Zootopia: License to be Wild

Chapter 2: Zack Hopps

"AAAAAHHH! BLOOD! BLOOD, BLOOD!"

The cries echoed out, as a young little bunny girl was acting out a death scene from part of a play that her friends were doing for the talent show on the Carrots Day festival.

It turns out, that the bunny was Cotton, who was the niece of Judy Hopps, and her favourite niece as well.

As she continued to milk her performance well, in the audience, Judy was a bit surprised about her acting, as it reminded her of how she did her's when she was young.

Also with her, beside her family, was her partner, Nick Wilde, who was trying not to laugh, but letting out small snorts of chuckles, before he leaned to his bunny friend as he whispered, "I bet she got that from you, Carrots."

Rolling her eyes with a smile, Judy looked to her parents who were watching the performance with the rest of Judy's family and relatives.

"Was I really like that when I was nine?" Judy asked with amused smile.

"Unfortunatley, yes." Bonnie said with a half smile, before mother and daughter continued watching the play.

"And… death!" Cotton said, as she played dead, squirting the bottle of ketchup to make it like blood was coming out of her.

Today was the Carrots Day festival, and Cotton and her friends from school decided to do a play, in honour of her aunt and the city of Zootopia, where she now lives.

"Back then," a badger said as he did some of the narrating with Cotton and the other kids, "the world was divided into two different groups: vicious Predator, with the sharp teeth," a young tiger, named Sammy, did a small roar on that signal, "and innocent Prey, with the flat teeth."

Cotton, at that signal, acted sweet as she usually is, until two boxes came down on top of her and Sammy.

"But over time," the badger continued, "we evolved and decided to make peace with each other, with no need of our past primitive ways, and predator and prey now live together, as friends and equals."

As the boxes came up, Cotton and Sammy were dressed in lovely, white robes, as two more animals, a sheep boy and a wolf cub girl, also dressed in white robes, stood next to each other, as the four hold paws.

"And, as time went by," Cotton then said, letting go of the other kids' paws, taking over the narration, "each and everyone of us was given a chance to be what we wished to be."

"That's right," Sammy spoke up, "I may look like vicious hunter, but deep down, I would love to cook up treats for all," he then took his robe, revealing him wearing lovely chef's uniform, and got a spoon and (fake) ginger bread bear, "which is why I like to be a baker."

"I'm usually shy when I'm in a heard," a sheep said, "but I can be able to step up into the spotlight and become a singer." As he removed his robe, he was shown wearing casual clothes, but also donned a guitar with him as he began to play a small little tune on it.

The wolf girl then stepped up as she said, "And I've known every part of the land and our home on the ground, but would love see how it look high in the sky," she then took off her robe, revealing her brilliant pilot uniform, as she put on some goggles, "and when I become a air plane pilot, I can!"

"And I can be able to help make the world a better place," Cotton said, "Because I'd dream of being… a police officer!" she said as she revealed a hand-made police uniform with a police hat, as she then said, "Just like my Aunt Judy!"

This really surprised Judy, as she was sensing a bit of déjà vu, remembering that she revealed that she wanted to be a cop when she was young, her parents felt it too, thought this time in good way, as many of their friends and family of Bunnyburrow began applauding, as most even looked to Judy, who slowly blushed a little (much to Nick's amusement and surprise), guessing that her work at the police force became known to all of Bunnyburrow, making everyone quite proud of her.

Just then a small bit of laughter was heard, though not loud enough to get the audience's attention, "A bunny cop?" the voice said, revealing to be a another fox, who was quite young, "That is the most ridiculous thing ever!"

"Gary Grey!" an older foxed nudged the young one, Gary, as he scold, "watch your tongue!" the older fox turned out to be Gideon Grey, the former bully of Judy Hoppes, who made amends and became a business partner with her parents, making delicious treats with the Hopps family produce.

Gary Grey was basically the nephew of Gideon's parents, making him a cousin to Gideon, and seemed to have traits of being a bully that Gideon once had, much to the latter's distaste.

Judy saw this and was glad that Gideon was no longer the one making fun, but cringed that the Gideon's cousin seemed to be one.

"It is true, that it can be seen impossible to those who doubt," Cotton said as she continued the narration, getting Judy's attention, "and of course it is true, as there's no thing as a free lunch (though wish that were true)."

That last segment earned a few giggles from the audience.

"For life is like a puzzle, and some times messy when we make mistakes," Cotton said, as she then gestured to Nick in the crowd as she said, "but Mr. Wilde says that not matter what, we never let them see they get to us."

