(A/N: Ok, cool, we got some readers that seem pretty eager for more and some who have seen the fan-film. Cool. I really want to draw more attention to it, it's so well done. I'm actually going to hold the actual movie's sequel up to it's standards, and those are going to be big shoes to fill IMO. For now though, let's take a look at the next chapter)
Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is just a novelization of a fan-film. All credit for the story and its original characters belongs to Mauricio Velazco/Browntable.
Chapter 2: Talks And Investigations
Judy had worked hard to get to where she was, and she took her duties as a cop very seriously. She had wanted to be one ever since she was a little kid, and had been determined to move to Zootopia and become one no matter what the cost.
Everyone had doubted her. There had never been a bunny cop before, and they all thought she would never make it. Not even her parents. Oh sure, they were supportive of her, but they also made it clear that they would have preferred that she take up a different profession, preferably a safer one closer to home.
But any doubts and words of discouragement from others only served to make her more determined to prove them wrong. So she studied hard and used every skill she had to get ahead, using her smaller size and agility to her advantage, eventually graduating with top marks from the academy.
Even after being assigned to the ZPD, she had still faced doubt from everyone. That is, until she had found all the missing animals and exposed Bellwether's plan, going from the most looked down on cop in history to the hero of the city. It had been on this assignment where she had first teamed up with Nick after… persuading him to help her. And they had been partners ever since, often working together on assignments.
Not all assignments though. Sometimes they went solo. And Judy was currently in the middle of one. After Nick had dropped her off, she had been sitting dreamily on her bed, letting her mind wander. Her gaze had fallen onto her wall of suspects, and as she stared at it, something suddenly clicked in her mind, and she began piecing events together in her head. Perhaps having the day off had cleared her head enough for her to realize what was right in front of her the whole time.
Feeling as if she were onto something, she snatched her phone off the table beside the picture of her and her family and the one of her and Nick. She began going through the list of names and numbers she had gathered for this case until she found the one she was looking for and dialed the number. She waited anxiously until a voice at the other end answered.
"Hello, is this Byron Moore?" she asked, keeping her tone pleasant, for now anyway.
"Yeah, this is he," the animal on the other end answered, sounding somewhat impatient.
So the contact information had been accurate. That was good. Now it was time to go into cop mode. She allowed her voice to take on a more authoritative tone. "Alright, I'm calling on behalf of Jared Bush. We represent your colleague named Steven Darnoll, but goes by the alias Wolfgang?" She waited for him to confirm the name, but only received silence. "We need to know his location."
Another pause, and she wondered if Moore was contemplating what he should say, if he should say anything. But then he replied, "Yeah, I haven't seen him."
She didn't believe that for a second. "Sir, we know you've known each for a long time, and we both most certainly know that your friend has been caught multiple times for drug-related charges, the last one of which resulted in the assault of a potential buyer."
More silence, but the silence was telling. She waited for a response this time, wondering if he wanted to do this the easy way or the hard way, but she was going to get to the bottom of this, one way or another.
"Listen, lady," Moore growled, "I don't know who you are, but I'm telling you again… I don't know–"
Judy rubbed her head in frustration. It seemed like he wanted to be difficult. Well fine, if that's the way he wanted to play. She knew how to bluff, and she had the dirt to get Moore to cooperate, if he really cared about his friend that is.
"Your friend is in serious problems, Mr. Moore!" she interrupted, her tone letting him know that she was not in the mood for games. "I am his attorney, and I need to be in contact with him to protect him!"
"You're asking the wrong guy!"
Ok, time to lay her cards on the table. "Do you want me to list his felonies?"
"The last time I saw him was when we split up–"
"Possession of a controlled substance."
"–after a night of drinking and pool–"
"Possession of amphetamines. Possession of cocaine. Sale of a controlled substance."
"That's the last time I ever heard from him–"
"Sale of illegally acquired prescription drugs."
"Lady, listen–"
"Assault and battery."
"Listen–"
"I can keep going!"
