Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia or its related characters. All is the property of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Clark Spencer, and Byron Howard. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.

Under a Green Hood

Chapter Seven: The Obligatory Shooting Contest

In addition to the bow and quiver of arrows, Nick also replenished his duty belt with a new radio, and replaced his spent taser with a dart gun with a full clip of tranquilizer darts dosed for a Mammal of a fox's relative size. Since Loxley's stupid vinyl vest apparently insulated him from the taser, Nick decided darts would be more effective.

That, and they also figured into his plan.

"So, what is your plan?" Delgato asked from the driver's seat, the lion filling three times as much space as the bunny did.

"Rescue Hopps, arrest the Hood, and protect the Robin mantel." Nick said as if this should have been obvious.

The lion sighed next to him. "Wilde, that's not a plan. That's a list of objectives. C'mon. I don't like you and you don't like me, but we gotta work together on this one. I might not be Hopps, but I am a good cop. Clue me in on your process." He adjusted the rearview mirror to glance at the brand shiny and new bow in the back seat. "Do you even know how to use that thing? What if you accidentally shoot the hostage."

The very idea made Nick tense in his seat. Shoot Carrots? No. That was not gonna happen. That was not an option. That was not part of the plan. In an effort to hide the fact that Delgato's scenario really got to him, the fox stretched in his seat and offered a lopsided grin. "Well, then I guess we wouldn't have to worry about him threatening the hostage anymore."

"Wilde!" The lion snapped. "Is everything a game to you?"

"Relax." The fox waved off his concerns. "I'm not going to shoot the bow. I'm going to show him the bow."

"And what? You think he'll trade us Hopps for that piece of crap instead?" Delgato shook his head. "You're living in a fairy tale, Wilde." A pause. "But, then again, you do idolize a nine hundred-year-old criminal whom was a thief and a terrorist."

"About that..." They were trapped in a car together with not much else to do except talk. Now was as good an opportunity as any to have this discussion. "Where do you get off-!?"

"Imma stop you right there, Wilde." Delgato held up a paw, not taking his eyes off the road as he cut the fox off mid-accusation. "The fact that you don't even have a rudimentary grasp of 8th grade history kinda bothers me. First of all, there was a war going on. Wars are expensive. Not only are wars expensive, but this war was going half they way to the other side of the known world at the time and travel is also expensive. Where do you think the money for the Lionheart's war was going to come from? How do you think the Old Country's royal coffers got filled? Do you even know how the feudal system worked?"

Nick opened his mouth to protest -or perhaps to just argue. Truth be told, while he had continued to attend school even after beginning his career as a hustler, he never really applied himself very much. Just did the minimum required to stay on the track team and not draw to much attention from the adults around him beyond that. So, no, he didn't have that great a grasp of 8th grade history. But he knew his vulpine history. As a Longstride his mother had seen to that.

The lion didn't even give him the chance to object. He blazed on, unconcerned with the fox's thoughts on the matter. "And all that was before he was captured by the Norman and held ransom. Where do you think that money as supposed to come from? Your precious trickster fae? No. It was gonna come from the exact same place the money that funded the Crusade came from. Your hooded fox brought all that to grinding halt, nearly bankrupt the country, and nearly cost the Lionheart his return home and his life."

Glaring, Nick waited one... two... three beats to make sure the lion wasn't about to say more and cut him off again. "Are you done?"

"You may now prepare your counter arguments." Delgato nodded. He might not agree with the fox and -to be completely honest- might not actually like the fox either. But he understood that in a debate one had to give their opposition the chance to say their piece and argue for their side.

"Okay. Its great to sit here, safe in our modern society and near-utopian city, and tell each other how things really were almost a thousand years ago, when -really- we have no way of knowing empirically." Began the fox. "So I'm not gonna talk about how Prince John was taxing his citizens into starvation for money that may or may not have actually gone to the Lionheart's war or ransom. Instead, I'm gonna remind you of one historically verifiable fact: when the Lionheart did return to the Old Country, he pardoned the Robin and returned his title and property to him. So, regardless of what you think, your precious Lionheart agreed that Robin was a hero."

Delgato scoffed. "That was just political savvy on his part. Your vigilante had become so popular by that point that the Lionheart would have had a rebellion on his paws -and that was the last thing he wanted at the time since he was planning a revenge war against the Normans who imprisoned him."

The lion regretting half his statement the moment he finished. He should have stopped right after 'political savvy'. The added mention of starting another war -for petty revenge- probably didn't make the Lionheart sound much better than the hooded fox.

"Also, the Lionheart needed the Robin for said revenge war." The fox smirked sideways at Delgato, peering out the corner of his aviator shades as if he'd won something. What did the fox even need the aviator shades for, anyway? It was well past six. It was practically dark. "Face it, Simba, you might not like it, but we're pretty useful."