Judy smiled at Nick, who gave a small nervous chuckle as he slowly waved to Cotton, who waved back.

"And as Aunt Judy said," Cotton continued, "no matter what we are, be a mouse, a badger, a rabbit or a fox, always remember that change starts with me."

"And me." Sammy spoke up.

"And all of us!" the badger said, as a background image of a city, with the words 'Zootopia: Anyone can be Anything' came up from behind.

"And always remember to try," Cotton then said, "because in Zootopia…"

"Anyone can be Anything!" she and the other kids cried out together, before taking a bow to the audience.

This lead to everyone applauding the young stars, especially Judy, who applauded the most, being so proud of her niece.

Bunnyburrow, Carrots Day Festival Grounds

"I'm so proud you, my little super star!" Judy said happily, following the play, as Cotton came up and was scooped up by her aunt for a big hug.

"Was I really that great, Judy?" Cotton asked.

"Great?" Nick said as he stepped into the conversation, "you were absolutely cute back there."

"Nick…" Judy said with a straight face as she looked to her partner and friend, "I thought I told that you can't call a bunny cute…"

"Admit it," Nick said, as he still had a smile on his face, "you were thinking that yourself."

This lead to Cotton letting out a giggle, as the two (Cotton being carried by Judy) walked towards Judy's parents, who were busy speaking with Gideon.

"Hey there, Jude, Nick!" Stu said as he saw them come by.

"Hey dad!" Judy said, still carrying Cotton.

"Hey there, Mr. and Mrs. Hopps." Nick saluted.

"We were just telling little Cotton about how amazing she did in that play!" Judy said happily.

"We're are so proud of you, aren't we, Stu?" Bonnie said as she turned to her husband.

"Indee-dee, we are!" Stu said proudly.

"Thanks, grandma, grandpa!" Cotton said, she then turned to her aunt as she asked, "Can I go play with the others?"

"Go ahead, Cotton, you earned it!" Judy said, as she let her niece down and watched as she rushed off to play with her friends.

"It's quite interesting, ain't it?" Gideon said as he joined the group, looking to Cotton.

"I remember that used to be you when we were young," Gideon explained, as he then had a sad smile on his face, "of course, I remember being a bit… not nice to ya and your friends back then…"

"Well, I'm glad that things have changed now," Judy said, "in fact, Nick and I wanted to thank you too."

"Really?" Gideon said, as Stu and Bonnie looking surprised as he was, "For what?"

"If you hadn't mentioned about those Midnicampum holicithias were Night Howler flowers, Nick and I… well… we wouldn't have solved the case and helped Zootopia if it weren't for you." Judy said, as the middle part she got a little blushed, not wanting to think of not being reunited with Nick following the press conference, "I'm just glad that you did!"

"Gosh…" Gideon said in a surprised tone, "I never knew that…"

"Well, from one fox to another," Nick said, "I pretty much thank you too!"

"T'weren't nothing, partner," Gideon said, bashfully, "I don't know how to appreciate that…"

"I don't suppose offering some blueberry pies could be a good start." Nick said, as he licked his lips.

As Judy, who smirked, nudged her partner, Stu, Bonnie and Gideon chuckled at that.

"Still, though," Judy then said, "I'm just surprised that everyone around here, you guys, our friends and neighbours, everybody is proud of what's happened with me back in Zootopia!"

"For being, quite possibly, the first bunny to do what no bunny has done before, that pretty much deserves some respect and honour!"

A new voice spoke up, getting the five's attention, as they turned, they saw, coming towards them, a white rabbit with black stripes, about Judy's size, wearing casual clothes, coming towards them.

"I know you've got mine!" he said happily.

"Zack!" Judy said, excitedly, as she rushed towards the white rabbit.

"Give me sugar, Cop Girl!" Zack said happily, as they embraced in big hug.

Nick was quite surprised to see a new face, he was a little baffled at first, but if Judy him, then he could be part of family or something…

"Who's that guy?" Nick said, as he turned to Stu and Bonnie.

"Oh, that there is Judy's cousin, Zack Hopps." Stu explained, "He's basically her cousin from my side of the family, and much like her and her niece, Cotton, he is a little bit optimistic… at times."

"Yeah," Bonnie added, "for while he is quite a nice guy, he can sometimes get into trouble at times…"

"Why do you mean?" Nick asked.

"Well, Nicky," Stu said, "basically, Zack's dad is one of my brothers, Judy's uncle Murphy, and Zack has some small traits of his dad."

