TRICKS AND TREATS: CHAPTER 11
AFTERWARDS
Soon, the cavalry in the form of ZPD backup, which Nick had called earlier after discovering Nermal's hideout and which was led by chief Bogo and officer Higgins, arrived in the form of over dozen police cruisers with the red-blue lights and sirens as they stormed into the garden and surrounded the whole Nermal's home.
And so arrived to the scene also Barbara and all her children, with the exception of Skippy, after Nick had made the phone call to Barbara after the baddies had been captured. And frst of all, Nick had informed to Barbara, who had been sick from the worry after her children told her that Skippy went after Nick after he went after the hooligans that stole their candies, that Skippy was with him and safe and sound.
And, Nick had also asked them to bring Judy with them to the address he gave to Barbara, claiming that he kind of knew the solution how to help Judy out of her zombie-like motionless and aimless state.
And with the knowledge and route Nick gave to Barbara, Barbara's family reached to the scene a shortly before the ZPD backup.
Despite the protest of the police officers, who were uncertain about the fact that arrest would be successful without armed resistance from the bad guys, Barbara and her children, carrying Judy's limp statue-like form inside the house.
And once they arrived to the house's living room, the children went into the shock, with their eyes widened into wide and their jaws dropped open, after seeing the mountains of the candies and the dozens and dozens of candy bags all around of the living room.
Barbara, however, cared less about the sweets around of her...
...but after she caught the sigle glance of Nick and Skippy, she rushed towards Skippy and pulled Skippy into the really tight bear hug.
"Skippy! I'm so glad you're safe." Barbara said as she wrapped her arms tightly around of Skippy and squeezed the little white-furred bunny against her, before Barbara began to give him the several kisses into his forehead... much to the bunny's embarrassment!
"Mo'oom! Not in the front of the others!" Skippy complaint with the embarrassed tone, as he heard with the help of his sensitive sense of hearing his sisters and brothers giggling behind of his mother's back at him.
"Such of pity that we do not have a camera anymore. We would have had a good picture of this." Sis said mischievously, to which she and all her sisters giggled heartily, much to Skippy's annoyance.
"Lucky for you, Sis, that we do not have!" Skippy said, as he gave to her sisters the long dark scowl over his mother's left shoulder.
Then, Barbara broke up the hug with Skippy, but she still held Skippy firmly in his arms... much to the Skippy's embarrassment, because he didn't like at all of being carried like this like some kind of baby.
Barbara then turned his look and attention at Nick, only to be shocked to see Nick's face full of bruises and contusions, the circumference of one of his eyes was black and his usual clothes were tore apart. Also the kids were shocked to see Uncle Nick in the physical state like this.
"By my ears! What happened to you, Nick?" Barbara asked.
"At first, though it might not look like it... I'm okay. And secondly, I got... uh... "fight"... with Detective Oates, that's all." Nick simply said with his usual sly yet tired grin on his lips.
Then, chief Bogo and officer Higgins stormed into the living room with over dozen another cops as if it were a siege of a top-dangerous criminal's house.
However, the cops halt their charge instantly at the sight of all of this in the one room: Nick's beaten-like appearance, Barbara's family, Judy Hopps lying like the lifeless and motionless statue on the ground, all these mountains and the stolen bags of sweets, the large group of motionless and like statues standing children, one of Oates hooves showing up from under the pile of candies and the fallen cabinet, Nermal's unconscious body lying on the floor stunned and with the electric darts on his butt next to Nick and the watch in Nick's paw.
"Officer Wilde, I demand the full and reasonable explonation for all of this!" Bogo said with his old usual grumpy voice.
Nick gladly began to explain to chief everything what had just happened tonight, since the brainwashed kids stole the bags of sweets from Barbara's children and after Nick rushed after them, unaware of that Skippy went after him as well.
Nick told to Bogo everything about the children that had gone missing on the night when the crime in the Shopping Paradise happened, and whom were then showed up out of nowhere, albeit brainwashed, into the streets of all around of Barbara's neighborhood to steal the bags of candies from the other children... as well as some cars to escape with their loots.
Nick also mentioned himself borrowing honestly the car from the mother bear on his way, after he lost the tracks of the brainwashed children whom he was chasing after they stole Barbara's children's candies, until he found them again - or they in fact ran into him - and after taking Mother Bear's car, he followed them to here.
