Oh wow! Heyo, folks! It's been a while since I had any updates for this story! I've been thinking about The Door/Keyhole a lot lately, and I've decided to finally get back to it. Specifically, to finish off the trilogy! The final story in this series will be called The Key! Not sure just when I'll be writing it, as I have a LOT to review from the previous two stories. That being said, all this thinking about it got me in the spirit to write this little Halloween Special! Nothing fancy, just a cute little peek into how various characters are celebrating my favorite time of the year! It just felt so odd and nostalgic to come back to these characters after so long! I hope you guys like it!
The Keyhole Halloween Special
by
Elite Shade
"Okay, do you have your phone?" Judy asked, smiling up at her son. She was wearing an orange sweater and simple blue jeans. Eli was currently dressed in his ZPD costume, blushing a little while he rubbed the back of his head.
"Yep. And I made sure that it's fully charged," the human boy said, holding up said phone for emphasis.
"You worry too much, Carrots." Nick casually sauntered his way over to them near the front door. Looking out the window, he could see that dusk was inching closer, his ears picking up the sounds of chatter and shrieks from excited kits outside. He was wearing a gray sweater to help ward off the chill, at least until his winter coat would grow in, as well as a pair of brown slacks. "He'll be just fine." He gave Eli a wink along with his smirk.
Ignoring her mate, Judy looked up at her son with wide violet eyes. "I trust you, sweetie," she said while reaching up to give him a hug, that he was quick to return.
"I promise, we'll be safe, Mom." Eli smiled while leaned down and held his bunny mother. Sometimes, when he would first wake up in the morning, the human boy would feel dejected. His sleep-addled mind assumed that coming to Zootopia, meeting Judy and Nick and all his new family and friends, had all just been a happy dream. But the joy he would experience once the cobwebs from the previous night were quickly shaken off and realize that it was no dream, was a feeling he was unable to put into words. Just as they let go, that's when the doorbell rang. Opening the door for his much shorter parents, Eli grinned at the sight of his friends.
"Trick or Treat, bud!" Big Mike called out from atop Isaac's headfur. The mouse boy was dressed as a vampire, complete with a cape. "I vant to suck your blood, blegh!"
"You know," Isaac said, the coyote boy was wearing a dark trench coat over a suit and tie, with a pair of sunglasses on as well. "The vampire bat who played the original emBatcula/em, Bela Desmodus, had a tic that caused him to make that blegh noise."
"What are you supposed to be again?" The deep baritone of Darryl asked. Eli looked down to see the chinchilla boy wrapped in gauze, yet still wearing his aviators.
Isaac rolled his eyes before pretending to speak into his lapel. "I'm a government agent! My job is to find and erase all evidence of aliens, catsquaches, and the paranormal in general, and make any and all witnesses disappear." He held up his paws and wiggled his claws in a spooky fashion.
It was then that Eli spotted Adam, who was standing a little in the back, wearing a costume very similar to Mike's. Seeing Eli's eyes alight on him, the adolescent elephant winced and nodded. "Yeah, apparently me and Mike both decided to go as Batcula tonight," he mumbled.
"I told you that it's okay, Adam," Mike said, turning to speak to the pachyderm. "Next time, whenever costumes are involved, we all know to call each other now."
"Not that that would stop emsomeone/em." Isaac giggled, only to be silenced by Mike tugging on his headfur. Eli was a little confused by that, but didn't have long to ponder it.
"Hey, Eli," Chuck mumbled while munching on a emWhoseawhatsit/em bar. The snacking cougar boy had his fur dyed gray with green painted veins visible, with a fake bloody bite mark on his shoulder, visible through a hole torn in his white t-shirt. Overall, his zombie costume was simple, yet well-executed. He grinned at the human boy, some fake blood slathered going down his chin. "Ready for the best night of the year?"
"You bet!"
Judy stood there, watching her son excitedly converse with his friends, struck by the contrast of how he was when she and Nick had first met him. Scared, alone, hurt, and somewhat withdrawn into himself. A warmth spread through her chest, that only grew in intensity when she felt her mate slip his arms around her waist, hugging her from behind. The fox's muzzle parted her ears as he rested his jaw on her head, his tail curling around her feet.
"I think it's safe to say that he's come out of his shell." Nick's smooth voice was too low for Eli or his friends to hear, but Judy heard him perfectly. She resisted the urge to turn in his arms and bury her face in the soft fur of his neck and simply nodded.
"I'm just so proud of how far he's come," she quietly replied.
