then raised her paw high to point at the tail end of the obstacle course. While a literal jungle gym it was no kiddy playground! The base of the obstacle run was an inflated rubber barrier that reached a half mile and was filled to the brim with mud; car tire obstacles that practically floated atop the surface lead to the raised wooden platforms and ropes to mimic vines the recruits would have to transverse. Climbing rope, rope monkey bars, even swinging ropes–although the first to try and mimic Tarzebra, Equine of the Apes was so getting her foot up their tail hole! And all the while, a massive sprinkler systems went off to make everything as slick as could be.

Coach Fuchsia had yet to meet one recruit that could manage to remain standing on their feet after their first run-through the entirety of the Academy's main obstacle course. It was why while she introduced the newbies to all three aspects at once, she only had them try one at a time first before tossing in mixes and finally having the cadets take on the whole shebang.

Walking into the ring of recruits, the woman's feet contacted firmly with the Academy commons, feeling the blades of grass along the pads of her feet and between her toes each time a foot came down. Her gaze looked back and forth among the various faces, as if trying to burn them into memory, to let these mammals know she was talking directly to them! "You're going to have to master all of them before you hit the streets!" She promised the group, letting them know there was no getting around it. As her eyes turned towards the Mayor's special interest, the polar bear frowned a bit when she saw the rabbit's lack of worry. Deciding to single her out, the ursine woman turned about on the bunny and told her, "Or guess what?" Leaning closer to the hasenpfeffer herbivore, she barked out, "You'll be dead!"

Feeling mollified as Miss Hopps now expressed the proper amount of fear and respect for the training to come as she let out a gasp, the polar bear straightened her posture once more and nodded her head. She gazed about at all the recruits once more, deciding how to begin... and while it may have seemed specist of her, she decided to test all the herbivores first to check out how well the ones she considered the weakest of the Cadets could handle things. Although I better let one sit out and throw in the wolf for plausible deniability, the polar bear thought before she began to call out names, her gaze on the male elephant. "Pardrino!" Her steely stare turned to the hippo. "Hamiwitz!" Then to the rhino with a call of, "Tonka!" Then from him, to the timber wolf as she called for, "O'Donald!" And finally, she settled on the tiny rabbit. "And Hopps! To the Sahara Square course's starting line! Everyone else, to the other end and grab a shovel!" She clapped her paws together, making the sound echo out. "PRONTO!"

As the various cadets got up and rushed over to either side of the course as they were told to, Major Friedkin smiled as she saw of those who had to work instead of run the course had the common sense to start pairing themselves up three recruits to a fan. At least they can do simple math, she thought with a bit of relief before she started to make her own way towards the desert relay. By the time she arrived, all the cadets were in place; numerous predators and one prey mammal with shovels in their grasp, ready to start heaping the sand on while the five she had chosen from the class to test run the course were lined up at the opposite end of the sandbox. Coming to stand just outside the line of fans, the Arctic ursine nodded her head and removed a stop watch from her pocket as she barked out in a commanding voice, "All right Cadets! Listen up because I'm only saying this once! As soon as I flip the switch, I want you," she motioned to the quintet getting themselves into a runner's starting position. "To try and crawl your way through the sands! Those fans are going to be running full blast and your fellow recruits are going to make sure it's sandy trails for you! Make it as fast as you can... if at all!"

Judy frowned as she noticed the polar bear's attention on her once more. If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn the woman was singling her out in particular. Well, she was going to show her! Just because I'm a bunny doesn't mean I'm weak! The lapin thought with renewed pep and vigor, ready to show the coach who was boss! After all, her people were the salt of the earth! She was used to working in the dirt; a little sand couldn't be that different!

Gazing upon the serious faces of all the recruits, particularly the readiness in their eyes, Major Friedkin gripped her watch tightly and took a deep breath, making her chest expand outwards considerably. "Scorching sandstorm!" The polar predator roared at the top of her lungs as she slammed her foot down on the ground switch of the buried high-wattage dual-current power-cord that brought power to that section of the obstacle course. The industrial fans turned on to their full capacity in time with all the light fixtures switching on, causing a sudden rush of heat to blaze across the areas as the ursine woman's thumb pressed down on the button of her watch, starting their time.

The Academy cadets in the Sahara Square obstacle run didn't get one step forward before all of them were forced to drop down into the grainy sands of the obstacle course. The high gust blowing from the fans not only threatened to blow them off their feet but it was also picking up a great deal of sand from the ground and blasting it right at them at a fevered pitch...

...And then the sand started getting shoveled quickly, making the wind take on an almost solid presence of golden sand whipping wildly; he pattern of the current made by the fans visible for all to see. Combined with the heat lamps, it was an effective recreation of sandstorm and everyone on the course were doing their best to keep moving. Despite being the largest of the mammals and the most exposed, elephant was able to keep a steady pace of it; Pardrino using his trunk to his advantage to shield his eyes as best he could. Tonka was keeping up but only because he forced himself to keep going. As much as the rhino tried to use his horn like the elephant was his protruding nose, the rigid nature of it let his blinded to the elements. The real surprise of the large herbivores was the hippopotamus, Hamiwitz! He was leading the pack, front and center! It would appear that having smoothed skin for sleeker aquatic movement allowed him to be more aerodynamic on land in such a situation. O'Donald was following right behind him, using the hippo's larger size to his advantage, although he had to keep whipping his head back to keep the sand out of his nose.

And then there was Hopps. Honestly, she was doing far better than anyone would have predicted a rabbit could have done. It would appear that her smaller stature worked in polar opposite to the pachyderm's size. Whereas he was being whipped by the winds every which way with his large ears flapping wildly, as if threatening to see if an elephant could fly, the wild current created by the industrial fans could barely find purchase on the small prey mammal. The only reason she was trailing behind the others was due to the fact she could only get so far at once on such short limbs as the falling sands threatened to bury her with each move she made.

I can do this, Judy thought as she gritted her teeth together. It's just dirt. Hard, dry silicate perhaps but still it's just earthy minerals, the lapin surmised as she mentally overanalyzed her current situation, the woman desperate to rationalize to herself just why she could do this. It's no different from the storms that come through Bunnyburrow during summer, just a lot dryer! She slowly raised her head, the rabbit's ears flapping behind her wildly as she did so. Slowly, she carefully opened her eyelids in narrow slits in an effort to protect her eyes from the high winds and flying grains of sand. It was a genuine effort on her part just to see but she needed to figure out just how much longer she had to go before she reached the end!