Nick also mentioned about his brutal brawl with Detective Oates, who was caught by the watch's hypnotizing power, the same watch he was holding in his paws at the moment, and that Oates was brainwashed by Nermal to launch the brutal attack upon him, and his and unexpectedly arrived Skippy's final combat against the Nermal himself.
And... with the pleasure... Nick also started to explain something what Oates "deliberately" left mentioned to Bogo in the last night back in with the wooden fence sealed entrance of the alley.
Showing to Bogo Nermal's watch, Nick explained that the watch was somehow the true reason of Judy's and the kids current state as a zombie-like motionless and aimless statues... and firmly compared Oates the last night's claim of Judy - "having drunk herself into drunk out of feel of quilty" - to her and the children's state.
By Bogo's demands to prove his claim, Nick lifted the watch up and started to swing it from side to side in front of the officers McHorn, Fangmeyer and Worfard, who by chief's orders agreed to act like quinea pigs for so-called hypnosis watch that Nick swung in front of them.
Of course, as an officers and as an adults, they didn't take Nick's explonations seriously, even though they as a fellow predators did not held any racism against Nick... especially not after having underestimated both him and Judy greatly during of the Missing Mammal case and Night Howler Incident.
Each one of those three predator officers stared at from side to side in front of their eyes swinging watch for a five minutes and nothing did happen...
...until the watch started in their eyes and ears to send from its screen's center, and beyond the borders of its center, the deeply humming waves, as the watch's hypnotizing power started to take over of their minds.
And it did not took long before the watch's hypnotizing power emptied their minds, that they limbs went to limp and fell to hang from their shoulders, as well as their their lower jaws fell to hang from their mouths- The fur in their faces (skin in Mchorn's case) turned into gray-pale and their eyes turned lifelessly gray.
And they also started to let out the moaning zombie-like sounds like they had not brains at all in their heads... but were just the empty shells.
And with that, their legs went limp and they all fell one by one onto the ground, remaining in the positions like they were while standing.
"See? They're all now like Judy and the kids." Nick exclaimed, after the officers had fell over to the ground and after he had stopped swinging the watch...
...though he was a bit surprised that those three fellow officers fell under the spell so quickly, and it took more than half of the day from Judy to fall completely under of the hypnosis spell.
Nermal had probably turned the watch's hypnosis into a higher level pust his victims under of the watch's hypnosis spell faster... especially at the Halloween Eve with the steets full of for candy begging children.
"And if it is drinking herself into drunk out of the feel of guilty and shame that caused Judy into such of state like this... including those kids, some of whom are far too young to drink any such drinks like alcohol... then how did those three ended up to go into the similiar state without any drop of alcohol, huh?"
And to make the explonation even perfect, Nick explained to chief Bogo the suspect's childhood love for the sweets as well as his emotional sufferings from the humiliating prank he experienced as the clown in the circus in front of the crowd of children, which worked as his motivations for Nermal's criminal activity.
Nick then changed the subject from the watch and it's affects to the rockets, with whom Oates had claimed him and Skippy to be playing with carelessly in the alley.
Nick honestly confessed that he had indeed used the firecrackers on that night, but that he had found them at first in Skippy's possession - much to Barbara's shock and disappointment over her son, who nervously tried afterwards to act innocent - on the night when Skippy went with him to hunt down Nermal the last night, but Nick also explained that after having a single glance to the firecrackers in Skippy's possession, he had confiscated them from him immediately... and later used them back in tha talley while chasing Nermal but only to cut off Nermal's escape, albeit without avail.
And then, the much sweeter one, which Nick immediately needed to tell to Barbara and chief Bogo.
Nick revealed to Barbara, along with Skippy, the true colors of the incident that happened to her late husband's for her donated camera... which definitely wasn't like Oates had claimed to happen.
Each Barbara's children took one by one the angry scowl - including Barbara - at Oates as the police officers Francine, Jackson (african lion), Bob Johnson (tiger) and Andersen (polar bear) were helping Oates out from beneath of the sweets and cabinet, as Nick explained that it was Oates, not Nick, who deliberately and ignoring the camera's owner broke the camera in the first place and had placed the blame upon Nick and Skippy for "accidentally or deliberately" breaking the camera...
