It was a fairly normal day at ZPD Precinct 1. Benjamin Clawhauser was stuffing his face with junk food. Police officers were going about doing their jobs in one way or another, and citizens coming and going for there own reasons.
All was right in this little corner of the world... except for one fox.
"WILL YOU SHUT UP NICK WILDE?!" Sawa Otocyon roared in frustration. "I get that you're upset about what happened to your sister recently. But you've been going on, and on, and ON for weeks about this!" She ranted. "I understand that you're upset that Angela rutted with Loki! And I agree that is wrong on principle... but it's all you've been talking about since you and Judy learned about the weird going's on's in Forest Vale! So could you PLEASE PUT A LID ON IT WILDE?!"
Nick was taken aback by this outburst. "Uh... I was only going to ask if you knew what happened to my blueberries." He said gesturing to the inside of the breakroom fridge. "There... there from Judy's family farm, and I wanted to know if... if you saw someone eat them."
Sawa calmed down after the explanation. "Oh... no, I haven't." She said.
"And she's one of the nicest foxes I know Jude." Harry Carrotson said to Judy.
"Yeah, but Nick was really upset when he learned that... more upset then he was for that botched press conference." Judy noted. "Though to be fair, I think anyone would be upset about... well you know."
"How could I forget? I was in the room when he shouted all that out." Harry said as he rubbed his ears. "On a completely unrelated note, I'm glad that Bogo came back from his 'retirement'. Whatever that was."
Judy knew that Bogo's so-called retirement was a cover for him to man the ZVRP. The Zootopia Vigilante Registration Program. However, shortly after Nick and Judy saved there daughter from the future, Pandora from accidentally destroying the multi-verse. Bogo returned to the ZPD under mysterious circumstances. "Yeah, I couldn't stand Ham-Hawk. He wouldn't let us get a word in edgewise about my declining conduct when I was having those nightmares."
"Agreed, he's the most stubborn pig I've ever seen my life," Harry said. "Still... you have to wonder why Bogo went away in the first place, and why he came back."
"I would have asked, but I was just so relieved to get a good night's sleep that I didn't think to do so," Judy admitted.
"Harry, have you seen anyone take my blueberries?" Nick asked, interrupting the conversation.
"Nick, for the last time. You didn't bring any, you've been hoarding my parents care packages for months at home." Judy said in exasperation.
XXXX
Several hours later after work. Judy, Nick, Harry, and Sawa were at Bogo's house for dinner. "Oh Bogo! I'm so glad you've invited your friends from work!" Bogo's wife, Imbali, beamed.
"Yes... invited," Bogo said, pretending to be happy about four of his officers barging into his house. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you check in on the pasta?"
"Oh, your right my mas- LOVE! Your right, my love." Imbali then disappeared in a puff of magical smoke.
"Okay. Which one of you fibbed to my wife that I invited you to dinner?" Bogo said in frustration.
"That would be me," Nick said.
"Of course it's you Wilde... what I'd like to know, is why," Bogo said.
"Well, it's a nice boon to not eat microwavable dinners again," Harry said.
"Take it from me, those things are barely a meal," Sawa added.
"I can attest to that! Not to mention that... well, I wasn't really into cooking tonight myself, anyway." Judy added.
"I mean. Why would you lie to my wife, instead of asking me upfront if you could come over?" Bogo asked.
"You mean specifically why we invited ourselves over?" Nick asked Bogo nodded. "Well... we were curious about why you left your retirement with the ZVRP. We would have asked sooner... but it seemed inappropriate to ask while we were working."
Bogo just grunted. "Look... shortly after I took command. These two mammals came and relieved me of command, and told me to return to the ZPD. That's all I can tell you." He explained, exasperated with his co-workers.
"...is your wife's cooking any good?" Sawa asked.
"It's been improving since I freed her. Back when she was still bound to her bottle she just conjured things." Bogo said.
"I still can't believe that she's a genie. Seriously, Nick and I heard about that from a time-traveling watch!" Judy said incredulously.
Then Clancy appeared. "Hello and goodbye." And just as quickly he vanished.
"I swear, what does that little guy even do these days?" Nick asked.
XXXX
Several days later, Bogo was in his office. When two small mammals in full-body suits entered. "You said you needed us?" One of these mammals asked.
"Technically, I said that your presence was required," Bogo said, then Nick, Judy, Harry, and Sawa drew guns on them. "Though I did specify that EVERYONE be unarmed."
"Well, the more things change the more things stay the same. Am I right Buffalo Butt?" The other mammal said.
Nick and Judy looked at each other as they recognized what was happening. "Oh... you have got to be kidding me," Nick said in annoyance.
"I suppose we might as well reveal who we are." The first disguised mammal said, they then removed their masks... showing that they were the older Nick and Judy from Pandora's original future. "And I just know that for you, this raises further questions."
"What in tarnation?" Harry said in bewilderment.
"My sentiments exactly Harry," Sawa said in agreement.
"What are you two doing here?" Judy asked with contempt.
The future Nick and Judy looked at each other. "It's like this... after we stopped the Pandora's and the threat they posed to the multi-verse. All the other Nick's and Judy's got to go home... not us, however." The Future Nick said.
