Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Past the pink van walked Judy. She had just exited the Hopps warren and now opened the barn door. Her jaw dropped to the dusty floor as she laid her eyes on a tricked out black Zooyota 4x4, not unlike the one she had seen at Carrot Square a week ago… No, that was yesterday… Strange.

Judy couldn’t believe it, this was a dream come true for her. She approached the pricey vehicle and ogled it for a while. Something on the hood caught her attention. Just as Gideon had promised, there were heart-shaped pies inside a box. Judy laid down the greeting card next to them and inspected the vehicle further. There was a clock on the dashboard.

Time and date: 10:36 - Saturday, 26th October 1985

“How about a ride, miss?” asked a friendly voice from the open barn door behind Judy. She turned to see Skippy. He looked the same as always: Great, handsome, enticing, with wonderfully fluffy cheeks, and like someone to fall in love with. “Skippy, oh, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” admired Judy verbally. She stepped closer to her boyfriend with nothing but love in her eyes. “Let me look at you.”

The buck was hard-pressed to understand why his girlfriend was making such a big deal out of seeing him. Judy had to think hard but for him, their last interaction had only been the previous day. The disoriented lapine put her hands on his shoulder and took one of her buck’s hands. She only stared at him with a dumb look on her face, she was completely and entirely lovestruck.

“Judy, you’re acting like you haven’t seen me in a week,” said Skippy. “I haven’t,” was the only response he got from his girlfriend. The buck patted down the doe’s black tipped ears. “Are you okay?” asked the buck caringly. “Is everything all right?”

The stunned and happy doe looked back at the Hopps warren. Stu and Bonnie stood in the doorway, arms around each other. They were watching Judy and Skippy with smiles of their own. Now that they had been discovered, though, they headed back inside, leaving the younger couple alone to allow for some more privacy for them.

The time traveller looked back at Skippy. “Aw, yeah. Everything’s great,” said the doe gladly. They moved closer to each other, the two bunnies were about to kiss. This was a happy reunion that needed to be celebrated. Their lips almost met, when…

Judy noticed her fur stood up on end, charged with static electricity. Skippy’s did the same, which was most easily visible on his puffy cheeks where his fur was a little longer.

A sonic boom interrupted the moment and the young lapines both turned. All four bunny ears were briefly blown about violently from the accompanying sharp blast of wind. The Jokemobile streaked up in front of the house! Tires screeched and the time machine drove over one of the rubbish bins before coming to a stop on the driveway.

Judy approached the frosted over vehicle with her boyfriend following close behind. She noticed the licence plate no longer read ‘OUTATIME’ and instead simply displayed what the doe assumed to be some type of bar code of sorts. The white plastic door opened up and Nick jumped out, more frantic than Judy had ever known him. His clothes were very bizarre and unlike anything the bunny had ever seen anywhere else before. It looked like an odd mixture of past style and unfamiliar futuristic elements.

The slender red fox wore a light yellow silk jacket that reached all the way to below his knees. Or was that a light green jacket? Maybe in different lighting conditions, it would appear slightly differently. Underneath it, there was a red collar shirt with white text symbols of one of the interior’s many languages, neatly arranged in a grid pattern, alongside depictions of black spiders all over.

A piece of plastic hung from Nick’s neck. It took Judy a moment but she finally realised this was his tie… a transparent tie. Furthermore, the tod wore yellow trousers, or maybe they were green, and black boots with bright red bootlaces. Short dark green socks peeked out from inside the boots. They covered not only his feet but also the bottom end of his trouser legs. But most strikingly of all, there was a shiny pair of metal glasses on Nick’s long snout. They covered his eyes completely.

“Carrots!” he exclaimed frantically. The tod ran over to Judy and grabbed her shoulders. “You’ve gotta come back with me!” The doe waved a hand in front of the strange headwear. “Where?” she inquired in confusion.

“Back to the future!” he clarified quickly while raising the opaque glasses up to his forehead, revealing a wild-eyed face beneath. Nick opened one of the rubbish bins and rummaged through it. He picked up peels from potatoes, carrots and other vegetables. The fox had found the compost bin. Judy and Skippy both stepped closer. Neither bunny had the slightest idea what the tod in front of them was trying to accomplish there.