"Me too... he really is a strong kit."
"He's emour/em strong kit." Judy turned and kissed the corner of Nick's mouth before they broke apart.
"What do you think?" Ned and Ted asked in unison. The two black bears were wearing a single flannel shirt that covered both of them, with both of their heads poking out of the neck hole. Ned's left arm was sticking out of the left sleeve, and Ted's right arm was being used for the right sleeve.
"That's a pretty cool idea, guys." Eli smiled, fighting back a giggle at the twins' antics. The two ursine were beaming with pride before a white tigress hopped in front of them. Kimi was also wearing a costume ZPD uniform, and struck a pose as she whipped out a fake ticket book.
"Ready to hit the streets, partner?" Kimi purred, her black and white striped tail swishing mischievously.
"Oh wow, Kimi, we both picked the same kind of costume!" Eli spoke, completely oblivious to the looks his friends, as well as his parents, were giving him.
"Yeah, what a coincidence," Isaac snickered, before a sharp tug on his headfur from Mike got him to settle back down.
"I think it really suits you, Eli," Lyla said while slipping in between him and Kimi. The zebra girl was wearing a pirate costume, complete with an eyepatch and a plastic cutlass. Eli blushed and looked away.
"Th-thanks, Lyla. Your costume l-looks really great too." Kimi pouted and crossed her arms, shooting a snickering Isaac a pointed look. Looking on, Judy struggled not to gush at the cuteness of the sight, squeezing Nick's paws with her own. The fox tod smirked at first... and then quickly suppressed a yip of pain as he forgot how strong his bunny's grip could be when she wasn't being careful.
"Alright, kids," Nick said, wincing a little as he managed to manually disengage the vice that were Judy's paws and step forward. "You all have fun tonight. Don't stay out too late, and remember to be safe."
The group of young mammals thanked Eli's parents and started to trickle away, with Eli being the last to leave.
"Thanks, Mom," Eli said, bending down again to give Judy another hug, which she was quick to return. When they let go, Nick found it was his turn. "Thanks, D-dad. I love you."
"We love you too, buddy. Now, don't keep your friends waiting." As Nick said this, he could sense that Judy was filming them with her phone, most likely ready to send it off along with all the pictures she had no doubt stealthily snapped of Eli in his costume off to various friends and family. With one last squeeze, the smiling human boy let go of his fox father and turned to jog to catch up to aforementioned friends. Judy and Nick watched from the open door, seeing the young tigress slip her arm around Eli's and start tugging him closer, her voice drifting over on the gentle October breeze saying that it was already chilly tonight. Nick chuckled as he watched Lyla take Eli's other arm in her own and agree.
"Poor guy still has no idea, does he?" Nick asked while closing the door.
"I thought about bringing it up with him." Judy grunted while she carried the big bowl of candy to set on the small table near the front door. Her smaller gray paw darted out to gently slap the red one that had tried to swipe some of the candy. "That's for the Trick-or-Treaters, Slick," she said, waving a finger in her face.
Nick chuckled and held up both paws defensively. "Can't blame a tod for trying." Judy rolled her eyes, missing Nick tucking the three little boxes od emDorks/em he had swiped with his other paw up his sleeves.
Meanwhile...
"Trick or Treat!" Sarah practically sang it as she stood on the stoop in her bright blue princess costume, looking up at the chuckling female lioness with her bright brown eyes. Her big brothers, Elijah and Elliott were standing on either side of her, Elijah dressed as Ironmammal, and Elliott as Doctor Odd. Nearby, Emmitt and Olivia watched their pups weaponizing the combined efforts of making their eyes as wide as possible, definitely getting larger pawfuls of candy as a result.
"She might not be an otter, but our little princess sure has gotten the hang of the 'Otter Eyes'," Emmitt remarked.
"I thought that it was called the Puppy-Eyes," Olivia said, feeling her husband intertwine their tails. Emmitt took a moment to clean his glasses, beaming at the joy on their pups' faces as they excitedly ran back, Elijah and Elliott now riding on their baby sister's shoulders.
"Mommy! Daddy! We've already got lots of candy!" The little brown-skinned furless mammal was hopping from foot to foot in pure joy.
"You sure have, Princess." Emmitt saw that their little plastic pumpkins were already almost at halfway full, and this was only the fifth house that they'd hit on their street. Internally he was grateful that Olivia had thought to bring some empty pillowcases to pour the candy hauls into. "Let's go on over to Mr. Hornsburger's house next." He motioned to the next house in line, this one with little plastic headstones planted in the front yard, with a large plastic bear skeleton strewn between them. Nearing the open gate for the white picket fence, Sarah stopped, a troubled look on her face.