"Stop calling me 'Simba'." The lion growled. Then the fox's words caught up with his brain. "Wait. So. You are claiming to be Robin Hood?"

Wilde sat up straight in the passenger seat. "What? No I'm not."

"You just said 'we'." Delgato pointed out. "'We're pretty useful'. The use of 'we' includes you as a Hood."

"Well, I- But, I haven't-" Then the fox paused. Composed himself. Switched gears. "Freudian slips aren't considered legal testimony."

The lion rolled his eyes. "Whatever. We're here."

The squad car rolled to a full stop inside the disused parking lot of an abandoned warehouse. The building was uncomfortably close the bridge where Nick and Judy had their cathartic reconciliation. Along the same river, just a mile or two down. The building Loxley chose was closer to the water front. The proximity made the fox's hackles rise -metaphorically speaking- he didn't like the idea of the self-appointed Hood polluting a place that Nick connected with a significant turning point in his life.

Next to him, Delgato checked the safety on his own weapon and sighed. "Well, are we gonna do this thing or not?"

Nick threw the quiver of arrows over one shoulder and the bow over the other. Quickly decided that, that was uncomfortable and moved the bow to the same shoulder as the quiver. That was even more uncomfortable. Finally, the fox decided to just carry the thing. How Loxley could move around so easily and fluidly with both crossed over his back Nick didn't know. Then again, Nick had never really given archery much thought. He never -in his wildest dreams- imagined he'd be in a situation where he'd need to show up with a bow and arrows.

Delgato kicked in the main pedestrian door and ducked in first, gun in paw. He checked right, then left. Decided that there was no immediate threat and moved further into the building, waving for Nick to follow him.

Sighing more to himself than for the lion's benefit, Nick followed his temporary partner in. In all honestly, while checking for threats was standard ZPD operating procedure, Nick didn't really think it was necessary in this instance. Loxley wanted to make a trade, Carrots for Goodfellow's badge. He wouldn't go through the trouble of organizing a trade if he was just going to shoot them and take the badge. Besides, detaining one officer of the ZPD as a hostage was far less sever of an offense than killing three of them.

The warehouse was wide and mostly empty. With high ceilings that might have made it feel cavernous were it not for the cracked or broken windows inconsistently scattered across the walls. Neighborhood cubs throwing rocks for giggles probably.

Loxley was towards the back of the warehouse, half way up a rusted flight of stairs that lead to the abandoned foreman's office. Sitting on a step next to him, all tied up in cable from shoulders to ankles, was Judy.

"Took your bloody sweet time getting here." Loxley commented. He glared at Delgato. "I know I didn't explicitly tell you to come alone, but one would have thought the request was implied."

But Nick wasn't paying attention to him. His eyes were focused on his bunny. "Carrots, you okay?"

"I'm a little tied up at the moment." She smirked at him -a very foxish smirk- completely unconcerned by the fact that she was bound from neck to feet, unable to move, and completely dependent on the outcome of this trade to insure her safety. But then, that was his Carrots, that was Judy. She swung on vines while being chased by Savage jaguars, stole -and crashed- drug labs, and took down corrupt city officials. She was one fearless bunny.

"If you two could dispense with the playful banter." Loxley growled, not nearly as amused by the bunny as Nick was. "I'd like to get on with this."

Delgato stepped forward, taking over the hostage exchange. "Hand us Officer Hopps and Wilde will give you the feather."

"What? No I won't." Nick blinked at the lion. "When did we make that agreement?"

Two predators growled, near identical rumbled of frustration -apart from the depth- at Wilde's continued stubbornness.

"I made my terms quite clear." Loxley reminded them.

"Wilde, just give him the damn feather and take Hopps back to base." Delgato snarled. "I don't know about you, but the whole Robin Hood farce isn't fun for me and I'd just like to rescue my colleague, arrest the perp, and go home. Why did we come here if not to make a hostage exchange?"

Raising the arm that held the bow, it was Loxley that Nick spoke to when he suggested his alternative. "How about a shooting contest instead? What's a Robin Hood adventure without a shooting contest? If you win, I'll give you Goodfellow's badge -of course, you'll have to release Officer Hopps, or else I will arrest you. And if I win, I keep the badge and get Hopps."

"Either way, you get the bunny." Loxley didn't sound very impressed.

Nick raised one quizzical eyebrow. "Oh? I didn't realize you two had gotten so close?" Then to Judy. "You getting a taste for limes, Carrots?"

"Please don't patronize the guy holding me hostage." The bunny glared at him, not amused at all.

