Zootopia - Loves Blind

by OneWolfe

Office Judy Hopps finally has the life she always wanted as a police officer with the perfect partner. However her growing personal relationship with Nick is putting a strain on her job that everyone else can see except them. Love can be so very blind at times. (Drama)

49. Loves Bond 25 - What? No!

Loves Bond

Chapter 25 - What? No!

"I still don't understand how that works." Sharleen stated with a confused look on her muzzle. She shook her head and frowned at the rabbit sitting next to her.

Judy Hopps and her youngest aunt were sitting on the wide couch that nearly filled the central room of Nick Wilde's apartment. In front of the comfortable couch was a well worn coffee table that had seen many TV dinners and supported dozens of sore and tired paws. Behind it was a blank wall that was desperately in need of a painting or other decorative wall hanging. On the end closest to the dining room was an old brass floor lamp whose cloth shade was decorated with colorful sea creatures.

In the center of the coffee table was a brightly colored basket of assorted pinecones and seashells tied together with a deep orange ribbon. Around the autumn themed basket were several magazines discussing the latest in seasonal dishes and diet plans, along with home and garden tips. Also snuggled among the others was a single tech magazine showing off this year's must have gadgets and holiday gifts.

The rest of the apartment was spotless and had been scrubbed clean by a pair of small yet fastidious paws. All of the dishes had been washed and put away while the kitchen counters were scrubbed till they shone. Even the floors had been washed or vacuumed until every speck of dust had been removed. A fresh scent of pine pervaded the cozy apartment as it struggled for dominance over a spicy orange essence.

On the clean dining room table were a pair of large pumpkins. A tall skinny one had a long, curled stem still attached with a single green leaf clinging to one side. The shorter, plump one had a flat spot on one side that caused it to lean oddly on its side. Black marker had been used to sketch out crude muzzles on each pumpkin in preparation to be carved out at a later date.

"So let me get this straight," the country rabbit appealed to her niece. "You take this magic pill and it somehow alters your body so that you two can have a kit together?" Today she wore a yellow button up shirt with pale white flower petals printed on it. The shirt was so old and faded that the petals were hard to make out from more than a meter away. Her white corduroy pants would have matched the flowers if they also hadn't been so faded.

"Not exactly auntie," Judy replied. She wore a tan, frilly top that only had one button in the middle, over a white undershirt and a pair of blue leggings. It was comfortable to wear around the house or for a quick shopping trip, but also kept her warm on a brisk autumn afternoon. "I never actually took the medication, but caught the virus from someone who acquired it illegally."

"But are you saying it's contagious?" The concern on the older rabbit's muzzle was sobering and her nose twitched sharply. A slight breeze from the open window ruffled the collar of her loose fitting shirt.

"No, not at all," Judy waved her paws in the air. "At least I don't think so. You shouldn't be able to get it from me."

Sharleen seemed dubious and scooted her tail onto the next cushion over.

Seeing her aunt shy away, Judy tried to ease the older rabbit's fears, "Nick and I have been sharing the same bed for a few months and he doesn't have it, so you should have nothing to worry about." She held out her arms offering a hug as the other rabbit looked at her paws like they were dangerous vipers.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Perfectly," Judy nodded as she scooted closer to her aunt. "You have hugged me several times since I got pregnant and nothing has happened."

Returning the hug from her niece. "I really don't want to have any kits, even if it is with such a hunky fox."

Pulling away from Sharleen, she tilted her head curiously. "How have you avoided them so far? You haven't exactly been celibate all these years."

"I have just gotten lucky I guess," the country rabbit replied, letting her ears droop.

After a short pause, Judy looked up and asked, "Does Finnick know?"

"Yes, of course." Sharleen's smile returned and her eyes sparkled at the fennec's name. "We have both said that we do not want any kits. When we started dating, we agreed it would only be casual, but …" She left the sentence unfinished.

Judy sat near the edge of the couch cushion waiting for the other rabbit to finish her story. When no answer came, she finally had to ask, "So what happened, did you have second thoughts?"

"No," she shook her head sincerely. "Quite the opposite."

"What do you mean?"

Chuckling, Sharleen chided, "Judy, you can be so blind sometimes."

The younger rabbit crossed her arms above her swelling belly and turned away with a slight pout. The pout would not hold and she turned back to her aunt with a silly giggle. "So tell me already."

Sharleen's chuckles turned to a soft sigh as she looked at the city scape beyond the open apartment window. "I want something more serious. I have been thinking about moving to the city. It's a long drive every week, and like you, I want to be close to my tough little fox."

Reaching across the couch, Judy took the other rabbit's paw. "That's great auntie. I would love to have you here in town. We could go out for coffee more often, and I can show you all the good shopping spots."

Another sigh escaped Sharleen's lips. "I just never thought I would be an inter like the others."

"Inters?" There was that word again. Judy had heard it several times in reference to Nick and herself, but she didn't know what others her aunt was talking about.

"Oh," Sharleen turned back from the window and patted Judy's paw. "I guess you have been too busy in the big city to have heard the latest news."

"What news?"

The older rabbit twisted her body to lean closer to her niece. "And your last visit was so short, and you only spoke with Jennifer, no one told you yet."

"Auntie," Judy pleaded. "What has no one told me yet?"

"Well, Judy," Sharleen said with another pat on Judy's paw. "After your little fiasco at the Harvest Festival dance, several mixed couples started to spring up all over town. It's like your speech to Sheriff Morris sparked enough courage in them to finally come out of the closet."

"Really? I had no idea," Judy said, shaking her head. "I just wanted those jerks to stop harassing Nick."

"So, after you stormed off of the dance floor with your fox in tow, several other mixed species couples took the floor." Sharleen made several motions with her paws like she was holding a partner and swayed her hips in an imitation dance move, while still seated on the couch. "I even remember seeing that new baker dancing with a black-wooled sheep."

"Gideon?"

"Yes," the older rabbit clapped her paws together. "That is his name."

"And the black sheep?" Judy thoughtfully tapped her chin with a sharp claw. "I wonder if that would be Sharla?"

"Yep," Sharleen nodded as she leaned closer to Judy's tall ears. She put one paw over her muzzle and looked cautiously around the room as if she was trying to hide what she said next. "I heard that they are seriously dating now."

"What? No!" Judy exclaimed, dragging out the last word in shock. Both paws flew up to cover her gapping muzzle and her ears snapped to attention. "I don't believe it. He used to pick on her a lot when we were younger."

"Well it's all true," Sharleen declared, leaning back against the couch. "I even saw it myself after the Harvest Festival."

Judy leaned closer to her aunt as her eyes grew wider. "Oh? What happened?"

Sharleen also leaned closer again and began to whisper. "The other day, I stopped by Gideon's shop to pick up some muffins for Granny Sue's birthday. You know, the alfalfa and raisin ones she likes so much."

"Yeah, I remember those," the younger rabbit replied, scrunching her nose.

"Well, when I entered the store, I heard some very serious giggling in the back," the older rabbit explained, slightly embarrassed. "And someone mumbled, 'be right out.' A few minutes later they both came out front. Your sheep friend had a very satisfied smile on her muzzle while the baker looked plum confused. He even had red smears on his lips that matched the sheep's lipstick."

A loud snicker left Judy's lips as she tried to imagine what her aunt had walked into. She remembered a few times where her and Nick had been caught in a few improper situations at work. "That sounds like they haven't been dating for long though. I haven't talked to Sharla for years. I wonder what she has been up to?"

"I heard that she recently returned to the burrows."

"The last time we talked was before I went to college. She was headed off to join the Air Force I think, but we haven't been able to keep in touch since then."

"Yeah, she has only been back since the end of summer." Once again Sharleen covered her muzzle and began to whisper while glancing around the room cautiously. "I heard that she is a test pilot for that top secret, underground air base near Podunk."

"That sounds fascinating auntie," Judy said jubilantly. "I really should give her a call. It seems that we have a lot of catching up to do."

"I am sure she would love that." Sharleen leaned back and sighed while she turned to look out the window again. "At the time, I didn't understand how she could look so happy kissing a fox like that, but now I am sitting here and missing my own fox like he has been gone for years instead of only a few minutes."

Judy nodded and patted her aunt's paw, "I know exactly how you feel."

Looking back at her niece, Sharleen sighed again. "I guess we are both inters now dearie."

"I guess so, auntie," Judy giggled warmly. "You mentioned others in Bunny Burrow. I am curious what other mammals are dating outside their species back home."

Leaning her back against the couch, the older rabbit asked, "It seems that your cousin Daniel and Justine are living together now."

"What? No!" The sudden shock nearly caused the buff rabbit to choke, and she was left coughing before she could ask, "Scrawny little Daniel? With a skunk?"

"The rumor has it that he has been interested in her for years, but only asked her out last month," Sharleen explained.

"Oh, right," Judy said with a nod after the initial shock wore off. "I remember hearing the family talking about that. I always thought it was just them picking on him because of his fur pattern."

Snickering, Sharleen admitted, "Yeah, I never thought about it, but that white patch on his back does make him look a bit like a skunk." She snapped her fingers and covered her muzzle with a single paw. "No wonder he wanted to keep his feelings for her a secret."

"That's a shame," Judy noted. "Mammals shouldn't have to be afraid to hide who they love."

"I agree with you there dearie." The older, country rabbit patted her niece's arm warmly. "But her backwoods parents would not."

"Why? What happened?"

"Once they found out that Justine was dating a rabbit, they swore to keep her locked up in that rundown shack of theirs for the rest of her life."

"That's horrible!" The purple eyed doe exclaimed.

Sharleen nodded, and folded her paws across her lap. "Luckily Daniel was there. He told off her mom and gave her an ultimatum."

"Really?"

"Yes. If that grumpy old skunk ever wants to see her daughter again, then she is going to have to go through him first. They are now living in that old cabin near the edge of the Longpaws' farm."

"Well, that is very cool, Auntie." Judy fluffed a pillow sitting on the end of the couch before she leaned against it, pulling her hind paws up onto the cushions. "I am glad that he finally found someone that he cares about."

"I hope so. They haven't been seen in a few weeks and I hope they aren't getting into any trouble like your sister." Sharleen patted Judy's knee since it was now closer than her paw.

"Wait! Which sister?" Judy asked curiously.

"Why, Jennifer of course."