Unfortunately, the grey-pelted bunny had just enough time to see as a large mass of sand came flying directly towards her; her recruits overzealous in shoveling loads and loads of ground stone and dirty into the fans. She had only a split second to close her eyes and duck down and hopefully not get caught but it wasn't enough. As soon as she lowered her head, the rabbit was covered in a massive amount of sand... only her fluffy tail visible amidst her impromptu burial mound.

Nodding her head, Fuchsia could only call it like as she saw it. "You're dead, bunny bumpkin!"

The small pile of sand shifted a bit. Okay, so that didn't go to plan. She still had other obstacle courses to try and classes to take on! Oh sweet Cheeses, give me the strength I need to persevere, Judy thought as she tried to dig her way out... only to realize she had a bit too much sand atop of her to dig out. Not to mention she was suddenly noticing the severe lack of oxygen she was dealing with.

Oh yes, Miss Hopps was going to find herself ending up in the Nurse's Station quite a bit.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Humming a little tune, the buff yet feminine badger in military fatigues continued to clean the interior of a length of steel tube with a oil rag she had draped over her right paw, trying to clean the space of leftover particles from her earlier buffing with each caress she took. Her current pet project was taking time but she was more than happy to do it. Oh, she couldn't wait to finish this puppy and unveil it to her tenant! The vixen was going to positively freak!

Of course, whether it would be with delight or shock, the mustelidae was certain the younger predator was going to freak!

However, as this was actually one of her quieter moments, Honey was able to catch the sounds of feet hitting the steel pipe bars of the bunker's ladder, one clank after another... the sort of sound that could be made by either hooves or thick shoes making contact. And since she knew no damned prey mammals personally, that left her with predator options.

And only one wore shoes.

Cursing her luck under her breath, the older woman was quick to place the soldered metal pipe down on the work bench and pushed it towards the rear against the backboard before reaching past it and pulling a blanket over the workstation and her tools. She didn't want the female red fox to see what she was up to just yet.

Taking a moment to make certain that such a setup looked as neat as she could, the female mustelidae then turned about to face towards the entrance to her bunker. She smiled as she saw the legs and tail tip come into view, proving the mammal entering her real home was indeed the lovely vixen renting out her, 'attic space'. "Ah! Greetings, Carmelita. It's always so nice to have visitors..." she said sweetly as her dark brown eyes were drawn to the white plastic bag the other woman was carrying. "Say now... did you bring me a meal?" She asked curiously. From the way it was shaped with containers and wrapped items, she could tell the woman had gone the extra length for her.

Getting herself close to the bottom of the ladder before she merely jumped off, the Hispanic vulpine turned about to face her landlady. "I sure did, Honey!" She chirruped proudly as she took a few steps towards the older woman, closing the distance between them. "I felt terrible about not being around last night so I wanted to make sure I brought you something extra special." She held up the white bag for emphasis before explaining, "So I brought you a variety of things from Wannabite's."

The badger blinked her eyes once, twice. "Wannabite's?" Honey asked with some rising glee. It was one of the few things she missed about topside. Rations were fine and all but there was only so much variety they could offer... and none of them had the, 'unhealthy grease' of fast food.

Sure, Nick brought her pizzas now and again but the same kind of liquid fat over and over again could get boring. Variety was the spice of life, after all!

Placing her right hand on her hips, the navy blue-tressed vulpine lifted her left paw high. "Yep: hot and fresh for your enjoyment!" Carmelita replied with smirk as she shook the bag with a flick of her wrist.

The smile that blossomed on Honey's muzzle threatened to envelope her face. "Then you are very welcome here in my abode!" The woman happily chimed as she motioned for the lovely Latina to enter deeper into her bunker.

In under a minute, the bag was set on a small table, opened, and unwrapped, leading to Honey's moans of delight as she bit into the food the only sound in the bunker.

"So go~oooood," she mumbled, eyes closed in ecstasy as she reveled in the flavors. It was still piping hot and with just the right touch of lemon zest and a crispness of fresh lettuce for an accentuating crispness and cool sensation made for an absolutely divine experience.

The Hispanic vulpine nodded her head in agreement. "Amen. That food truck makes the best lobster rolls I've ever eaten!" And considering all the places the vixen had gone to while globe-hopping as part or Interpol let alone the access she had to luxury cuisine back in Paris that was saying something. "I tell you, if Stripeamol could get his hooves on some real meat, he could make some absolute wonders."

The badger's jaw moved up and down, her cheeks puffed out from how they were filled with the culinary goodness of cooked crustacean. After chewing a few more times, she swallowed her mouthful before asking, "Oh? You don't call this real meat?" She waved the uneaten portion of her sandwich at the other woman while declaring, "It doesn't get much better than lobster!" She could think of one thing but admittedly, it had been even longer since Mrs. Badger had enjoyed a fine piece of swordfish.

Nodding her head, Officer Fox could agree, "When it comes to seafood, most definitely. I'm just annoyed that this city doesn't allow for red or white meat."

Raising an eyebrow, the older predator stared at the vulpine with confused expression. "What are you talking about?" She asked, a curious tone to her voice. "They do allow for it: insects and tofu."

"I mean beef and pork," the Latina red fox bluntly replied. Frowning a bit, she then firmly added, "Trust me. No matter what the Zootopia government tells you, tofu and soy products are not meat!"

Honey blinked her eyes at the other woman's outburst, quite surprised by her admission. "So... you want to hunt the herbivores?"

The vixen snorted at that. "Not really," Carmelita replied as she waved the question off. "I'm just more used to a diet with more alternatives." Alternatives that included bacon and the numerous ways it could be served!

Considering that for a moment, the older predator couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "You make it sound like we need to have a Purge."

The female red fox blinked her bright brown eyes at that statement. "Purge?" She repeated cautiously. "How do you even know about that movie?" From what Nicholas had told her, the woman hadn't left the bunker in nearly thirty years!

The badger merely shrugged her shoulders. "Nick brings me some movies," Honey responded as she motioned with her paw to a corner of her safe haven from the rest of the world.

Turning her gaze towards where her landlord was pointing, the orange-pelted vulpine caught sight of a wooden-framed set with front dials and bunny ears antennae atop it; the whole setup resting on an old, slightly rusted wheeled metal cart. "Is that a CRT?" She asked quietly, certain that cathode ray tubes had been long since discontinued.

Nodding her head firmly, the badger proudly added, "And dual Beta MAX and VHS Player!"

