Tigers and Wolves don't get along in real life. Couldn't possibly happen, They're cats and dogs for crying out loud! And where would a tiger and a wolf ever even have a chance to meet? It's impossible, just impossible.
Disclaimer: And apparently I'm wrong. Go figure. Credit for the new cover picture goes to The Institute of Greatly Endangered Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.), the Rare Species Fund (R.S.F.), and Barry Bland / Barcroft USA. Disney still owns Zootopia... for now; I hear that some entrepreneuring pirate authors are trying to steal the rights to it, lets just hope Mickey doesn't catch them.
Chapter 3 – Game On.
If wolves could sweat, Ralph would be. He still hadn't found a way out of the cruiser; He'd tried to make a run for it during the second phone app battleship game but had barely managed to get the door open before he slammed it shut to prevent Nadine's big orange and white paw that came swiping down from the roof from grabbing the opened door. His second escape attempt during the third game was aborted as he heard the roof creak as she shifted her weight when he'd tried to quietly move over to the other door. He hadn't even tried unlocking it because he was sure she was crouched above it readying to pounce on him when he bolted.
Now Ralph was sitting in this cruiser trying to simply out wait Nadine, hoping she'd give up first and head home for the night. Being trapped wasn't what was making him so nervous though.
Don't Pick A1, Don't Pick A1, Don't Pick A1
Nadine was up one game and this round was neck and neck. He'd finally found her patrol boat after wiping out the rest of her fleet early in the match and was one hit away from winning. Nadine on the other hand had slowly caught up, sinking one ship after with another and was working her way down his last one. She had two choices and if she picked A1 she'd hit the last undamaged portion of his battleship and win the game, but if she picked the other spot on the far side of the ship he'd knock that damned sneaky portal boat out of the water and even out the score between them.
Don't Pick A1, Don't Pick A1,-
The little animation on the phone screen shifted angles to show her ship firing and a shot which traveled over onto his grid where it landed… on A1.
Ralph watched in dismay as the already smoking and damaged ship took the hit, exploding spectacularly before breaking in half and sinking.
"HAH!" Fangmeyer called out victoriously, "I sunk your battleship!"
Her little damaged patrol boat was now shown on the screen sailing with fireworks in the background and a waving banner at the top of the screen that said 'VICTOR'. A little chat bubble appeared at the bottom of the screen reading 'Suck it!' and had a little wolf face emoji with the tongue sticking out to the side and 'x's for the eyes.
"I think you cheated on that last game!" Ralph shouted up at the ceiling of the cruiser, "There's no way you could have hit my patrol boat first! I want a rematch!"
He could hear the delighted smugness in Nadine's voice as she called back, "Fine, if you want to make it 5 to 3 rather than just admit defeat now, go right ahead, I'll trounce you again."
Ralph grinned at her predictable and enthusiastic response, accepting his challenge to a rematch. As unlikely as most found it, the two of them being a canid and feline, he and Nadine had become fast friends at the academy, and even better friends since then. Nadine gave as good as she got and didn't mind the rough housing that was normal for wolves, something that was simply part of their nature and learned growing up in a wolf pack. Actually, Nadine didn't seem to simply not mind it, she seemed to enjoy it as much as he did and she certainly excelled at it too. Ralph felt like she was a closer pack mate to him then some of the wolves he'd known growing up, maybe even all of them.
And that was why he couldn't let her win this battleship game... or their bet. Forget the game tickets and getting her to root for his team (though that last part was going to be awesome. He'd need to make sure to get lots of photos), This was now a game between them. Between him and his pack mate and he was going to win, no so much because he cared about winning but because this was going to be fun.
He could feel his tail thumping happily on the seat as his grin widen and he prepared a smack down comment to toss back at her.
His clever comment (or so he at least thought) was cut off by a bellowing voice that made his hackles stand on end.
"What are you two still doing here," Bogo thundered loud enough Ralph would have sworn the cruiser rocked from the blast of his voice, though that might have also been because Nadine had leapt up in surprise. He could tell she had by the view through the side window where he saw her falling to the ground, fur spike in surprise and twisting around in midair to try righting herself to land on all four paws.
Ralph turned around to see the Chief, looking grimmer than usually, he'd guess about a 6.5 on the Bogo Richter scale, which meant they better come up with something sounding halfway reasonable before the Chief used both of them during Monday's training lesson as volunteers to personally demonstrate take downs.