...and Nick also told to Barbara that because he had recorded to that very same camera something to him extremely important evidences of Nermal's criminal activity to prove Judy's innocence against the charges against her for the crime in the Shopping Paradise - of which Judy didn't commit, to which she wasn't involved to it and didn't even remembered anything of it, due to the side effects from Nermal's watch's hypnosis - Nick would have protected the camera like it was the only thing to save the whole animal kingdom from the massive extinction...
...until all of it with hard work and sweat gained evidence, along with the clues, were destroyed by Oates... only because of breaking Oates some stupid rules in their agreement with him by bringing Skippy with him in the case.
And with that, Skippy immediately confessed to all of them that Nick wasn't at all intenting to take him with him to solve the case the last night but he took him with in the case anyway, because of him volunteering himself into the case and convincing to Nick of himself being useful partner in the case instead of burden, of whom he had to keep an eye on all the time.
After hearing this, Bogo promised to compensate all this and his harsh behavior the last night to Nick and Skippy, by changing the parking tudy he gave to Nick for the two following months after Halloween Eve into patrol driving and have a serious discussion with Oates for the lying into the face of the chief of ZPD and deliberately sabotaging the police officer's investigation.
"Now there's only one problem… how to wake Judy and all these zombie-kids from this state?" Nick said, gesturing with his paw the children.
Bogo reacted to this question by walking in the next of like statue standing and motionless teenager rhino and six-seven years old tiger cub and clicked his hooved fingers in front of their faces for a couple times.
However, it had no affect to them. The kids were still under the Nermal's hypnosis spell.
"Isn't it the clicking fingers the usual way to wake them up?" Bogo asked from Nick.
"Yes, it is usually. Dr. Madge has already tried that very same thing to snap them out of the hypnosis but without avail." Nick said.
"Besides... this kind of hypnosis isn't made by the eye contact but by this watch what I'm holding in my paws right now. And as I already told and showed you, this is the very same crime instrument which was used to frame Judy for the candy theft back in the Shopping Paradise… and to kidnap all of these poor children to do Nermal's own dirty works for him. So I believe that with the watch we can somehow to wake these children." Nick guessed.
Bogo rubbed tbe back of his head, confused about this.
"So, how you're gonna wake them up with that thing, Wilde?" Bogo asked.
Nick lowered his look down at the watch, and rubbed his neck as he wondered the watch.
"Honestly said, chief, I don't know. I've never before gotten in the trouble with hypnotism instruments, especially with the such ones, which effects in their victims can't be undone by clicking the fingers in front of their faces. If Nermal would be awake right now, he would tell us how to do that." Nick said and kept checking the watch completely for the several times… finding nothing, which would be useful to wake the children and Judy up from their hypnosis.
"Nermal's father, the ringmaster of the Halloween Town's Circus named Zeke Midas Wolf, told me something about this watch, that is has the somekind of ability to empty the target's mind as the main affect of the hypnosis and wipe out the memories as the sometines happening side affect, making the victims like for orders waiting robots, or something like that, and make them to do whatever they're told to do." Nick said his eyes locket at the watch in order to find something to cancel the hypnosis.
"Or brainless, motionless and aimless zombies... like what they are at the moment." Skippy added.
"Yes, although Zeke did not mention anything about that." Nick said nodding to Skippy.
"Well, did this Zeke explained to you two that how to undone this hypnosis upon of officer Hopps and these children instead of clicking fingers, Wilde?" Chief asked.
"Well, chief. Zeke at least said that there's in the to of the watch the button, pressing from which the watch's hypnotism stage goes on and off. Zeke also told me that he usually wakes those ones under of the hypnosis by clapping his paws together... but do not even try it if the clicking the fingers in front of their faces didn't help, because I've susch of feeling that clapping the paws doesn't help as well.
"What makes you think that, Wilde?" Chief asked with a bit impatient and for answers demanding tone of voice.
"Well, Zeke may have said that there's the button in top of the watch, and this one has not such of thing. So, it is possible that this is either different kind of watch or then Nermal has probably made to this watch some improvements, plus removed the button from top of the watch, in order to enhance hypnosis to make it more effective to the victim. He has probably enhanced the hypnosis of the watch to the level of hypnosis what is impossible to be cancel with the usual ways to wake the victim up from the hypnosis… and, who knows, perhaps he has made from the affect of the hypnosis even a permanent." Nick said...