"..." It was official. Honey had truly been down in her bomb shelter for way too long. Still, Carmelita couldn't help but begin to think. Kudos to Nick for wanting to keep her entertainment up to date... even if he is likely either purchasing or making bootleg copies for her. The vulpine policewoman was pretty certain VHS tapes stopped being professionally produced around the turn of the new millennium.

Such a theory was further confirmed when the vixen spotted a Walkman, an old eight-track/stereo combo–which begged the question of just how she even got a radio signal inside a sealed bunker–and... an Atari?

...

...All of it. The Interpol Inspector was one-hundred percent convinced all of the badger's media was bootlegged. The Purge had been released well after VHS bit the dust and she knew for damn certain that Halo hadn't been released on the Atari!

Realizing the older mustelidae woman was staring at her as she hadn't said anything for a bit, the vixen exhaled slowly. "It is more culture shock than anything else," she continued, focusing on Honey once again. "Where I grew up, where I worked, we had beef, pork, bacon..." she trailed off in her listing of delicious meats, unable to keep herself from letting off a happy little chirr at the thought of bacon.

The older predator stared, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Did it come from people?" Honey asked with a serious tone.

"I didn't ask, they didn't tell," Carmelita replied sweetly. As the other woman continued to stare at her oddly, the lovely Latina more calmly explained, "I'm just joking with you on that. As for how I've really had meat, I would like to point out there is such a thing as feral beasts."

"AH! Those creatures," the badger said in complete understanding as she took another bite of her lobster roll, enjoying the warm steam that practically rolled off from each break and flushed across her face with its sweet aroma; nostrils flaring to inhale the scent. Taking a moment to chew before swallowing once again, the mustelidae woman continued with, "We have a few of those in the dependent territories... primarily Cowslip County."

That response made the vixen blink her eyes. "Cowslip?" She queried.

Nodding her head firmly, the badger went on to answer, "Sure. It's a settlement just Southeast of the city. It's cattle country out there and I don't mean your friendly neighborly bovines. With all the feral cows grazing there in herds, the place has become Zootopia's prime source of dairy products. The rodent populations swear you won't find a better source of cheese in the world!"

The Latina beauty mulled over that, becoming genuinely intrigued. "I see..." she murmured softly before raising her head to look up at the older woman. "Tell me: do you have any idea why they don't use them for other dietary purposes in Zootopia?" Carmelita asked curiously. If the beasts were available, the city government should have used them to the fullest.

Bringing her free paw up to strong her chin, Honey thought about that for a moment, mulling over things. "It all comes down to temptation, really," she spoke, finishing her meal. "I mean, the only difference between them and us is that we can think, speak..." the woman trailed off for a moment as she thought about that. "Well, most of us anyway," the female predator grumbled, remembering a few mammals she had known in her life that could barely pass the needed IQ test to prove sentience.

"Anyway," the badger continued, shaking those thoughts from her head. "Add to that scent, our supposed inner natures and whatnot, and you're just asking for trouble." At least that's how the prey politicians had rationalized things when they passed those laws so long ago.

Raising her right hand, Carmelita opened her mouth to respond... but closed it, her muzzle snapping shut with an audible click. She would be lying to herself if she were to say she hadn't found herself salivating around some of the swine-citizens which, more often than not, made up the majority of police officers in Europe, particularly in Paris. "Okay, point taken. But don't you think it would actually help lower any temptation that would be had in the first place, considering predators could get their fill of meat elsewhere?"

"That's why the prey politicians went as far as to at least allow us to have seafood," the middle-aged mustelidae replied as she held up the uneaten half of her lobster roll before popping the entire thing into her mouth in one go, vigorously chewing in a rather noisy fashion. Swallowing the crustacean goodness, the older badger made a show of licking her lips in satisfaction before returning her attention to her tenant. "Because bugs just aren't enough. We would need to eat far more insect than we would fish to be full."

The Hispanic vulpine nodded her head, causing her mane of navy blue tresses to bob with the motion. "Not to mention," she interjected. "That while insects are–at least on paper–a good source of protein, they do nothing to satisfy to actual craving for meat."

"Exactly!" Honey agreed as she was already reaching to another one of the wrapped items that her friend bought for her from the food truck. She slowly pulled back the wax papers to reveal what had to be the thickest grilled cheese sandwich she'd ever seen. "And you even put tomato in it! Gouda bless you, dear." Admittedly, it was doing tricks like that which actually helped the cravings. It was amazing how dairy protein with the right amount of texture could do wonders in that regard. "I tell you, it was a Goudasend that when our boys returned from the Pacific at the end of Zoo War II they brought tofu with them!" The chewiness and texture were wonderful!

Nodding, Carmelita nibbled on her own share of the food, her muzzle slowly digging into her lobster roll... albeit with lack of her usual gusto. It was a shame how the predators in Zootopia had been guilt-tripped if not brainwashed into accepting that red meat just wasn't a thing they could have. The younger generation seemed to have the desire but past a certain age, it seemed such was a foreign concept for the carnivore population.

Noticing the younger woman's near-stillness, Honey decided to offer her a lifeline. "You know, if you drive around four hours or so out outside of the city limits, you'll find they have these, 'hunting preserves' you can go to where you can live out the whole, 'wild urge' that predators still have," the badger said in all seriousness. "They even have one or two for the herbivores that for some odd reason, want to 'hunt' their plants."

Carmelita blinked at that. "Hunt... veggies?" she asked, the disbelief she felt prevalent in her tone of voice. How would one even begin to hunt vegetables!?

Honey merely shrugged in response. Obviously, she had no clue how it was done with prey mammals either.

After mulling over that for a few moments, the vixen looked up from her lobster roll and to the older predator who was vigorously chewing a bit of her grilled cheese sandwich. "...How do you even know about those anyway?" The Latina Inspector chirruped. She doubted the woman would have seen anything like it on TV.

Swallowing a mouthful of food, Honey smacked her lips to clear her throat as met the other woman's gaze. "Nick brings me the paper. The mail also had a bunch of advertisements for them too," Honey offered, before putting her sandwich down on the wax paper. She then got up and began looking around to see if she had kept any of them. "Let's see, let's see... bill... bill... junk mail... bill... anthrax-laced letter... bill... bill... envelope impregnated with LSD... bill... two-month-old copy of the New York Compost... bill..." she muttered as she looked over the messy stack of papers that cluttered one of the tabletops in her bunker.