Understanding the life and death importance of that, Ralph opened his mouth to smooth talk their way out of their situation.
"Um… Well, Chief… ah…"
And we're dead. His mind helpfully added as he stammered, coming up with nothing and the Chief's glower rose nearing a 7.
"He, ah, locked himself in the car, Chief!" Nadine suddenly said her panicked face popping up into view through the window she'd just fallen by.
Ralph nodded vigorously, "Right. Locked myself in the cruiser, Chief! That's what I did. Nadine, ah… Officer Fangmeyer was just helping me… with the situation."
Bogo's eye twitched and his nose wrinkled like he smelled a whopping load of B.S. His eyes narrowed and his glare hit Ralph, freezing him before turning on Nadine to freeze her in place too.
In an almost pleasant voice the Chief asked slowly, "Really? You locked yourself inside the cruiser?"
Yep, definitely in the 7 range now. Part of his mind noted with increasing alarm.
Should we take cover under the seat and try to ride this earthquake out? Another part suggested.
We can't just throw Nadine under the bus!… or under Bogo, which is far worse than a bus!
"Yes." Ralph managed to squeak, still under the full weight of Bogo's stare, "I locked myself in the cruiser. Just a… ah, silly mistake on my part, Chief." It was true after all, he had locked the cruiser to keep Nadine out and trapping himself had turned out to be a tactical mistake on his part as well.
Ralph thought he might implode from the crushing weight of the Chief's stare, but Bogo finally crossed his arms and looked at the rear tire.
"And why is there a parking boot on the cruiser?" He asked, his voice as grim as his face, but Ralph felt a trickle of hope that they might survive this, or that could simply have been the relief of no longer being the direct recipient of the Chief's glower.
Nadine quickly spoke up, which Ralph was extremely grateful for because he had no idea how he was going to answer.
"Ah, sir… I put it on the car to… um, make sure it didn't roll away with Ralph… in… it…" she trailed off as the Chief's glare focused on her.
"Isn't that what the parking break is for?" The chief asked pointedly, and Ralph saw Nadine pale a bit under her fur.
"Um… she was just being extra careful?" Ralph offered not knowing what else to say and then added a quick, "Chief."
The Chief grunted, then looked at the dangling cable from the light bar on top of the cruiser and raised one eyebrow, "And what excuse do you have for that?"
"Well…" Ralph started thinking fast, "We um… didn't want to annoy the whole station if it went off?"
"Right!" Nadine said cutting in, "With Ralph locking himself in the cruiser, it would set the car security system off if he tried manually unlocking it. Can't have the cruiser siren going off nonstop annoying everyone trying to work."
Ralph was nodding his head again as Nadine spoke, "Yep. We thought it was best to just unplugged it. just in case… ah, Chief."
Bogo's stare had gone flat as he stood there his arms crosses watching them and Ralph's hope of getting out of this predicament rose minutely since Bogo had not already flattened them for there idiotic excuses. If you could survived the initial wave of The Wrath of Bogo when you incurred it, then you had a chance.
Still the Chief was watching them like they were unruly children caught stealing from the cookie jar. He grunted again before looking back at Ralph, "And how exactly did you lock yourself in the cruiser, Officer Wolford?"
"Um…"
That was about the best Ralph could come up with and he swallowed hard, his budding hope for survival dying. There was a little voice in the back of his mind crying out in a despairing tone, Game over man! Game over!
Ralph gave Nadine a desperate glance, which she returned, her eyes wide.
"Did you by chance drop the keys and get them lodged under the seat?" Bogo asked and Ralph nodded his head frantically saying, "Um, Yes! That's it. That's it exactly!"
He stopped nodding and speaking as soon as his mind caught up to his mouth. Bogo's tone had been pleasant, helpful even. Ralph looked up and saw that there was a small smile on the Chief's face which instantly set off every self-preservation alarm and instinct he had and a shiver of pure fear shot down his spine.
"Well then, why don't I see if I can help." The Chief said in a overly helpful way that just sounded wrong coming from Bogo as he started toward them and the cruiser while rolling up the sleeves of his uniform shirt. And all the while he wore that little smile.
The chief never smiles! Part of his mind clamored in terror.
"Can't have you two here all night playing phone games because the car keys are stuck under the seat," Bogo said as he stopped by the rear of the cruiser. Ralph gave Nadine one final desperate look seeing clear distress on her face before he looked back just in time to see Bogo reach down and grab the rear bumper with both of his large hoofs. The chief looked up right at Ralph, his small smile growing to a full broad toothy and utterly terrifying grin, and that voice in Ralphs mind cried out one last time, Game over Man! and then the Chief spoke.