“Wait a minute, what are you doing, Slick?” inquired Judy. The vulpine picked up a discarded can of carrot juice from another bin and looked at the label carefully. On the back of the time machine, there was a shiny new device which Judy had not seen before. Nick must have added it some time in the future, since she was unfamiliar with the brand. There was a white tube-like structure with a black base and a little window on one side. It was labelled ‘Westingmouse Mr. Fursion Home Energy Converter’.

“Go ahead, quick. Get in the car,” Nick urged his friend. He turned the whole attachment on its side, revealing an opening beneath. In went the veggie peels, one by one. “No, no, no, Slick,” protested Judy. “We just got here, okay? Skippy’s here. We’re gonna take the new truck for a spin, enjoy pies.”

Nick emptied out the last few drops of the old can of carrot juice into the tube. Then he threw in the can itself as well. “Well, bring him along,” The fox once again turned to Judy and leaned down to her eye level. “This concerns him too,” he elaborated.

“Wait a minute, Nick. Wha… What are you talking about?” asked Judy. Her nose possibly might have twitched once. “What happens to us in the future? Do we become jerks or something?” The bunny was confused as to what would have Nick so concerned. And why did he need her at this very moment? He had a time machine, he could come back the next day or next week or any other time.

“No, no, no, Carrots,” insisted Nick. “Both you and Skippy turn out fine,” he calmed. “It's your kids, Judy! Something has got to be done about your kids.” Skippy turned to his girlfriend with big and very round eyes. She awkwardly turned to him too. Now the doe would have to explain time travel to him.

The lapine pondered on something for a moment, though. Why would Nick get her and Skippy from this very day? Why not from years later? She would have more context then. If there was a bigger problem with their children, why would Nick take them to the future at all, instead of just telling the young bunny couple how to prevent whatever would be happening by being better parents?

Nick sat back down in the driver seat of the Jokemobile. Reluctantly, the two bunnies joined him with Skippy in the middle seat and Judy in the outermost passenger seat. She closed the door next to her, as Nick was already pulling out of the driveway. He stopped again right away, however. Last night he had backed up much further, Judy remembered it vividly.

“Hey, Slick, we better back up,” advised the doe. “We don’t have enough road to get up to eighty-eight.” She turned to face Nick with a sceptical look on her face. He established eye contact with the bunny, sporting a sly smirk on his own face.

“Roads?” he asked dismissively. The fox flipped down his metal glasses once more. “Who still drives on roads?” The vulpine made this sound like it was a rhetorical question but Judy could not for the life of her think of a logical answer that made the fox’s tone less confusing. “Where we’re going we don’t need… roads.”

Nick hit a new switch on the upgraded dashboard. Judy felt the time machine move upwards, lifting itself into the air. It was actually hovering. How was this possible?

The bunny looked at the fox, hoping for an explanation of what was happening. Skippy meanwhile was growing increasingly anxious, as indicated by his twitching nose. The Jokemobile started flying off, gaining altitude and accelerating rapidly. Judy and Skippy were pushed tightly into their respective seats.

The time machine blasted off into the sky like a shooting star moving backwards. Once again, coils started glowing and soon enough, a white flash of light signalled their departure into the future…

Time and date: ??:?? - ?????, ??th ????? ????

A series of staccato flashes of white light through the windshield were quickly followed by pouring rain. Visibility was almost nonexistent. Nick flipped on the windshield wipers, but they did not help much. In front of the Jokemobile was a small yellow dot rapidly growing bigger and bigger. The fox behind the controls of the time machine jerked the steering wheel around and the entire vehicle nearly turned sideways. Judy and Skippy screamed, it felt like they were on a roar-a-coaster! The bunnies both had their ears back at a defensive forty-five degree angle.

There was honking outside, coming from the yellow dot as it whizzed past. Nick manoeuvred the Jokemobile to the correct side of what appeared to be floating lane markers. The lapines both tried to look back to see what had almost hit them. Their noses didn’t just twitch or even wiggle, no, they were vibrating.

“What the butternut squash was that?!” asked Judy, exasperated. The fox two seats further left appeared stressed and maybe a little annoyed but certainly not shocked in any way. His ears were pointing back slightly, likely from the adrenaline kick of almost getting hit by what surely had to be some sort of missile.