With a bead of sweat trailing down the side of her head from listening to the badger's musings as she shifted through her mail, the vixen raised her right hand and told her, "It's all right. I'm sure such businesses are booming because they're outside of Zootopia but cater to the city-state's residents." After all, she couldn't imagine regular ZS predator citizenss needing to chase down feral beasts when they could simply walk down the street to McDoberman's and get a Big Mac or head to an Arfby's for a Roast Beef Deluxe. "But I don't think such is for me."

The older woman paused in her mail sifting. "Ah. I see..." she then shrugged her shoulders and returned to the table. Upon sitting down, the female carnivore happily picked up her grilled cheese in both paws so she could chow down on it.

Watching the badger begin to attack her second sandwich with gusto, the lovely Latina raised one of her navy blue eyebrows high enough that it disappeared into her hairline. "...Shouldn't you wash your hands before returning to eat? I mean... I would've sworn I heard you say that at least one of those letters was contaminated."

Shrugging her shoulders, Honey quickly swallowed her bite of food, causing her neck to expand out before contracting back into place. The female mustelidae then raised her head to look at the lovely female red fox and replied, "Oh please! I got it back in 2002, when sending Anthrax letters to those you hated were all the rage. I'm sure all the virus microbes have died by now... well... mostly sure anyway."

Nodding her head slowly to that, Carmelita decided she really needed to get some hand sanitizer for the place... and a hazmat suit for herself before she came down into the bunker again as well as make sure Honey didn't have any other biological weapons on hand.

She was not going to die in this house and become a local rumor... or worse, the subject of one of those ghost hunter reality shows they had on TV.

"Want a bite?" Honey asked, effectively derailing the Hispanic policewoman's train of thought.

"...No. That is to say, no thank you," the vulpine woman calmly responded.

Shrugging her shoulders in a nonchalant manner, Honey brought the other half of her grilled cheese up and dug into it once more. "Anyway, speaking of those hunting preserve things, I believe Nick tried to start one just for the local kids... but I don't think it ended well."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Three Years Ago...

"...Not only no, but HELL NAH!" cried Finnick... as he stood there inside of a tiny costume.

"Oh come on," Nick replied as he smirked down at the vulpine covered in old reptile leathers. "The kids are only armed with NERF guns."

Glaring angrily at his partner-in-somewhat-crime, the desert fox replied, "I am not an animal! I am a Mammal being!"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Nicholas replied, "Of course not! You are a raptor! Petite, vicious, smart enough to open doors, and—HE'S RIGHT HERE, KIDS!" The crimson-pelted canid shouted at the top of his lungs to the resounding cheers of youthful voices that followed.

Stampeding towards the petite vulpine dressed as in an outfit that was in close approximation to a velociraptor and the red fox decked out in white pants, shirt, glasses, and holding a cane adorned with a piece of orange plastic on the handle, all the cubs and kits were pumping the pressure gauges of their NERF guns as they cried, "GET THE DINO!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I think it ended because of some sort of accident," the badger continued to explain. "When my Little Nicky came by to talk about it, he was wrapped in numerous bandages and walking with a limp."

Carmelita stared with wide eyes at her landlady for a moment. "I swear! Nick really makes me worry about him sometimes!" As the badger gave her a curious look, the vulpine woman explained, "For example, would you believe that just this morning, he risked slipping off the ledge of a hotel window just to throw out empty bottles and wrappers just to avoid having to pay for using the hotel mini-bar? We were on the top floor and there he was, practically hanging out the window and ready to sky dive onto one of the roofs below us!"

To that, Honey blinked her eyes once, twice. "I don't believe it."

"I know, right!?" The vixen cried out in exasperation. "I mean, there's no way—"

"He would ever have access to a hotel with a mini-bar," the female badger interjected. "Now, I know Wilde a lot better than most mammals, and let me tell you something! There is no way my Little Nicky would even spring for a hotel room to get that access to a mini-bar in the first place. My Nicky is a thrifty one; can squeeze a penny so hard he had Lincoln pleading for mercy!"

That response made the canid woman blink her bright chocolate eyes a few times in rapid succession. "...I can believe that..." she replied slowly as she took a moment to consider what she knew of her fellow red fox. "But the point is, we had a hotel room and—"

"YOU WENT TO A HOTEL WITH NICK!?" The older mustelidae asked with excitement, her dark brown eyes so wide they managed to catch and reflect the emergency lighting of the bunker. "O~oooh, tell me! Who's idea was it? Did Nicky actually ask you to be his special someone? Were you two at it all night long? Did you scream each other's name as soul-mates!?" She queried, prattling off questions in rapid succession.

The vixen went so flush with embarrassment that the crimson of her blush managed to show up through her orange facial fur. "NO!"

Honey was not deterred. "Why not? Was it performance anxiety? Was he too stuffed from the mini-bar? Were you? You know alcohol causes some issues. If you want, I can share some methods I know of that works well—"

"NO!" The vulpine shrieked in exasperation. She couldn't help but feel self-conscience by how forward the other woman was going about such things. I swear, it's like Honey has no filter whatsoever! She thought, feeling completely off her game by such.

The badger was silent for a long moment, simply staring at the younger woman sitting across from her at the table. "...Are you sure the ways you know work? Did you try them?"

"We didn't do anything!" The poor vixen cried, absolutely flustered by how the badger... well... lived up to her species namesake and badgered her. "I got a complimentary night's stay by saving the child of a retired mafia Don and it was just easier to lay low for the night instead of having to try and drive out into the blizzard-like conditions of the Tundratown District at night where the men of a rival active Don could have been on the lookout for us!"

Honey actually frowned a bit, becoming crestfallen as her hopes for surrogate foxy grandkits started to fade. "Oh... so Nicky wasn't able to get into your panties then."

"..."

...The hope was reignited. "Did he?"

The poor Hispanic vulpine went flush once more. "Not... in the usual sense, per se," she cautiously admitted. She wasn't about to humiliate the fox but she always had trouble simply lying to anyone.

"AH!" The middle-aged mustelidae cried out in understanding. "So my little Nicky got so sloshed that he ended up doing the wrong hole: got'cha. You know, the same thing happened during my Honeymoon with Harold. On the second night he got drunk with a few skunks at the hotel bar and when he came back to our honeymoon suite? POW!" She cried out as she smacked her right fist into her open left palm for effect. "Tore the proverbial petals right off my rosebud! I couldn't sit down comfortably until the following week!"

Her eyes as wide as dinner plates, Carmelita just stared. Her mouth began slowly opening and closing in shock, unable to say anything as she tried to comprehend both what she heard and formulate a response to what Honey thought had occurred.