Bonnie let out a sigh as she then explained, "You see, Nick, sometimes, when ether Zack does some work or something, anything that can go wrong…"

"Will instantly go wrong," Nick said, finishing what Bonnie said, as he guessed what they meant, "yeah, I know about that law as well."

"I quite fell sorry for the lad," Gideon said.

"Yeah, we all do…" Stu said.

"So you're saying that Zack's bad luck" Nick asked, "? No offence."

"None taken," Stu replied, "and no, it's not that he's bad luck, it's just that he can be a little clumsy."

Then Judy brought Zack over to them.

"Hey there, Uncle Stu, how's thing going back on the barn?" Zack asked.

"Fine, thanks for asking!" Stu said, giving Zack a good handshake.

Zack then gave Bonnie a good hug as he asked, "Auntie Bonnie, still looking nice today?"

"Thank you, Zack," Bonnie said, "you always such a flatterer."

"Anytime." Zack said, before he then came face to face with Nick.

"Zack, this is my partner I was telling you about," Judy said as she introduced her cousin to her fox friend, "I like you to meet Nick Wilde."

"Nice to meet a good cousin of Carrots', great seeing you." Nick said, as he casually gave Zack a good handshake, only to notice that the striped rabbit had a smirk on his face.

"So, Judy," Zack said as he turned to Judy, who walked back up to Nick, "this is the fox you talked about all the time, huh?"

"Really," Nick said with interest as he looked to Judy, who had a small blush, "you'd like talking about me a lot, do you?"

"I must say," Zack then said, "I never expected a fox to your thing for a boyfriend, Cuz."

Now both Nick and Judy began to blush madly as he said that, both exclaiming, "BOYFRIEND?!"

"Well, yeah," Zack stated, "seeing how you two seem to get along well together on your jobs, so I thought that you might also be-"

"We're not dating!" the two exclaimed, while Gideon let out a small chuckle, and Stu and Bonnie looked at each other and them with small smiles, knowing that since the two have indeed been great together, Judy's parents probably believed them to be in a relationship as well, especially when they first met during one of Judy and Nick's visits.

"Oh, don't pull sheets over my eyes," Zack said, as he walked over to one of Gideon's cake stands, "I know a good crush when I see one!"

As leaned on the table, unfortunately, he accidentally caused the table to lean over and he and table fell over, with most of the cakes landing on him and the ground!

"My stars!" Gideon said in shock.

"Oh, boy…" Judy sweat dropped.

"Oh… sorry! Sorry about that!" Zack said, as he got up, trying to get some of the treats off the ground, only to slip a little on a cupcake and fell on his back, one of the treats, a pie, landed on his face.

As he sat up, he took the pie of his face, lick a bit of the pie of him, and then he gave a small smile at the flavour, "Lemon meringue! My favourite!"

As Stu got him back up, Zack turned to Gideon, "Sorry about that, Gid." He said.

"Ah, it's alright," Gideon said, before he chuckled "at least your favourite pie was on that table, anyways."

Just then, Cotton came back up, as she saw her uncle Zack, her face lit up again, "Uncle Zack!"

"Hey there, little Cotton! My look how big you've grown!" Zack said happily, as he gave Cotton a little kiss on the forehead.

"Did you see my play, Uncle Zack?" Cotton asked.

"Don't you worry, I sure did," Zack replied, until he playfully asked "though I did see a sweet little bunny who stole the show with her friends, who could that have been?"

Cotton got a good giggle before replying, "It was me! It was me!"

"It was you!" Zack playfully agreed, as he ruffled her head, "And I'm so proud of you, you little angel!"

"Come on, Zack," Judy said, though still trying to hide her blushing (Nick doing the same), as she and Nick picked her cousin up, "let's get you back home and you can tell us about your day."

"Sure thing, cousin." Zack said, appreciating the helping paw from her cousin and her fox friend, Cotton joining the group, wanting to see how Zack was doing.

Hopps Residence

Back at her home, Judy was just making a nice bit of hot chocolate for Zack, while her cousin was busy having a nice chat with Nick, while Cotton was doing some drawings.

"So, how exactly did you first meet my cousin, Nick?" Zack asked.

"Well, let's just say that your cousin and I first met during one of my "usual business routes" and she helped out a bit for one of them." Nick explained, "Then she later met me again, and I was happy to help her on a big case that she was set on." though out in the corner of their eyes, Judy rolled her eyes while she smiled, knowing that most of what Nick said was half true.

"Well, I'm sure that you have some interesting stories to tell too, don't you Zack?" Judy said, as she offered him his hot chocolate.