"Hostage? I thought he was helping you with your mummy costume for the department's Halloween social." The fox gave her -what he hoped was- a reassuring smirk. After all, if he could make light of the situation then she wasn't in any real danger. "Look, Loxley Hood, you don't want my partner, but you do want Goodfellow's badge. I'm not gonna give you the badge unless you earn it, and you're not gonna give me my partner unless I give you the badge. I think a shooting contest is a reasonable compromise. It gives you the opportunity to earn the badge and either way, I get my partner back. Everybody wins!"

Loxley paused, considered the other fox's logic. His eyes flicked to the bow in the cop-fox's paws. For as long as he'd been in the city -which was only one day- Loxley had never seen the other fox hold a bow, never mind actually shoot one. How good could the yank fox really be with the iconic weapon? Regardless of how bad or good he was with the weapon, how much worse would his skill be if he were forced to aim at something he didn't want to shoot? Then a sly grin spread across Loxley's face. An expression Nick learned to recognize in his own species when another fax was trying to pull one over on him. He knew Loxley was going to agree before he said, "Alright. But I pick the target."

"That's only fair." Nick nodded.

"Whatever happened to not negotiating with kidnappers?" Delgato asked, remembering Bogo's reminder less than an hour ago. It was not the policy of the ZPD to negotiate with kidnappers. But then, the lion reflected, Wilde wasn't exactly thinking like an officer of the ZPD right now. In this instance, he was thinking like a fox. Not just any fox, but a sneaky member of the Cult of the Hood that revered a trickster god and idolized a 900-year-old criminal.

His comment went unnoticed, however. Neither fox was paying attention to him.

Instead, Loxley grabbed Hopps her cable bindings, lifting her back up over one shoulder as he came down the stairs to be on equal level with Nick and Delgato. He glanced around the wide open space. There wasn't much in the warehouse. Whatever goods that might have been abandoned with it were scavenged and picked over the years. There wasn't much that would serve as a suitable target. Just a half-dozen of wooden support pillars.

Loxley shoved Hopps against the closest wooden pillar with a rough command to, "Hold still and don't move."

The bunny was confused for a moment before the hooded fox took a claw and carved a very small circle right between her ears. Barely above the crown of her head. Her heart stopped the moment she realized she was their target. Or, more accurately, she was the thing that would get hit if one of them missed the target.

For the second time that day, the bottom dropped out of Nick's stomach. "Hey! That wasn't part of the deal."

"You said I could pick the target." Loxley flashed him that same sly grin. The one that meant the hooded fox though he'd already won.

After all, there was no way Wilde was going to risk shooting at his own partner -whom he seemed uncommonly attached to- especially not with a weapon he was unfamiliar with.

Judy's eyes locked with Nick's and she gave the slightest of nods. "You know I trust you."

Did he know that? Yes. Yes, he did. The real question was, did he trust himself. Nick was a good shot. Top marksman in his graduating class at the academy. But he was a marksman with guns. Tranquilizer darts, tasers, beanbags, and bullets. But he was by no means the best marksman in the precent. Top three maybe...

"Alright, Carrots." The fox nodded to his partner. Then, turning to the other fox, "But first you have to swear that -no matter the outvome of the match- that you'll hold to the terms of the agreement. Swear on Robin Goodfellow, swear on the Fae of the Greenwood."

Loxley raised one paw in an archaic salute. "I swear on the name of Robin Goodfellow that I'll hold to the terms of the match and should I violate those terms may I never hold a bow again."

Nick nodded, satisfied. "Alright. Loxley Hood gets the first shot."

"Wilde! This is getting out of hand!" Delgato put a restraining paw on the fox's shoulder. The fox-cop, not the fox that notched an arrow to his bow and pulled back the string. The lion watched in horror as the arrow left the bow.

There was the sound of the sharp metal head impacting something and the lion opened eyes he hadn't realized he'd closed to see first Hopps with her own eyes squeezed shut. Then the arrow, stuck in the wood just above her head. Dead center of the circle Loxley had carved. Without moving her head, Hopps' eyes looked up, going slightly cross-eyed to see the shaft just barely grazing the top most hairs of her head. The bunny breathed a sigh of relief at realizing that she was still alive. A sigh that Delgato found himself echoing.

"Alright." He said. "Looks like the Limey won. Give him the feather. We'll take Hopps. And because we're such good sports, we'll give him a five minute head start before the Chief calls every cop in the city out for his blood."

Nobody kidnaps, detains, and threatens an officer of the ZPD and gets away with it.

"Cool it, Simba." Nick waved him off. "Its my shot."

"Carful. You might miss and hit your precious bunny." Loxley taunted.

"I won't miss." Nick vowed. He lifted his own bow and pulled the string. Remembered that he hadn't yet notched an arrow and pulled one from the quiver.

Loxley snorted. "You do know which way the arrow goes, right?"

"The pointy end goes into the target." The other fox replied. It wasn't phrased as a question, but the way Nick pitched it, you'd almost think he was asking, 'Am I wrong?'