Taking the younger female carnivore's silence as confirmation, Honey came around the table. Upon approaching the vixen, she calmly patted her on the shoulder. "There, there my dear... I find it best that after the first time, its best to keep the option prepared in case they, 'accidentally miss' again." She let off a wistful sigh. "I mean, Harold did it about twice a month and MAN! Did he get into it! He'd say he wouldn't remember but then he'd smile and I—"

"THAT ISN'T WHAT HAPPENED!" The vixen wailed in sheer embarrassment; her blush going damn near nuclear in its illumination.

Tsking, the middle-aged woman went on to tell her younger tenant, "My, oh my... so much screaming yet I don't hear you calling out my poor little Nicky's name..." she sighed in a very tired fashion. "That's just how it goes when they're really drunk. Trust me, dearie: as soon as he's up to task while sober, you'll wonder how you ever went without it!" She told the lovely Latina with a bit of merriment. Considering how nonexistent her own sex life had been since her husband passed on, Honey would have gladly put up with more opposing traffic through the normally, 'Exit Only' door.

The poor Interpol Inspector twitched... a lot. "I mean it!" The Hispanic vulpine snapped, gritting her teeth as she tried to cover her face with both hands. "Nothing sexual happened! All I mean is that Nick got my panties! That is all!" At least she still had a clear enough mind to know she shouldn't out the poor fox as actually having worn them.

That made the badger blink her eyes a couple of times in shock. "...Nick had a chance to spend the night with you... and all he wanted to do was a panty raid!?"

"...Sure... we'll go with that..." Carmelita grumbled. Overall it was the best excuse she could come up with. That her landlady came to the conclusion herself made it easier for the vulpine to go along with.

It took Honey a few moments but eventually she settled with shaking her head in saddened fashion. She was going to have to sit that boy down and have a talk with him. He should know better at his age! The badger mentally griped before pausing in her thought and tilting her head as a realization went through the back of her head. Had she given him, 'The Talk'? She hadn't relied on TV and public school to do it for her, had she?

Again, the middle-aged mustelid shook her head. He could still deal with a refresher course, especially if he was only interested in the cloth and not was under it. Although such really does explain why he would even go to a Victoria's Secret for a job, the woman thought bitterly before speaking aloud, "Be that as it may, you shouldn't worry. I'm sure a lovely, experienced woman such as yourself has what it takes to see Nicky through this and make a man out of him yet!"

"...Oh! Have you tried the clam chowder?" The vixen offered rather abruptly, desperately trying to change the subject as she went to try and sift through the contents of the bag to pick out one of the Styrofoam cups. Like hell she was going to dignify the badger's comment with a response!

Honey just gave the lovely Latina a lopsided grin. "Trust me, Miss Fox. Nick truly is one of the good ones. I can think of how a lot of foxes ended up in this city. That my little Nicky tries so hard to make an honest buck in Zootopia is a miracle in and of itself!" She sighed sadly at the thought of such. "I just wish he would actually enjoy some of his hard-earned cash. Busting his back for so long while accepting so little... living life as if he were some pauper..."

Her ears flattening back, Carmelita stayed quiet about that. She didn't want to ruin Honey's impression of her adopted son–even as the badger herself ruined the canid cop's sanity. Nor did she want to ruin the woman's idea that Nick was bringing in large amounts of cash. No. It was best to just nod in agreement, keep the conversation focused on food and not her own hijinks last night, and hope to God almighty she made it out of the bunker without her skin permanently becoming the same shade as her fur if not brighter.

After a few more minutes of eating in silence, the vixen finally replied, "Well if it's all right, I think I'm going to call it early for the day and head to bed. I'm beat."

Blinking her dark brown eyes, the badger lowered her head as she raised her right arm, taking a good look at her wrist. "But it's only two in the afternoon..."

"And I spent yesterday getting shot at and fighting for my life–twice–and I had to deal with a crazy rabbit that come at me with a knife this morning at breakfast. I'm mentally and physically drained and, frankly, my pants are chaffing." She said in all honestly. Seriously, how did men deal with boxers? Nick's kept bunching up on her every which way and became uncomfortable as hell after a while! She wanted to strip down, get in her REAL undies and flop onto bed.

As she tried to get up from the table, Carmelita–however–quickly learned she said the wrong thing as she heard Honey squeal in giddiness.

"He left you commando!?" The badger gasped out in a tone that bordered between being excited and scandalized.

The orange-pelted vulpine twitched. "I—"

"So my little Nicky left with a trophy!" The bunker-dweller chimed with absolute delight. "Don't worry, Inspector!" she cheered, grabbing the Latin fox by her hands. "I'm sure my baby bandit will come back to the scene of the crime! Now, as for some free advice on how to properly lay a trap to catch him..." she finished with a wink, trying to pull Carmelita back to the table.

Lowering her head as she tried to suppress the embarrassment she felt, the woman could only groan in despair. "Really, Mrs. Badger! I'm fine! I don't need any help laying a trap for him or anything!" Especially since she wasn't interested in Wilde that way! Sure, he was a kind and interesting enough guy with a lot of... er... 'quirks', per se... but she just couldn't bring herself to see him in the light Honey was so desperate to have her.

Sadly for her, the middle-aged predator wasn't going to take, 'no' for an answer. "Trust me, Carmy!" She chimed, making said red fox cringe at the nickname. "I'm certain you'll be able to improve him! Sure, he's a fixer-upper but when it comes to genuinely successful men you can't do much better in this city without going into either the boys in blue or..." she paused to shudder. "Politicians!"

Raising her right hand up to her face, the Hispanic vulpine just rubbed her forehead. "Yes, I'm sure he'd be worth the effort and I admit the city isn't exactly filled with interesting bachelors..." and boy, did she ever know thanks to her previous assignment with the ZPD! "But I'm not really looking for anything at the moment, not until I get myself settled."

Taking a moment to calm herself once more, the badger stood there silently as she blinked her eyes a couple of times. "Okay, I understand, dear."

"...You do?" Somehow, Carmelita seriously doubted that.

The badger offered a firm nod of her head in response. "There's nothing wrong with taking a few test drives, or checking out the open houses, or whatever the heck you kids call it these days," Honey continued. "Why, before Harold, I had a few boyfriends, oh let me tell you!"

His shoulders sagging as she lowered her head, the vixen sighed. "Please don't," the Latina muttered under her breath.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Of all the things a certain bovidae woman expected from this morning, the question of, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" being roared in her face by an amazingly frantic Mayor of Zootopia had been the last thing on her mind as a possibility. So bringing the hooved digits of her hands up to either side of her head to readjust her glasses after the force of the man's screaming dislodged them, the little sheep squeaked out, "Where have I been?"