"What has Jen-Jen done?"

"She hasn't told you anything?"

"No," Judy shook her head with a hint of confusion. "I haven't talked to her since I was in Bunny Burrow for the ultrasound."

"Well, it was a pretty big deal and everyone in town knows about it by now." Sharleen looked at her niece like she had said the sky was orange. "I am surprised you haven't heard about it yet."

"No, auntie. No one has told me anything about Jennifer."

"Alright," Sharleen nodded with reluctance. "So that night, after you ran out of that hospital room with only half your clothes on, she marched up to her husband and told him just how much she preferred does over bucks."

"What?" Judy cried with her paws completely covering her muzzle and only her tiny pink nose peeking through. "No!"

"Yes!" The older doe exclaimed. "The whole south burrow heard the argument that followed."

"I bet they did."

"Afterwards, she marched straight up to the main burrow. When I opened the front door to let her in, her eyes were very red with tears. After a lot of hugs and crying she locked herself in her old room next to yours."

Sitting up with her back straight, Judy's ears reached for the ceiling as her eyes widened like huge saucers. "Wow! I can't believe that Alex would do something like that. He cares about her too much to throw her out like that."

"From what I heard, it wasn't his idea."

Confused, Judy tilted her head causing her tall ears to bounce slightly to the side. "So Jen left on her own? What about the kits? Did she just leave both litters with him?"

"Well," Sharleen smiled and patted her own knees. "The next morning Alex showed up with both paws full of so many daffodils and violets that they left a trail down the steps behind him. He said he wanted to work things out, but she refused to talk to him, or even open her door."

"I just can't believe this!" Judy cried, jumping from the couch and reaching for her phone. "I have to call her." After several rings, the line transferred to her sister's voice mail where she left a brief message. Turning back to her aunt, she sighed fiercely as she hung up, "She never picked up." The frown on the rabbit's muzzle was bitter as her ears slowly fell behind her head.

"Aw, Judy," Sharleen said as she grabbed her niece's paw. "You can't fix everything."

"What?" Judy turned and glared at the older doe.

"Jen has to figure this out on her own. You can't just rush in and save her like you used to do as kits. Besides, I heard that you were having trouble with your own relationship."

"You're right, auntie," Judy sat back down on the couch with another sigh. "Nick and I have been going through a rough patch recently."

Sharleen squeezed Judy's paw in consolation. "Want to talk about it?"

"Not much to say," Judy shrugged. "Our new work situation has really put a strain on our relationship." She sighed a third time and leaned back into the soft couch cushions. "I thought he would always have my back, but now we work in different departments and different hours. I rarely see him very much any more. We occasionally have lunch together, but somehow that just feels like it isn't enough."

"That's how I have been feeling about Finnick," Sharleen added as she pulled Judy in for a tight hug. "I am sure that the two of you can work things out, like your parents did last week."

"My parents did what?" Judy asked in shock as she pulled away from her aunt but kept her paws planted firmly on the other rabbit's shoulders.

Shaking her head, Sharleen chided, "Seriously, where have you been lately, Judy?"

Shrugging, the younger doe replied, "Chasing foxes and bad guys I guess."

"When was the last time you checked the messages on your phone?"

Blushing, Judy tried to cover her muzzle with her long ears, "Sorry. I have been a bit busy with this baby stuff and haven't been keeping up on all the family chatter."

"Sure. I'll give you that." Sharleen shook her head. "You're having a predator's baby. That alone must be pretty scary."

The tough rabbit's expression suddenly hardened at her aunt's comment. "I am not scared, auntie."

"Of course not, dearie. What was I thinking?"

"I have just been studying how to care for a fox kit. Learning about their traditions like birthdays and holidays and stuff. Did you know that they give their young, live crickets to chase when they are only six months old?" Judy started to babble about all the things she had learned about fox kits until the disgusted expression on her aunt's muzzle caused her to stop.

When Judy finally ceased her chatter, Sharleen patted her paw. "Of course dear. I understand. You're just very busy here in the city these days."

"I'm sorry, auntie." Judy blushed again. "You were saying something about my parents before I interrupted."

"It's ok dear," Sharleen replied with another pat. "So as I was saying, last week Bonnie and Stu locked themselves in their room for two days straight and wouldn't answer the door even for food."

"What? No!" Again the shock of the news left Judy unable to speak as her aunt continued.

"I am told that when they finally came out, Bonnie had a very satisfied expression on her muzzle as she marched towards the showers." Sharleen snickered wildly for several seconds before she could speak again. "Stu on the other paw was barely able to crawl down the hall, where he plopped himself on the big couch in the great room and slept till the next morning."

"Wow!" Judy exclaimed between the pair of paws that covered her muzzle. "I have not heard of anything like that happening since I was very young."

Shaking her head, Sharleen pondered, "If they wanted so much alone time, you would have thought they would have at least booked a room somewhere. Maybe even a nice hotel in Podunk or something…" She was about to expand on places she thought would make for nice romantic vacation getaways, but two foxes barged through the front door like they owned the place.

"Food is here!" The tall red fox declared as he waved around a pair of white paper bags with bright orange markings on the outside.

"About time, Slick!" Judy cried as she leapt off the couch and dodged around the old, wooden coffee table. "We've been starving for hours waiting for you two."

"Speak for yourself, Judy," Sharleen added. She slowly slid off the couch and followed the pregnant bunny who raced towards the open dining room. "I am not really that hungry."

Judy stopped mid stride to look over her shoulder at the skinny rabbit. "You've hardly eaten anything at all today, Auntie. I would have thought you would be famished by now."

"It's how I stay young, and keep my figure," the older rabbit explained as she ran her paws down her pencil thin hips. "Besides, I'm not the one eating for an entire litter."

"Har, har," Judy scoffed. She climbed up onto the nearest dining room chair and began to tear into the white bags that Nick had dropped there. With her nose half buried in the bag of food, she retorted, "I am only having one kit, but it's half fox and they have a voracious appetite I hear."

"I am not surprised," the fennec fox finally spoke up as he placed his own two bags of food on the table. "Red here eats like a horse."

"Hey, Shorty," Nick snubbed the smaller fox. "Don't insult my kit like that, or you are never getting invited to babysit." He pulled four cans of ice cold soda from the fridge and brought them to the table without saying another word about his pregnant girlfriend's current eating habits.

Before Finnick could respond, a pair of pink rabbit lips were firmly pressed against his own. "Hey babe, what did you bring us?" His own bunny girlfriend asked with a wink.

The fennec pulled the slightly taller rabbit closer for a side hug and pinched her nearly flat rump. "We all got the deluxe fish sandwiches from Fin-Fil-A."

"Eww, fish!" Sharleen cried as she pushed her boyfriend aside in disgust. "Whose idea was it to think I would ever eat something so repulsive?"

"Ask the bunny cop," Finnick said with a shrug. He climbed into a free chair on the opposite side of the table from where Judy was rapidly setting out her and Nick's food. "This was all her idea. She said something about trying new things or some such drivel." Carefully, he pulled the boxed sandwiches from their bags and placed them each next to a small basket of fried potato wedges.

Scowling at Judy, Sharleen took her own chair next to the small brown fox and nibbled at one of the seasoned potato wedges. "What is the meaning of this, Judy?." She waved her paw across the food in front of her angrily. "I thought I asked for a cucumber sandwich, not, not this…"

"Since you are in the city now," Judy explained as she viciously devoured a small pawful of fries. "I thought it would be a good opportunity to try new things."

"I am not a predator," the older doe grunted as she flicked open the sandwich box with a dull claw. Glaring down at the small block of white animal flesh that had been battered and fried to a golden brown, she poked timidly at one of the yellow buns that held the sandwich together.

"Neither am I," claimed the younger rabbit. "But when I stole a piece of fish off of Nick's plate, I discovered that it actually tasted amazing. Besides, his mother went to so much trouble to bake it for us, I felt it would be rude not to try a bite."

Sharleen shook her head nervously and the blood seemed to rush from her tall ears, giving them a pale, almost dead appearance.

"Ok, Auntie. Just try a small bite like this." Judy pinched a small piece off the corner of her own sandwich. She swirled the tiny bit of fish around in a plastic sauce cup that came with her meal. Popping the sauce-covered chunk of fish into her small snout, she closed her eyes and hummed in delight.

"Mmmmm. Nick, this tartar sauce is really amazing!" She leaned over and planted a warm, and noisy kiss on her fox's cheek as he sat down next to her.

After a second kiss on the end of the fox's long muzzle, she turned back to her aunt. "If after one tiny bite, you still don't like it, there is a leftover salad from Sandy's that you can have." She then looked down and began drooling at the small sandwich that sat quietly in front of Sharleen. "And I will just have to finish your sandwich for you."

"Oh, no you don't!" Cried the much skinnier rabbit as she grabbed the box and pulled it towards herself. "If anyone is going to eat this, then it's going to be Finnick."

Mouth half open as he was about to dive into his own tartar covered sandwich, Finnick shook his head. "No way! I can't eat that much food in one sitting." Hungrily he bit off a chunk of fish and quickly chewed before swallowing. "Go on, let the new mother have it if you don't want it. She probably needs all that extra protein anyway."

"Well, are you at least going to try it, Auntie?"

Frowning, Sharleen stared down at the sandwich that seemed to loom before her ominously. She poked a dull claw at the bun again and thought about what her niece had said. Like Judy, she was also dating a predator, but she didn't have the same overwhelming curiosity that seemed to rule the younger doe's life. It wasn't going to kill her to know what predator food tasted like. She could happily live the rest of her life as a vegetarian, but then her gaze fell on the fox sitting next to her.

Gently, Sharleen placed a paw on his lap while the sharp knives that filled his mouth tore through his own sandwich. She didn't dream of those tiny fangs running through her fur, or nipping at the tips of her ears. Instead she wondered how many times they had kissed after he had eaten. Was it dozens, or hundreds? They hadn't even gone on that many dates yet, but she did remember the taste of his lips.

At that moment an idea raced across her mind and caused her nose to twitch violently. Before Finnick had a chance to swallow his last bite, Sharleen pulled his snout in her direction and planted her lips against the end of his muzzle in a very deep, and spicy kiss.

"Wow," Judy gasped between bites of her own food. "So that's what kissing a fox looks like."