The hooded fox cast a side-long glance at Judy still tied up and leaning against the wooden support pillar. Loxley's arrow sticking out from between her ears. "You sure you still wanna trust this guy with your life?"

Lashing out with juvanile irritation, Nick swatted at Loxley with the fletched end of the arrow. The other fox batted the immature attack away and took a step back from Nick -tsk'ing at his poor sportsmanship. That was when Nick dropped the bow and his arrow, pulling out his ZPD issued dart gun instead. He raised the non-lethal weapon. Took aim and squeezed the trigger.

A single shot was heard and everyone blinked, not sure what they'd just seen.

Sticking out of the end of Loxley's owl-fletched arrow was a bright neon green ZPD tranq dart. Nick hadn't hit the target, he hit the arrow that was already in the target. The dead center of the arrow that was dead center of the target. An impossible shot.

The silence was finally broken when Judy gave a whoop of celebration. "Yeah! That's my partner! Now, someone get over here and untie me so I can give that dumb fox a hug!"

Both Delgato and Loxley's mouths fell open in shock.

Loxley was the first to recover. "You cheated! You can't use guns in an archery contest!"

Now it was Nick's turn to give the other fox a sly smirk. The kind of smirk that meant, not only that he had already won, but that the other fox never even had a chance. "Ah, but I didn't say 'archery'. I said a shooting competition. You were the one who just assumed 'shooting' meant exclusively archery."

He crossed the space between where he'd taken his shot and the target and started fiddling with the knot of Judy's bindings. As soon as the cable fell away both fox and bunny turned back to face Loxley, identical smirks plastered over their mouths.

Then, in perfect unison. Two Mammals, speaking with one voice. They said, "Its called a hustle, sweetheart."

"Zero rehearsal." Nick added after.

Loxley let loose a guttural snarl of rage at, not only loosing the match on a technicality, but also being taunted by the victor and his pet bunny! Since when did bunnies taunt foxes!? It was just adding insult onto insult and the hooded fox wasn't having it. Forgetting his weapons and all pretense of being a civilized Mammal, Loxley threw his bow and quiver of arrows down and leapt at the pair.

Seeing the enraged predator coming, both fox and bunny pushed each other out of the way. One going on way, one going the other. Judy stumbled, lost her balance and fell on the ground not far from where Nick had dropped his decoy bow. It was sized for a fox and was just a little uncomfortably tall for a bunny. But the aluminum made it light weight and easy to hold.

Nick fell back, flat on his tail with Loxley barreling down on him. Attacking the other fox with claws extended. Nick held up one arm to try and block the worst of the blows while he reached for his tranq gun. This was why he made sure the darts were dosed for a fox. Somehow he just knew Loxley wouldn't keep his word and hold to the terms of the match. A shame, and he'd even gone so far as to make the other fox swear on the name of Goodfellow too.

"Gotta say, Loxley, you're one sore looser." Nick finally managed to pull his tranquilizer gun from its holster.

The enraged hooded fox knocked the weapon from the cop's paw. Closing one of his own paws around his throat. "You tricked me."

To spite the paw tightening on his windpipe, Nick smirked up at his attacked. "Robin is a trickster."

Loxley let out another snarl and raised his other paw, claws extended, to deal some version of a fatal blow.

Then there was the distinct sound of a string that was pulled tight being suddenly let go and the whoosh of something sailing through the air. A wet impact. Nick felt something drip on his face and he opened eye he didn't realize he'd closed to see Loxley's paw still raised over his head -except now there was an arrow sticking clean through it.

Both foxes stared at the wound in shock.

Then Loxley screamed.

He rolled off of Nick, clutching his injured paw in pain and sobbing.

Nick climbed to his feet and looked to where the shot had come from. He saw Judy standing, her feet planted in a firm stance, bow still up, arm pulled back in the same position she'd released the arrow from. His little warrior bunny. She never told him she knew archery. But, somehow, it didn't surprise him that she did.

Delgato was on his radio informing the Chief that Hopps was safe and secured and requesting an ambulance for Loxley.

Looking down at the hooded fox sobbing and clutching his paw at his feet, Nick smirked again. "Should thought before swearing to Goodfellow. You know fae have a thing about keeping your word." A pause. "But then, I guess you did keep your word. You'll never hold a bow again."

Robin Hood always had a way of making sure the rich and privileged suffered consequences for their corrupt actions.

Nick's words weren't the least bit comforting to the injured fox. Loxley curled up into a ball, wrapping his whole body around his injured paw with the arrow still sticking through it. Nick retrieved his discarded dart gun from where it had fallen.

"Here. I'll give you something for the pain." And he shot the hooded fox with the tranquilizer. When Loxley's cries subsided and he finally dropped off into unconsciousness, Nick wrapped an arm around Judy. "Oo-de-lally! Golly, what a day!"

...