"Something wrong, honey?" Olivia asked, looking up at her daughter in concern.
"Uhm... the skeleton's kinda spooky, Mommy." Sarah was hugging her pumpkin bucket to her chest.
"Don't worry, Sarah," Elijah piped up, his voice sounding a bit tinny as it came out of the speaker in the mouth of his plastic armor. He stood proudly on her shoulder, striking a heroic pose, one that Elliott was quick to imitate.
"Yeah," Elliott squeaked, swishing his high-collared cape. "Ironmammal and Doctor Odd will protect you!"
"... Uhm... okay," Sarah's face broke out into a happy grin that, despite missing a couple of teeth, was bright enough to practically light up the street. Emboldened by her big brothers, Sarah stood up straight and marched down the paved walkway towards the front door. She slowed a little as they neared the skull of the skeleton, but kept moving. A motion sensor in it was triggered, and the eyes glowed red before it let out a roar. Sarah shrieked and ran the rest of the way up the stairs. Olivia watched her reach up to ring the doorbell, and crossed her arms.
"That seems a little too spooky for little pups," she huffed. Emmitt nodded in agreement, but was happy regardless.
"Maybe, but I think the pups are making Mr. Hornsburger pay for it." As they watched, it was clear that their children were using the same trick as the one from the last house. The middle-aged rhino seemed completely caught off-guard before scooping out some large handfuls of candy for the awaiting buckets. "With interest, it would seem." Olivia wrapped her tail around her husband's and leaned into him.
At that moment...
"Enjoy braving the terrors from beyond," Chaz said, speaking in a deep and spooky voice. The timber wolf was dressed like Freddy Cougar, waving with his knife glove at the group of mammals that entered the entrance of the haunted house behind him.
"We're doing pretty well so far." Arnie, whose costume was that of Barkenstein's Monster, walked over, having gotten a fresh roll of admission tickets. "I think we'll be able to hit the goal for Mayor Snow's new human refugee center well before midnight."
"I still can't believe the Chief actually agreed to this," Chaz said this under his breath before putting on his spooky voice for the next group that walked up to their table. His tail started to wag when he recognized the couple holding paws. "Well, look who it is!"
Baily and Sophia were both blushing, the red-headed human man seeming a little flustered, until the lioness started to rest her head on his shoulder. He opened his mouth to speak when a loud voice interrupted him.
"Yes, yes, I know," Leodore Lionheart said while brushing past Baily and Sophia, a lioness in his own age range on his arm, a large politician's grin plastered on his muzzle. "No one expects to run into the former mayor, especially at a charity haunted house, but please, gentlemammals, I'm just an ordinary citizen like yourselves. There's no need to make a fuss over me."
The rhino and wolf officers shared a look but elected to say nothing. "Uh... okay, welcome to the ZPD's haunted house. All proceeds go to char-" Chaz found himself cut off by the pompous feline.
"Ah yes, the human recollection center! Had I still been in office when they'd started popping up, I would have happily set in motion a program just like it. We'll take four tickets, my good sirs. One for me and my special lady friend here," Leodore purred as he said this, leaning down and whispering something in the lioness' ear. She giggled and lightly swatted his shoulder. As Baily and Sophia watched her aunt flirting with her latest beau, the two were finding it hard not to cringe. "And for Barry and Sophie here. You could say that we're here on a double-date." He flashed the younger couple a wink, prompting the two to look at Arnie and Chaz with twin pleading looks in their eyes.
"Right away, Mr. Lionheart." Arnie quietly chortled, trying to disguise it as a coughing fit. He smiled sympathetically to the pair while accepting the money Leodore had tossed onto the table, tearing off four tickets in exchange.
"Actually," Chaz mused, his tail wagging again, "this whole charity was organized by Mr. Andrew Harcourt, the human whose boat crashed ashore a few months ago."
"You don't say?" Leodore started to scratch his chin, looking thoughtful. "I may have to introduce myself to this young up-and-comer. Maybe see how he would feel about running with me as my new assistant mayor. But, that's a plan for tomorrow. Tonight, we'll see how scary this haunted house actually is. C'mon Benji, Sophia. Let's see who gets startled first."
Baily and Sophia waited for the double doors to close behind Lionheart before they smiled at Arnie and Chaz.
"So how scary is it?" Baily asked.