...though after saying this, and much to his horror of thinking the possibility that poor Judy remains permanently into her current statue- or zombie-like aimless and motionless state under of which she was right now, he hoped that he himself was either kidding of what he just said, or that he guessed wrong, but mostly he hoped that he was completely wrong.
"WHAT?!" Both Bogo, Barbara and Skippy's said loudly.
Shocked of the possible fate of these poor children and her childhood friend Judy, Barbara raised her paws over her mouth as she looked at Judy lying motionlessly on her back in the floor and all those motionless and like statues standing children in the room.
Most of the Barbara's children were also shocked of this and the cops - except of Mchorn, Fangmeyer and Wolfard - felt themselves desperated after learning that it might be possible that without the way to solve this... Hopps and children, including their three fellow officers, were doomed to remain in this state permanently.
However, for Judy's and the children's sake, Nick was unwilling to give up so easily.
"Give me a ten-fifteen minutes to find something useful." Nick said and started to check the watch harder with his eyes to find even something useful to help Judy and the children.
But even after ten-fifteen minutes, he was unsuccessful to find anything useful from the watch.
"Blasted… there's nothing what would be used to cancel the hypnosis!" Nick said with the fustrated tone.
It was then when Skippy jumped off from her mother's amrs and walked to Nick.
"Wait, uncle Nick, let me try." Skippy asked, catching Nick's attention by pulling him from his shirt's sleeve and surprising quickly taking the watch from Nick's paws to his own paws, before Nick was able to say... "I can do this myself, Skippy."
Because of the danger of being caught by the hypnosis, Nick had kept the watch's flap closed after he confiscated it fron Nermal and after he proved his claims about the watch and its affects and consequences by hypnotizing Mchorn, Fangmeyer and Wolfard, so that he would not fall under the hypnosis by himself.
But Skippy, watching away from the watch to avoid being hypnotized by the watch, opened its flab, which showed to everyone in the room that the whole thing is locked to ON all of time, meaning that anyone who looks into the watch, will fall under the hypnosis and remain in that state, like Judy, the kids and three officers…
…probably so long as the watch itself was alive.
"My mother sometimes berates me for accidentally breaking stuff back in the home… such like saucers, cups, flower vases and once even an aquarium… but I've never before broke anyone's watch… neither deliberately nor accidentally. My mother always reminds me of that from intentional infringement entails a minor punishments, such as house arrest. Well, let's see if I get again house arrest for breaking something deliberately and for good purpose." Skippy said to everyone as he lifted his from the watch holding paw above of his head.
"Skippy wait!" Both Nick and Barbara said as they realized that what Skippy was about to do...
...Nick because they would probably need the watch as an evidence against Nermal in the trial. And Barbara because she has multiple times and sternly forbid her son from breaking anything either deliberately and accidentally.
Well, it was too late.
Skippy threw the watch against the wall so hard as he could.
And as the watch collided against the wall, the impact against the wall from the hard flight over the air caused the watch to broke into the pieces.
And after that, the deep silence fell upon the entire living room, as all in the presence remained silently to wait the consequences of this.
Nick breathed calmly while hoping for best that breaking the watch had even some good affects, while Skippy held his breath, waiting for what will happen after he broke the watch... as well prepared himself to feel a pretty stupid for throwing the watch against the wall with no affect to Nermal's victims, as well as preparing to be sternly berated by his mother and to face the house arrest for the next month.
Suddenly, the silence was broken and the air space of the living room was filled by the dozens and dozens of sleepily moaning and yawning sounds like from the deep slumber awaking army of children.
This wasn't a new for Nick, because he had heard that very same thing while visiting and staying overnight in Judy's family's house, where is over couple hundreds of baby, childrenm teen, young adult and full-grown bunnies all around.
However, the moaning and yawning sounds came in the forms of unbunny-like snorting and growling, which came from the direction of hypnotized group of children and everybody in the room turned their attentions towards them.
The kids had nearky all fell on their knees to the floor, shaking their heads from side to side and rubbing their eyes with their paws as if they had indeed just woke up from the deep slumber.
And the same thing happened with Mchorn, Fangmeyer and Delgato, as they too slowly get up from the ground on their knees, yawning sleepily, shaking their heads and rubbed their eyes with their paws/hands... and murmuring something "What just happened?" "Oh dear, did I just fell asleep?" and "I don't remember staying awake to the late the last night, then why did I felt myself so tired?" as all three of them bounced up on their feets... elbeit still sleepily struggling on their feet.