"YES!" Leodore snapped as he slammed one of his massive paws down atop his desk. "There has been a metric ton of paperwork that I've had to deal with on my own while having to handle all the calls! Not to mention it's been up to me to put out all the political brushfires the City Council keeps pulling my attention to! They're putting me to my wits end and I sure as hache-eee-double-hockey-sticks don't have the time for it! WHY DO YOU THINK I MADE YOU MY ASSISTANT MAYOR IN THE FIRST PLACE!?"

The poor little lamb blinked her bright peridot-green eyes once, twice, thrice as she looked up at the menacing–albeit haggard–visage of her predator boss through the coke-bottle thick lenses of her glasses. "...For the sheep vote?" She offered.

The lion's jaw opened... only to stay there for a moment. It worked up and down silently a few times before the large mane-adorned feline finally managed to verbally grumble, "Okay, there is that." Settling back into his chair, the Mayor brought his paws up before his muzzle once more, tapping his fingertips together. "But that isn't the only reason, Smellweather," he said, making the woman cringe as he was already back to mangling her proper name. "I need you to handle all the minor necessities of day-to-day affairs that someone like me shouldn't be bothered with. Screening my calls, making my coffee, forging my signature on documents I don't have timed to be bogged down with reading–those kinds of things!" He lowered his hands once more, spreading them out to firmly press the pads down on the table. "AND YOU GO AND TAKE A VACATION WITHOUT A WORD AT THE MOST IMPORTANT TIME IN MY CAREER!?"

"Where have I been?" Bellweather twitched a few times as her irritation at everything she had been put through over the past week started to come to a head. "You mean besides being stuck out in the sticks trying to recruit animals for this Mammal Inclusion Initiative of yours? Besides trying to get a ride back to town? Besides falling into a mud pie that's bigger than me and being so gross that it took me EIGHT HOURS TO GET THE SMELL OUT!?" She took a deep breath as the Mayor reeled slightly from her outburst. "Oh, nowhere at all..."

Blinking his brown eyes a couple of times, Mayor Lionheart just stared at the unhinged pre mammal. When death via sheep rage didn't happen, the predator politician lowered his arms and gently rapped his finger-tips atop of his desk in rapid succession, causing the claws to add a poignant clacking sound as they did. "That... doesn't sound too good..." he begrudgingly admitted. Clenching his left paw, the lion raised it to his mouth. Couching into his fist to clear his throat, he then lowered the hand and began to speak in a clearer, firmer voice. "Still, why didn't you come back sooner? I mean you had a ride back!"

The sheep's eyebrows furrowed into a glare... which admittedly was a surprisingly cute look on her. Bringing her hands to her hips, Dawn glared at the mammal in the chair as she snapped, "They never showed up, Mayor Lionheart!"

Again, the large feline male was silent, needing a few seconds to mull over that response. "...Well," he began slowly. "Why didn't you take the monorail? The Zootopia Express has a Station down in the sticks for a reason!"

"Ye~eeaaaaah..." the woman drawled out sarcastically. "And unlike the monorails that run throughout the City, it's not free! All you did was give me a shoestring budget and throw me out the proverbial wolves!" She was only lucky that it wasn't the literal ones out there!

In what was starting to become a pattern, Leodore had to blink his bright brown eyes. "...Shoestring? But we don't wear shoes," he said, not used to such an expression. In fact, the only shoelaces he knew of where those on Officer Fox's boots.

He had to fight an involuntary shudder from the memory of said vixen breaking his kneecap with the steel-toe on those things.

"EXACTLY!" The poor little sheep bleated at the top of her lungs. "It was horrible! I had to ride in the back of an open pick up and they hit a bump too hard and then they stopped so suddenly and then I went flying and... and... and..." the trembling bovidae fell to her knees as tears started to fall down her cheeks. "Sheep aren't meant to fly... not like that..."

The Mayor blinked his eyes at his Assistant's small breakdown. In a situation like this, a person would be up in arms to help their fellow mammal in need. He could see the woman was overworked, under-paid–at least as far as it came to her work budget–and just run through the ringer. A better mammal would be there to comfort Miss Bellweather and tell her to take the rest of the week off and come back refreshed on Monday.

However, Leodore was a bit more self-centered than that. Still, at least even the politician had enough common sense to realize he should back off for the moment and let his poor worried woolen secretary vent. "That is horrible to hear, Smellweather," he said in a comforting tone, even as he continued to screw up her name on reflex. Pushing his chair back, he came around his desk to stand beside the woman. Once he was, he brought a hand down, gently patting her on the head.

So fluffy, he thought with cub-like delight as sheep normally wouldn't let him get this close to them, even when he was on the campaign trail. It's like cotton candy, the predator politician mentally squeed in delight before suavely telling her aloud, "It's a truly terrible you went through, Smellweather... but it's over now. I'm certain you've at least managed to fill the Police Academy with the cold, tired, and huddled animal masses that will give the Mammal Inclusion Initiative the shot in the arm it so desperately needs..."

"..."

"...Right?" Leodore queried in a hopeful tone, the woman's silence rather unnerving.

The woman took a deep breath, before muttering in a voice that was as flat as an open bottle of soda left out on a warm day, "I did what I could."

The Mayor twitched. "...But you found someone, right?" He asked in a frantictone. As his Assistant Mayor remained silent, the lion knelt down besides Bellweather. Grasping her by her shoulders, he began to shake the much smaller wool-adorned as if she were a rag doll. "TELL ME YOU FOUND SOMEONE! IF YOU DIDN'T, THE COUNCIL IS GOING TO HAVE MY BALLS!" And by that, he meant literally! After what happened to her nephew, Harriet threatened she would castrate him if he screwed up again. I don't want to lose my balls to the Beaver mafia! He mentally wailed.

Subjected to the merciless inertia of physics, the little lamb lady yelped and fried out as her outfit was disheveled; her glasses nearly flying off from her face. "Muh-Mayor Luh-Lionheart!" The poor sheep bleated out in shock as her limbs flailed beyond her control. "Puh-please stop shuh-shaking me-e-e-e-eeee!"

"TELL ME WE HAVE AT LEAST ONE RECRUIT!" He bellowed out in desperation, the man still wagging the wool-coated woman as if one were trying to dry out a carpet. If he had at least the one, he could have someone to replace Carmelita as the face of the Initiative!

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I cuh-cah-can't t-t-t-talk luh-luh-li-li-like thi-i-i~I~I-iiiisss!" The poor prey mammal cried out, feeling as though she were going to come apart if he kept this up any longer.