“Taxi cab,” responded Nick definitively. This confused the doe. How come a taxi was flying? Judy now noticed several other dots whizzing about, all at dangerous speeds. She looked closer. These dots might have looked like fireflies initially but now the doe could tell something very surprising. They were all vehicles! Most of them were cars but there was even a tractor or two. The bunny was sure there was a misunderstanding. Maybe they weren’t cars but rather kites or oddly shaped model planes, right?

“What do you mean, a taxi cab?” asked the confused bunny. “I thought we were flying.” This situation was a little overwhelming to the young time traveller, she was a little on edge. “Bingo,” answered Nick. He piloted the Jokemobile with intent focus. “All right, Slick,” said the doe with a healthy dose of forced calmness. “What’s going on? Where are we? When are we?” The answers to those questions, Judy hoped, would clear up most of her confusion.

“We are descending towards Bunnyburrow in the Tri-Burrows…” said Nick. He paused and lifted his strange metal glasses to look at the time readouts. His clawed finger pointed at numbers in the ‘Present Time’ section as he read them out loud. “…at four twenty-nine p.m. on Friday, October twenty-first, twenty sixteen.”

Time and date: 16:29 - Friday, 21st October 2016

“Two thousand sixteen?” repeated Judy incredulously as she perked her ears at the impressive number. Skippy stared at Nick and out the window behind him. He was likely wondering what he had gotten himself into and why Judy wasn’t nearly as shocked as she should have been. “You mean we’re in the future?” asked the doe. Her boyfriend now whipped his head around to face her. The buck’s ears mimicked hers, as they now stood up tall as well.

“The future, Judy, what do you mean?!” he asked in disbelief. “How can we be in the future?” The grey-furred bunny relaxed her black tipped ears and opened her mouth to talk. She was thinking hard about how to explain the entire situation to her boyfriend. “Uh, Skippy… Uhm…” She was likewise very fascinated by whatever was outside the windows. It was mostly darkness, stormy clouds, and rain.

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but…” she said. The doe turned to her lover and formed a sly grin with her lips. “Remember the thing Nick had asked me to check out last night?” Skippy replied with hesitation. “Yes, what does this have to do with anything?” Judy’s smirk grew even wider. “You’re in a time machine,” she revealed. Skippy stared out the windshield. He needed some time to wrap his head around this reality. Judy understood, she had felt the same initially. “And this is the year two thousand sixteen?” he asked in disbelief.

“October twenty-first, two thousand sixteen,” clarified Nick. His mind was primarily occupied by driving… piloting… the time machine. “Gods, so like, you weren’t kidding,” the buck blurted out in shock. Not knowing what else to do, he kept staring at his girlfriend, who gave him a warm and smug smile. “Judy,” he said. “We can actually see our future.” The doe wasn’t ashamed to admit, at least to herself, that his reaction was adorable. She still rolled her eyes, though, because his words did not reveal any new or useful information. He needed more time to understand all the implications of time travel. Judy would make sure to help him wherever she could, if he had questions.

“Doc,” started Skippy, turning to the vulpine to his left. “Now, you said we were married, right?” This apparently flustered the fox. “Yeah, uh…” he stuttered. “Yeah?” asked the buck. He was smiling broadly. “Was it a big wedding?” Judy had to admit, she would have loved to hear the answers to those questions too, now that they had already gotten asked. “Wwwellll…” Nick dragged out the word dramatically, unsure how to respond.

Skippy turned to his right again to face the doe beside him. “Judy, we’re going to be able to see our wedding!” She knew Nick had gotten them for a reason, and seeing the start of their marriage was not it. The doe needed to steer the conversation away from this topic but didn’t know how. “Wow,” she deadpanned sarcastically.

The bunny glanced over to her vulpine friend for guidance. He lifted his opaque shiny metal glasses once again and threw Skippy an odd look. One of his ears pointed up while the other one pointed off to the side. This pose looked cute from Nick, Judy had to admit. If Finnick were with them, he would surely call the red fox jealous right about now.