And, by Bogo's orders, the police officers quickly rushed to help the children while Bogo ordered officers Higgins and Delgato to pick up Nermal from the ground and put him into the pawcuffs and take him out of his sight, as the children sleepily opened one by one their eyes to see themselves being helped on their feet by the batallion of police officers...
...and when the children sleepily looked all around of them, each one of them started to ask from the helpful officers three question.
"Where am I?"
"What's going on?"
"And how did I end up to be here?"
The officers didn't answer to their questions, they only began to calm down the children and suggested them to rest to gather their strength back instead, telling to them that they'll explain everything later... or that certain fox officer, who was the one who found them in the first place, would explain everything to them later.
And then, suddenly Nick heard behind of him in his ears very familiar voice moaning and yawning sleepily, much to Nick's delight, as the fox with the relieved smile and look in his faces turned to the direction where Judy was still lying on her back in the ground...
...to see Judy slowly getting up from the ground to sit, sleepily shaking her head twice and rubbing her eyes with her tiny paws, before she finally opened her normal beautiful amestist eyes.
"What's going on? Where I am?" Judy asked sleepily and in confusion, as she saw herself sitting in the middle of the strange living room filled with the candies.
"Hey! This isn't barbara's house's guest room... far less Barbara's living room. What is this place and how did I end up to be here?"
And, it was then when Judy heard loudly behind of her back...
"JUDY!" All Barbara's children, including Skippy, shouted in unision after witnessing their aunt Judy being released from the grip of Nermal's hypnosis and awaking back in her old self... and after that, Barbara's children started to rush towards Judy like the tsunami of little rabbits, though their own tsunami wasn't nothing compared to ten times much bigger bunny tsunami in Judy's family.
But, before Barbara's children's on tsunami collided to her...
"CARROTS!" Nick barked out of pure happines to see his beloved and adorable partner back and rushed before the rabbit tsunami to her partner's side and wrapped his arms around of Judy's small form into a really tight hug.
Judy, although she was still confused about the stituation around of her and surprised of Nick's embrance, immediately but temporarily let go of her confusion and suprised look on her faces, closed her eyes and wrapped her own arms around of Nick, returning to the fox's warm hug.
And then, reunited fox-and-bunny duo was within the seconds burried alive under of the tsunami of Barbara's children, who immediately surrounded both of them or jumped onto them and immediately embranced against both of Nick and Judy from every corner.
Barbara remained aside of this emotional embrance between of her children and Judy and Nick, but the sight of full of happiness before of her very own eyes as a result of her son Skippy breaking that dreadful watch against the wall and breaking the hypnosis upon Judy couldn't make her even more proud of her son.
And then, still having the bunnies attached into them like Judy's stuffed plush bunnies, Judy and Nick broke from their warm embrace.
Nick couldn't help but lift his left hand's in the level with Judy's right cheek and gently rub the backside of her fingers against of Judy's cheek, making Judy a bit blush but widely smile from the enjoyment of her fox partner's gentle touch.
"I'm glad to have you back with your own self, Fluff. Are you okay? How are you feeling?" Nick asked sweetly.
"Tired, confused, a bit dizzy and a bit uncomfortable because of the headache from some spot of my head… plus a bit hungry, Nick." Judy said, as she lifted her left paw up onto her left temple and rubbed from it, complaining a bit for the fiery headache.
Nick then lifted his own paw up and landed it onto Judy's head, starting slightly ran his paw behind of Judy's head and down of behind of her head hanging ears, as well as he slightly blew to the spot from where Judy had rubbed with her paw, making Judy to let out the purr out of pleasure.
"There, there. Easy. Carrots. It is all right." Nick said, calming the confused bunny, as he kept rubbing his paw doen of Judy'ss head and ears, making him to purr even louder out of pleasure.
"O'OOOOOOOOOOHHH!" Barbara's childrens said in unision, as they witnessed Judy letting out the happy purring sounds each time Nick ran his paw gently along her head and ears...
...which Judy noticed too well, and felt herself a bit awkward of being touched like that by Nick while being surrounded by all Barbara's children, who stared with the happy grins and wided eyes at the close and emotional moment between of unusual friends and - in their case - ex-natural enemies.