Moore finally fell silent. Judy took that as a good sign. Hopefully now that he knew that she knew the kind of trouble Wolfgang was in he would be more inclined to help. While she did feel a little guilty for lying in order to trick Moore to give up his friend, it was just something that needed to be done. Technically, what she had just done, pretending to be Wolfgang's attorney and listing his crimes, was illegal and unethical, but the guy was a dangerous drug dealer, and he needed to be gotten off the streets. For that, a little… stretching of the rules was justified.
"I am the only one who can help your friend and reduce his sentence," she pushed, hoping he would take the bait.
She gave him some time to think about it and heard a flabbergasted sound escape him. "Alright, fine! Fine, I'll tell you. I know where he is."
Hook, line and sinker. It seemed that Judy was finally going to get her perp. "Where is he?"
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While Judy was busy on her drug bust lead, Nick had decided to enjoy the rest of the night elsewhere. Well, perhaps enjoy wasn't the right word. He was really just taking advantage of the one-dollar drinks deal, drowning his sorrows as much as he dared without getting plastered. Probably not the best choice so late at night when he had to be at work early the next morning, but after Mr. Bateman pretty much screwed him over, he needed to just not think for a while.
"You want me to beat him up for ya?" Finnick asked after Nick finished explaining his predicament.
Nick let out a small laugh at the thought of the fennec fox beating up a porcupine. Mostly because he could actually see it. Finnick may be small, but he was hot-tempered and could give animals bigger than him a real run for their money.
"No, not… not necessary," he replied, giving the smallest of shrugs. "Not the greatest apartment anyway."
Which was true, but with his current money issue, it had really been all that he could afford at the moment.
"You know who he gave it to?" Finnick asked.
As a matter of fact, Nick did, having looked into the matter to see if he could work out a better deal. "Yeah, I do. I looked it up. It's his niece. Ginnifer… or something."
Which made him wonder if Mr. Bateman really had intentionally screwed him over or if he had just raised the price because he had wanted to give it to his niece instead. A part of him did wonder if it was simply because he didn't want a fox as a tenant though. Foxes being sleezy and untrustworthy was a false, unfair stereotype he had long since gotten used to. He didn't know if that had actually been the case here, but it wouldn't surprise him if it was.
"Pfft," Finnick scoffed. "What kind of name is Ginnifer?"
"I don't know," Nick replied, taking another sip of his drink. "What kind of name is Finnick?"
The smaller fox mock glared at him. "Hey, my mother gave me that name… Nicky."
The nickname gave Nick a flashback to Judy calling him that, and he gave his own mock glare to his friend, only his was half-serious. "Oh, don't you start with that too!"
Finnick glanced at him suspiciously, and Nick realized that he had just blown his cover and fell silent. He knew Finnick would expect him to elaborate on his comment, but Nick really didn't feel like getting into it right now; he had enough on his plate.
Letting out a sigh, he set down his drink. "I'd rather not talk much, Finnick. Not in the best mood."
Finnick glanced down at the drink he had set down then back up at him. "Well, spending all the money you should be saving should definitely cure it."
Nick resisted the urge to growl at his comment. Mostly because he was right. He didn't want to hear that right now though.
"Don't…" he began irritably, but then reined in his anger, "tell me how to spend my money."
Then, just because he was feeling stubborn, he took a dramatic sip of his drink. He knew that he really shouldn't take his frustration out on his friend. Finnick was just looking out for him. The had met as teenagers and had started out as rivals in working the streets before realizing that they worked best together. They'd been friends and partners ever since, pulling scams and making money off the naïve animals of the city. He really owed a lot to Finnick, especially now since the little fox was letting Nick crash at his place.
Several long moments of uncomfortable silence settled between them before Finnick finally broached the subject. "Are you like this because of the apartment, or because of her?"
Nick wanted to swear. He really wished Finnick hadn't brought this up. And there was no doubt that they both knew who "her" was. They were best friends who knew nearly everything about each other, including Nick's feelings for a certain rabbit cop.
He didn't reply though and merely glanced at Finnick. His friend waited for him to respond, but when Nick refused to say anything, he asked, "Did you tell her?"