With his mouth full of fries, Nick spoke through his cheek, "If you wanted to know, we could always make out in front of the mirror." A swift punch in the shoulder cut off his witty comment and nearly made him choke.

Back on the other side of the table, Sharleen was thoroughly enjoying the taste of her tod's lips. If only the sandwich tasted half as good as he did, then she might consider changing her own dietary habits. She gave the fennec's long nose one last lick before she turned back to her own food.

Finnick could only stare back at the sexy rabbit with his mouth full of half chewed fish. Grinning, she closed his mouth with one finger before running it down his throat urging him to swallow, like a mother does with a young kit eating solid food for the first time.

Leaving her boyfriend stunned by the sudden kiss, she turned back to face her own sandwich once again. With her confidence bolstered, she took a small pinch from the corner of the fish that stuck out from between the round buns. She gently swirled it in the sauce and took a deep sigh before popping it into her mouth.

Closing her eyes, she chewed slowly. A smile spread across her lips as the taste of tartar smothered fish filled her senses. After swallowing, her eyes popped open wide and she quickly grabbed the sandwich out of its plain cardboard box. Before she could hum in appreciation, she had taken two more bites.

"I guess that means you like it?" Judy asked curiously.

"Beets and cabbage!" Sharleen exclaimed. "Judy, this is amazing."

"Told you it was good," the younger rabbit replied. "Although it's nothing compared to his mom's cooking."

"Judy," her aunt declared after taking another large bite. "Why didn't anyone ever tell us that fish could taste so good?"

Smirking, Nick cut in with a snide remark, "It's a predator secret."

The rest of lunch passed in polite conversation punctuated by exclamations from Sharleen. She would not let go of the idea that fish was some kind of hidden gem of amazing flavor that predators had been hoarding all to themselves. Since she spent more time describing all the new sensations than actually eating, she was the last one to finish.

Sharleen was still nibbling on her fried potato wedges when Nick packed up the remaining wrappers and tossed them into the trash. Judy followed after her fox with a soapy wet towel and cleaned up every stray crumb that fell on the table's freshly repolished surface. Before the last fry disappeared behind Sharleen's large, buck teeth, Nick lifted up the paper basket, and Judy fiercely scrubbed the spot clean.

Her stomach now satisfied, the older doe followed Finnick towards the couch. The fennec plopped down on the well used cushions and propped his paws up on the sturdy coffee table. Moments later, Sharleen was cuddled beside him and playing with his large, fuzzy ears.

Nick pulled the nearly full trash bag out of the can in the small apartment kitchen. He cinched it closed and tied a sturdy knot in the open end. Once the kitchen trash was secure, he stepped into the bathroom and grabbed the much smaller bag from there. With both bags in paw, the red fox stepped out into the hall and headed towards the back stairs.

While Nick was collecting the trash, Judy went behind and replaced fresh bags in the now empty cans. When she finished with the trash can liners, she noticed that Finnick and her aunt were getting quite comfortable, and even a little frisky. After one quick look at the heated tonsil hockey match on the couch, Judy turned and raced down the hall after her own fox.

Racing through the door to Nick's apartment, she only spotted the tip of his tail descending the stairs at the far end of the hall. With the unborn kit growing inside of her, and a stomach full of lunch, she was unable to sprint at her full speed after the quickly disappearing fox. When she finally arrived at the stairs that led to the back of the apartment building. Nick had already descended several flights to the ground floor.

She called down to him, but there was no answer as his floofy tail vanished once again. Taking half a flight in a single bound, Judy jumped after the fox at a breakneck speed. Luckily her swollen belly did not impede her controlled fall and she was able to make good time. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, the fox was nowhere to be seen, but the large back door was propped open.

In the back alley was a large metal dumpster where the apartment residents were allowed to dump their trash. It was here where Judy finally spotted Nick. He was struggling to close the huge lid when she hopped up and declared, "Nick, we need to talk."

"Yes," he nodded as the lid finally slammed shut above his head. "It is good for mammals to be able to communicate their thoughts with each other."

"What?" Judy tilted her head in confusion as she skidded to a stop behind the tod.

He bent over to look her directly in the eyes. With a smug expression that was uniquely his own, he continued, "What would the world be like if everyone spoke a different language, hmm?"

"Nick!" The rabbit cried. "I am being serious."

"So was I, Carrots." Seeing the scowl deepen on his bunnyfriend's muzzle, he stood up and asked, "What's on your mind, hun?"

Rubbing her paws together, Judy let her ears fall as she thought about what she wanted to say. "I know things seem to be fine between us right now, but I still feel bad about what happened that night, and I'm sorry."

"You don't need to keep apologizing, Fluff. It's alright."

"No it's not!" The pregnant rabbit slammed her paw on the pavement. "Everything is not alright. I-I am still, still mad, at you." As she spoke, her eyes were fighting a battle between breaking into a river of tears or burning with a crimson fire that would scorch the poor fox to his bones.

"Ok," Nick replied with a sigh. "What are you still mad about?"

"Those stinking transfer papers. I still don't understand why you chose that place over me, over us."

The fox shrugged as his muzzle fell towards the ground. "I don't know. Ever since I got out of that hospital this summer, Razorback has been on my case about joining his team." He sighed again and seemed to shrink slightly before the rabbit's eyes. "That boar is relentless, and I think I only filled out the paperwork just to shut him up, but…" His paws raised in the air as he left the last part hanging.

"But, what?" Judy asked curiously with a slow twitch of her nose. "Why did you have them on you that morning?"

"I don't really know," he said with a deep sigh. "Now I realize it was a mistake, but something felt wrong that morning when the chief called us into his office before we even left the house. Something told me to grab them off my desk before heading to his office. It was just a gut feeling at the time."

"Why?" Judy asked, throwing her paws in the air. When the fox shrugged again she began to walk in a small circle in front of him. Her paw eventually grasped her chin as she thought about what had happened between them all those weeks ago.

"Were you trying to protect me?" She stopped dead in her tracks and glared into his deep green eyes.

"What?" He asked, slightly stunned by the rabbit's reaction. "Maybe."

"Did it ever occur to you that I don't need to be protected? That maybe I can take care of myself?"

"Oh, I get it now. The cute little bunny is still trying to prove to the world that she is a big girl."

"Don't call me cute," Judy declared with her teeth clenched.

"And I thought I had a free pass to use the 'C' word since we were dating." She continued to scowl at the taller mammal, but he kept speaking. "Yeah, I get it. You want to keep up that tough girl exterior around everyone. But you don't need to prove that you're stronger than me." He rubbed his shoulder and winced at the memory of how hard Judy punched.

"You don't have to prove anything. I already fell ears over paws for you a long time ago. Maybe somebunny needs to relax once in a while and let this dumb fox take care of her. Especially when she is having a bad day, or when she is having a baby. We are having this baby. Together." He emphasized the last word by holding his arms out wide.

Sniffling, Judy slowly waddled into her fox's embrace while mumbling an apology.

"Ah, you bunnies. So emotional," Nick said with a smirk. "That's why I love you, Judy."

With tears in her eyes, Judy tried to giggle between her soft sobs. She lifted her head and pulled on the fur around his muzzle. At the rabbit's needy tug, Nick lowered his chin until their lips met in a sweet and sorrowful kiss that lasted several minutes.

Caught in a passionate, lover's embrace, the couple no longer noticed that they were standing next to the filthy trash dumpster, in the back alley behind the apartment they shared together. Clutching tightly to each other, they pressed their lips together until sharp, pointy fangs collided with wide, flat incisors. Tongues lashed together in a pink and slippery dance until a cool breeze caused the steel back door to slam shut.

"Crap," the fox declared, pulling away from his lover bunny. "I didn't bring the keys. We're going to have to walk around to the front."

Before the tod could take two steps, the doe grabbed his tie and pulled him back for another passionate kiss. "I love you, Nick."

"I love you too, Judy," Nick stated confidently. As Judy leaned in for more kisses, he lifted her into the air and carried her down the alley towards the main street.

Suddenly being lifted up by the fox, caused the rabbit to wail and giggle in delight. She put her arm around his neck and hung on while he carried her bridal style up the stairs back to their apartment.

When they kicked open the front door to their private abode, they caught a glimpse of the other fox and rabbit leap from the couch. The pair began to rebutton their clothes that had magically come loose while Nick and Judy were taking out the trash. Sharleen had her back turned with a very embarrassed expression on her muzzle, while Finnick simply zipped up his pants with an angry scowl directed at the taller tod.

"Don't mind us," Judy giggled warmly, still clinging tightly to her fox's neck. She planted a very wet kiss on his cheek before she winked in her aunt's direction. "We were just passing through."

The deep scowl never left the fennec's muzzle as he sat up and addressed the other fox in the room. "Before things get heated around here, you should tell the girls about the surprise."

"Surprise? What surprise?" Sharleen asked. Every hint of embarrassment vanished from her muzzle as she turned around with two buttons still undone on her shirt.

Winking back at the fennec, Nick promptly set Judy down on her own paws. "I almost forgot about that."

"Aww," Judy groaned before her paws hit the floor. She tugged gently at Nick's fuzzy ear as she complained, "And I was looking forward to some quality time with my favorite fox."

Nick calmly ignored his rabbit's innuendo, but kept a paw affectionately around her waist. His other paw pulled a long envelope from his back pocket. "Here is the surprise, Carrots," he said as he pawed the envelope to his girlfriend. "Finnick and I spent a lot of time finding those."

"What are they?" The rabbit asked shyly, turning the envelope over in her small grey paws.

"Go on and open it, Carrots," the fox encouraged.

"What is it?" Sharleen asked as she curiously approached her niece.

Judy held the envelope up to her tall ears and began to shake it. "Sounds like money, or something equally worthless," the rabbit teased.

"Whoo, Carrots!" Nick cried. "Be careful. Those things aren't cheap."

"Well, open it already," the older doe coaxed eagerly.

Carefully, Judy folded open the flap on the short end of the envelope and shook it to slide out its contents. Resting in her paw were four small slips of paper that looked similar to what they give out at movie theaters. Only these tickets were slightly larger, not as large as plane tickets, but certainly larger than movie tickets.

When she turned the tickets over in her paws, she could clearly read the names on the front, "Zoo York Hulks vs Sahara Sand Sharks at the Zootennial Stadium in Sahara Square." On one end of the tickets was today's date and specific seat numbers.