"Uh, Nick... (purr)... you know that we... (purr)... that we aren't yet dating, or... (purr)... or that this place isn't... (purr)... isn't a perfect place for... (purr) for this, so what if... (purr)... so, what if you kindly... (purr)... kindly stop doing... (purr)... doing that, if you... (purr)... if you please?" Judy asked between of her deep purring and out of slight embarrassment, especially in front of Barbara's children around of them.
...though a bit reluctantly, because she somewhat enjoyed Nick's gentle touch on her.
"You just complained about the slight headache and dizziness. I'm just trying to get you to feel more comfortable, Fluff. Is the rejection of my help and bringing some comfort for you your way to thank me, Cotton tail?" Nick asked.
Judy let out the widely smiling snort out from Nick's question, as she kept looking into his emeral eyes.
"Sly fox." She mumbled.
Judy then looked once again around of her, seeing herself yet again in middle of the strange house's living room full of mountains and the bags of sweets, several ZPD officers and the dozens of mammal children in addition of Barbara's family... and yet Judy saw officers Francine, Jackson, Bob Johnson and Andersen helping a bit bruised Oates out from beneath of the mountain of sweets and the overturned cabinet while Higgins and Delgato were holding with their firm officer-grip from the street clown magician-looking wolf in the pawcuffsand standing a bit dizzy in middle of them.
Nick also looked back to Nick and a bit gasped in shock about Nick's physical state, which she had not noticed except now.
"uh, Nick? What has happened to you? No offense, but you look pretty awful." Judy asked with the slight concern from Nick.
However, before Nick was capable to answer to that, the concerned expression on Judy's face turned immediately into the confused and for some answers impatiently demanding expression on her face.
"And could anyone be so kind to explain to me that where the heckwe are? Can somebody please explain to me that how did we all ended up in here... who's that street-clown-magician over there in the pawcubs and with Higgins and Delgato? Why is Nick looking so awful? From where did all of these children and candies came from? AND THAT WHAT THE SWEET CHEESE'N CRACKERS IS GOING ON IN HERE AT ALL?!" Judy exclaimed from the mammals around of her with the impatient and some answers demanding tone.
"Wow, easy, easy, easy, easy, Fluff. Take it easy. All will be explained." Nick said, calming Judy a bit down.
Most of the remaining of the Halloween night, Nick explained to Judy everything, what had happened since Barbara's children had found her from the guest room in the zombie-like empty shell-like state to the final events of the whole case within this very same house, including listing everything what he, along with Skippy as his a new and temporary bunny parter, went through, along with some the investigation complicating adversities due to the agreement between of him and Oates, to solve this case and desperately prove her innocence to the candy theft in the Shopping Paradise from the paws of the street-clown-magician called with the name Nermal...
...during of which, the officers by Bogo's orders searched the whole house and the whole area through in case of any other children gone missing, kidnapped and locked in here somewhere, and in case of something suspecting, what will be used as an evidence against Fermal in the trial.
And during of the search, the officers found out the yard's empty swimming pool being full of to the bottom of the swimming pool trapped children, for whom the officers went to look for the ladders to heklp them out from the pool, due to Nermal having removed the pool's own ladders to prevent the children from escaping from there... in case if anyone of them snaps out from the hypnosis...
...while the kids started to load the candies to the bags. And so did even Barbara's children, despite the fact that all of this stuff was stolen from the candy shops and from the other children.
The officers loaded the most of the sealed bags of candies into the boxes and, with the help of the children, loaded the boxes into the police cruises to use them as a part of the evidences against Nermal in the trial... including the damaged watch, that Skippy broke, whuch was recovered in a plastic bag as part of the evidences.
It didn't took for long before the another cavalry in the form of the news broadcast arrived to the scene, and all the news reporters were eagerly and impatiently waiting for the information from the chief Bogo and officer Wilde.
As Wilde was waiting his turn to be interviewed by the news broadcast after chief Bogo, Nick was keeping to Judy the company from aside, with the Barbara's children and all other children.
When Higgins and Delgato were bringing cuffed Nermal out of the house, they were immediately surrounded by the news reporters with their cameras, as they recorded into their cameras Nermal being taken away towards the waiting police van by Higgins and Delgato, who rejected the reporters that the arrested suspect will not answer to the questions but just in the trail he's going to face for the thefts, kidnappings and exploitation of children.
