Ch. 4:
Nick didn't even bother grabbing the icy lock that barricaded him from the other side of the fence, where he could see limos parked in the snow, being able to see every detail in the dark thanks to his night vision.
"Closed," he growled angrily, "Big. Freaking. Surprise!"
Judy standing a few feet behind him, dramatically wrapped her arms around herself, "Oh dearest me, do you not have a warrant to get in? Oh no!"
Nick whirled around, unable to help baring his teeth, "Don't play innocent! You wasted my time on purpose!"
She pretended to be affronted, "Sir! I own a fake badge I'd never ruin your pretend investigation!"
"It's not pretend!" he snapped, "There's a missing otter out there who needs to be found!"
"Well you know what they should've done?" she asked with a sarcastic tenor, "They shouldn't have gotten a criminal to solve it."
"I'M NOT A CRIMINAL YOU STUPID-" Nick snapped his jaws shut; screaming at this rabbit wouldn't solve anything. He took a deep breath while she glared rebelliously at him, almost daring him to lose his temper.
Nick straightened up and crossed his arms, "What's your deal, rabbit?" He genuinely wanted to know. "Ruining this investigation making you feel better about yourself?"
She chuckled in an almost dark way, shaking her head softly, "You have no idea, Robin Hood. It brings me great satisfaction to see a fox like you put in your place, watching you slowly lose your resolve to keep up this silly charade that you could ever be a cop. That's not what deceitful, lying foxes do."
She shrugged, "But that's a moot point. Anyway, you have no warrant, correct? Which means you can't continue this investigation. Which means we're done here," she held out her paw with a victorious smirk, "Pen please."
"You know, if I was a small person, I'd refuse since I'm a conniving fox as you love to tell me." He pulled the pen out of his pocket, "But I'm bigger than that. Here you go."
Judy reached for the writing utensil but before she could touch it Nick tossed it into the air, the pen landing on the other side of the fence. "Oops."
Judy gave him a droll look, "First off, that was the most pathetic throw I've ever seen. Second, you're a poor loser." She crouched down and started to burrow under the fence, talking as she did so: "See you later, Officer Foxy Loxy. It's so tragic it's all come to an end. Truly wished I could've helped more-"
Her words stopped as she successfully burrowed to the other side of the fence only to see Nick already there, having climbed the fence and now held the pen between his claws. He grinned at her, "Fun fact, Carrots, you don't need a warrant if you have probable cause." His eyes became wide in faux sincerity, "And guess what? I just saw a known con-artist burrowing under the fence." His smirk returned as he whirled around and flicked his tail against Judy's nose, "Who's a good little helper? Hop along."
Judy scowled angrily as she stood up and followed the fox to the nearest limo.
Seeing it was the limo they were looking for the two crawled in, Nick using a pair of tweezers to pick a piece of white fluff off the floor. "Polar bear fur," he realized aloud, studying it.
Suddenly exclaimed loudly, "Oh my God!" and Nick's head shot up, half expecting her to have found Otterton's head in the glove box. But all the rabbit pulled out was a CD: "The Velvety Pipes of Jerry Vole!"
She grinned cheekily and Nick rolled his eyes, however he was surprised to feel the corners of his lips turn up in a smirk.
"Fuzz," Judy spoke a few moments later, the rabbit looking into the back of the van with wide eyes and drooped ears. "If Otterton was here…he didn't have a good day."
The two crawled into the back, shocked to see it was covered in claw marks, the likes of which neither had ever seen before. Nick's ears pricked when he spotted a wallet, and with further inspection saw it belonged to Otterton. He pocketed it as Judy picked up a glass cup that had a B printed on it in a fancy font.
"Woah, woah, now hang up," she began, her expression turning calculating. "Polar bear fur…rat pack music…fancy cup." Her eyes nearly fell out of her skull, "Oh sweet cheese and crackers." She then desperately tried to straighten the group of glasses, her fur bristling.
Nick's brow furrowed, "What's wrong?"
"I know who's car this is we gotta go," she gasped, looking around the limo with frightened eyes.
"Who's car is it?" Nick asked, turning his voice into a whisper.
"Mr. Big, the most feared crime boss in Tundra Town and I'm on his hit list so it's time to skedaddle."
"How did you get on his hit list?"
Judy tried to push him to the door, he resisted. "I can't leave! It's a crime scene!"
"Do you want a bigger crime scene?" Judy demanded with desperation straining her voice. "Let's go!"
But then one of the limo's doors opened and two polar bears in red track suits loomed before them.
"Raymond!" Judy put on faux cheerfulness as she peeked at them from behind Nick. "And is that Kevin? Long time no see fellas, actually speaking of no see I got a great idea-how about you guys pretend you didn't see me? It'll be fun."
They were both grabbed by the neck and Judy tried to swallow, "A polite no would've sufficed."
A few minutes later they were riding in a different limo, pressed together as they sat between the polar bears. Nick glanced at them both before leaning in to whisper to Judy, "What exactly is going on here?"
The rabbit looked like she was standing at Death's door having just knocked. "Once upon a time, a rabbit-I'm not naming any names-sold a nice and very, very expensive rug to a certain crime boss. And then he found out that rug was made from the fur….of a skunk…"
Nick looked at her.