"No," Nick answered right away. "She's a rabbit, I'm a fox. There's no way…"
He couldn't say it, but there was no need to. What he was thinking, it wasn't natural. Who ever heard of a fox and a rabbit being together? As friends, maybe, but as something more? No, it was completely unheard of. More than that, it was taboo. Animals would say such a relationship was unnatural, disgusting even.
While interspecies relationships weren't completely unheard of, they were always somewhere in the same ballpark. A lion and a tiger, a sheep and a goat, a zebra and donkey, a coyote and wolf, and others of the like, such relationships were very rare, but they did occur. Overall though, animals tended to stick to their own kind. Some looked down on interspecies relationships, but generally they were accepted.
This though, what he was thinking, was completely outlandish. Typically, any two species that were so genetically different that offspring was impossible between them was considered unacceptable. A predator and a prey definitely fell under that category. And a rabbit and a fox, that was probably as taboo as it could get, natural predator against natural prey. Only someone who was certifiably insane would consider such a relationship. Nick guessed he fell in that category.
"Look, man," he continued, trying to dodge the topic, "I'm not really in the best shape to be confronting her with all this anyway."
It was a lame response, but it was all he had. And while he would never admit it to anyone, the truth was, he was scared. Scared of where he wanted his relationship with Judy to go, and what it would mean for him. He still remembered her invitation to "coffee", and he understood the implications behind it. And while he knew he was possibly being presumptuous and misreading her words as something other than what they were to what he wanted them to mean, he didn't think so.
Nick was good at reading people, and he had most definitely been picking up on the signals that Judy had been dropping. While he did find her harder to read than others, that little bunny wore her heart on her sleeve. He was definitely picking up on her interest, but his own insecurities were getting in his way. He cared about her more than anyone and treasured their friendship more than anything. While the possibility of having a romantic relationship with her was something she seemed just as interested in as him, he was also fully aware that it could lead to disaster and ruin their lives.
As all these thoughts ran through his head, he felt Finnick nudge him. "It's not that bad, bro." He waved his own drink around. "It's… it's like a band-aid, just rip it off."
Nick rolled his eyes. That was easy for him to say, he wasn't the one in love with a rabbit. He wasn't the one whose feelings could end up destroying the best thing that ever happened to him. Just tell her? Like it was really that simple? No, this was the furthest thing from simple.
If he were also a rabbit or if Judy were also a fox, then yeah, maybe, but the circumstances were a little different. Society would never accept a fox and a rabbit together. They would be outcasts, rejected as undesirables. No, he couldn't do that to her. He wouldn't let his feelings ruin her life, not after she had worked so hard to get to where she was.
"How about this…" Finnick continued, seemingly oblivious to Nick's thoughts, "tomorrow you go and buy her donuts?"
Nick glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "Donuts?"
Finnick smirked, making Nick wonder if he had suggested chosen donuts due to the cop cliché. "Yeah, she'll love it! I know women."
"Uh-huh," he muttered, cutting his eyes at his friend. "Anyway, don't you think it'll be awkward?"
Looking entirely too smug, the fennec fox just shook his head. "Nope! I don't see how."
Nick almost wanted to sigh. If only society was as accepting as Finnick. He didn't care that Nick was in love with a fox. But he supposed that that was because he, like Nick, was also stereotypically viewed as trouble by default simply for being a fox. Outcasts tended to support each other, because they knew what it was like to be rejected, so they tried to have each other's backs and be more accepting.
"Well, trust me," he told him, "it's awkward." His mind turned back to their conversation in the car, and even though he had told Finnick that he didn't want to talk about it, now that he was, he found that he couldn't stop. "I mean, tonight in the car was the weirdest thing. Just long pauses and stares… I mean, what is that? Come on. Awkward."
Finnick gave him a look. "Not as awkward as a grown fox wearing a diaper to earn some money," he pointed out, reminding Nick of how he usually had to play the role of a baby to Nick being his father in order to gain sympathy and pity from other animals in order to scam them. Which, ironically, had been how they had met Judy.
"Grown?" Nick teased, attempting to lighten the mood. "Now you're pushing it."
"Yeah, yeah," Finnick mumbled. "Look, buddy, just tell her how you feel. She's snappy, but she isn't a jerk. I can tell you that much. I mean, how much damage can a bunny do?"
