Nick and Judy had been on their way to the Rainforest, but all the while, they had been having an argument.
"You know, you never should've threatened Koslov like that" said the fox "We could be gotten killed! When you're a cop, you never reveal yourself to a crime boss! Never! Ever!"
"Okay, I get it" Judy said, annoyed "It was a stupid thing to do, sheesh"
"You bet it was!" Nick exclaimed "You bunnies are so cute, but so dumb"
"You probably didn't know this pal, but bunnies can call other bunnies 'cute', but when other animals do it, it's kinda offensive" Judy explained.
"Thanks for that info, I'll be sure to remember it" Nick said sarcastically.
"Whatever" said Judy "Let's just get this over with"
Nick and Judy finally arrived at Mancha's house, which was across a bridge on the canopy.
Judy rang the doorbell "Mr. Mancha's...my name is Judy Hopps of the ZPD and we don't want any trouble, we just want to know about a trench coated wolf"
The door cracked open a little and revealed a jaguar, looking a little scared.
"Get away from me!" he gasped "You...you...prey!"
"It's okay" said Nick "She's cool. We just want to know about a wolf wearing a trench coat, that's all"
"You really should be asking...about ME!" Mancha's revealed that his face with a black eye and scratches.
"Whoa, the wolf did that to you?" Nick asked, shocked.
"Get away!" Mancha said, fearfully "Leave me alone!"
"Mr. Mancha's, please, we're here to help you" Judy assured him "So please in your own words, tell us what happened"
Mancha's looked at the duo, but then finally agreed "Very well, then. Here's what happened; I was just driving along with my client, Emmitt Otterton. The wolf was my other client, so he joined us. We were driving along when all of a sudden...something happened! Otterton attacked me! He was an animal! He went wild, kept screaming about something called 'Night Howlers'. That was when the wolf had vanished and I was attacked mercilessly!"
"Anything else?" asked Judy.
Mancha's continued "After the attack, the wolf threatened my life and told me to bring him to the hotel in Sahara Square. Apparently, he's staying in the presidential suite, you might find him there"
"Looks like we have a lead" said Nick "Come on, Judy! Let's go!"
Judy turned to Manchas "Thanks Mr. Mancha's. Is there anything else you can-"
Just then, Manchas started growling, went down on four legs and stared at Nick and Judy was scary eyes. He then leaped out of the house and ran into the night.
"Where'd he go?" Judy looked around.
Nick and Judy went outside and saw Manchas standing on a long tree branch like some sort of wild jaguar. He was in a bloodthirsty, savage state...just like Nick was.
"Shall I do the honors?" asked Nick.
"Do let's" Judy added.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" Nick screamed.
Nick and Judy ran from Manchas, who was chasing them like they were his runaway dinner. They tried to run away, but they were no match for Manchas fancy footwork. Luckily, Judy was a rabbit, so her strong legs could make her hop really fast. Unfortunately, since Nick wasn't very hoppity, so Manchas managed to catch up with him. Mancha's roared and swiped his claw on Nick's collar, which caused a huge painful shock to his body. Before Judy could do anything, Nick stumbled onto her, seeing the duo flying off the canopy and right into the waterfall down below.
Judy managed to make it out of the water "Nick! Nick! Nick! Where are you? Nick!"
Just then, she saw an unconscious Nick floating down the river. She gasped, swam over to him, picked him up and took him out of the river.
"Nick! Are you okay?" she asked him "Nick?!"
Nick didn't respond. He was totally unconscious and full of water.
"Oh my God! I gotta do something!" she thought to herself.
In Nick's subconscious mind, he was prancing in a field with his friends without their terrible shock collars. The world was free, the sky was shining and there was nothing to stop him from having fun.
Just as he and Finnick were frolicking through the flowers, Nick woke up from his wonderful dream and found himself in some strange place, with a strange figure looking down on him.
"Huh?" he squinted his eyes "Wh-what's going on? Where...am I?"
Nick looked around and saw there were photos of bunnies and he was in some sort of living room. It was like nothing he had ever seen.
"Morning Sleeping Beauty" said Judy.
"Huh? What's going on?" he asked "Where am I? And why do I feel like I've been down a waterfall?"
"Mr. Wilde, you're in my house" the rabbit replied "I rescued you and brought you back here when you were drowning. I patched you up and nursed you back to health"
Nick couldn't believe it...a bunny actually saved his life.
"Yeah, I know you're shocked" Judy smirked "Just don't tell anyone"
Judy then handed Nick a small tray of food.
"Here, you'll need some nourishment" she said to him.
Nick started to eat the food "Gee...thanks"
"No problem big guy" Judy smiled back "It's in my police code of honor. I called the chief earlier about Macnhas. He's gotta have found him by now"
"Gee, this place sure is kinda...small" Nick looked around.
"Yeah, I don't have a lot of money, so I can't exactly afford a bigger place yet" said Judy.
"I thought in Zootopia, prey's got everything" Nick said back.
"Yeah, well I only started this job a few weeks ago" Judy replied "So, yeah. Besides, I have to turn you in alive"
"Huh?" asked Nick.
Judy started to explain "I told Chief Bogo that I'd bring you back to the station in 48 hours and I only have twelve hours left to turn you in"
"What?!" Nick asked, shocked.