"Now let's see if we can dislodge this silliness- oh, I mean keys."
Ralph saw Bogo's fore arms flex so impressively that he put Popeye the sailor goat to shame and the entire rear end of the cruiser was lifted violently into the air, sending Ralph falling back off the seat and into the foot well, where he bounced a few times against the pedals and steering column as Bogo shook the rear end of the car up and down like someone shaking a piggybank.
Ralph bounce one final time as the rear end of the cruiser was dropped back down to the garage floor where it rocked on its springs.
Ralph raised his head, a bit disoriented and caught a view of Nadine staring open jawed at the Chief in something between awe and terror.
"Well, did that dislodge those keys?" Bogo called out, "Or do I need to try harder to shake them loose?"
Ralph quickly dug through his pocket grabbing the key fob and held it up as high as he could as he lay on the floor, even shaking it a few times on its key chain for emphasis as he wheezed, "Nope. Good. Found it."
"Oh, good. That solves that problem," Bogo said, still in that scary as hell faux helpful voice, as he came around the side of the cruiser and looked down at Ralph through the side window.
The Chief, dropping that happy tone, for his usual gruff voice, much to Ralphs relief, said "Now, why don't you unlock the cruiser so you and Fangmeyer can get the out of here before I decide that you two want to work extra shifts this weekend." Bogo gave both him and Nadine a stern threatening glare, "Parking Duty is always available after all."
"No, sir! I mean, yes sir!, I mean we'll be going right now, sir!" Ralph said, scrambling back up and unlocking the car. Nadine was quickly opened the door to get in but stopped at a gesture from Bogo.
"Since Officer Wolford seems to have issues with losing your cruiser's keyfob," Bogo said pointedly looking at Ralph, "I think its best if Officer Fangmeyer holds onto the keys and drives for the next week."
"But, sir," Nadine started to protest but was cut off by a waved hoof from the Chief.
"Don't Care. Wolford drives most of the time between you two, and you Fangmeyer are getting out of practice, so you will be the designated driver for your team for the next week. Take it as an opportunity for Wolford to teach you some of his tricks." The Chief turned and started walking away muttering to himself and rubbing his face. He opened up the door to his designated cruiser and got in before looking back at Ralph and Nadine, his eyes narrowing.
"And if you two decide to lounge around and goof off in the precinct garage again, I'll stick you two with one of those joke mobiles instead of your cruiser, Do I Make Myself CLEAR?"
Both of them nodded quickly, not wanting to be stuck riding around in the ridiculous and slow three wheeled meter maid vehicles, the biggest of which would be a very tight fit for the two of them.
Bogo snorted seeming satisfied and slammed the door of his cruiser shut, started the engine and pulled out of the parking spot, headed for the garage exit and both Ralph and Nadine sighed in relief.
The two of them swapped seats and were quite for a bit as Nadine drove. She had to admit that the chief might have been right about her being a little out of practice; she felt like she was just a tad clumsy as she drove the big cruiser and had to pay more attention to what she was doing than she should have. Ralph was certainly the better driver of the two of them and by some sort of unspoken agreement he had become the one to always drive. Nadine didn't mind, she actually preferred Ralph to be their driver, as that left her free to be able to do anything else, such as darting criminals on the run or being able to leap out and continue the chase on foot if necessary. But she realized now that that had caused her driving skills to get a bit rusty.
"You'll have to take the next left if you want to drop me off at my place before heading home." Ralph said breaking the silence and Nadine realized that she'd been driving their normal route, were Ralph would drop her off at her apartment before heading to his home in a small private neighborhood that was mostly owned by his pack.
Nadine shifted lanes, shaking her head, "I don't know how Bogo does it."
"What? The most terrifying boss in Zootopia part, the always seeming to know when anyone is messing around part, or the always being able to use a situation to get something done part?" Ralph asked with a half-hearted chuckle.
"Yes," Nadine replied with a snort, "All of that."
"Well, Nick claims Bogo sold his soul to a demon for dark powers and ridiculous strength, though I think he was kidding around… mostly." Ralph mussed.
"Huh, I might just believe that after watching Bogo shake our cruiser like it was a toy," she replied, shivering a bit. Everybody new Bogo was strong, sometimes they just forgot how strong, "We might want to be a bit more careful around Bogo next week so we don't incur any more of his wrath."