"Are these tickets for a tuskball game?" The pregnant rabbit asked tentatively. She held her breath trying not to squeal in excitement.

"Tuskball tickets?" Sharleen added. "Like live, in person tickets, where we get to sit in the stadium and everything?"

"Yep. Those are real tickets for tonight's game," Finnick noted as he walked up and put his arm around the country rabbit.

"Thanks, babe," Sharleen cheered as she pressed her lips against Finnicks narrow snout.

Judy on the other paw, gave Nick a dubious look as she slapped the tickets repeatedly against her palm. "This had better not be some kind of scam."

"Wait, what?" The older rabbit pulled away from her boyfriend in mild shock.

Nick raised both paws and declared, "No. Absolutely not."

Waving the four tickets back and forth between the two foxes, she glared at the pair of ex-conmammals. "You two better not be pulling anything where you two suddenly disappeared to go scalping tickets or some other con."

"No, never," Nick solemnly stated with a single paw across his chest. "I know how much you have wanted to see a live game, so Finnick and I pulled in a lot of favors to get those tickets."

The pregnant rabbit was too busy scowling at her boyfriend to notice the hint of embarrassment that crossed Finnick's muzzle. He quickly covered the slip when he pointed at the tickets. "We even managed to get some decent seats all together."

Pulling one ticket from Judy's swinging paw, he held it in front of her eyes like he was about to perform a magic trick. "These aren't just good seats, they're amazing seats." He waved his paw through the air like he was seeing the entire stadium spread out in the middle of that small apartment. "Section C is right beside the home team goal and row four is close enough to see all the action without sitting right on the grass. Will will be far enough back to see over the benched players and reporters that line the edges of the field."

"I don't know, Slick," Judy said suspiciously. She retrieved the single ticket from her boyfriend's paw and began tapping the four against her chin. Turning to her aunt she playfully asked, "What do you think? Should we stay home and take advantage of these poor foxy boys, or?" She left the last part hanging as she waved the tickets towards the older doe.

Without a second thought, Sharleen grabbed the tickets out of Judy's paw. "That's an obvious choice." When Judy gave her a curious look, she explained, "The game of course. I plan to spend the rest of the night under the covers with my fox so he can always wait a few more hours." She gave the fox in question a quick nibble before she squealed in excitement while stomping her paws. "But how often do you get to see a live tuskball game?"

Nick smirked down at his old partner and shrugged without saying another word.

---

Sahara Square's Zootennial Stadium was tremendous, but it was still dwarfed by The Palm Hotel and Casino that towered over everything in the hot, dry desert. The stadium was a huge oval structure that covered several blocks not including the massive parking lot that surrounded it. Since it was open to the sky, the stands had been covered by the world's largest awning to provide shade while still allowing a cooling breeze to flow through.

Behind the stadium was a large mammal made lake that was ringed by ostentation casinos and sprawling golf courses. Small peddle boats could even be seen crisscrossing the lake and a few aquatic mammals splashed around in the overly warm autumn afternoon. Even one old fashioned steam powered paddle boat circled the lake on a regular tour route.

Cars were beginning to pack themselves into the large parking lot outside the stadium as the afternoon sun sank close to the horizon. Mammals of all shapes and sizes strolled cheerfully towards the three main entrance gates of the colossal building. Others plopped down personal BBQ grills and offered hot food out of the backs of their vehicles.

In the skies over the stadium, several artistically designed hot air balloons flew while multicolored spotlights lit up the clouds to announce the big game. A long blimp with the name of a popular tire company plastered on the side hovered above the stadium, getting a perfect bird's eye view of the field for many news cameras. A pawful of brightly colored kit's balloons could also be spotted sailing free towards the puffy clouds above.

Several mammals waiting in line to enter the stadium were dressed up to show support for their favorite teams. Many wore their team's jersey, while others painted their muzzles in the team's colors. A few even carried around giant foam paws with a single finger pointed towards the sky. One cheetah standing in line for the eastern entrance wore a giant foam shark head like a huge, oversized hat that wobbled comically when they moved.

Most of the colorful mammals seemed to only enter one entrance or another and rarely mixed. The line at the western gate was populated entirely by mammals dressed in green and blue jerseys or muzzle paint. Some in that line also waved flags with the muzzle of a furless green monster. In the eastern line, where Sandshark fans waited, the jerseys were silver and white, and many young mammals waved fierce looking sharks that hung from the end of cheap fishing poles. The two groups did not mingle, and the occasional shouting match would break out if one group of fans got too close to another.

After Finnick parked his freshly repainted van, the small group of friends headed towards the central gate in order to avoid either group of rowdy fans. Their group contained fans of both teams, so choosing one side or the other would have turned up the dial on an already heated argument. Also, Finnick claimed that it was closer to where their seats were located, although Judy remained skeptical.

Unlike the other hardcore fans, Nick only had an old and faded jersey with a shark's head sewn into the shoulders. He did not cover his muzzle in silver and white paint or wave around a shark on a stick. Where the other Shark's fans wore jersey's with vertical silver and white bars, Nick's had them run diagonally. Even the patches seemed to be a much older design.

Finnick, on the other paw, wore a tight fitting green t-shirt, and a pair of dark blue jeans that were faded and crudely cut off at the knees. It wasn't an actual jersey, but it seemed to impress many of the Zoo York fans they encountered that day.

When Judy stepped out of the van she looked towards the sky and spotted a familiar hot air balloon. Flying overhead was an orange balloon with large black patches that gave it the impression of a grinning muzzle carved out of a ripe pumpkin. The sight reminded her of the two pumpkins that sat back on their dinner table waiting to be carved.

It was still another week before the city's big holiday as the fall chill turned into a brisk winter. To many mammals, the change of seasons created a gap in the layers of the world. Some even said that the land of the dead came close enough to touch the land of the living on that day. There were even rumors that if you stood in the right spot at the right time, you could cross over to the other side.

Judy did not believe any of those things, but as a child, she always enjoyed dressing up as scary monsters with her siblings and scouring the town for candy. She often chose to wear her cop costume and went out of her way to make sure each child got a fair share of the loot. One year she even tracked a group of vicious bullies who were smashing pumpkins for fun.

Shaking her head, she cleared the memories of holidays long past as Nick led her up towards the central gate. He held her paw as he helped her step up onto the sidewalk and enter the line. Once her mind focused back on the present, she noticed that the line in front of this entrance was much shorter than the other two. She only guessed that the rival fans were deliberately avoiding each other.

After waiting in the line for ten minutes, a weasel strolled up to the group wearing a costume that looked more like a venomous snake than a green monster. "Hey, Wilde," Duke said in his nasally voice.

When he caught sight of the costumed weasel, Nick let go of Judy's paw and put his own up in the air. "Sorry, Duke," the fox said, shaking his head. "It looks like you're on your own this time."

"Wait, what?" Weaselton almost squeaked in agitation. He pointed what looked like a green flipper at the fox and shook it angrily. "You promised, Wilde."

"The girls said 'no', so it looks like you're out of luck," the red fox stated with a clearly fake show of sorrow. He then smirked at the weasel and pulled his rabbit date into a shoulder hug.

Huffing at the taller fox, Duke turned to the smaller one. "Finnick, Finnick. I got you a nice hot spot at the western gate."

Shrugging, the brown, desert fox replied. "Nuh uh. Not today, snake-boy." Giggling at the name, Sharleen leaned in and kissed her date on the cheek. Giving the weasel another shrug, he walked away saying, "My date also said 'no'."

As the line moved forward, the weasel ran to catch up to the group, but the green suit gave the impression that he really was a snake, slithering across the cement. "Come one guys. When did you two start taking orders from a pair of bunny broads?"

Neither Nick nor Finnick even glanced at Duke Weaselton as he struggled to chase after them. The tail of his costume kept coming loose and he nearly tripped more than once. "I can't cover all three gates by myself."

"Fine," Nick declared as his hind paws came to a sudden stop causing the weasel, monster, thing to run straight into him. He turned on the weasel and presented a plain, unsealed envelope. "You can have my spares."

"Are you serious?" Weaselton asked, as he quickly snatched the envelope from Nick's outstretched paw like it would disappear at any moment.

"Yep, one hundred percent," the red fox in the silver and white jersey replied with his everyday smirk. He then glanced back at the smaller fox.

Finnick sighed, and pulled a similar envelope out of his pocket. Before he could paw it to the costumed weasel, his date snatched it from his paws and planted a very red kiss mark in the center. She then passed it back to her fox with a wink.

"Ok then," Finnick muttered, giving the mark of bunny lips a dubious glare while his date giggled. With a groan he slowly pawed the envelope to the confused weasel who seemed almost afraid to take it from the dangerous fennec.

With both envelopes in paw, the weasel scurried off towards the western gate. His green and blue costume practically falling apart with every step.

During the entire exchange with the weasel, the pregnant rabbit glared at the red fox. When Nick finally turned back to notice her, she had her arms crossed over her chest and her hind paw was thumping the sidewalk so loudly that a herd of elephants could have passed by unnoticed.

"Nick!" Judy cried. "We're cops, and we both know that scalping tickets is illegal."

"You're right," Nick agreed, stepping forward with the slow moving line. His muzzle faced forward like nothing was wrong.

Letting out a small growl, Judy followed after the taller fox. She pulled out her pair of tickets and flipped them over in her paw before reading the bold red message printed on the back, "It even says right here, 'not intended for resale'."

"Yes," the fox nodded again. "We are not reselling them because we never bought them in the first place."

"What!?" Judy exclaimed as she planted both hind paws firmly on the ground. "Don't tell me that you stole them!"

"Hardly," Finnick scoffed.

Bending over towards his date, Nick placed both paws on his knees and looked Judy in the eyes. "Listen, Darlin. All those sites that sell tickets online, buy them in huge blocks and then add an exorbitant markup for the service. If that isn't reselling, then I don't know what is."

Not convinced by her fox's explanation, Judy's scowl only deepened. "So how did you get a hold of those tickets?"

Finnick cut in with a wild chuckle. "The shark's aren't exactly a popular team."

Tugging on Nick's jersey, Judy asked, "What is that supposed to mean?" Her ears tilted back and forth between the two tods and her nose twitched slowly.