And as the trio were passing Judy, Nick, Barbara, all Barbara's children and all the rest of the children, they all together created on their faces the dark and venomous scowls targeted at Nermal, after to all of them had been explained by Nick that what Nermal had done to them and for what he had forced them to do without them being even aware of that... including Nick revealing to Judy that Nermal was the one who ambushed her with the C-word from behind in the entrance of the alley near of the Shopping Paradise before Nermal casted her under of his hypnotic spell... as the wolf was taken away towards the police van.
"The next candy day does not come quite so soon, Nermal. But don't worry, you will not starve in the prison, where you will receive the prison's good and healthy vegetable diet food every day while counting the brick heads." Nick taunted Nermal, making the children all around of him to to burst into hearty laughter.
Nermal turned for the last time at Nick and snarled angrily at him, before he was forced to move on by Higgins and Delgato.
"Indeed, Wilde. But first, this gourmet needs to pay the visit in the dentist before he gets a one-way ticket to the prison." Higgins declared.
After hearing the word "dentist", Nermal's ears jumped upwards and he started to fiercely struggle against the officers grip to get away, only to provoke ore officers to come to hold him down.
"OH, NO! NONONONONONO! NOT THE DENTIST! NOT TO THE DENTIST! DR. NERMAL HATES THE DENTISTS" DR. NERMAL HATES THE DENTIST! DENTIST IS BAD! BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD, VERY BAD FOR THE THEET! Nermal loudly complained as the officers finally managed to place him the police van, where Nermal still kept barking out of desperation and rampaging by whacking and kicking the back doors of the van in order to escape and avoid having to go to a dentist.
"Look at him... he behaves like a poorly raised child." Barbara said with the disgust.
"Hopefully they will take him after a visit in the dentist to a mental hospital among other crazy mammals." Nick added, as Higgins and Delgato entered into the police van cabin and drove away, Nermal with them.
"And I hope that this was the very last time we'll hear about him." Nick added, as he followed with his eyes the departing police van until it completely disappeared to the horizon and behind of the woods.
And after the van was gone, Judy suddenly leaned against of Nick's right side, and she even nuzzled her head against Nick's side, much to Nick's surprise.
Because after learning that what Nick and Skippy had went through during of solving the case for her sake, Judy was greatly and deeply grateful to Nick and Skippy for working so hard to prove her innocence in the eyes of the public.
"Thanks Nick, for everything what you have done for me." Judy thanked sweetly as she kept nuzzling Nick's side.
And as an response, Nick wrapped his right arm around of Judy and pulled her closer of him.
"Ahem... did you forgot someone, aunt Judy?" They both heard some one clearing his throat with a bit offended tone, which caught both of their attentions to it.
Both Judy and Nick looked down, and saw Skippy standing next to them, with his arms crossed, his right leg was thumping rapidly and that he was staring both of Judy and Nick with an offended... for the reason that Judy thanked only Nick, though he himself was with Nick solving this case and catching the bad guys when Judy was unable to do so due to the effects of hypnosis from Nermal's watch.
Both Judy and Nick turned to look at each others dumbfounded, before they bith created into their faces the sly smiles.
And after that, they both turned back to Skippy.
Nick released udy from his hold and unexpectedly to Judy but yet gently pushed her forward with his paws from her back towards Skippy, to which Judy reacted by turning to Nick and giving to him a bit frown yet still grinning look, with her left eyebrown lifted up, before she turned back to Skippy and kneeled down in front of the white-furred bunny kitten.
"And thanks to you too, Skippy, for keeping an eye on Nick and watching my place as Nick's partner while I was... well, you kow." Judy said, as he landed her paw onto Skippy's head, between of his ears, and rubbed from it with the congratulating attitude.
"Okay, okay, okay! You're welcome, you're welcome, you're welcome! Just stop that!" Skippy playfully complained as he playfully chased Judy's paw off.
And once Judy pulled her paw off from Skippy's head, which fur in between of his ears Judy left from her rubbing a bit messy, Skippy reacted to this by lifting his own paws onto his head and started to rub her messy head fur with his paws fingers forwards, like every boy in his age - not matter with the species - always does so after being rubbed from above of their heads by someone.
And once Skippy's attention was straightening his head fur forward, Nick saw this as an good opportunity for the surprising move from behind onto Skippy...
