07
live & let die
A reminder to everyone that this work is under 'T or PG-13' rating as it contains situation that would require some form of 'trigger warning' (like assault, blood, suicide, violence, etc.) which the author (yours truly) wants to reiterate with an imperative sentence: PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
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Up in Polar Mountains, inside the estate's security office, Kozlov was dozing over his keyboard. All his footage were clean and his lines quiet. Then suddenly a buzz could be heard from the silence as light shone on the right pocket of his black coat — indicating a very important call.
'Yes, Boss,' he said softly to his phone. He couldn't have spoken any softer if he had wished to. He didn't want the mammal on the other line think he was being disrespectful.
'Tell all your eyes to watch out for three mammals.' The accented, slow and raspy voice said, giving a brief description of Savage, Muttler, and Mousawitz. 'They may be coming in this evening or tomorrow. Tell them to watch particularly the coordinates I'll have Raymond send you. The evening spotters too, at Halibuts, in case they're missed coming in.' Then a stern warning followed. 'They're not to be iced. Got it?'
'Yes, Mr. Big, Sir,' the polar bear said, breathing fast. The voice went quiet and then he immediately took the whole handful of plugs and soon a massive switchboard came alive with winking lights. Urgently, in contrast to a moment earlier, he shouted commands on into the evening as he received the key positions each mammal was expected to arrive at.
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At six in the evening a jackrabbit woken up with a start. He reached under his bed and pulled out a pair of his own shoes he had carefully kept out the suitcase full of his belongings that the ZCIA had taken away from him that morning. He put them on and felt somehow equipped to face the night.
Thirty-minutes after, he went down to the Cloven Hoof and chose a table near the entrance against the wall. Moments later Vince Mousawitz came in. Jack hardly recognized him — his neatly brushed fur was now disheveled and instead of his white shirt and tie, he was clad in a pink shirt and a lime-green polka-dot tie.
With a broad grin, the ZPD officer sat down. 'I suddenly decided to take this mission seriously,' he explained. 'This would only last until we return home successfully. At least, that's what I hope.' he added.
The drink Jack ordered tasted harsh to him. And the larger mammal reflected that they would have to be careful on what to eat or drink as well.
'We'll have to keep on our toes, where we're going,' Vince echoed his thoughts. 'Every place in the city's a jungle these days. Mammals are not like what they used to.' He extracted the lemon peel from his glass and chewed it reflectively. 'Most places often toss certain species out by the ear, simply because they're born that way. And they don't get any sympathy from the government nor the police either.'
They finished their drinks and Mousawitz called for the check.
The jackrabbit paid for both of them. 'Let's go,' he said. 'We'll have our tails some fun now we need to try and get in Frosty Road and back in one piece. After all, this is what our case requires.'
'We won't find many cabs that would want to go to Tundratown after dark,' The pair walked out the bar and took a few steps to the bus stop.
Jack, as soon as they were seated, studied his own map Roxanne has encircled to point out the location of the citadel which housed the Big Boss himself. And with his nostrils flaring slightly, he settled his gaze in front — compact and confident. He longed to get in and after the shrew who was undoubtedly waiting for them to openly read him. . .page by page, and word for word.
(-from Chapter 7, Live Let Die, Book 3 of The Savage Seas series, by J. L. Hopps.)
Skye's battered body fell on the tiled bathroom floor, though in fairness of the situation, the coolness was actually kind of nice against her burning fur.
"You scum of the earth!" a female lemming inmate screeched.
The vixen grunted as she felt another punch to her gut from a mare inmate this time, but it didn't really hurt as badly as the one from the female hippopotamus before.
A voice from behind hissed afterwards. "This is what happens when you trust filthy foxes like her to walk about this city."
"Mother of Karma," the arctic fox groaned as she continued to receive another round of beating in the communal area. A week has passed since the other inmates went from verbally abusing her to randomly lunging at her whenever she was alone. They were so incessant about it to the point where the assaults no longer surprised her.
The female porcupine growled this time. "You ugly piece of shit!" Adding a good kick to the back of the head so forceful she began seeing stars.
'Who knew the Jack Savage love train extended all the way to the holding cells of Zootopia's prisons.' the vulpine laughed to herself as she took another punch to the ribs.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Officer Fangmeyer's voice rang out from the entryway and the half a dozen inmates took off in different directions. She tried to run after one of them, but when she saw the vixen bathing in her own blood pool, she decided getting her to the infirmary was the utmost priority.
Skye's trial was set in two days, and she was hoping to keep her distance from everyone else (including visitors) until then but, apparently, her cellmates had different plans their own.
"Heidi, I need you to patch Winters here." The tigress cop said to the ZPD nurse staff the arctic fox has never seen before.