"Our Pandora brought all the others together, and was the first to find the Timeless Void and the Citadel Out of Time... and after she was erased from time. Clancy showed us the new timeline of your future." The future Judy said.
"And... well to make a long story short, Clancy sent us to a few months ago. I think the same time around when you left for the Void. Anyway, after that, the wife and I took over the ZVRP, and had Bogo go back to Precinct 1... so that you could raise Pandora in peace." Nick said.
"What?" Judy asked in surprise.
"Because of our overworking, we neglected our family." Future Judy said with regret. "We put our work before our family... and creation nearly fell apart at the seems for that."
Nick and Judy just looked confused, Harry and Sawa even more so. Bogo just took a sip from his coffee mug.
"Then... why do all of this? You could have started a whole new life in retirement." Nick said.
"So that you might not make the same mistakes that we did... to keep our timeline from happening." Future Judy said. "Trust me when I say it's worth the sacrifice on our part."
"I'll miss that flying car I had, but if it means keeping our little girl from going nuts and destroying everything we know and love." Future Nick said. "Well, that's a sacrifice we have to make."
"Which brings me to the obvious question." Bogo chimed in. "Was it necessary that you stay after work, dragging Carrotson and Otocyon into your bizarre family lives?" He asked. "Because I submit, that you could have all lived long happy lives. Without knowing that your future selves were running around... or whatever you two are." He said as he nonchalantly took a sip from his coffee mug.
"Well... shut up," Nick said, Judy looked annoyed at her husband's lame comeback.
"My word, I completely forgot how much of a goober I was." Future Nick said in embarrassment.
"I didn't." Future Judy said as she suppressed a laugh. "But seriously though. Nick and I were hoping that we wouldn't meet with you... or Pandora." She said somberly. "We failed as parents once... we can't risk that-"
"Oh, will you stop pitying yourself?!" Harry Carrotson said in frustration.
"Carrotson," The Future Nick said in frustration. "My wife has every reason to-"
"Look, buddy, I don't know what you people have been through. But that ain't an excuse to wallow in self-pity like a dried out hog in the mud!" Harry said in irritation. "You wanted to keep your tracks covered so that you could keep the world safe or somethin'. Fine... but let me ask ya'... does keeping your past selves our of the loop make sense?"
"Harry, how much of any of this makes any sense?" Sawa asked in exasperation. "For goodness sake, time travel is apparently at hand!"
"My point is... do you two honestly think that making more secrets then you had in the first place, will make the world a better place?" Harry asked. "I mean... how did that work for you the first time around?"
The Future Nick and Judy looked at each other. "Your... not wrong Harry." Future Nick said.
"Agreed... Judy." The Future Judy said to her alternate counterpart. "I don't want you to sacrifice the well being of your family to make the world a better place... that's the entire reason my Nick and I were allowed to return to this time."
Judy looked at her older self. "So... you dyed your fur?"
The future Judy just rolled her good eye. "Yes, I dyed my bangs."
"And... you're wearing that scarf that Nicks mother made for us," Judy noted.
"Yeah, it's a bit of a long story. But in my original timeline when Pandora made the Time and Space Displacement Device. This was one of the few possessions I managed to retain after Mulersons robots took over the world." Future Judy said. "Of course that was only the first time I played fast and loose with the timeline."
"I don't remember anything like that happening. But if my wife says that happened. I for one believe her." Future Nick said. "Bogo, may we leave now?"
"That you may," Bogo said, then without warning, the Future Nick and Judy teleported out of the office.
XXXX
"Well... this was a weird day," Judy said when she and Nick got home, then without warning, she was hit over the head with a shovel. When she came to, she found that her depth perception had returned. She had both of her eyes back. "What the?!" She said in surprise after looking in a mirror.
"Carrots... what the heck just happened?" Nick asked, soothing a lump on his head.
"I don't know... but I got my missing eye back," Judy said in surprise. Unaware of the stranger that was outside of there home.
"Okay, I got her eye back... but did I need to hit her over the head like that?" She asked of a watch-like device on her wrist.
"No, but then again. I like slapstick comedy." The watch device responded. "Besides, we have bigger fish to fry... two Pandora's are still unaccounted for."
The figure was indeed Pandora, this one from the repaired timeline. This one, not scarred by her experiences and turned into a bitter and vindictive mammal by a lifetime of neglect and betrayal. This one... is significantly nicer. "I know, but why aren't you just taking me straight to them? I think I'm owed an explanation there."
"There is a method to my madness... there's always a method to my madness," Clancy said as he opened a time portal. "Now to go home for rest and relaxation." Pandora then stepped through the portal, no one from this time the wiser to her presence.
XXXX
At an undisclosed location, the Future Nick and Judy got to work in an office room. "Okay... we need to get back to work on Forestvale." Future Judy said determinedly.
"Right... do you remember when it'll happen?" Future Nick asked his wife.
"No, but we need to keep the ZVRP on standby all the same. A storm is coming... and I won't abide that mule walking away from this in one piece." Future Judy said as she looked over a map on her desk.