A lot, that was the answer. When that bunny was constantly hopping around in his head and heart, it could do a lot of damage. But the truth of the matter was that Nick wasn't even really concerned about Judy. No, what he was really worried about was everyone else.
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Judy could admit that as passionate as she was about her job that she could also be a little too overenthusiastic and reckless. With the lead on Wolfgang's whereabouts, she had gotten up extra early the next day to follow that lead, sending a quick text to Nick of where to meet her.
According to Moore, Wolfgang was hiding away in Tundratown, a section of Zootopia designed to always maintain a cold and icy temperature for animals that liked the snowy weather. He had given her the address and room number of where his friend was staying, still believing that she was Wolfgang's attorney.
Taking out her phone, she glanced at the time, seeing that it was 6:35 in the morning. Nick hadn't met her where she told him she would be, and she wondered if he had even seen her text. She wanted to catch Wolfgang before Moore decided to warn him that she was coming. The last thing she needed was for him to run.
As she made her way through the apartment to the room number Moore told her Wolfgang would be at, she sent a quick text to her partner.
Nick, where are you? Call me.
–Judy
She waited as long as she dared, but still got no response. Letting out a sigh, she decided that she couldn't wait any longer. Having found the right room number, she slowly approached and knocked on the door. She listened for any sign of movement from inside, hoping that the perp was still here. She did indeed hear movement from inside, and a short while later, the door opened to reveal a white-furred stoat.
At the sight of him, a smirk crept up Judy's face. That was him alright. Steven Darnoll, aka Wolfgang, the drug dealer she had been looking for. It seemed that Moore had been telling her the truth.
He was going to run. She saw it in his eyes as soon as he took in her police uniform. And a moment later, he turned tail and rushed into the room, heading straight for the window.
"Stop!" Judy shouted, charging in after him.
Sometimes, she didn't know why she bothered. They always ran, and telling them to stop never did anything. But she did things by the book. Before she took any action, she always gave her quarry the chance to comply, even if they never did.
Without so much as looking back, Wolfgang rushed towards the window, the closed window. He didn't even hesitate before jumping straight through it, sending broken glass flying everywhere. He had guts, Judy would give him that, seeing as they were several stories up. Or maybe he was just that desperate to escape justice. Either way, she immediately leapt out the window after him and soon found herself on the roof of the building next door.
"I'm warning you," she called after him as she gave chase, "stop!"
Just as she expected, he kept running, and even called tauntingly over his shoulder, "You're never catching me, just give up!"
Not likely. She would chase him all throughout Tundratown if she had to. "You think I'm giving up?"
As they ran along, her eyes moved above him to a string of lights hanging down. Seeing her opportunity, she used her jumping skills to leap up and grab them, pulling them down. She came down on Wolfgang, putting him in a police-hold as she tackled him. This caused them both to go tumbling off the roof.
"Wait, wait, wait! Whoa!" Wolfgang cried as they dropped towards the ground, letting out a high-pitched yell.
But Judy was already on top of things. Using the string she had grabbed, she wound it around Wolfgang as they fell. He continued yelling as the ground rushed up towards them. But then their fall halted before they hit as the string acted as a bungee jump cable, stopping them before they hit the ground and leaving Wolfgang securely bound and hanging in the air.
From up above, Judy let go of the string and landed safely on the ground. With an arrogant smirk, she crossed her arms and calmly waltzed over to the stoat. He wasn't going anywhere any time soon.
"Wolfgang, I presume," she said smugly. "You're under arrest."
(A/N: Ok, so this chapter ended up being shorter than I expected, but that's because I decided to split the next video installment into two chapters, otherwise it would have been too lengthy, plus this was a good place to end the chapter. But because I'm splitting this chapter into two, I'll post the link for the next video in the next chapter. Actually, I'll most likely be splitting the remaining installments into two chapters to keep them at decent lengths. This chapter mostly focused on the drama Nick was facing in his life, particularly with his feelings for Judy, who has shown that she knows how to handle herself, but we already knew that. Stay tuned to see where things go from here.)