"Chief Bogo is in a creepy clown costume, slowly stalking the halls in his section," Chaz explained.
"Oooh, ordinarily he's a rather large and... imposing mammal," Shophia chimed in.
"That's putting it mildly," Arnie snorted. "I think he was really excited for tonight." Just as Bailey and Sophia were getting ready to head in, out came a loud, high-pitched shriek. The doors were thrown open, and Leodore came sprinting out, passing right by Bailey and Sophia and the table, almost bowling over a group of costumed mammals.
"NO ONE SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THERE BEING ANY CLOWNS!"
Elsewhere...
"Oh, Renato!" Lily set the bowl of candy she had been holding down on the coffee table, her heart skipping a beat as the large black jaguar entered from the kitchen, also carrying a bowl, this full to the brim with freshly popped popcorn.
"Yes, mi amor?" He purred, taking a seat at the couch. Lily cuddled up to him and pressed Play on the remote, resuming their Halloween Horror Movie Marathon. On the tv, Malevolent Deceased 2 started to pick up from where they had left off.
"You should have seen them! So many cute children with just the CUTEST little gray fox kit riding around on a sweet older human boy's shoulders! All the kids tonight have just been so adorable!" Lily gushed, before composing herself. Renato began to chuckle, it tapering off as he began to look pensive.
"Is something wrong?" Lily asked.
"... Lily?"
"Yes?"
"Before you came to Zootopia... had you ever considered... having children?"
"Oh." Lily looked away, fiddling with the sleeve of her white sweater. "Well... yes, I had... but with h-how... with how m-my marriage was... I think on some level, I knew that bringing any child into that situation wouldn't have been fair to them. So I... just pushed the thought out of my head..."
"I see." Renato felt like he could kick himself for asking such a question. Feeling that he had ruined the mood for their movie marathon, he opened his mouth to apologize for bringing it up, when Lily continued.
"But... I... w-well..." She was now wringing her hands a little, looking away. "I... would like to become a mother one day."
Renato felt a warmth in his chest.
"I'd like to... have a cub or two myself," he confessed. "But... with the scar... I'm afraid I might be a bit too... scary..."
"Nonsense," Lily said, startling the jaguar. "I've seen how you dote on your nieces and nephews. And getting to know you, I've seen firsthand that you are one of the sweetest, gentlest, and cuddliest mammals I have ever met." Renato was grateful that his dark fur could hide the blush he felt. He almost jumped a little when he felt her hand come to rest on his. Looking over, he saw that Lily was looking at him, the sad expression gone, replaced by one radiating joy.
"I think you'd make an amazing father, Marshmallow." He smiled at the embarrassing term of endearment that had seemed to stick.
"I think you'd be a wonderful mother, my Water Lily," he said. Their lips met, with the kiss ending just as the main character of the movie started to fire up a chainsaw.
In Savannah Central...
"Halloween... a night for costumes and candy and smiling happy kits. At least, that's what it looks like on the surface. But underneath the family friendly veneer, beats the dark heart of the underbelly. Tonight is when that darkness likes to float up to the surface. And we, this city's stoic sentinels, are charged with keeping chaos and anarchy from running rampant in the streets."
"I can see why the Chief wasn't too keen on the idea of you wearing your Batbun costume tonight," the human officer chuckled while his diminutive partner furrowed his brow. The two were presently on parking duty, wearing their meter maid vests and hats.
"Oh come on," Jack said, hopping down from the truck in front of the expired meter, having just tucked a ticket under the windshield wiper. "It'd look a lot better than this dayglow vest! Plus, as my side-kick, you could dress up as Sparrow!"
"I don't think so, Jack." Walter printed out a ticket for a mouse-sized SUV that was somehow parked in two average-sized handicapped mammal parking spaces at once. "Well now this just seems intentional."
"Yeah, the nerve of some mammals," Jack said, leaning down to check the license plate as well as to look inside. "No handicap plate, and not even one of those little hangey-things you put up in the rearview window."
"They're called disability placard holders, partner." Walter printed out a tiny ticket, and very gently tucked it under the wipers.
"I still can't believe that Bogo's still got us doing parking duty though!" Jack huffed and pouted, his foot starting to tap in annoyance. "We should be out there, getting into chases, slapping the cuffs on some perps, bagging evidence!"
"Hey now, a boring night is a good night when on the beat," Walter explained, seeing the smaller mammal rolling his eyes. "Besides, keeping new officers on parking duty for a few months is a great way to help get them familiarized with the city, as well as with dealing with less than friendly citizens. Most police work is actually pretty boring, and other times you're dealing with people who are not having a great day. Parking duty can also help weed out the officers who can't handle that aspect of the job."
