Chapter 7 Zootopia Police Department

The strange reptile girl sniffled and shook as she sat in the back seat of Judy and Nick's car. After Judy had read her Miranda Rights to her, she had been a bawling mess. She was wiping her eyes and looking out the window, almost as if she was considering using the spikes on her giant shell to blast through it. Judy thought that doing so would be incredibly stupid, as they were currently going sixty miles an hour. Any attempt to jump out of the care would cause the reptile girl to go splat.

Judy sighed and turned on the radio. She flipped through some stations, doing her best to find one that would not only appeal to both her and Nick, but also drown out the horrendous cries coming from the turtle in the back seat. She did not have time to feel sympathetic for this girl, as distraught as she may be. She had done something illegal and had the audacity to insult a police officer afterwards. Anyone who called a bunny cute, unless they were a bunny themselves, should know that the result of such condescending words would be frustration from the receiver.

Judy continued flipping through the radio stations until she found a song that was audibly pleasing. She smiled and turned up the volume so that she and Nick could hear the words sung by Zootopia's treasure, Gazelle.

I'm a bad cop!

Rolling down the street

Stopping all the criminals

Who aren't discrete!

I'm a bad cop!

Having fun as I arrest

Putting my protection skills

Up to the test.

Nick yawned and leaned back in his chair. "Ugh. This garbage? Can you change it?"

Judy raised an eyebrow. "You don't like Gazelle?"

Nick shook his head. "No. I think she's overrated. Besides, she steals the spotlight from more deserving, less spoiled performers."

Judy snickered. "That's an incorrect opinion if I've ever heard one."

"Why thank you," Nick said with a smug smirk. "If I didn't have incorrect standards, I wouldn't have standards at all."

"True, true." Judy sighed. "Fine. I'll turn the music off." With that, Judy turned the volume all the way down. Looking through her mirror, she could see the criminal still sniffling. "Miss, what's your name?"

The reptile girl hesitated before speaking up. "Wendy."

"And what part of Zootopia are you from?"

Wendy blinked. "Zootopia? This is what this world is called?"

Judy and Nick exchanged a look, taken aback by the stupidity of that statement. Nick turned so that he was facing Wendy through the glass that seperated the front of the police car from the back of the police car.

"Zootopia is the name of this city," he said, trying and failing to hide the fact that he was appalled.

Wendy blinked. "Oh." She scratched the back of her shiny bald head. "That's an odd name for a city."

Judy sniffed. "It isn't at all. The founders of the city meant it to be a pun on the word 'utopia,' hoping it would in fact be a utopia where the predator and prey population of the world could live in peace and harmony."

"Which you should know," Nick said as he cast Wendy a raised eyebrow. "Unless of course, you're so stupid that you forgot what happened in your history classes."

Wendy's face turned scarlet. "I'm not stupid!" she shouted.

"Hey," Judy said. "No back talking to the cops. The more belligerent you are, the less likely the judge is going to be nice to you when you're put on trial."

Wendy's eyes grew wide. "I...I'm going to be put on trial?"

This time, Nick facepalmed. "No," he said as he lifted his head, "you're gonna meet the fairy queen and have dinner with her."

Wendy blinked again as she furrowed her brow. "That's weird. I wouldn't have expected that there would be a fairy queen in this world."

Judy and Nick exchanged another look. Nick's jaw dropped as he stared at Judy, looking for an answer as to why their prisoner was so….strange. But then again, maybe they shouldn't have been surprised. After all, Zootopia was a place where mammals got along in harmony. Reptiles were never a part of Zootopia because...well, as far as Judy was concerned, she had never met a sentient reptile, let alone one that looked as bizarre as Wendy.

But she couldn't question this. She still needed to look at this with a clear, objective level of understanding. Despite her biases, that was something that she had been trained to do. That was something she was expected to do. That was something that she wanted to do.

So, they continue their drive to the police station. Despite the fact that Nick had said that he didn't want to listen to Gazelle, Judy still hummed the tune to "Try Everything." It was her favorite song, after all, and it helped to give motivation when the times were more than a little tough. Thankfully, Nick didn't object to this, at least not verbally. He just gave Judy a raised eyebrow and leaned back in his seat.

The Zootopia Police Department, or the ZPD, was a welcome sight to the rabbit officer. She pulled into the parking lot of the two story, glass building. After putting the car in park, Nick was the first one to get out. Judy followed close behind, and she got Wendy out of the car within not time at all.

"Once again, you have the right to remain silent," Judy said. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

With that, Judy pushed Wendy along into the building. She looked like she wanted to fight back, but was unable to due to the handcuffs around her wrists. She kept swallowing lumps in her throat, an action that Judy just wasn't going to sympathize with. She couldn't. Officers didn't get paid to sympathize with people; they got paid to give criminals justice.

The inside of the ZPD was crawling with rodents and other, far larger animals. Clawhauser was sitting at the front desk, which Judy was thankful for. Considering the fiasco that had happened during the Night Howlers Conspiracy, as well as the problems people had with predators, it was very nice to see that a cheetah was being given equal opportunities again. Clawhauser, waved at them as he took a sip from his diet root beer.

"Hey Judy, hey Nick! I see you caught another criminal!"

"Mmhm," Judy said.

"It was pretty easy, all things considered. It's almost like they wanted to be caught," said Nick with a smirk. While Judy rolled her eyes at this statement, even she coudln't deny that there was some truth to it.

"Awesome!" Clawhauser said. He squinted at Wendy. "What an odd looking species. I can't recall ever seeing someone who looked like this in Zootopia."

"Yeah, I know," Nick said as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "It's quite...come se dice….peculiar."

Judy nodded. With that, she brought Wendy over to the jail cell. By this point, the reptile girl had swallowed so many lumps that Judy wouldn't be surprised if her stomach looked bumpy later on. Once she was in the cell, Judy removed the handcuffs and closed the door.

"You will stay in this cell until you either pay bail or we get to your trial. Your sink and toilet are obviously right there, and your meals will be brought to you. When we find it necessary, we will set you up for questioning. Do you understand?"

Wendy sniffled. "Yes….Ma'am."

Judy nodded. "Excellent." With that, she and Nick walked away, leaving the criminal to bawl her eyes out in the cell.