A female hedgehog promptly turned to check the multiple wounds and bruises on the vulpine's body. "Oh, dear Lord, Nadine! What happened to her?!" She gasped, delicately cleaning the blood off the latter's forehead. "I don't know who you are, or what you did Miss, but no mammal deserves this kind of treatment."
'Like hell would I believe that!' Skye was now known as 'The Arctic Bitch from Hell' in the media (all thanks to the Jack Savage fan club), and mammals within or outside of Zootopia have been sharing their opinions about her — from her biology, psychological state, upbringing, and, worst of all, the verdict they deemed she should receive. . .death penalty.
With a laugh that now held no emotion, the wounded inmate pushed the nurse's hand away from her. "You'll take that back once you find out why I'm here. Might as well let me return to my cell."
Trying to stand back up again, the vixen immediately collapsed towards the ground. By Inari's grace or sheer dumb luck, Officer Fangmeyer (or Nadine as the hedgehog supplied for her) caught her before she could smash her head against the floor and ruining the carpet with her blood.
"Would you please lay still, Skye?" Rolling her topaz eyes, the feline helped the arctic fox back down on the clinic bed.
"Ugh. Why are you doing this?" the vulpine asked with squinted eyes. "You are so kind to me when. . .no other mammal is. It's getting a little suspicious you know?"
An unusual smirk appeared on the tigress's muzzle. "You have more mammals rooting for you aside from your silver-tongued cousin and his fennec partner." She gestured to the mirthful hedgehog. "Now be quiet and let Nurse Heidi treat you."
Nodding with a small (genuine) smile of her own, the vixen relaxed back against the stiff mattress. She kept her eyes closed and tried to ignore the stinging of her body as the nurse continued her work.
The arctic fox must have fallen asleep because she had woken up to another ZPD officer —the rhinoceros from the night she was arrested — shaking her arm. "Inmate 817 you have a visitor for today."
"Tell whoever the hell they are that I don't want to see anyone." she groaned and turned the other way.
He huffed. "Don't start with your attitude, Winters. I'm also not in the mood to mammal handle anyone today."
Skye made a face and exhaustively pushed herself off the bed, every ounce of pain in her body making a reappearance. The cop didn't seem to notice or care that she was obviously injured as he led her out the door and through a room in the visiting area.
"You have thirty minutes." The rhinoceros declared, before slamming the door.
Resting her arms on the table the vulpine took a seat, coasting on autopilot, as the door opened again — to reveal her (not so) favorite author in the world (anymore). "Oh, wow!" Heavy sarcasm laced in her tone. "Hey Jude, long time no see! To what do I owe the pleasure?"
J. L. Hopps shook her head and chided her gently. "Please, Skye, let's not complicate things even further. I just need to ask you one thing." The bunny was dressed in a coral blouse and mint green pants today which made her look like a pale upside-down carrot, but the larger female decided to keep the comment to herself.
"Uh, I don't think a question would miraculously change anything—"
"I only need an honest answer." Seven glossy photographs were pulled from a manila folder and the rabbit smaller paw pads slid them under the gap between the glass. "I brought these photographs with me, and I was hoping—"
"To teach them how to apply pressure on the wounds better?" The arctic fox grinned, not caring if the author believed nor liked her anymore. 'Nothing matters, anyway.'
The doe rolled her eyes and waved a paw at the portraits of different female mammals — comprising of an equal number for both prey and predator species. "Do you recognize anyone in these photos?"
Glancing down at them, it only took the vulpine a second for her to slam a fist onto the far-right picture. "Uh, are you here to torture me with this crazy lady's face?" She spat icily. "Is me accepting my fate, your brother's slap, and your friends' violent reactions towards me, not enough? Do you also want her to haunt me even in my dreams?"
"No, Skye. It's not - I'm, uh, here to apologize in their behalf — especially for Tommy's actions." J. L. Hopps said, her amethyst eyes flooded with remorse and her normally round cheeks were deep-set from obvious stress. "But I also, want to hear the full version of what you witnessed that night. Can you do that?"
"Not accepted." Skye retorted with irritation, both towards the author (for her relationship with that Tommy bastard) and herself (for not being able to stay mad at the bunny and her genuineness). "Also, what for, huh? No one, not a single mammal outside my family, has given a shit about my testimonies," Chuckling dispassionately, she leaned back in her seat with a smirk. "And that's more than one question already."
"I do! I give a shit!" The doe said sternly. "And not just for the buck still in coma!" Her fierce eyes meeting the vixen's almost hopeless sapphires once again.
'This doe will be the rutting death of me.'
With a grip to the back of her neck, the fox held the smaller female's gaze and sighed. "I was. . .on my way home from work when I heard arguing on the alleyway of my apartment building," she began to tell her. "My nosy ass didn't know who they were then, but I just couldn't watch the crazy lady stab the rabbit and so I—"
"What were they saying exactly? Can you still remember?"