"... So what you're saying is... we're being tested!" Jack was tapping his chin as he spoke.
"Yep."
"... Got it!" As Jack began to strut along with a newfound confidence, Walter felt a pit of worry start to form in his gut.
"Wait... Jack, what are you thinking?"
"Hmm? Oh! Well, if that little country bunny could make a huge bust like she did with that little Nighthowler incident and become a hero, then how hard can it be for a couple of smart mammals like us?" Jack rested his fists on his hips, striking a heroic pose.
"Didn't that 'little incident' revolve around a large conspiracy involving several high ranking political figures?"
"Only, like, three or four officials other than that crazy ewe," Jack said, waving a dismissive paw. "... And around thirty other mammals, including a couple officers, after everyone was rounded up." He mumbled that last part under his breath.
"Uh-huh... and you think we're going to make an even bigger arrest than that before we've even finished our stint in parking duty?" Walter had become an expert eye-roller since being partnered with Jack.
"Well we've gotta because this is just dull." Jack threw his paws up at that in exasperation.
"Parking duty is also a great way to help some of the more excitable of the new officers help curb some excess energy." A feminine voice wafted over to the pair. Looking towards the source, they saw a pair of mammals that the partners had become more familiar with since joining the ZPD. Nadine Wolford-Fangmeyer came to a stop just short of the pair, with Ralph right beside her. The gray wolf was pushing a stroller, with a happily babbling little Rosalie inside. The human baby was cooing and looking all around with wide green eyes, sparkling with excitement and curiosity. She was also wearing a wolf footed onesie with the soft faux fur the same coloration as Ralph's.
"Well hey there, you two," Walter said, walking up and crouching down to tickle Rosie's feet. She squealed in delight and clumsily clapped her little hands. "And hi there, cutie."
"Hey guys, working a late shift?" Ralph snickered behind his paw. "I take it that someone annoyed Chief Bogo today?" At that, all eyes turned to stare at a certain hare, including Rosie's. The baby looked from Jack to her little stuffed bunny and giggled.
"Hey now, that warthog was looking real sketchy, and I thought he was throwing up gang signs. When he kept making more of them when I tried to question him... well, I thought he was being confrontational... how was I supposed to know he was deaf?" Jack looked defensive, his ears drooping as Walter sighed.
"I do know some sign language... though I've never seen hooves being used to speak it before. But anyways, from what I could tell, that guy was aggressively trying to dispute the ticket Jack gave his car." Jack looked vindicated at that. "But still... yeah, the chief wasn't happy that he kept theorizing that the guy was part of some kind of counterfeit turnip operation which... I'm not even sure how he got to that conclusion."
"The pieces were all there!" Jack huffed and crossed his arms, his ears drooping again. Trying not to laugh, the other three officers changed the subject.
"So... uh... Rosie's been having such a fun first Halloween," Ralph said, his tail rapidly becoming a happy blur, quickly whipping out his phone to show off the pictures in the different costumes they had tried on her.
"And there's been a significant drop in mammals asking if she's a little tiger or wolf cub that just has a condition to cause her fur to not grow in," Nadine said, leaning down to check and check on her little girl.
"Mama!" Rosie shrieked, reaching up for her. The tigress purred and happily complied, passing along the candy bucket to a surprised Jack. He set the jack-o-lantern bucket down on the stoop of the apartment complex they were standing in front of, vaguely aware of the gaggle of small children from multiple species milling at the door. A young giraffe girl dressed like a ballerina reached up to press a button, only for the door to swing open a second later. Out came a lynx wearing a skeleton costume with a plastic cauldron of candy.
"MWAHAHAHAHA! Take a pawful, if you daaaaaaaaaare!" he said in a spooky voice. The kids all found this silly and thanked him, each reaching up to grab some for themselves, quickly scurrying away. Jack was mulling over possible crimes he and Walter could check for while on parking duty, when a shadow loomed over him from behind. The lynx in the skull mask smiled and patted the confused hare on the head. "Here you go, little guy." The big cat dropped some candy into the plastic bucket Jack had been given before walking away. Jack felt a blush on his ears, ready to tell that guy off. Then he saw that one of the candies was a 3 Catketeers bar, and decided to let it slide for tonight.
Heyo! Be sure to keep an eye out for my final installment in The Door series, The Key! And have a Happy Halloween! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!