Judy continued "But hear me out; I now know it wasn't your fault, Nick and I really need your help to solve this case on what's going on with the missing animals"
Before Nick could say anything, someone knocked on Judy's door. She opened the door and saw two people she thought she'd never see for a long time...her mother and father, Stu and Bonnie Hopps.
"Hey Mom...hey Dad" she said nervously "What an...unexpected turn of events"
"Hey there Jude the Dude" said Stu "How's everything been in Zoo City?"
"Oh...just fine...I'm on a big case now" Judy nervously chuckled.
"Well that is no excuse for not calling us everyday!" Bonnie exclaimed "You could've gotten killed by one of those horrible predators we've been reading about!"
Thanks to Nick's good hearing abilities (and the fact that Bonnie was saying that out loud), he was able to overhear what was going on. He walked over to see what was happening.
"Judy, what's going on?" he asked.
Just then, Judy's parents gasped at the very sight of seeing a fox with Judy. Now if you read one of our previous chapters, Judy's parents always told her that foxes were the worst predators of them all and somehow, she pretty much agreed with them.
"JUDITH HONEY HOPPS! WHAT IS THAT...THAT...FOX DOING NEXT TO YOU?!" Stu angrily asked "Didn't you use that fox taser I gave you?"
"Wait, what?" Nick asked, confused.
"Dad, I can explain" she said "He's not just a fox, he's with me. He's...he's...he's..."
"Oh my God! Is he your BOYFRIEND?!" Stu jumped to a false conclusion.
"No! No!" Judy quickly assured them, while blushing a little "He's just-"
"Look, I've got a tight schedule to do, so I think ya'll had better go" Nick said as he turned to leave.
"Yeah. Let that fox leave" said Stu.
"No, Dad! His name is Nick!" Judy retorted "He's helping me with an important assignment and he's my friend and if you can't handle it, just hang up!"
Just then, one Judy's siblings noticed something on her coat rack. It was some sort of orange vest and blue hat.
"Hey Judy! If you're working a big case, why do you have a meter maid vest and hat?" asked her brother.
"She's not a meter maid, Thomas" said Bonnie "She's a real cop. She's got a fancy car and everything. Isn't that right, honey?"
Judy got even more nervous and gulped real hard "Well...um...you see...I...um...technically not a real...cop...yet"
"Judy's a meter maid?" Nick thought "No wonder she doesn't have a car"
"Judy...you lied to us" said her mother.
Judy tried to explain "Mom, listen I-"
"That does it young lady! Pack up your rinky dink furniture and get out of here!" Stu sternly said "You're going home right now and never coming back! No ifs or buts about it!"
Stu grabbed Judy's arm and started to drag her out of the apartment.
Judy tried to reason again "But, Dad-"
"No buts, young lady!" Stu exclaimed "I told you that becoming a cop and coming to the main city of Zootopia was a stupid idea! Now you're lying and...other things"
By 'other things', Stu was referring to his assumption that Judy was in love with a fox, let alone associating with one.
"And don't think I don't read current events, I know that's the fox that caused this horrible savage breakout!" Stu continued "I can't believe you're actually hanging out with a criminal. Back to Bunny Burrow!"
When Stu was taking Judy out of the house, Nick blocked the front door.
"Now hold on a minute, sir" said Nick "So what if Judy lied about being a meter maid? Just look at that vest! I can't blame her for what she did! If I was a meter maid, I'd lie about it as well"
Judy was amazed. Nick, the fox who she was after was actually sticking up for her? Now that was something she never thought a fox was capable of.
Nick continued "Listen sir, when I met Flopsy McCopsy, I didn't think she was a good cop and that she was going to get stepped on. But you know what she's shown me? She's shown me that she's more than capable of pursuing something and determination, she's capable of police work and getting further in her goals. So Mr. Hopps, you can either take her back to Bunny Burrow and make her be a boring old farmer or you can keep her here and let her finish trying to stop this insane crisis. After all, we only have twelve hours left to do this case and to prove that Officer Judy can be the best rabbit cop Zootopia has ever had. All I'm saying is that you should...give her a chance"
Judy smiled at Nick as he put his arm around her shoulder.
"Well, I guess we can give her twelve hours" said Bonnie "What do you think, Stu?"
"I guess" Stu shrugged.
"Good" Nick said as he opened the front door "Now go on back to your country paradise and leave everything to me and Judy. Drive safely"
The Hopps family all walked out of the apartment, but Stu then asked another question.
"Just be careful of that savage panther on the loose" said Stu "I heard he could be dangerous"
"What're you talking about, Dad?" asked Judy "The police got him"
"No he's still out there" said Bonnie "It's been all over the news these past several hours"
"Well um...thanks for warning me goodbye!" Judy said as she pushed everyone out of the house.
"Are you sure he's not your boyfriend?" asked Stu.
"Get out!" Judy closed the door "Whew. That got rid of them. Now, come with me, there's something I have to show you"
Judy led Nick to her bedroom for something possibly important. Judy opened the door and Nick was surprised at what he saw...
Author's Note:
I told you this story ain't dead! Here's more of the story and it looks like it's about to get interesting for both Nick's warming up to Judy and Judy's determination to investigate this. Stay tuned for more.