Running her blunt claws through the top of her head, the vulpine tried to recall the two mammal's conversation. "Uh, the mongoose called Jack a prick and he told her to stop. But she said she'd only do so if she's made sure he'll never be happy. Then after hoping he'd die slowly and painfully. . .jabbed a dagger of sort in his side."
"Monica really said and did all that?" J. L. Hopps furrowed her brows.
The vixen nodded with a slight huff. It was good to finally put a name on that lady's muzzle, but it sure tasted like rust in her mouth. "Yes, to both, one hundred percent."
"Was he breaking up with her?" She asked, foot thumping desperately.
"I don't - wait what?" A slacked jaw arctic fox couldn't believe what she heard. "I, uh, thought - aren't you and Jack together? The cops even said he's your partner that night!"
The bunny eyed her like she was completely insane. "Oh no, no, no! I'd stab my own arteries before I so much as date my own brother." She kept on clarifying their affinity. "He's indeed my partner, though that's more on the business side of things - like a producer and an actor collaborating."
Skye's heart fluttered out of the blue. For some weird, unexplainable reason, she was relieved the two lapins were not romantically involved.
(Now if only she could force herself to come into terms with the fact that the two of them were also Tommy's siblings.)
Then realizing that the actual suspect was Jack's own (hopefully ex-) girlfriend, she instead exclaimed: "I, uh, can't believe that the face of Calfin Klein and a fashion devotee like your brother would ever date a mammal who's not only psychotic but also flaunts around Zootopia in a hideous dress."
"What are you talking about?" The doe blinked her now owlish eyes. "What dress?"
Snorting at her reaction, the vulpine explained. "The night I saw them in the alley, the deranged mongoo-" she cut, and corrected herself. "-eh'm I meant, Monica, was wrapped in a neon green popcorn dress with a corset. Though I bet you ten dollars, she got rid of it already since Jack's blood made her looked like a walking Kitmas garland."
With her eyes wide (whether in disbelief or amusement, the vixen wasn't sure), the rabbit pursed her lips before bursting out in fits of adorable giggles. It lasted but a few seconds, thanks to the timer buzzing the twenty-five-minute mark, yet a flash of warmth pierced through Skye's chest.
"Molly told me about your suggestion, Skye. And I really appreciate your concern, as well as your cooperation today." She beamed at her before taking on an ambiguous expression. Her eyes in particular, spoke every emotion that wasn't painted all over her muzzle — gratefulness, determination, regret, sorrow, and pity. "I'm, uh - I'll, update you myself. . .as soon as Jack wakes up."
The vixen grimaced at this. "You're not allowed to come see me again unless you have your partner in tow, okay?" A half joke which the doe seemed to understand as she smiled at the larger female one last time when she was ushered out the visiting room's door by Officer Fangmeyer.
The characters, miscellaneous, and settings are owned and trademarked by Disney, and in no way, shape, or form do I claim ownership over them nor the world of Zootopia (aside, of course, from my original characters and some fictional places that I added) - though I would never not thank Byron Howard and Richard Moore for giving us these anthropomorphic mammals that we love to hate (I don't know, Jack and Skye are growing on me...particularly in this work) or hate to love (still a Nick and Judy shipper...if you have an issue - there's the door!) because without them, this retelling would not have existed.
Not one (not even two) but THREE consecutive (late, I know. . .my apologies) updates! Whoop-whoop! What can I say. . .after seeing your support and reading your feedback, I'm feeling more generous today (or because I'm also impatient and a perfectionist — which is the worse combination if you're writing a suspense plot). In line with that, I purposely left the last two Chapters before this without the full version of my AUTHOR'S NOTICE because I find it a bit redundant to have three separate notes containing the same thing:
a) I'm not going down with the Nick X Skye or Judy X Jack ships (even though I don't actually hate it) and I don't want to be that person who'd use them as an obvious escape goat (no actual mammal was harmed during this process lol) for the story. . .also I really see them more in a sibling/nibling light (especially the silver rabbits). But would I be ever open to writing a story with their pairings in the future? I would, but as I've mentioned. . .my schedule (sadly) doesn't allow me to publish another Zootopia fanfiction; also
b) As you've undoubtedly took noticed, I finally introduced more characters (there's a ton of them actually) aside from the ones in the tag section. Most of them (like the other minor characters so far) are from the list of Zootopia characters — with their names (Heidi is in fact Hedy, I only changed the spelling), species, and (sometimes) profession. While the rest are either OCs or characters without first names or last names; and finally
c) I'd be honored if this work would be feature in the Zootopia News Network (I knew it existed, with how much research I've been doing for mirroring/parallelism with the canonical timeline. . .but I still can't believe we have it — next I'm going to find out, Zootopia is real lol!) and even if, for some reason it won't be, I'm still grateful for all of you interacting and (even silently) viewing my stories. It makes all my hustles for writing worth it and my bunny/fox hybrid of a heart leap in joy!