The day started just like a normal one for Nicholas Wilde. He had arrived at Precinct 1 in the morning, just early enough to not be reprimanded, but still late enough to not be on time, before being sent out on foot patrol by Chief Bogo. The most glaring abnormality thus far had been the absence of one particular bunny: Judy was off sick, so she was recuperating back at their apartment. They had been together, both in and out of uniform, for just over a year now, so it was a strange feeling for the fox to be without her. It reminded him of the days from before he had met her, back when he was just a lowly con artist, living out of his friend's van (or wherever he could find), making a quick buck wherever he could. He did miss the freedom of that life at times, but he didn't miss that life.
He was brought out of his reminiscence as he passed the entrance to an alleyway, when he collided with someone. He stumbled a bit but stayed standing, which was more than could be said about the poor soul he had bumped into. He was about to apologise when his eyes landed on them for the first time, and what he saw made him stop.
At his feet lay a small fox cub, couldn't have been older than 8 or 9. Based on appearances, the cub was a little boy. His fur was more of a golden orange than Nick's reddish-brown hue, with white fur around his muzzle, as well as at the tip of his tail—wait… tails.
Nick was surprised it had taken this long to notice the kit's second tail, but it was there, plain as day. It didn't appear to be any smaller than the other, or even any smaller than his own tail would have been at that age, so his curiosity had most definitely been piqued.
He knelt down to greet the fox, when he stopped again briefly. From a distance, he hadn't noticed the boy's face in great detail, but up close, the injuries were obvious. And they certainly weren't from his little tumble. That was enough to bring Nick back into the moment, and he uttered his first words to the boy.
"Hey there, kid. Are you alright?"
The boy looked up instantly, and the first emotion Nick spotted in his big blue eyes was fear, emphasised by the fact that he was slowly pushing himself away from the officer.
"Hey, hey, it's ok. You're ok." Nick held his hands up as a peaceful gesture, which made the shuffling stop. "My name's Nick. What's yours?"
"M-M…" The kid was still shaking, but Nick noticed that, even though the fear was no longer directed at him, it hadn't gone away. The boy's eyes were darting everywhere, seemingly mostly focused on the alleyway he had emerged from. Something else clicked for Nick.
"Was someone chasing you?"
Suddenly, the kit's attention was back on Nick, as he slowly nodded yes. Finally, he was getting somewhere.
"Was it the same person who hurt you?"
Another nod.
"Ok, kid, I think you need to come with me. I'll keep you safe."
Nick reached his hand out to the boy, who instinctively recoiled, hiding behind one of his tails.
"Hey, guys, I think the freak went this way!" A voice from the alley.
Followed by some fast footsteps. And, before Nick could even blink, the boy had gotten to his feet, and run behind his legs, gripping his trousers tighter than Nick would have thought possible. He could almost taste the fear emanating from the kit.
A few seconds later, a small gang of what Nick guessed were teenagers emerged from the darkness of the alley. They were pretty much all prey species, including one zebra and a beaver, and it immediately gave Nick flashbacks of that awful day when he was a child, just wanting somewhere to fit in, but getting muzzled instead.
He watched as these apparent bullies spotted the young boy clinging to his leg, and then subsequently who that leg belonged to. Thankfully, the mere sight of a police officer seemed to be enough to discourage them from doing anything more to the poor boy, as they all slowly backed away before turning to go back the way they came. But not before one of them decided to hurl one more nasty comment his way.
"You think you're so smart, don'tcha, freak? Well, Mister Police Officer won't be here to protect you all the time, so we'll be seeing you soon, Two Tails." One more glance at the face of the officer in question, who was now considerably angrier, was the only persuasion he needed to leave it there, before slinking back into the alley.
Nick sighed as he watched them go, sincerely debating whether or not he should call it in, but he decided to leave it. The cub still grasping his trousers was his more pressing concern for right now.
"Hey, hey, it's ok, kiddo. They've gone now." Slowly, the big blue eyes looked up at him again, before the kit's muzzle morphed into the smallest smile Nick had ever seen. It was as though the poor soul had forgotten how to.
"Alright, buddy, will you let me take you home? Where are your parents?"
Suddenly, the smile was gone again, and those eyes were filled with tears again. Nick didn't need words for that message to be loud and clear.
"Do you have a home?"
His fear was confirmed when the kit shook his head.
"Ok, kiddo. Do you wanna come with me to the police station? I'll get you something to eat when we get there, if you'd like."
Nod. Nick held his hand out to the boy, who timidly accepted it, allowing the older fox to pull him to his feet. As they started walking back towards the precinct, Nick decided to call ahead to let them know he was returning.
"Clawhauser, this is Officer Wilde, I've encountered a lost child who appears to be a victim of abuse and rather severe bullying. I'll be returning to the precinct with him within the next few minutes, so be ready for us. Maybe have some medics on standby."
After receiving confirmation from Clawhauser, Nick returned his attention to his new companion.
"You know, kiddo, you still haven't given me your name yet." Come to think of it, he hadn't heard the kid say anything yet, so the thought had crossed his mind that he might be mute, but he didn't wanna seem rude by asking. It didn't take long for that theory to get proven false.
"M-My name is M-Miles. Miles Prower."
Before you say anything, yes, I know it's been a while! Mainly from a lack of time and a lack of enthusiasm regarding The Lonely Dragon, which I'm afraid to say is likely not gonna continue (unless I get a lot of requests to keep that one going). That's the main reason I've been gone for so long. I don't really like starting new stories with another one still ongoing, but since my passion for the MLP franchise has understandably diminished quite a bit since Friendship is Magic ended almost 4 years ago, my drive to continue that story just hasn't been there. As of right now, the 'indefinite hiatus' that TLD finds itself will be continuing, well, indefinitely, but I decided it had been long enough, and I wanted to get back into it, so here we are!
Regarding the chapter you've just read (the first chapter of my first crossover story, I might add), I just wanna add a couple of extra disclaimers in here. First of all, Miles Prower here is not the same Miles Prower who lives in Mobius. That is to say that the little fox here does not know any supersonic hedgehogs or big, fat, bald men. This is Miles Prower if he was a character in the Zootopia/Zootropolis universe. I let him keep his twin tails, of course, and his basic character design is the same, and there will probably be other connections to Sonic's best buddy later, but for now, they are only linked by name, species and appearance. He will also be the only Sonic character in here, so don't expect to see any other Mobians here. Sonic and the rest of the gang will be returning in another new story, which will hopefully be coming out not long after this one is finished.
Second, I'm neither confirming or denying that this story takes place in the same universe as my other ZT fic, You Know You Love Me. Nick and Judy being a couple is my headcanon (and probably everyone else's, too), and it will remain this way until it actually becomes canon in Zootopia 2. So, whether or not this is the same WildeHopps couple from YKYLM is entirely up to you. I'm not gonna be making any references to any specific events from YKYLM, but I might reuse some names and descriptions if I need them (for example, if Nick's mother appears in this fic, I'm still gonna call her Martha). As I said, whether or not this story plays out in the same canon as YKYLM is your decision to make.
This is definitely one of my longest Author's Notes to date, but I had a lot to say. I'll see you in the next chapter, though. Ciao for now!
OnTheSpectrum