Sighing, Nick explained, "It means that more than half of the seats will be unsold for today's game."

Her ears fell and the glare was quickly replaced with a sad frown.

Taking another step towards the ticket gate, Nick continued his tale, "We know a mammal who wanted to get rid of a few pawfuls of tickets. We pulled out the best seats and planned to hawk the rest. So you see, Dear, it's not reselling in the first place."

"I don't know, Slick. It still sounds fishy to me."

"Well, look at this this way, Sweetheart. We are doing them a favor." He waved a paw at himself and the fennec in the tight green shirt. "By selling tickets at a discount that would probably go unsold otherwise."

"What about that weasel?" Sharleen finally asked.

With a loud snort, Finnick began to laugh loudly. "I doubt he will be able to sell a thing. Those tickets are all for the Shark's seats and he ran to the Hulks entrance."

"Plus it's getting pretty hot out here today."

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," the pregnant rabbit stated.

Patting Judy on the shoulder, Nick pulled her forward as the line moved again. "Once we are inside, we will be in the shade with snacks and refreshments in paw." He waved his free paw in the direction the weasel had gone. "In that suit, Duke is going to melt out here in the direct sunlight."

It only took a few more minutes for Judy and the others to reach the ticket booths. The attendant quickly took their tickets and gave each of them a wristband that allowed them to return to their cars during the game. Behind the counter at the small mammal's booth was a very bored beaver that spoke in a monotone voice like she was repeating everything for the one thousandth time, and had no time for friendly pleasantries.

Entering the stadium was like walking into an entirely new city. One that had a heavy stone roof high above. A single, wide street ran the entire circumference of the stadium and was filled with mammals of all sizes. The only vehicles allowed to drive on this inner street were the mammal movers that roughly looked like stretched golf carts and carried up to eight passengers at once.

Lining the street were more vendors than could be found in the Zootopia International Airport. Not only were there pawfuls of fast food stalls, but every free space seemed to be crammed with sports vendors. Everything a tuskball fan could ever want could be found here. There were stalls that only sold hats, or t-shirts, jerseys and even paw straps. None of those shops seemed to care about the bitter rivalry going on in the parking lot outside, and sold paraphernalia for teams around the world. Judy even spotted a pair of mammals that had been viciously arguing earlier, now calmly waiting in the same line to purchase some of the giant foam paws.

After a short walk around the inside of the stadium, the two foxes lead their dates up a series of cement stairs. The top of the stairs opened into a vast arena where the sounds of thousands of mammals talking and yelling was nearly deafening. Both rabbits had to hold their ears flat against their heads until they were able to get used to the clamor.

Taking the ticket stubs from Judy, Nick guided the group to their seats. Despite the chairs being designed for medium sized rumps they were fairly comfortable for the four small mammals. They also had a great view of the playing field. As Nick had explained earlier, row four was very close to ground level and the section they were in had a good view of the Sand Shark's goal.

When they approached their assigned seats, Sharleen turned to her niece and asked, "So where should we sit?"

Judy rubbed her chin for a second before responding, "If I know how these two get over a ball game, then it would be a good idea to separate the kits."

When the older rabbit glanced down at Judy's swelling belly, the other rabbit giggled. "I meant these two well behaved tods." She emphasized her sarcasm by tugging on the sleeve of Nick's jersey.

Covering the giggles that threatened to escape her muzzle, Sharleen plopped herself down in the seat next to Judy. Firmly clasping Finnick's paw, she pulled him into the seat beside her. She tapped the end of his nose gently before he could complain about the seating arrangements. "I think that is a wonderful idea, Judy. This way we can plan the baby shower and keep the boys from each other's throats at the same time."

"Ba-baby shower," Judy stuttered as she was about to reach for her boyfriend's floofy tail and pull it into her lap.

"Of course, dear," Sharleen chided with a pat to the pregnant rabbit's paw. "You didn't think that we, and I mean the rest of your family, were going to miss out on throwing you, and the baby a party?"

Looking down, Judy rubbed at her baby bump and sighed. "But I haven't told anyone back home that I'm having Nick's baby."

"Oh pshaw." Sharleen swiped her paw towards her niece. "Have you forgotten how fast news travels in the Hopps burrow?"

Judy's eyes widened as her ears fell. "No, you didn't?"

"Deary," the older rabbit cheered. "The whole burrow knew before you returned to the examination room and put your clothes back on. Everyone is just so excited for you, they can't wait for you to come back so they can throw a big party."

"What? No!" Judy exclaimed with her paws over her muzzle.

An hour passed while the two does chatted away about family and babies and parties. Once mammals from each team ran out onto the field, they stood up and cheered along with the crowd. This late in the autumn, the sun quickly sank towards the horizon and the stadium's lights came on while the group waited for the game to start.

While the first group of players were taking their positions on the field, Sharleen turned to her date and asked. "I rarely followed the bucks when they would watch tuskball on TV so, honey, can you remind me how the game is played?"

Finnick squeezed his rabbit's paw as he pointed towards the players of the field. "Do you see that ball the guy in the black and white stripes is carrying?"

"Yes," Sharleen nodded. "Aren't they supposed to put it in this net over here?"

"Right." Finnick pointed at a similar net at the far end of the field. "The Shark's need to get the ball into that net way over there, and the Hulks have to put it in this one."

"Is that all there is to it?"

"Pretty much," Judy added. "The team that can get the ball into the other team's net most wins when the clock runs out."

"I thought it was more complicated than that."

"Well, the difference between tuskball and other ball games is that the players aren't allowed to use their forepaws," Finnick explained.

"So why do all the bucks back home keep arguing about fouls and penalties and lots of crazy rules that don't make sense?"

Nick leaned over and put his nose between Judy's ears. "Back before the game got so popular and televised, that was the only rule. It was also a lot more vicious."

"Really?"

"Yes," the small brown fox replied, trying to regain his date's attention. "Back then it was a prey only game. Mostly boar, antelope and deer were the only players, that's why it's called tuskball. But since the game has been taken over by television and other media, other species started to join."

"All those crazy rules were added when predators were allowed to play," the red fox explained from between his date's tall ears. "The no touch rule was introduced to keep clawed mammals from accidentally cutting up the other players."

"Yeah, I would hate to get roughed up by all those sharp claws," Sharleen gasped.

As soon as the words left her aunt's mouth, Judy began to giggle furiously and squeezed her fox's paw.

Once she realized her faux pas, Sharleen patted Finnick's paw. "Oh my. I didn't mean…" She then kissed her date on the cheek. "You can rough me up with your claws anytime, dear." The one small kiss quickly turned far more passionate.

While Sharleen and Finnick were busy pressing their muzzles together, Judy leaned back and nibbled on her own fox's cheek. Her belly prevented her from turning around and partaking in anything more frisky.

After the quick kissing match ended, the rabbit's watched the black and white striped mammal carry the ball to the center of the field. He entered a large white circle painted on the grass and began to count out several paces. When his count reached five, he stopped and promptly placed the rabbit sized ball on another white line that divided the field in half.

With the ball in place, the referee motioned to two mammals from each team. From the Shark's team, a trim and very muscular kangaroo stepped forward. Opposite the kangaroo stepped up a fit zebra. From this viewpoint they could make out the number '05' on the back of the kangaroo's jersey, but the other player's number was not visible.

Seeing the kangaroo step forward, Nick stood up and began cheering, "Yes, Thumpson is starting." He then cupped his paws over his muzzle and screamed, "Go, Thumpson! Whoo!"

Huffing, Finnick called back to the taller fox, "That old man ain't got nothing on Martishur. He is not a rookie anymore so better watch out."

"Hey!," Nick yelled back across the two long eared does. "Mike is in the prime of his life."

"Yeah, maybe ten years ago."

"He is still the best kicker in the league," the taller fox retorted.

Finnick was about to yell another taunt when Sharleen grabbed his paw. "Hey! Hey, boys. Calm down, ok."

In the middle of the field, the three mammals had stepped out to the edge of the white ring. The two players crouched, ready to spring at the slightest breeze towards the ball in the center. With his back towards the side of the stadium where Nick and Judy sat, the referee held his hoof in the air, and a whistle stuck in the end of his muzzle. He carefully stared at the watch on his other arm.

When the clock on the scoreboard struck the hour, the referee threw down his raised hoof and blew on the whistle.

At the sound of the whistle, three things happened simultaneously. All three mammals around the white ring moved together in a dangerous dance.

First the ref leapt back while keeping his gaze focused on the ball. He dodged out of the way to keep from being struck by any of the players, or worse, by the ball.

Next, both the zebra and the kangaroo charged forward at the same time. The kangaroo's powerful hind legs propelled him forward at a tremendous speed while the zebra took several steps to reach the same speed.

In the blink of an eye, the kangaroo's huge hind paws collided with the ball as he fell where it had been placed only moments before. Struck by the full force from the muscular mammal, the ball shot across the grass and between the zebras' flailing legs.

The third thing that happened was a cheetah on the Shark's side of the line, with the number 11 on his back, shot forward towards the careening ball. He was not following the ball directly, but aiming towards where the ball would be in a few moments. In fact the cheetah had started moving before his teammate had made contact with the ball.

After the first few seconds were over, the entire field broke into chaos. Mammals were rushing in all directions with a small crowd clustered around the ball and a referee keeping his distance.

Since the ball was currently on the opposite side of the field from Judy and the others, it was difficult to follow the action, but that didn't stop Nick from leaping out of his chair, screaming. "Yes! Thumpson's still got it." He turned to Finnick, "Old man, my tail. Thumpson's only a few years older than you, pal."

Before Finnick could reply, Sharleen grabbed his paw, "What's up with you two today? Why is Nick being so offensive?"

Smirking in imitation of the red tod, Finnick aimed his next comment at the younger fox, "The Sand Shark's haven't won a single game this season."

With concern on her muzzle, Judy put her paw on her date's arm. "Is this true, Nick?"

"Yeah," Nick sighed and sat his tail back on the large but comfortable chair. "This is their last chance to stay in the running. One more loss and they are out for the rest of the season."

"Oh, no," Finnick started screaming. His cries were echoed from the crowd on the far side of the stadium.

The words, "Stop him," seemed to be chanted from the green and blue colored fans.