And just like that, the lion stopped. "...Oh..." Mayor Lionheart said, in a surprisingly calm and quiet manner as he carefully lowered the woman back onto her feet. "Sorry about that... I'm a bit overwhelmed and under the gun at the moment. My nerves are frazzled!" He took a big breath to fully calm himself and have the moment to collect his thoughts again. "So please, please tell me we have someone who can replace Officer Fox!"

Although she now felt the urge to throw up, the name her boss used caught her attention: foxes were always a cause for alarm. "Excuse me, did you say, 'Officer Fox'?" And the man's nod, she queried, "I thought we were supposed to be receiving an Officer Montoya?"

The lion stared at his Assistant Mayor as if she had grown a second head. "Haven't you heard? It's been on all the major news stations! Where have you been: hiding under a rock!?"

"..."

"...Right, Bunnyburrow..." the man murmured in understanding.

Taking a deep breath in relief as the dumb pred could understand at least that much, the petite sheep queried, "Right. So please tell me: what's this about an Officer Fox? I thought we were getting an Inspector Montoya–a Chihuahua –on loan from Interpol."

The Mayor let off a heavy sigh of defeat. Taking out his cell phone, he turned on his YouView App and brought up the video streaming web-site. "Just take a look. It's easier for me to just show you, rather than spend the time trying to explain it."

Taking the leonine politician's phone from him–the scale of device being more like a touch pad computer when compared to her–with her left hand, the poor sheep used her right to put her glasses back onto place. And people laugh when they see me wear a glasses strap, she thought with annoyance as she clicked the video he highlighted, noticing the title was, 'Zootopia Outfoxed'. She needed to wait merely thirty seconds before enough of the video downloaded so she could see it in action.

Needless to say, she was both shocked and disappointed as she saw and listened to the address made by one Officer Carmelita Montoya Fox. She recognized the uniform of the city's as well as the fact the vulpine woman was giving her speech from the lobby of Precinct One. Sure the woman had much to say but all the little lamb could focus on was the simple fact that Lionheart had hired on a vixen as the face of the Mammal Inclusion Initiative.

Having seen more than enough to get the point, the petite prey mammal shut the video off halfway into it. Tilting her head up to look at the Mayor, she quietly asked, "How furious is the City Council?"

"They want to castrate me, turn the Police Chief into a trophy, and to top things off? They'll probably want lamb chops for dinner." Granted the City Council may have been comprised of a herbivore majority but they were a bloodthirsty bunch.

Her eyes widening, the wooly woman looked up worriedly at her boss. "...Can I take a vacation? I hear the Dakotas are a nice place to visit this time of year." Plus they weren't heavily populated; she could hide out in the countryside and no one would ever find her.

The much taller carnivore snorted in annoyance. "No. Because frankly they have me working around the clock to try and keep things on the down-low and I'll need the help... but you know what?" The King of the Jungle sighed in exasperation as he straightened his posture. "As much as I hate to admit it... she's doing fantastic work... like some kind of fantastic fox."

The sheep blinked her eyes at that. "She... has?" She chirruped, sounding very confused. "But Mayor Lionheart, she's a fox! You know how foxes are!" It was absolutely bewildering to hear the man talk almost prideful about such a dreadful predator!

Nodding his head, Leodore replied, "I know, Smellweather, I know! And yet... she doesn't act like one of her kind is supposed to!" He cried out, sounding scandalized by the prospect. "In the two days she's been assigned here, she took down two major criminals and busted thirty others!"

"Two major criminals!?" Dawn cried out, sounding shocked by the prospect. As the lion took his cell phone back from her, the poor lamb could only wonder how Officer Fox was able to do such? Sure, the Inspector was a predator but she was a tiny one–likely not much bigger than Bellweather herself! Most of the major criminals were big! Both in reputation and actual size! "Which ones?" She inquired, curious as to who could have been taken into custody.

Letting off a depressed sigh, the Mayor walked back around to his desk. Flopping down into his leather chair, the leonine politician let his arms hang over the sides. "Known public nuisances Mr. Pig and Mr. Steady."

Tilting her head towards the direction of her boss, the petite sheep considered that for a moment. Those names sounded awfully familiar. "...Would those happen to be the two that the Council has been demanding be given... oh, what was the term?"

Bringing his right paw to his face, the man rubbed his eyes to avert an oncoming headache. "Catch and Release... and yes..." the agitated lion groaned. "The ones the Council have been purposely allowing to build up a reputation to use their capture to bolster popularity around election time and... she captured them both within the span of twenty-four hours within one another. Head Councilman Hornaday in particular is furious about that..." the feline male trailed off as a thought occurred to him. "Although when I saw him this afternoon, I think Councilman Velveteen's rage matched the intensity of the old man's!"

Mulling over that for a moment, all the poor sheep could consider was how good that wasn't for any of them. "...Next thing you'll tell me is that Councilman Punjob wasn't cracking any puns."

"He wasn't," the Mayor flatly stated.

"...Are there any nuclear fallout shelters to hide in?" The petite prey mammal squeaked out, feeling as though something bad was going to happen. That was one thing that could be counted on; the camel to always crack bad jokes at the most inappropriate times. For him to actually be silent was telling. "What happened?"

Closing his eyes, the lion inhaled deeply, causing his massive chest to inflate and stress the buttons of his jacket. Exhaling slowly, he then went on to explain, "The Inspector got into an altercation with both of Councilman Velveteen's sons this morning. Considering it happened at the Snow Palace Resort where there were numerous witnesses to it, and evidence attained at by the police..." he cringed. "I had to call Precinct Fourteen personally to find out what was going on; I didn't want to step on the Councilman's toes any more than my Mammal Inclusion Initiative already has! But I discovered Chief Bogo was dragged down to Tundratown check on things personally and..." he sighed again. "It's sticking."

The tiny sheep blinked her eyes in confusion at that last part. "...Sticking?"

"The charges," Leodore blurted out. "Chief Bogo got the charges to stick. While one is being given a slap on the wrist over what happened, the other son went at her with a deadly weapon. The council and police can't get around it and Edward's youngest son is being formally charged!" The lion explained. The whole situation seemed so blasphemous to him! "And worse, because it involved an off-duty and out-of-uniform Officer Fox they can't do anything to her... meaning..." he trailed off, the implications clear.