“I’m gonna be able to see your wedding dress early!” gushed Skippy. Judy huffed in amusement. “Oh, don’t you dare,” she responded. Like before, her sarcasm was likely not very convincing at all. Regardless, the two bunnies in love shared a genuine laugh. The tod next to them shot another glance their way.

“I wonder where we live,” continued Skippy. The buck started to ramble. “I bet it’s a big house… our own farm, can you imagine?” His face lit up as an idea crossed his mind. “The Whitaker family wouldn’t be complete without lots of kids…” The bunny turned to the fox in the driver seat. “How many kids…”

“Hold on, Skippy,” interrupted Nick with a concerned look on his face. Judy thought she saw a hint of a smug smile there too. The buck stopped talking. “Let’s not jump to conclusions too quickly now.” Skippy stared at Nick and so did Judy. “Do you mean we won’t have many children?” asked a confused buck. “Wait, are you saying we can’t have children? Will we adopt?”

If the doe wasn’t sure before if Nick was smirking or not, now there was no doubt that he was. “You’re hopping from one thought to another quickly there, rabbit,” said the smug fox. He put an emphasis on the word ‘hopping’. “Might I interest you in some grade-A deluxe Bunny’s Leap?” he asked.

“Nick, what are you talking about?” asked Judy. Her boyfriend nodded at the question. “Here,” answered the tod. “I can show you.” He pulled out a penlight device and brought it up to Skippy’s face. It strobed blue light and exuded an electronic beep.

The buck passed out.

Judy’s ears shot up. She swatted the odd device away, concerned for her boyfriend. “Nick!” she exclaimed frantically. “What the red hot chilli peppers are you doing?!” The concerned doe lovingly held Skippy’s head to prevent him from slouching over uncomfortably. The bunny’s nose was once again twitching quickly. Of course, Nick was a good friend who could be trusted and who would never hurt a fly, but this was a little too far for Judy’s liking, especially because there was no warning whatsoever.

“Relax, Carrots,” he calmed. “I put him to some well needed Bunny Sleep. With a space exactly in the middle, between the Y and the S. A bunny that is sleeping.” The fox held up the device again for his lapine friend to see. Judy had no idea what the object’s purpose was, so getting another look did not help to ease her nerves. “It’s just a sleep-inducing alpha rhythm generator,” explained Nick. Those were big words, the doe almost understood some of them. “He was asking too many questions and no one should know too much about their future.”

The fox flipped down the shiny glasses again and shifted his focus back to flying the Jokemobile. Judy still had no idea what they were there for. “This way, when he wakes up, he’ll think it was all a dream,” reasoned Nick. While he talked, Judy checked up on Skippy. She gently pulled his eyes slightly ajar. He looked fine, just asleep. The bunny furrowed her eyes and looked at the fox like he was the dumbest individual in the car. Right now, he might very well have held this title. “Then what did you bring him here for?” Judy demanded to know. This question from a confused lapine sounded very accusatory.

“I had to do something,” huffed Nick in response. “He saw the time machine and I couldn’t just leave him there with that information.” Judy shook her head in disapproval. “Don’t worry,” dismissed the fox. “He’s not essential to my plan.”

By now, the doe was very miffed. She stared her fox friend down. “I’m not lying,” he assured awkwardly after a brief pause. “I believe you…” responded Judy calmly. Her irritation did not go unnoticed by the fox and he turned to face her. “Then why are you looking at me like that?” The tod spoke slowly and with uncharacteristic uncertainty. The frustrated bunny sighed and nodded. “Well…” she said, unconvinced. “I guess you’re trying to help… You’re the Slick, Nick… The Doc, I mean.”

“Here’s our exit,” the vulpine said, changing the topic. He was more than happy to drop the subject for now and piloted the flying time machine between more floating lane markers. This had to be an off-ramp.

Through the clouds the Jokemobile descended. It flew past a levitating sign which read various disconnected words and phrases:

‘Welcome’

‘Bunnyburrow’

‘Mayor Dawn Bellwether Jr.’

‘A Nice Place To Live And Farm’

‘Please Fly Safe’

‘Ejection Seats Save Lives’

Around the sign with all the bits of text was an array of numerous awards and logos. The whole set was well illuminated by a group of lights forming a loose circle around the structure.