...and without hesitation nor warning, Nick kneeled down and surprisingly wrapped his arms around of Skippy, causing Skippy to let out the surprised yelp after Nick's arms wrapped around of him, and then Nick lifted Skippy up and placed him to sit onto his left arm.
Unlike with her mother doing that, Skippy actually enjoyed of Nick lifting him up to sit either onto over his neck, onto his shoulder or arm, but hated of being lifted up so surprisingly like Nick just did.
Judy let out the amused giggle of this event, as she jumped back onto her feet.
And after that, and with Skippy sitting on his arm, Nick wrapped his right free arm around of Judy and pulled her closer of himself.
"The case was tricky, but we made it through of it with friendship, teamwork, faith and love. So, I guess that it's all's well that ends well." Nick said, before he let out of the deep sigh.
However...
"ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, HUH?!" Came the loud horse-like bellow out from the house, which caught their attentions as well.
Detective Oates came out from the house, dressed from his shoulders arpund of himself hanging barrel so the news broadcast in the presence nor anyone else cannot see him naked as he started to walk towards his cruiser.
And as Nick did, Oates had also some contusions, bruises and bumps all around of his head from his fight with Nick while he was under Nermal's spell.
"HOW SO IT IS ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL! I HAVE NO CLOTHES AND IT IS SO HARD TO SIT IN THE CAR AND DRIVE WHILE BEING IN THE BARREL LIKE SARDINE!" Oates shouted furiously as he, without taking any eye-contacts with Judy or Nick, passed them.
"I don't know, Oates. But speaking of sardines, maybe you should have disguise yourself for the Halloween Eve into giant sardine in the sardine jar or something, what'd you say?" Nick joked.
Everybody in the presence bursted into the hearty laughter at Oates, as he briefly made the furious eye-contact at Nick, before he turned his back for the large group of at him laughing children.
"I think there's a point in officer Wilde's comment for your current Halloween-costume, Detective… Horse-Butt. Maybe that's a good enough as a minor phunisment for lying to colleagues and deliberately sabotaging the officer's investigation." Bogo said to the passing Oates, who paid as much attention to him as he paid to the bunny-and-fox duo.
And when Oates bowed a bit down to open his cruiser's driver's seat's door...
"Yeah! Especially the giant sardine with the nice red-white heart boxers!" Skippy shouted after Oates as he saw the glance of oates boxers.
The children bursted into the more louder laughter, as they all saw Oates red-white heart boxes peeking from beneath of his barrel, as Oates was forced to bow more down to reach with his car keys to the door's lock and eventually to the handle of his door to open it, even wit hthe risk of showing his ridiculous boxes to the public.
After seeing his boxers, even some of the police officers in the presence, even usually stern, dead-serious and grumpy chief Bogo himself had a bit difficulties to hold back his own laugh, and the news broadcast... all of them bursted into the laugh at Oates.
And once Oates finally managed to unlock and open the door, knowing that he cannot drive the car with the barrel hanging from his shoulders around of it and that there was not point to hide his boxers from everybody anymore after all of them have seen them already, angrily threw the barrel away and sat down to the driver's seat, slammed angrily his car's door close and took off, leaving the laughing group behind as he himself quickly disappeared from the everybody's sight...
...and preparing for the next round of being the target of laughter back in his own home address, which streets were full of mammals from the early of morning to the late of the night.
And after Oates was gone and having enough of laughter, everybody in the presence stopped laughing one by one...
...until there was another silent moment, with the exception of some lone laughing or giggling coming from one or some children from the crown in the yard.
And then, after having successfulkly held back his own laughter and having his own interview finished, chief Bogo called Nick and Judy to come to him.
Nick lowered Skippy off from his arm onto his feet to the ground, giving him yet the wink with his eye, befoe Nick quickly rushed after ahead to the chief.
And after they had reached to him, Bogo turned to both Judy and Nick, especially Nick.
"Well done, officer Wilde. After you have been interviewed by these reporters, may you and officer Hopps return these poor children back to their homes and families? I bet that their parents are sick from the worry and might be extremely relieved and happy to have their missing children back , what's you say?" Chief asked with the proud smile.
Nick raised his thump at chief.
"Roger that, sir." Nick said with the grin on his muzzle.
SECONDLY LAST CHAPTER...