Author's Note: Hey there, everyone! Today's story is gonna be a little bit different compared to some others that I've done.

Awhile back, I said that I was going to be sharing with you a few AU one-shots that I wrote, and now's the time that I will be doing just that. This and the others that will follow were all random ideas that sprouted in my mind, all of which I wanted to get written but didn't want to turn into a large story. So I thought maybe I would turn them into short stories like this about.

I'm honestly not sure what exactly inspired this one, but for some reason I was struck with the idea to write something about Nick and Judy and basketball. So I decided to come up with this AU, where our favorite fox and rabbit are both basketball players that aspire to become professionals at it. :)

But anyway, I hope you all enjoy this little story of mine. As always, let me know what your thoughts are on this. Your feedback, whether good or bad, is gladly appreciated.

Enjoy! :)

Right outside of the small town was neighborhood park roughly two acres in size. It wasn't exactly the best in appearance when compared to others that much more lavish, such as the ones in inner-city Zootopia, but it was perfect for anyone looking for somewhere that was quiet and secluded.

The park consisted of two small play areas for kits, as well as a picnic area that hadn't been used in quite some time. A short distance away from those play areas was a basketball court. This had been the most commonly occupied space within the park, and it was certainly visible to anyone that glanced over at it. The paint that had been placed over the court's concrete slab looked as if it was fading away from what its original colors had been. While one of the hoops was in pretty good condition, the other on the opposite side barely had any netting on it. These things did not affect folks from coming over and playing on it, however.

It was around five o'clock in the afternoon, and the park was no longer in its state of being completely quiet. The stillness of the area was now greeted with the faint yet audible sound of a basketball being dribbled against concrete. The court was currently occupied, this time by two pairs that were playing against one another. One of them was a pair of two wolves, and the other was fox and a gray doe.

The game started as soon as that fox and rabbit arrived at the court, only to realize that it was being occupied by the wolves as they practiced.

"Sorry," one of the wolves said to them, "but the court's occupied."

It was in that moment that the doe, possessing a naturally competitive personality, said the words that started the match between them. "Why don't we play you for the court?" was what she said in reply. "Whoever loses goes home."

The two canids turned out to be a bit cockier than she originally perceived them to be, and they accepted the proposition immediately.

"You hearin' this, Gary?" the brown-furred wolf remarked to who was standing beside him. "The little bunny and her friend wanna challenge us to a game."

The white-furred canid, who standing to his right, nodded back at him. "Yeah, I sure did, Larry," he replied. "Guess we better show 'em that we're the rulers of this court."

They remarked to one another that it would probably be easy to play better when put up against a rabbit, but little did they know that that "little bunny" they were joking about would end up being a really good player. The same went for the red fox that played alongside her.

Despite the pair they were playing against having quite some basketball skills, it was possible that the two wolves wouldn't have to eat their words. The little match against the bunny and the fox was off to a rocky start, but they managed to make up for it in the last few moments.

Gary quickly passed the ball to Larry, who dribbled it as he got closer to the hoop in his midst. The fox tried to deflect the the brown canid's shot attempt, but he didn't jump high enough to successfully do so. The vulpine grunted under his breath after being so close to blocking it.

The ball traveled up into the air and, landing on the rim and spinning around it before going through the net. It then bounced one time against the concrete right before Larry caught it in his paws, dribbling it as he ran forward.

The red fox approached him and followed his steps, managing, much to his dismay, to catch the dribbling ball. As soon as he got control of it, he swiftly turned around and passed the ball over to the lagomorph, who was on the opposite side of the court. The doe leaped into the air got it before the much-taller white wolf could. Positioned sideways to the basket, she gently threw the ball above her and scored.

"Nothin' but net!" she proclaimed with a wide grin. "It's anybody's game now."

"We'll see about that," Gary, the wolf that failed to block the pass, responded. He said this was an exhausted-sounding sigh, this being due to the fact that the bunny was surprisingly kicking his tail.

The basketball match carried on from there, with each pair of players anticipating a moment to secure victory with their fast reflexes. Near the end of the game, Larry thought he was going to be the one that scored the winning basket, meaning that they would be the ones to keep their spot on the court. This, however, did not last for long, as he managed to have the ball stolen from him for the second time.

"Not again," he mumbled through gritted teeth.

"You snooze, you lose, wolf," the tod joked.

He dribbled it behind his back with great finesse before passing it back along to the gray rabbit, who continued to dribble within the presence of the other canid near her. As she did this, Gary watched the ball carefully, waiting for the opportunity to jab at it with a quick paw and swipe it from her. However, the "cute little bunny" he thought he was going to be up against was faster than his canid reflexes.

At the perfect time, the doe spun her body away from him to create a better distance before running up to the basket. She hopped into the air with all of her might and put the ball straight through the net with a slam dunk. A clanging sound from the aging basket rang through the unoccupied park as she let go of the rim and jumped right back down to the ground again.

That was when the game concluded, with the basket made by her being the very thing that declared her and the fox the winner of it.

"Who are you two?" Larry inquired as he wiped the sweat running down his forehead. "You secretly professionals or something?"

The tod grinned back at him and responded, "The name's Nick Wilde." He pointed at the rabbit that joined him at his side and added, "And over here's Judy Hopps."

"But you can just call us the new rulers of the court," the bunny chimed in.

"Well," Gary said to them with a sigh, "you guy's one the court fair and square. But we'll be back for a rematch sometime, though."

With that, the two wolves grabbed the basketball they brought with them and walked away. After they left the park and it was just them on the court, the fox and rabbit gave each other a quick high-four.

"You played as great as ever, Carrots," Nick said as he walked over to the basketball that belonged to him, which sat in the grass surrounding the concrete during the match. He spun it around on a single finger before passing it to the bunny.

Judy smiled back at him as she started to bounce the ball against the ground. "Thanks," she replied. "Been doing a ton of practice in hopes that a chance to play against others would come about."

The vulpine responded, "We couldn't have won that match against those wolves had you not made that winning basket."

"My friends always said I was the bunny with the best dunk," remarked the gray doe.

Nick chuckled. "And they're not wrong. With skills like that, you sure to get a ticket into the league someday."

"You really think that, Slick?" inquired Judy. "I mean, there's never been a bunny basketball player in the professional league before. You think I can become the first one?"

The fox nodded his head. "I sure do, Fluff," he replied optimistically. "There's only a few foxes in the ZBA right now, but my goal's to be the best one to ever play in it."

Judy smiled at the concept of them both, somewhere in the future, going from just two friends playing at this court to true professional players. Just then, however, they heard two other voices approaching the court.

She and Nick turned around to see who was coming their way. Another pair was stepping up to the court, consisting of a slender, white-furred vixen and a striped jackrabbit.

"It's Jack and Skye," Nick said to the bunny near him.

"Wasn't expecting to bump into you guys here," Jack told the two, "but honestly this is some pretty good timing."

"You didn't forget about that rematch we agreed on having, did you?" Skye chimed in, directing her attention towards Judy.

The gray leporine flashed her a competitive grin. "I sure didn't," she remarked in reply.

"Skye and I have been homing our skills a bit since the last game," Jack said informatively. "It's funny because we were just talking about the whole rematch thing and then we saw you were both here."

"Time to see who gets the title as the best fox and rabbit on this court," the arctic vixen beside him said to the pair in front of her, her tail swishing with anticipation for the basketball match between them to begin.

"Oh, it's on," Judy responded.