On the field, the cheetah had passed the ball to a pronghorn who was now dancing circles around a green clad cape buffalo. The larger mammal dodged too and fro, trying to keep himself between the ball and the goal, but the smaller one was simply too fast and he was able to quickly slip past.

All that remained in the way to a score was a hulking elephant in his shiny green and blue jersey. His trunk swung back and forth like a pendulum, blocking the net with its bulk.

Glaring up at the huge mammal, the small pronghorn pulled his leg back in preparation to kick the ball as hard as possible. Yet at the last second, he seemed to trip, causing the ball to careen off in a different direction while he crashed into the grass. The ball sailed through the air and past the hulking elephant goalie, but it was still nowhere near the net.

In the blink of a rabbit's eye, the number 11 cheetah was there to intercept the ball mid air. His forehead collided forcefully with the ball and nearly knocked out the yellow spotted feline. The ball bounced off the cheetah's head and now flew directly towards the net.

The Shark's fans were screaming at the top of their lungs, while the Hulk fans groaned as they watched the ball sail towards the elephant who still had his back turned. Slowly the groans turned to cheers again as the Hulk's goalie leaned over until he came crashing to the ground in a slow motion dive for the ball.

Laying on his side, the ball harmlessly bounced off of the elephant's chest and he picked it up with one of his large forehooves. Now it was the Shark's fans turn to groan. As he slowly stood up on his hind hooves, he tossed the ball over the heads of nearby players towards a waiting blackbuck in a matching green and blue jersey.

"And that's why the Shark's are gonna lose this game," Finnick taunted as his team ran the ball to the other end of the field.

With all the players focused on the previous exchange near the net, the blackbuck, with a 17 on the back of his jersey, had a free run to goal. He quickly dodged around a large boar defender and made a run at the net.

From their seats in the fourth row, the two rabbits and foxes had a great view of the action this time. Finnick was cheering, while Nick kept yelling at the rhino goalie in the silver and white jersey. Both does were on the edge of their seats clapping their paws. Not sure which side to cheer for, they yelled to see any goals made.

Quickly charging down the sideline, the blackbuck dodged around a large razorback boar defender. Once he was past the Shark's defenders, he charged at the goal. With a fierce snap of his swift hoof, he kicked the ball hard towards the net.

The Sand Shark's rhino goalie was swifter and he jumped in the way of the ball. It bounced off of his large horn and back towards the grassy field. He dove forward to give the ball a heavy kick before another player could shoot it back towards the net.

Seconds before the rhino charged the ball, the Hulk's second forward rushed in. This was a young lion who kept his mane trimmed to improve his running speed. The lion barely managed to reach the ball before the goalie arrived and kicked it at a low angle that took it beyond the rhino's reach.

A loud cheer rang up from the other side of the stadium as the ball sailed into the net and set off a ringing bell. Judy and Sharleen had to cover their ears as it seemed like half the stadium shouted the word, "Goal," at the same time.

"Wow, that teamwork is really amazing!" Sharleen tried to shout above the roaring crowd. "Now I can understand why you like this game, Judy."

After the first goal, the players on each side were shuffled around. Older players like Thumpson and cheetah number 11 were sent to the bench to rest while younger ones stayed on the field.

For the next thirty five minutes, the ball traveled back and forth several times with several good steals and reversals on both sides. Even with the fresh players, the Sand Shark's never seemed to maintain control of the ball for long. When they did have the ball, they were unable to break through the nearly impenetrable defenses guarding the Hulk's goal.

The Shark's defenses were not nearly as solid at the Hulks so a few goals managed to slip through. When the referee called the halfway point of the game, the Shark's were behind zero points to three and Nick was exceptionally glum.

A popular band rushed out onto the field after the players had returned to their locker rooms. To Judy's disappointment it was not Gazelle but one of her contemporaries, an up and coming singer named Katie Catlie. The rabbit could never understand how this singer had become so popular. Even with her finely tuned ears, the randomness of the music sounded like lyrical garbage and utter nonsense. Still, she clapped and cheered when the performer finally exited the stage.

During the musical number, Nick and Finnick continued arguing over the outcome of the game.

"You might as well hand over the money now," the small brown fox berated.

"It's not over yet," Nick declared. "There is still the entire second half left. Anything could happen."

"Don't bet on it." Finnick chortled. "Oh wait. You already did!"

"Care to make it a double?" The red fox challenged.

"You know how much I hate taking your money like this."

"And you are such a terrible liar."

Shaking his head at Nick's folly, Finnick said, "Your team has no chance of recovering this late in the game. They have not been able to get one single goal past Brutus, what makes you think they even have a chance?"

Nick's usual calm exterior had been strained all evening, but now it vanished entirely and he snarled slightly at his small friend. "We both know how luck can change on a dime, so I am not giving up on my team yet."

"Fine," the fennec threw his paws in the air. "I will see that raise, but I expect you to pay up before we leave the stadium."

"Before you start making demands, buddy, why don't we wait and see how the second half goes."

After the halftime show had concluded, the teams once again took their positions on the field. For this kickoff, the lineup looked almost identical to the start of the game. Only a couple of the players had changed between the two starts. When the referee placed the ball in the center of the field, the kangaroo, Thumpson stood on the Shark's side while a tall elk was on the Hulk's side.

The kickoff played out almost exactly as it had previously, with the number 11 cheetah running the ball towards the goal before passing it to the pronghorn. As with before, the pronghorn was unable to get the ball past the bulbus elephant who blocked the goal.

This time, when the Hulk's goalie tossed the ball to a teammate, the kangaroo was there to intercept. Thumpson and the blackbuck danced around the ball for several moments before a lion on the Hulk's team stole it and began to run it towards the Shark's goal.

Before the lion could take a shot, cheetah number 11 rushed in and captured the ball. Instead of running it all the way back across the field, he quickly passed it to Thumpson to carry.

With his pronghorn teammate on one side, the kangaroo began to kick and hop with the ball along the far edge of the field. He had only made a couple of hops before the Hulk's lion rushed in and tackled him. It almost looked like the lion was trying to steal the ball, but when their bodies collided, they both flew out of bounds sending the ball spinning off wildly.

Referees blew whistles and threw down red flags before the two mammals had even fallen to the grassy turf. Everything came to a screeching halt and the stadium went silent, except for the sound of a lone soda vendor hawking his wares up and down the isles.

Judy had never noticed the other referees before, but now they clustered in a tight circle near where the two ball players had fallen. The sudden appearance of the refs and how they scuttled together, reminded Judy of certain household vermin. She giggled at her own thoughts of the small mammals in their black and white jerseys.

After several minutes of deliberation, the original referee walked to the center of the field. He switched on his microphone and suddenly his voice could be heard booming across the stadium. "Major Foul." Holding his arms up in the air, he gave a signal that Judy did not recognize. Then he folded them across his chest and slapped his own elbow. "Illegal Contact."

One of the ref's arms swung out towards the opposite side of the stadium. "Foul on Zoo York Hulks. Free kick goes to the Sand Sharks." He then swung his arm in a kicking motion before pointing towards the Shark's side of the stadium.

In a fit of rage, the lion rushed towards the center of the field with a roar. Several of his teammates had to tackle him before he reached the ref. Even without a rabbit's sharp ears, numerous foul words could be heard over the PA before the ref quickly shut off his mic.

Without looking at all perturbed, the referee calmly pointed at the lion and then towards the benches on the side of the field. Not liking what the ref had said, the lion spat at the smaller mammal. After the lion's crude display, the ref drew his arm across his own throat in a cutting motion. At the last motion the rest of the Hulk teammates quickly hauled the lion from the field and towards the locker rooms.

Again, the ref stood in the center of the field and turned on his mic. This time he did not make any paw gestures to accompany his words. "Mr. Redmane has chosen to be expelled for the remainder of the game with no substitute." He then held up an arm and motioned towards the Shark's side of the field. "The free kick remains."

When the referee announced that the lion forward would not have a replacement, half of the fans in the stadium roared in outrage. Many of them stood and began stomping their paws and hooves. Despite their anger, the referee's decision was final.

Finnick was one of the many mammals that shouted at the ref from the stands. He looked over at Nick with a half contained snarl. "We're down a player and you still get a penalty kick?"

Shrugging, Nick replied, "Hey, respect the mammal's decision. It's a hard job, but I feel like he made the right call."

"Of course you would, that is such a foul play."

Down on the field, the players were setting up for the penalty kick. The ball had been placed in the corner of the field closest to the Shark's goal, and currently as far from the opposite goal as possible while staying inside the bounds of the field. Behind the ball, Thumpson was hopping and punching the air like a boxer. A semicircle of the other players waited five paces from the ball hoping to block or catch the kick.

A ref stood by with his gaze fixed on the ball. He motioned to the kangaroo to go ahead and kick the ball when he was ready.

Thumpson nodded back to the ref, and then a second nod was directed at the cheetah with the number 11 on his jersey. The cheetah nodded back and immediately turned around and prepared to run.

After looking around the field, Thumpson took two hops back from the ball. His back was against the stands, and his tail lashed at the short, cement wall. Bending forward, he took a deep breath and prepared to charge.

In less time that it took for Judy to blink, the kangaroo pushed down with both huge paws. The huge muscles in his hips and legs propelled him forward at an incredible speed. A second hop increased his speed even further.

While sailing through the air, the old kangaroo swung his legs forward like a bird of prey diving for its dinner. The entire weight of the large mammal crashed into the ball with such force that chunks of grass were thrown into the air leaving a hole in the turf where the painted border line had once been.

Moments before Thumpson's giant hind paws collided with the ball, the cheetah took off running. He never saw the grass flying or the ball sailing over the heads of his fellow players. Instead, he raced towards the opposite side of the field at lightning speeds. At maximum acceleration, he could outrun any other player on the field twice over, yet the other players turned and chased after him.

When number 11 reached the far boundary line, he turned and raced towards the Hulk's end of the field. The other players continued to chase the cheetah despite the lack of any ball. In fact, after the kick, Judy lost sight of the ball.

Reaching the center line, the cheetah turned around and looked up in the air. He then shrugged and began scanning the field with one paw over his eyes.

The ball had somehow vanished. Not even the chase cameras, that projected the ball's location on the huge scoreboards at each end of the field, could find the ball. On the screen that Judy and the others could see was simply a blank patch of grass as the automated camera continued to scan the field futilely.