Time and date: 16:35 - Friday, 21st October 2016

The Jokemobile threaded the needle between two rows of houses. Nick landed it in a side alley and flicked some switches, and then he did absolutely nothing. Judy looked at him sceptically. Putting Skippy to sleep, leading a young doe into a dark side alley, what would be next? Those thoughts were merely the bunny’s humor, of course, but her confusion was genuine.

“Are we… gonna head out?” asked the curious lapine. “You can go right ahead, Carrots,” responded a smug fox. He checked his wristwatch. Judy reached for the door handle but didn’t open it yet, she waited to see what the tod beside her would say next. “I’ll wait here for five more seconds.” 

The lapine narrowed her eyes. Had she missed something? She looked around, out of the windshield and the window on her side of the vehicle. Judy’s ears fell behind her back. “Right…” she said in acceptance. “It’s pouring rain.” She leaned forwards and glanced out the windshield. The cloud cover did not look like it would subside any time soon.

Not a moment later, the rain stopped at once, it was very abrupt. Bright sunlight fell down into the narrow side alley and through the Jokemobile’s windshield. Judy could now see there was no ice or frost on the stubby hood of the vehicle, the rain must have molten it before they had landed.

“Right on the tick,” praised Nick. He looked up to see the sky all clear and blue. “Amazing. Absolutely amazing.” He checked his wristwatch again, then opened the driver door and stepped out of the time machine. “Too bad the post office isn’t as efficient as the weather service.” Judy got out of the vehicle too, still looking at Nick expectedly.

“First you’re gonna have to get a change of clothes,” explained the vulpine. “You’re taking me shopping in the future?” asked Judy. After Nick had been so smug about waiting for the rain to subside, the bunny simply had to retort with her own sly remarks. “I have a boyfriend, you know.” Nick rolled his eyes and smiled.

The bunny took this moment to observe her surroundings. The alley formed a narrow pathway between brick buildings on both sides, though it was wide enough for the Jokemobile to fit into just fine. Next to the doe stood a strange machine. It had pipes running down into it from the adjacent building and a vent which exuded a slow and steady stream of steam. This thing looked like air conditioning, but why was steam coming out? Judy found some branding, she looked closer, hoping to find out more about this odd device. ‘Fursion Industries’ and a matching logo. It looked like the same icon as the one on the new addition on the back of the time machine, Mr. Fursion.

Surely, this one machine wasn’t everything that was new in 2016. Nick alone had quite the number of unusual gadgets on him already. There had to be more to discover in the future.

This was the future. There had to be more to discover right now, right here.

Judy looked down the alley to find a familiar building. It was the courthouse with the iconic clock tower. This side alley branched off of Cabbage Road right at Carrot Square and ran parallel to Pitchfork Way. The bunny was lost in thoughts about what the future might bring and how Carrot Square would look in 2016. Had Bunnyburrow officials decided to bring back the pretty greenery? Was the tree still there? Did it look even more run down than it had in 1985?

Those thoughts were all interrupted when Nick started speaking in an apologetic tone. “Excuse the disguise, Judy,” he said. “…but I was afraid you wouldn’t recognise me.”

What was he talking about? What disguise? The doe would recognise this fox, he was a close friend. She turned to face him, then she reacted with disgust. The vulpine pulled on his fur right under his snout. He pulled it right off… No, not just the fur, the skin too! Was he a robot now? What sort of science-fiction was this? The fox peeled himself. What he removed from his face looked like a material similar to silicone or plastic. The tod pulled it off like a mask, except he ripped it apart completely. The bunny simply stared in disbelief and slight discomfort at those strange body modifications.

“I went to a rejuvenation clinic and got a whole natural overhaul,” explained Nick matter-of-factly. The lapine slowly nodded along but struggled to follow. “They took out some wrinkles, did a fur- and claw repair, changed the blood, gave me a vaccine for pneumonia…” Nick listed those things like they were a common shopping list. It all sounded very alien to the past bunny, however. “Added a good thirty to forty years to my life. They also replaced my spleen and colon.”

With a stronger final pull, Nick removed the rest of his unusual mask. This action revealed an almost identical fox underneath. He looked indistinguishable at first glance. Perhaps the tod appeared a little bit healthier and younger. This version of Nick looked like a blend between the Nick from 1985, who Judy was familiar with the most, and the Nick from 1955, who the bunny had seen for only the past week.