"…'S…butt."
Nick slammed his paw against his face. And she had called herself a sly bunny? Well said sly bunny was probably about to get them killed.
.
If Nick hadn't known the definition of crime boss he might have been tempted to chuckle at the sight of Mr. Big who turned out to be a bushy browed artic shrew.
But unlike Judy who'd probably jump off a skyscraper to see if she could stick the landing, he knew better, so he stayed quiet.
"I promise this is all just a big misunderstanding," Judy told the shrew after kissing his ring finger.
"You come here unannounced," the shrew began in a raspy sort of voice, "On the day my daughter is to be married?"
"Unannounced? No, no, no," Judy shook her head, one of her ears smacking against Nick's arm. "We were brought here against our will!"
The shrew cocked an eyebrow, unimpressed.
"But the point is," Judy went on. "I, of course, didn't know it was your car, and I definitely did not know about your daughter's wedding! Congraultions! You know I always liked her."
Mr. Big sighed, "I trusted you, Judy. I welcomed you into my home, we broke bread together, Gram-mama made you a cannoli…"
Judy's ears fell and she looked down at the carpet with what Nick saw was shame and it surprised him, seeing this side of the rabbit. And for a moment he wondered what else she hid under her soft coat of jabs and snark.
"You disrespected me," the shrew had kept talking while Nick noticed this. "You disrespected my gram-mama who I buried in that skunk butt rug. I told you never to show your face here again, but here you are, snooping around with…" Finally the shrew seemed to notice Nick, "What are you? A performer?"
Nick's lips curled. A performer? He opened his mouth but then Judy jumped in front of him, rendering him silent. "He is a mime! This mine-" she elbowed Nick's ribs, "Can't speak! Mimes don't speak."
"Okay, look," Nick pushed Judy out of his way and stepped forward to stand before Mr. Big, resting his arms on the desk all business. "I see no point in this animosity when you and I actually have something in common."
"Do we?" Mr. Big asked with disinterest.
"You don't like Hopps, I don't like Hopps, that's a pretty good common ground," Nick tried. "So from one predator to another I was wondering if you could help me out. See I'm looking for a Mr. Otterton, missing otter, and all my evidence leads him to your car so maybe you-"
"You're a cop?" the shrew didn't look like he believed it.
"Yes," Nick said a little stubbornly. "I'm an officer of the ZPD, and buddy I can't tell what I'm willing to do to solve this case."
"Hmm," the shrew nodded, "I have a request then. Say hello to Gram-mama."
Note to self, don't interrogate crime bosses because they may find that offensive.
"Ice 'em!"
"Wait, wait!" Judy blanched as Kevin and Raymond picked them up by their collars. The bunny struggled, "Come on I didn't see anything! I'm not saying anything!"
"And you never will!"
Nick joined her struggling when suddenly a square pool of ice water appeared below them, he dug his claws into the polar bear's thick fur, trying to reach skin but to no avail. It couldn't end like this! It can't end like! He had an otter to find! A mother to check up on! An entire city to prove wrong, to show them that just because he was a fox didn't mean he couldn't be a hero!
But through the panic a high-pitched feminine voice spoke up, "Daddy! It's time for our dance!"
Everyone became still as a artic shrew in a wedding dress walked over to Mr. Big. But when she saw Nick and Judy she glared at her father, "Now what did we say? No icing anyone at my wedding!"
Nick could've sworn he'd seen this shrew before but before he could figure it out Mr. Big told her he 'had to' and Nick's eyes fell down to the ice water he was about to be dropped in.
"Wait, WAIT!" the female shrew cried out and everything stopped again. Nick looked at her and was mildly surprised to see that she was looking at him. "This is the fox that saved my life the other day," she told her father. "From that giant donut!"
Oh. How had Nick forgotten that?
"Hi," she waved at him and Nick waved back.
"Hi," he replied, then winked, "Nice dress."
"Aw, thank you," she smiled sweetly.
The pool was covered and he and Judy were placed on their feet, their legs shaking slightly from the close call.
"You have done me a great service," Mr. Big told the fox. "I will help you find Otterton. I will take your kindness, and pay it forward."
Nick smirked cheekily at Judy's slack jaw of disbelief.
.
"Otterton is my florist," Mr. Big began as Nick and Judy sat with him at a table covered in wedding decorations and guests. The fox enjoying a piece of cake that was smaller than his paw as he listened, "He's like a part of the family. He had something important that he wanted to discuss, that's why I sent that car to pick him up. But he never arrived."
"Because he was attacked," Nick guessed, Judy nearly leaning over his shoulder as she too listened.
"No," the shrew said. "He attacked. Otterton went crazy, ripped up the car, scared my drive half to death and disappeared into the night."
"How is that even possible?" Nick's brow furrowed in disbelief. "He's just a little otter, he wouldn't hurt anyone."
"We may be evolved," Mr. Big said ominously, "But deep down we are still animals."
Those words made Nick's stomach twist.
"But if you want to find Otterton, talk to the driver. His name's Manchas, lives in the Rainforest District. Only he can tell you more."