"Or just wait until Judy and Nick do something else and the Chief redirects his focus onto them," Ralph snickered. "I'll bet you a boop that by the end of Monday, the chief will be grinding his teeth in frustration over something else they've done."
"Do I look like a fool?" Nadine said, shooting him a 'are you crazy?' glance before shifting focus back to the road, "That's a suckers bet."
"No, but you already agreed to one suckers bet, Nadine," Ralph said grinning, and then snickered, "I'm going to start shopping around online tonight to find you some Pact Team apparel to wear. Hummm…" he looked back over at her looking her up and down, "Might have to get it special ordered for you, they generally don't bother making anything larger than wolf sized considering the market they're selling to, what size are you anyway?"
"Ralph! Didn't your mother teach you any manners?!" Nadine said in a mock scandalized voice, which covered up her slight embarrassment quite well, "You never ask a lady about the age, weight or size!"
"She tried and failed, I'm afraid." Ralph retorted with a dramatic sigh, before his grin returned, "Besides I already know your age and weight, I put together that surprise birthday party for you and we've been sparring since the academy, so what does it matter if you tell me your clothing size?"
"A girl has to keep some secrets," Nadine said with an indignant sniff, though she made sure to look forward to where she was driving so Ralph wouldn't see the small smile the memories of that party brought. She hadn't had a real birthday party since she'd been a cub, and after finding out about that, Ralph had decided that needed to change. Goofy wolf or not Nadine didn't think she'd ever find a better friend that Ralph, and she needed to think up something special for his upcoming birthday too.
"Well, if you won't tell me, I guess I'll just have to guess," Ralph said and snickered, "So don't blame me if you end up with something a bit tight." He snickered again, even louder, looking over at her as if trying to imagine her wearing something besides her uniform, "though in that case, maybe I can get you one of the Pack's cheerleading squad uniforms; That would be quite the sight! Nadine Fangmeyer, dressed as a cheerleader!"
"In your dreams wolf!" Nadine growled back, trying not to blush as Ralph broke out into laughter, "You're going to be the one wearing my team's colors!"
Ralph's laughs slowed down to chuckles, and he shook his head in consideration, "You know, I think you'd look quite good dressed Pack colors," he gestured at her with his paw, his tone and smile reaching an unbearable level of teasing, "it would go well with your fur."
"Never going to happen, Ralph," Nadine said adamantly, before pulling over in front of the entrance to his neighborhood. She put the car in park and then turned to look back at her broadly grinning partner, putting on a smirk of her own, "I'm going to take sooo much pleasure in making you come shopping with me so that we can pick out your jersey, when I win our bet. And don't worry I'll make sure that I get plenty of pictures to share around too." She widened her smile, her teeth showing in such a predatory manner that would have been inappropriate for general public and Ralph's look of confidence faltered, his eyes going just a little wide.
She reached over slowly in Ralphs direction and both of his paws shot up to cover his nose, but rather than trying to boop him, she just reached past and opened his door, smiling at he even more.
"Get a good Night's rest Ralph," she almost purred in a dangerously anticipatory way is if shed sighted her prey and was preparing to pounce, "because your dreams are the only place you'll end up beating me, and come tomorrow… well, I'm going to crush that little head start you have, just like The Prowlers are going to crush the Pack." She leaned in close to Ralph, every tooth and fang on full display and Ralph's eyes went wider as she stopped only an inch away from where his paws where still protecting his nose, "See you tomorrow for the game, wolf."
She tapped a finger lightly on his paw covered nose only just in front of her own and was delighted to see how Ralph scrambled out of the car, letting out a laugh at his hurried retreat.
Ralph, paws still protecting his nose glowered back at her, but she only grinned. They both new that she was the stronger, bigger of the two predators, and it tweaked Ralph's ego, that dominate alpha wolf side he had. Head on head she'd probably win any straight fight, but Ralph was crafty and he wouldn't let her larger size deter him. It was one of the things she liked most about her partner.
Ralphs eyes narrowed and his paws lowered, his lips pulling up to a half smirk and in a challenging throaty growl he pointed at her, "You seriously think you'll be able to pass my lead tomorrow while in the middle of my family pack, tiger?"
Nadine leaned forward, a thrill of excitement running threw her, and met his challenging growl with her own, "Just watch me, wolf."