“What do you think?” asked the fox with an anticipating smile. The doe nodded at him in response, still firmly keeping her sceptical expression. “You look good, Slick,” she said. Her sarcasm might not have shown as much as she had hoped. Regardless, Nick smiled genuinely, then he turned to the time machine and started rummaging around.

Judy had enough of her friend’s antics for now. She turned towards Carrot Square once again and slowly started to step in its direction. “The future…” she murmured to herself. “Unbelievable.” The bunny addressed Nick. “I have to check this out, Slick.” She didn’t take her eyes off of the clock tower. It looked different but the lapine couldn’t quite tell why. A second later, she felt a hand on her shoulder. “All in good time, Fluff,” said Nick. “We’re on a tight schedule here.”

This struck the bunny as odd. How could they be on a tight schedule when they literally had a time machine? For now, though, the lapine gave in to Nick’s disappointing answer. The future of Bunnyburrow would remain a mystery for a few more minutes.

The fox hadn’t commented on the bunny’s own life, however. “Tell me about my future,” requested Judy. “I mean, I know I'll make it big.” The doe was daydreaming. Her guitar playing would surely be something impressive with so many years of practice. “Do I become, like, a rich rock star?” she asked. Anyone could be anything, right? Who was to say Judy couldn’t step up into a famous musician’s footsteps?

“Please, Carrots,” responded Nick with a hint of irritation. "No one should know too much about their own destiny.” He went back to rummaging in the Jokemobile. “Right, right…” Judy took her friend’s reaction as a ‘no’. She likely wasn’t famous in the future. The bunny grabbed the transparent plastic tie dangling from the fox’s neck and pulled him back around to face her. “I am rich, though. Right?” This last question wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. Judy liked to tease Nick about everything and anything sometimes, including money.

“It’s a bummer…” sighed the tod. He didn’t feel like joking back and forth at the moment. “Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this. Maybe I should just forget this whole thing and take you both back home.” He was deep in thought. “Hey, I’m sorry, Nick,” responded Judy honestly. “I’m just excited, that’s all. Everybody wants to know about their future.”

“The bunny got that right,” came a new low voice.

Chapter Text

Time and date: 16:39 - Friday, 21st October 2016

“The bunny got that right,” came a new voice. It was very deep, as if a large mammal was speaking. However, it came from below even Judy’s line of sight. This meant the voice could have belonged to only one mammal. The doe turned and saw Finnick with a disposable white and green cup in hand. The word ‘Snarlbucks’ was printed on the side above some company logo, and inside appeared to be the remains of a black coffee. Unlike the larger fox, he wore his usual eighties attire. Judy greeted the tan-coloured fox with a tight bunny hug. In response, he growled and slightly bared his teeth playfully. This was his way.

“Of course, we are all curious,” reasoned Nick. “It’s why I built the time machine in the first place.” He leaned down to be on the same eye level as the doe. “But nobody should know too much about their own future.” Nick could be a real tease and a smug sack of sarcasm, so to see him so serious was still very odd to the bunny. She had only ever seen him like this on very rare occasions.

Finnick started talking in his usual low and ever so slightly monotone voice. “Rabbit, you and your handsome buck-friend, who I’m not jealous of in the slightest, will have children in the future, but they messed up big time. Come go and fix it.” Judy looked at Nick expectedly. Finnick’s joke struck her as a little odd but that wasn’t too unusual for the little fox. He made his point clear regardless. “Yeah,” agreed the bunny. “You told me a lot about my future already. So why not go all out on the big reveals?”

The red fox wasn’t in the mood to entertain himself with humor, apparently. “Judy, please,” he huffed. “Take off your shirt. You need a twenty-first century disguise.” The doe raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really now? Right here? Young doe, not even twenty yet, in a dim alley with two slightly elderly male foxes and you tell me to undress?” It was impossible for the bunny to keep a straight face while saying that. Her smirk was challenging Nick’s. Finnick didn’t even attempt to hide his chuckles. “This is so sad. Ibexa, play Polepole.”