"Well, there's nothing quite much to say," Zack confessed as he had his drink, until he had a bit of sad smile as he looked to the pictures on the wall, two of them being Judy during her first graduation as cop with most of her family, and at Nick's graduation with the fox in question, "but it's just, well…"

"What's wrong?" Judy asked, sensing something wrong as Zack's ears drooped a little.

"Well, it's just that here you are, being a cop of Zootopia, a hero to every mammal here and there, and a proud sibling to your whole family," Zack explained, while continuing his warm beverage, "while here I am, sometimes getting into trouble, wishing there was something special for me around here…"

Judy and Nick looked to each other, as since they both knew about Zack's troubles, they looked to the striped rabbit as Judy said, "Don't worry, Zack, I'm sure that a calling would come for you."

Zack looked to her as she continued, "You just have to wait and see."

"And hey," Nick then spoke up with comfort, "even if people say you're a screw-up, remember to never let them see that they get to you."

That worked as Zack then made a small smile as he looked to them, "Thanks, you guys. I really need that."

Judy and Nick were quite proud of what they said to him, until a sudden beeping caught their attention, along with Cotton's, as they looked to Zack's wrist, as the beeping came from his watch.

"Oh, look at the time!" Zack said, "We better go met up with the others at the Golden Carrot Saloon!"

"I've kinda heard about that place," Nick said, as they got up with Zack, "is it also suppose to have a diner there too?"

"Why, of course Nick, in fact, I even booked you two love birds a little private table as well!" Zack said.

This got Nick and Judy's attention as they blushed again while Cotton giggled as they cried out, "Wait, what?!"

Unknown Location

"Wait, what?!" Jack said, as he tried to get up from the hospital bed, only getting a little stiffed, with a small bit of pain from the back of his head.

"Steady, Mr. Savage, remember, you've been in our care for a week, and we must make sure that once we made the final checking's on you, you can be let go later today." The doctor, a moose, back at HQ said.

A week after barely surviving the blast from the goons, Jack was put into hospital care for a week, with several of his friends, (mostly Cynthia) coming by to visit.

Unfortunately, having almost suffered a bad head injury, as well as getting shot on his left arm, Jack was made to stay off the missions for a small while until he was properly healed.

"But I need to get back out there," Jack said, "the others would need me out in the field!"

"I'm sorry, Jack," Agent C said, as he, Cynthia and Blinky were with the doctor to see him, "but while I agree that we need you too, I'm afraid that you may not be well enough to take part on any missions."

Jack was a bit upset as he heard this, but decided to go with it… for now, he then asked a question that got him fearing the worst, "What happened with Rookie?"

As his friends soon got worried as he asked that, they knew that they had to tell him, "I'm sorry, Jack," Blinky explained, "Rookie's signal went offline the minute after we left… I'm afraid…"

Knowing what they were saying, Jack's eyes grew a little misty, as he finally understood.

"I'm so sorry, Jack…" Cynthia said, trying to comfort him, "we all knew what Rookie meant to you…"

"But what about the professor?" Jack asked, "We still need to keep a look out for him on what ever he is planning."

"Don't worry," C explained, "we told the chief everything, and I'm sure we'll think of something for you once you're out."

As visiting times was finished his friends left, deciding what Jack would do now following what happened, as he left the doctor looked back to Jack as he said, "I'm sorry, my friend, but it is for the best…"

"Of course…" Jack said, lying back for the moment, as he was then left alone, trying to let the news sink in on what has happened, first his friend, Rookie ends up KIA, then he almost lost his own life following the torpedo strike, and now he might not be able to go back in field again.

There had to be something he could do, but for now, all he could think of was just one word for those turn of events.

"Buck…"

Author's Note

So there you are, folks, we are introduced to both Jack Savage and Zack Hopps, two rabbits who look the same!

I was having a bit of deep thought on doing the rest of this story, since I learned about the one of the draft ideas of an animal spy film, according to the Art of Zootopia, which mentioned about the protagonist still being a rabbit, but with a James Bond style role, going by the name Jack Savage.

Then, when thinking about this story, I remembered about one of the classic Hanna-Barbera film I used to watch, The Man Called Flintstone, for those who remember the classic Flintstone cartoons, in which in the movie, Fred Flintstone encounters his secret agent double, Rock Slag and takes his place, and this is what gave me the idea of having Jack Savage's double be a cousin to Judy Hopps, and… well you're all probably going to guess what's going to happen later on!

Next time, we'll be seeing Zack heading to Zootopia!

Speaking of Zack, I was thinking of a choice between Stephan Merchant or Simon Pegg to voice him.

Remember to leave your comments and maybe let me know which of those two voices would be perfect!