The Assistant Mayor paled as she put two and two together and somehow got an ancient Aztec symbol for the Sun in her head. As she truly looked at him, Dawn finally realized how he appeared rather tired and disheveled, completely unlike his usual confident self. Really, there was only one thing to be said about it all. "Are we going to die?"

The feline male sighed heavily, the noise that came out his throat sounding like a predatory growl. "Frankly, Smellweather? I don't know and I can't think. I've had to deal with them alone. If anything I'm the one who needs a vacation." As she continued to stare at him, the man could only offer a helpless shrug. "What I can tell you is the Council said they're going to handle things themselves at this rate? I really don't know what they have in mind but I wouldn't be surprised if they plan drag me over the coals when all is said and done: I'm the one who brought her over!"

And just like that, the wheels in the sheep's mind began turning. That last bit her boss said struck a chord with her, making it feel there was something that they had missed about the situation. In mere moments, Assistant Mayor Bellweather's eyes lit up in understanding. "That's right! You did!"

Needless to say, Mayor Lionheart was confused by the lamb's sudden exuberance. "Come again?"

"Think about it!" The bovine cried out excitedly. "You said it yourself earlier! She's already taken down two major criminals, several others, and even got one of the City Council members' children to have to face serious charges, right?"

The lion blinked his eyes once, twice. "Well, yes," he admitted. "But I don't—"

"YOU!" Bellweather bleated out, interrupting the carnivore. "Are the mayor who brought in someone who can handle the big boys!" She got even more excited as she mentally ran through what this could mean. "Think about it! If you work with the Police Chief and Officer Fox, you could be seen as the mayor that cleaned up all of Zootopia!"

Understandably, the way his Assistant Mayor coached him caught the lion's attention. "Yeah..." he said slowly as he straightened up in his chair. "Yeah." He repeated before pushing himself out of his seat. "YEAH! This could be my big break! I've gotten so used to having to pussyfoot around the Council that I didn't even think about what this could do for me personally!" He said gleefully, sounding like a cub in a candy store. "If she keeps this up, it will give me the boost I need for re-election and then some! I might even..." he licked his lips in anticipation. Oh dare he hope? "I might even get enough votes to become the Head of the City Council this time!"

"Now, now! Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Mr. Mayor," the lovely lady lamb told him in a gentle chiding tone. "But this would be good political cover for you." She brought her right hand up tapped her chin with a hooved finger as she began pacing back and forth in the mayoral office. "If you can spin this all as having been part of a plan–your plan–to give the ZPD a major boost to capturing criminals, particularly the ones who, shall we say... have good lawyers?" Even if she hated using soft wording like this, they had to play their cards right. "You can achieve three things. One" you can make yourself look like a genius who's tough on crime and thinks about the average citizen. Two: you can cast the Police Department in a light that makes them be the victim of politics, thus getting the citizens of Zootopia to feel empathy for them and finally..." she turned to face her boss, giving him a devious grin. "You can make the City Council look more than a bit foolish." Granted that wasn't hard with the way things were going, but still... "You can make it seem like you and the ZPD are the Salt of the Earth mammals you know, while the members of the council are the out-of-touch bureaucrats who make it hard for regular folk to do their jobs!"

Nodding his head, the lion was starting to grin wildly. "...Bellweather," he began, surprising both her and himself as he actually got her name right. "If all turns out well, I am going to see if we can't get you running for an officer other than Assistant Mayor. I'm certain someone like you could easily replace one of the other council members..." he chuckled as he entwined his fingers together and cracked his knuckles. "We'll need to keep the momentum going once we have it so tell me: who do we have to take over as the face of the Mammal Inclusion Initiative once Inspector Fox's time on loan to us comes to an end?" He grinned wider. "I hope we have a cute little lady! They tend to be so photogenic and garner the most positive attention!"

The sheep blinked her eyes. Oh, right. He had asked about that before; nearly tore her apart over it. "About that... I did find someone who was interested... and she could be quite photogenic..." Bellweather trailed off, gulping softly and hoping that his good mood didn't vanish in an instant. "But there's a TINY problem."

"...What sort of problem?" If it was simply trading one vixen for another, he was going to get a hard drink.

Inhaling deeply, the lamb blurted out in one breath, "She'satinybunnyrabbit!"

"...A tiny bunny rabbit?" Leodore queried. At the woman's nod, he merely shrugged his shoulders. "Ugh... fine. Whatever! So we have some tiny bunnies. That's still a species meant to be assisted by the Mammal Inclusion Initiative! Nothing wrong with that! But out of curiosity, who else did you get while you were down in Bunnyburrow?" He hoped it wasn't only rabbit. A sheep or pig would be great!

Her shoulders sagging, Dawn had to wince. This was the moment she had been dreading. "Actually Mayor Lionheart, that's the problem. Miss Hopps was the only one to, 'bite' as it were. No matter what I said, all the locals would do was look at me curiously once I gave my sales-pitch before heading off on their merry way. That tiny bunny was the only one to actually burst out with excitement and whole-heartedly sign on!"

Realizing it was a bunny or bust, the Mayor merely raised his right paw and rubbed his head. "You know, if you had told this before the Inspector arrived, I would d be more upset." Lowering his hand, he looked at the sheep with a tired gaze before adding, "But to be honest? I'll take anything as long as they're a female herbivore. A soft and simple bunny will be perfect. In the meantime we'll have the ZPD get the most use out of Officer Fox so we can—"

*Ring*!

"...What?" He blurted with a confused tone to his voice. When his office phone rang a second time, the lion reached over with his right hand and grasping the handset settled atop his desk. Slowly, the leonine male brought it up to the side of his head. "Hello, Mayor Lionheart speaking—WHAT DO YOU MEAN OFFICER FOX IS DEAD!?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Author's Notes: What? Carmelita dead!? What the hoo-ha-hey is going on!?

Well, it's December 31st over here, the last day of 2016 and I managed to get out one more chapter released... although I know for a fact a lot of my readers will be seeing this for January 1st 2017.

I do apologize for the delay... the very considerable delay. I was working on it the entire time but I only had about an hour daily and I would get a little more than a page at a time. There was just SO MUCH going on in my life with the holidays and even a few snows I had to deal with. Being the only able-bodied male in my family I ended up doing everything from having to shovel, snow-blow, and plow all the houses and job sites as well as doing more than my own Christmas shopping. I pretty much knew what everyone was getting this year.

More or less, my own free time was nil and the majority of this chapter had been written over the course of three days. Ugh.

Here's hoping the weather AND my family ease up so I can focus on writing at a more sedate pace again.

But enough of that: here's wising everyone a Happy New Year!

Try Everything!