Standing to one side of the Hulk's goal net, the green and blue elephant casually chatted with his buffalo teammate. He occasionally glanced at the activity around the penalty kick. The scene was on the opposite side of the field, and his eyesight was terrible to the point that all he could see was a blur of mammals in the far corner.

As the Shark's cheetah forward began running down the long side of the field, the elephant and his buffalo companion began to take notice. They slowly took up their positions and prepared to block the incoming feline, but something strange happened when it reached the center line.

From the point of view of the Hulk's goalie, cheetah number 11 simply stopped and turned around like he was lost. Then he began searching for the ball, and the rest of the players behind him also began to search frantically.

It was utter confusion for nearly half a minute while all the players on the field scrambled around trying to figure out what happened to the ball. All the players except one, were wandering aimlessly about the field.

A single kangaroo, whose career was quickly coming to a close, charged fiercely across the field, directly towards the opposing team's goal. No one paid any attention to this lone mammal since they were too busy looking for the lost ball.

Brutus only noticed the charging kangaroo once he crossed the centerline, but by then it was too late. He slowly turned his attention from the confused feline to the determined marsupial and prepared to stop him at any cost.

Just as the speeding kangaroo passed through the center ring, where the opening kickoff had taken place a few minutes earlier, an alarm bell rang from behind the elephant goalie. He slowly turned around and spotted a small, white object stuck in the net. It was a very flat ball.

"Goal!" Screamed the thousands of fans that cheered for the Sand Sharks. They had just made their first goal of the game.

As the chase camera focused on the deflated ball, a shocked voice came over the PA. "Mike Thumpson has done it again. He has beaten his own record for the longest goal kick in history." Then the PA squeaked as someone tried to pull the mic from the other mammals paws.

After the announcement, cheers rose from both sides of the stadium, but Finnick stomped his hind paws on the edge of his chair. "That is just one goal," he shouted to Nick over the din that filled the huge, open structure.

"I told you Thumpson still had it in him," Nick jeered back at the smaller fox.

The Sand Sharks, with their morale bolstered by the amazing kick, started to own the field in the second half. Thumpson and cheetah number 11 ran circles around the Hulks, managing to score two more points before the end of the game. With the loss of a team member, the Hulks were unable to make any more goals leaving the game at a tie.

In the tiebreaker round, the first team to score a point would win the game and move onto the next round. If no team could score a goal in ten minutes a tie would be called and the two teams would have to play another game at a later date.

Morale was high and the Sand Shark's currently had the advantage. They had to win this round. A fresh game on an even field, would most likely mean a loss for the team and the end of the season for them. Everything came down to one single goal.

For the final kickoff, the Sharks had swapped out a few players, but the Hulks entire team except for the elephant goalie were fresh from the benches. The Shark's two star players were tired but eager to win.

In the minutes before lining up to start the round, all of the Shark's players grouped up in front of their goal net and chanted along with their fans. It was truly inspiring to watch the team yelling and stomping along with their fans. The scene reminded Judy of when her entire family would sing songs around the summer bonfire. She reached out her paws and wrapped them around her aunt and her boyfriend as they all chanted and stomped.

Despite his grumpy demeanor, Finnick even joined in when Sharleen pulled him into the group hug.

Fully inspired, the Sand Sharks broke the huge chant-along with a single group clap and rushed to take their positions for the kickoff. Once again, Thumpson took the center point with cheetah number 11 on his right. To his left was a young springbok that had not been on the field all day.

As with the opening kick, the zebra took the center position for the Hulks. On his left, facing off with the cheetah, was a wildebeest with the number 13 on his jersey. No player stood to the center's right since the lion was out for the rest of the game and unable to be replaced.

When the whistle came, both center players rushed forward, but as it had happened before, the kangaroo struck the ball first. Unfortunately the zebra had anticipated this move and dove, not to kick the ball but to block it. As Thumpson's paws crashed into the ball and sent it flying, Martishur spread his arms wide and let the ball slam into his broad chest.

Both the cheetah and springbok had rushed forward expecting to chase the ball into enemy territory. When the ball bounced off the zebra's chest they had to turn around to chase after it, but by then it was already too late.

The wildebeest knew what his teammate had planned and rushed towards the ball as it rolled free. He quickly drove it down the lane while the zebra chased after. When a boar defender charged in to block his advance, he quickly dodged past with a pass feint.

As the wildebeest approached the goal net, the rhino goalie moved to block his path. He swung his leg to give the ball a strong kick, but instead passed it back to Martishur who had a clean shot towards the goal.

Catching the ball with his chest, the zebra let it drop to the ground in front of his hooves. From where the mammal stood in front of the Shark's goal, Judy could now see that his jersey had the number '01' stitched on the back between his shoulder blades.

Turning, the rhino was too slow to intercept the shot from the zebra and the ball would have sailed freely into the net if a brown bear defender had not leapt to block it. Since the bear was not a goalie, he was not allowed to touch the ball with his forepaws and thus could only kick it down range.

After the initial kick that started the tiebreaker round, Thumpson had dodged to the side in order to avoid crashing into the number '01' zebra. Watching the ball bounce off the zebra instead of flying between his legs, caused the kangaroo to slip on the wet grass. It took him several moments to recover, but he was ready to return to the fight around the time that the brown bear sent the ball rolling in his direction.

Thumpson raced after the deflected ball and caught it with his strong tail before Martishur or the wildebeest could reach it. With the ball under his control, he turned and raced towards the Hulk's goal once again where the huge green elephant waited. As the large, hopping mammal crossed the center line with the ball, the wildebeest caught up to him and made a quick attempt to steal it.

With his gaze focused on the enemy goal, Thumpson spotted that his springbok teammate was clear to the left. He spun around and slapped the ball hard with his tail, passing it to the springbok. The wildebeest that had been taunting him with his hooves, had to quickly jump out of the way or be knocked over by the kangaroo's huge tail.

The springbok with the number '15' on his jersey caught the ball and took it swiftly down the field. He easily passed the ball around the buffalo that blocked his path and charged towards the net.

Once again the final obstacle between the ball and the net was a hulking green and blue elephant named Brutus. The long, prehensile trunk swung back and forth darring the springbok to take a shot. He also kept one eye on the cheetah that rushed up from the left side. His body turned to focus on the player with the ball while his big ears kept track of the motions of the cheetah.

When the springbok passed the ball to the cheetah, the elephant was prepared and dove to the side before the feline could take a shot. Again, Brutus fell to the ground with a loud crash that could be heard over the cheering crowds. Laying in the grass as he was, the huge mammal's body blocked the entire net. There was no way for the smaller mammals to ever get the ball past his enormous bulk.

Cheetah '11' quickly passed the ball back to springbok '15' as a tiger defender dove in to steal it. Taking a chance, the springbok swiftly kicked the ball at the net, but it simply bounced off the giant's leg and straight back at him.

Catching the ball again, the springbok spotted the buffalo quickly closing in. He looked across the grass and saw that the tiger in the green and blue jersey would easily block the ball if he tried to pass it to the cheetah. The third defender, a large elk, was also closing in fast. There was nowhere to go, they were trapped.

As the buffalo charged in to steal the ball, the springbok dodged around him. After dancing back and forth several times, he headed away from the net and back towards the center of the field. In his attempts to avoid the buffalo, he spotted an opportunity quickly approaching.

With one swift kick, he sent the ball between the elk's long legs and towards the center of the field. Behind the elk a large kangaroo raced to intercept the ball.

When the ball crossed Thumpson's path, he took one last hop and slammed into the ball with both hind paws. This kick was not as hard or as powerful as the penalty kick had been, yet it still sent the ball flying into the air.

In a slow, graceful arc, the ball sailed through the air. Unless the viewer was an expert mathematician, it looked like the ball was about to fly over the net and into the stands behind it. But after several seconds of flight, the ball began to drop almost straight down.

This time, the ball had flown almost straight up and was now being pulled by gravity straight towards Brutus. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that no ball could ever pass beyond his great bulk, especially not one that was falling straight down. Reaching out his paw, he pictured himself catching the ball in midair as it descended.

Unfortunately for the Hulks, that is not what happened. Picking up speed as it fell, the ball did not land gently in the elephant's palm, but bounced off of his rump instead. The angle of descent was not a perfect ninety degrees, but closer to seventy, and when it struck the elephants bulbus rear end it careened off and into the goal net, setting off the alarm bells.

Once again, half the stadium was filled with cheering and stomping of paws and hooves. The other half gasped in shock at the impossible shot they had just witnessed. One small fox only groaned in pain like he had been punched in the stomach.

---

Finnick parked his small orange van on the street in front of the Grand Pangolin Arms. The sun had set before the ball game had reached its halfway point and now a single street lamp illuminated the steps leading up to the apartment building. A heavy haze hung in the air creating a thick cone of light that stood alone on that dark city street.

Four tired and exhausted mammals fell out of the van and had to help each other climb the stone steps up to the front door. Two rabbit does had to carry a pair of fox tods that were stumbling with each step like they had spent far too much time at the local bar.

"Don't worry guys," the younger, and very pregnant rabbit was explaining. "It's only a few suitcases plus a couple of other bags. The furniture came with the apartment so that has to stay behind."

The red fox completely ignored the rabbit's words as he continued to babble in excitement. "I can't believe that final shot." He swiped his leg as he imitated kicking a ball down the street, but he completely over extended the kick and nearly fell onto the steps if two bunnies had not been there to catch him.

"Don't remind me," the other fox groaned, running his paw down his muzzle. "That should have not been allowed to happen."

"But it did happen," Nick slurred gleefully. "It did happen, and it was glorious." He leaned back with both paws above his head, while the smaller rabbits groaned under his weight.

Tilting his long snout backwards, he smiled brightly at the short fennec fox. "And you still owe me the rest of the money."

Finnick folded his arms across his green shirt and grunted. He stuck his nose into the air as the red fox chuckled.

Still leaning back and across the two rabbits arms, he chided his oldest friend. "And I thought you insisted that we pay up before leaving the stadium." He pointed at the center of his palm with a sharp claw, "Where's my money pal?"

Grunting a second time, Finnick snapped his sharp teeth in the direction of the larger fox's big black nose, "I told you the ATM was broken."

"How am I supposed to believe that when Carrots used it only moments earlier to get gas money?"