She'd gotten dragged into this bet because Ralph couldn't leave well enough alone; he didn't understand some of the more subtle aspects of feline culture, being a wolf and all, and was just him being his normal playful self. Nadine though, had to admit that she was starting to find this bet exciting; Pitting herself against Ralph had always been fun after all. Plus she really wanted to see Ralph rooting for her team. Just the thought of him having to sit on her side of the crowd was enough to almost make her giggle. Not that she'd ever let him see her do that.
A full grin broke out across Ralph's face and his tail started wagging, "Oh, don't worry, I'll be watching you tiger. Watching as you lose."
A voice called out from across the street, that Nadine recognized as Ralph's younger brother Bill, "Ralph there you are. You said you were going to be back an hour ago, were going to be late for the family Barbeque Mom and Dad are hosting for the season start. Stop flirting and come on."
Both Nadine and Ralph's heads snapped around and in near unison they both shouted, "We're not flirting!"
Even from across the street Nadine could see the other wolf roll his eyes, before waving at his brother in a 'hurry up' gesture and heading down the steps from the house toward the end of the neighborhood where there where some grills set up in a vacant lot where other wolves were collecting.
"Seriously," Nadine groused, glaring at the other wolf, "it's not like we actually were-"
"Boop!"
Nadine's eyes crossed, looking down at Ralphs finger touching her nose as her whiskers twitched, a sudden heat coming to her cheeks.
"You let your guard down!" Ralph said in a ridiculously pleased voice and then snatched his paw back as Nadine tried grabbing his arm.
"Why you little cheater!" she snarled, lounging at him but being brought up short by her seat belt only for Ralph to laugh as he turned, waving jauntily at her.
"See you tomorrow, Nadine!" he laughed, with a huge smile, "I look forward to seeing you lose again to me!"
Nadine watched in frustration as Ralph walked by the neighborhood's gate house and street fence, in the direction his brother had gone, his tail swooshing back and forth behind him in a manner that Nadine found far to energetic and prideful and made her want to leap on it to teach him a lesson or two.
With one last growl, she closed his door and pulled back onto the street, heading toward her home, grumbling the entire way and planning how she would get Ralph back. By the time she reached her apartment and was unlocking her door, her heated face had cooled and she thought she might have a plan for tomorrow.
I can't let Ralph win. She thought to herself
Hell, I can't let him keep booping my nose! She felt her cheeks heat back up just a tad, then her face flushed more as she thought back over everything that had happened in the last couple of hours and just how many times Ralph had booped her.
She knew wolves were gregarious, sociable mammals, that had a tendency to play around and rough house with their family and friends. Nadine having grown up an only cub with no siblings, had found that aspect of her friendship with Wolford endearing and enjoyable. Ralph might think booping her was just normal playful fun but it meant something a little bit different to felines.
It's not like he's actually trying to flirt with me, he just doesn't know.
Nadine hadn't even realized she started pacing in her small apartment, though she preferred the term cozy.
And if I try to call off the bet right now he'll declare victory by default and I can't let him win!
She kept pacing, her tail snapping as she thought.
Well, I'll just have to boop him first, win, and win fast before he can keep booping my nose.
She pulled out her cell phone and scrolled to a number that she only had because of the time she'd had to help Ralph home after a night of partying, where her partner had partied a bit too hard. She'd wanted to be able to check up on him later without having to bother him, so she'd gotten his housemates phone number.
And if I'm going to win, and win fast then I need to get started.
Nadine stopped her pacing, a grin forming as the phone ringed. She'd get Ralph, and she'd get him in a way he'd never see coming.
"Hello?" said a voice as the line connected and Nadine could faintly here other conversations in the background.
"Bill, hey this is Nadine. You're not near your brother right now are you?"
"Oh, Hey!" Bills voice came back, recognition clear in it, "No, he's over in line, waiting for the grilled chicken to finish. What's up? Ralph said you're coming over to our house tomorrow to watch the game." Bill gave an amused huff, "Well, that and something about how he's going to crush you and win some bet."
Nadine grinned.
"Sure am. About that bet, though… Care to help me pull a fast one over on Ralph? I can make it worth your while and it should be funny as hell."
There was a moments silence and then Bill spoke in a tone filled with conspiratorial delight, "Oh, this sounds good! Go on, I'm listening."
Boop Count
Ralph: 3
Nadine: 0
A/N
Also some credit should be given to King in Yellow a FanFiciton dot net author with some great skill and fluffy Wildehopps stories from which I commandeered the ideas for the sports teams.