"Get over yourself, Slick," Judy demanded as she let go of her overly dramatic boyfriend.

Seeing Judy release her paws from the fox, Sharleen followed suit and the drama fox fell to the hard cement steps with a loud thunk.

With the fallen fox laying in the way, Judy quickly hopped over his body and continued up the steps to the front door. The two other small mammals followed along, leaving the tall fox on the hard steps rubbing the back of his head.

"Hey, where is everyone going?" Nick demanded.

"We're here," the pregnant rabbit declared indignantly.

"Where is that, Fluff?

"My apartment building," Judy said, waving her paw towards the door. "Finnick promised to help me move, remember? Or are you too busy gloating over your team's victory to lend your girlfriend a helping paw?"

Sitting up, at the bottom of the stairs, Nick placed a paw over his heart like he had been mortally wounded. "I, do not gloat," he stated with an overly snobbish tone in his voice.

Before Finnick could deliver an angry retort, Sharleen glared down at the red fox and snorted. "Could have fooled me," she said in a tone that she had heard Bonnie use on many occasions when her husband was being unreasonable.

With that, all three of the smaller mammals turned and walked inside the apartment building.

"What did I say?" Nick cried as he scrambled up the steps.

The only reply was an unimpressed voice calmly asking, "Are you coming?" A second later, the door closed leaving the fox outside in the dark.

Three flights of stairs later, Nick finally caught up to Judy as she approached her own apartment door. Running down the short hall, he noticed that the three mammals were standing perfectly still in front of Judy's apartment. "What is going on?" He asked casually like nothing unusual had transpired on the stairs outside.

Judy only lifted a shaking paw and pointed at her half open door.

Nick, being the snide and witty fox remarked, "Do you normally leave your door open like that?"

"No," the pregnant rabbit shook her head as she cautiously approached the door. She reached out towards the knob, but it was missing, like a large animal had ripped it out of the socket.

Suddenly, Judy jumped back and pushed Nick in front of her. "You're a cop now, you go first."

"Alright, darling. Let me show you how a real fox does it." He stepped up to the door like he was holding a pistol in his paws. Taking a deep breath he kicked at the door with his hind paw, and pointed the finger gun through the dark portal. The door slammed into the back wall and the four mammals outside heard a thud and the breaking of glass.

"Nick!" Judy cried as she tried to rush past the fox, but he quickly stretched out an arm to block her path. He then turned and put a sharp finger over the end of his muzzle and blew through it softly.

Turning his outstretched palm away from the door he cautioned Judy to step back as he crept forward on the tips of his toes. He turned his head from side to side and sniffed the air as he slowly crossed the threshold.

All Judy could smell was rotten food and day old vinegar, or was it beer? Now that she was aware of her sense of smell, she realized that her entire apartment stank of something foul and it nearly made her gag.

The fox was not deterred by the awful smell, but continued his exceedingly slow progress. After what felt like several minutes had passed, Nick reached out his paw and flicked on the light switch.

As soon as the bright light filled the room and illuminated the crime scene that had been Judy's apartment, a blood curdling scream echoed across the hall and down the stairs. Nick jerked back into the hall and wrapped his tail around his body like a terrified kit.

Unphased by the mess that filled her apartment, Judy rolled her eyes and jabbed the frightened fox in the rib, "Ok, you can quit being the drama king now."

Stepping into the apartment, the first thing she noticed was that her clothes and the bed sheets had been thrown all over the floor. Her dresser drawer had been emptied and the contents had joined the pile on the floor. Even her family photos had been smashed and the frames were broken. Luckily her plush dolls had miraculously avoided any of the destruction and sat calmly on the bed.

The tiny fridge had also been broken into, and the contents had been dumped on top of the clothes that littered the floor. Not only was their food all over the floor, but every bottle of condiments and ketchup packet had been broken and rubbed into the mess.

"That was some very messy robbers you had here bunny cop," Finnick uttered as he walked through the now open door.

"It wasn't a robbery," Judy mumbled to herself as she picked up the remains of her broken alarm clock. The device had been thrown to the floor several times till the case shattered, but most of the bits remained stuck together and it was still plugged into the wall.

"What was that, dearie?" Sharleen asked. She was the only other mammal in the room that had heard Judy's quiet mumbles.

"It's nothing, auntie," the younger rabbit said softly as she kicked an empty beer can back on top of the pile.

"Wait," Nick voiced as he bent and picked up a similar empty can that had been crushed under a heavy hoof. "When did you start drinking beer?"

"I usually don't," the rabbit replied solemnly.

"I know, but something seems familiar about these cans of Hogswiser."

"Like I said, Nick. I don't really like beer, and have never even tried that brand."

"It's flat and mostly tasteless anyways," Finnnick added with a hint of disgust.

"Hey, the bunny girl is back," a voice declared from the hallway.

"I can see that you moron," another voice chided.

Ignoring the accusatory tone in the second voice, Bucky stepped up to the door and spied the mess that filled the tiny apartment. "I see you finally got our message, bunny girl."

"What message?" She asked, pulling out her phone.

"The message about the strange mammal in your apartment the other day."

"I didn't see any messages from you guys. Why didn't you call the cops or something?"

"We were planning to," Pronk began but Bucky shoved him in the ribs.

"But, since you are already a cop," Bucky cut in.

"We thought telling you was a much better idea," Pronk finished excitedly.

"We even tried calling you when you didn't come home that evening."

"But no one answered and the phone said your voicemail was full."

Judy quickly pulled out her phone and scrolled through the mountain of outstanding messages. "I am so sorry guys. I have just been so busy this week. With my delinquent boyfriend and the baby and family and everything, I haven't been able to check all my messages." Tears started to well up in the bunnies eyes, but Nick was suddenly there to hold her in a tight hug.

"Oh, it's alright bunny girl, we understand."

"Congratulations on the baby, by the way."

"We had no idea you were even expecting."

"Neither did I," Judy chuckled with a sniffle as she wiped at her twitchy nose.

"You two make a cute couple," Sharleen stated sweetly as she watched how Judy's neighbors were acting together.

"We are not a couple!" Buckey nearly shouted into the tiny apartment.

"Would you just shut it," Pronk demanded.

Bucky glared back at the other horned mammal in the hall and yelled, "Shut up."

"You shut up."

"No you shut up."

"Don't tell me to shut up."

"Shut, shut, shut up!"

Gruffly, the tiny fennec fox marched up to the two tall and arguing ungulates. "Hey, if you two geniuses are so bright, did you happen to catch a glimpse of the culprits?"

"Of course," Bucky declared, putting his hooves on his hips.

"We even greeted her when she left."

"She?" Judy asked curiously.

"What kind of mammal was she?" Nick asked, tossing the flat and empty beer can back on the floor.

"She was a goat," Pronk spoke first like he was on a quiz show.

"No, she was a robot," Bucky declared as he jabbed his partner in the gut with his elbow.

"A goat dressed like a robot," Pronk added.

"No, definitely a robot. She walked like a robot, and talked like a robot. she couldn't have been anything other than a robot."

"You're so wrong. I can walk and talk like a robot if I wanted to, meep moop." Pronk began to strut and swing his arms around the hall like they were made of stiff metal. His performance caused the two does to giggle.

"Ok, thanks guys," Judy waved at her two neighbors. "I will file a report with Bogo, and then I guess we still have to clean up this mess." Turning back to the mess in her apartment, she began to photograph everything for the CSI department and the rest of her small group began to collect fresh trash bags.

As the rotten food and other garbage was hauled out to the dumpster, Judy never noticed the copy of a brochure in her bathroom's waste bin. Bold letters marched across the front cover above a picture of happy mammals enjoying a picnic in the sun with their kits. The words read, "Pembroch Family Planning Clinic."

"Hey, what is this?" Sharleen asked as she picked up a small chunk of fur from under Judy's desk. The fur had a mix of grey and brown colors.

"Let me see that," Judy said as she leapt to her aunt's side.

"Is this a clue?" The older rabbit asked excitedly.

"Maybe," the pregnant rabbit said in a slightly hushed voice. She then turned and yelled at the father of her kit as he walked through the open door after another trash run. "Nick! Get me an evidence bag."

With a shrug, Nick smirked at the loud rabbit. "All out dear. Darnit, I left them in my other pants." He then patted down his jersey and back pockets to show that he was telling the truth.

"Har, har. Any sealable baggy will do."

A few minutes passed while Nick went in search of a small sandwich baggy. While waiting, Judy carefully placed the patch of fur on top of her desk. She sat staring at it until the fox returned. The fur was attached to a dried and flaky chunk of skin with grey and brown hairs that were about as long as a full grown fox's fur, or other medium sized canine.

Judy had been studying with some of the CSI detectives and had learned to identify some families of mammals by their fur. Polar bear fur had been pretty easy since, the fur is quite large, completely colorless and hollow, but with this small patch, she could only guess that it was from some kind of canine. The only canine that had been in her apartment recently was Detective Wolfard, and he was completely grey without a single patch of brown. At least none that she knew about.

When Nick finally returned with a small plastic bag, Judy carefully stuffed the patch into it and sealed it shut. She held up the bag and looked through it at the fox.

"Do you know what this means?" Judy asked her partner. "Do you know what this means?" She asked again much slower this time, emphasizing each word.

Nick smirked back at the bunny and shrugged, "What?" He waved his paws at the door. "That the damn lock doesn't work?"

"No," the rabbit replied calmly. "It means that I can legally break my lease."

---

[A/N] If you are curious about the meaning of this chapter then Ask Forky.

So here is my take on Tuskball. I really went into a lot of details in this one and I hope you found it fun and exciting. It is very loosely based off some real world ball games, but my main inspiration came from Monster's University. I didnt want to try and blend a bunch of games like you find in Calvin Ball (My all time favorite ball game) but portray something that is close to familiar while keeping just enough of a twist that it still feels new and different.

How would mammals of such different sizes and physical attributes play a single ball game that wouldn't be entirely one sided. Obvious the elephant goalie who can block the entire goal is a bit excessive, but im sure the game has rules against laying down on the job ;)

I hope everyone spotted the clues I left for the main plot in this chapter so let me know if you have the mystery figured out yet. Everything will be coming together very soon so I am curious if the puzzles were too easy.

Also let me know if you spotted all of the movie references.

Thanks for reading,

OneWolfe-