Judy had no idea what any of the fennec’s words meant, it had to be some weird future joke for sure. Her smirk didn’t falter, though, and she kept talking. “I have a boyfriend, you know,” she teased, repeating her own joke from a few minutes ago and playing right into Finnick’s cards. He liked to tease Nick about being interested in the doe, when he had never shown any signs in the first place. “He’s right there…” Judy pointed into the time machine and lost her smug tone. “…unconscious in your car.”

Finnick barked out another laugh. “Nick, you creep,” he joked. “Ask her out on a date before trying to get into her fur.” Both the red fox and the bunny rolled their eyes at the fennec’s bluntness. “Rabbit, hide in the time machine if you must. I promise, I won’t look,” said Nick in exasperation. “I actually have other errands to run for my plan to play out as I intend to.”

Nick concluded his rummaging by pulling out what looked like a black cylinder with a clear plastic front and a handle on top. The vulpine opened it like a sports bag, and a very futuristic one at that. Judy reached under her shirt to remove the shoulder straps from her trousers], throwing another glance towards Carrot Square. As fun as bantering with the foxes was, the thought of discovering the unknown really bugged her in the back of her mind.

“Put on the jacket and the shoes,” instructed Nick, pointing out the items through the circular window on the gym bag. He put it down on the driver seat of the Jokemobile. “Boots?” asked Judy incredulously. “Why would I wear boots?” Nobody wore boots unless they were part of their work equipment. They were uncomfortable and cumbersome to handle. “Twenty-first century fashion. Don’t ask me,” Nick deflected responsibility for Judy’s impending discomfort. “The floor is lava, didn’t ya know?” deadpanned Finnick. Whatever had happened to the little fox in 2016, it sure changed his humor.

The taller of the two tods reached into the Jokemobile once more and took out a flat black object with a stripe on it. This thing looked like a tiny cassette player to Judy. Nick looked at his watch for the thousandth time, then held up the strange object to emphasise his next words. “We got a mission to accomplish.” He turned around and jogged away. Finnick awkwardly turned around to face away from the bunny. The rough exterior of this fox was deceiving at times, he was caring enough to provide a little bit of privacy for the doe while she changed into future clothes.

The bunny was curious about something, however. “Hey, Fin?” she asked. In any other situation it might have been considered rude to not face someone when they tried to start a conversation. Now, though, it was expected. “Huh?” the fennec reacted. “What’s all this about?” asked Judy. “Why is there such a hurry if we have a time machine? What happened to my kids?”

The fox with tan fur and brown eyes let out a big sigh. “Look, bunny,” he started. “Nick’s doin’ the right thing here. I gotta be honest, I don’t know much about ya private life but I know what Nick found out about yo’ kids. It ain’t pretty.” Judy’s black tipped ears quickly drooped down towards the ground, just like her shirt. She was only in her underwear now. Hopefully, no one else would show up unexpectedly. Finnick still faced the other direction, of course. The bunny reached into the futuristic sports bag and retrieved a plain light blue shirt.

“What… What exactly happened?” she pressed nervously. Did the doe really want to find out? Well, yes. Yes, she did. “Did they, like, steal some chalk from school? Did they burn down someone’s wheat field?” This would be on par with the doe’s own mischievous childhood dealings. The tod barked out a short laugh.

Nick’s POV

Time and date: 16:44 - Friday, 21st October 2016

Nick arrived at the end of the alley with his futuristic binoculars in hand. Micro-optics had sure come a long way. He put the device up to his face to look through it, the red fox searched intently. He hadn’t taken the time yet to practice using the binoculars, so he couldn’t figure out what all those digitally displayed readouts indicated. They were various numbers within his field of view, they just floated there. One indicated the distance, one the temperature, another set of numbers looked like coordinates.

The fox kept searching but didn’t quite manage to get visuals on his target. He checked his wristwatch, then the other.

Time and date: 16:44 - Friday, 21st October 2016

It was time for someone to show up, where was she? The time travelling scientist fully expected to see a young doe. She would be wearing a futuristic cap with such a reflective shine, it would be impossible to tell what colour it had. Nick remembered her blue jacket had seemed to be a good fit if it weren’t for the comically long sleeves that had hung off around her hands, as if she had two elbows on each arm. The only thing that had looked normal to someone from 1985 was a light blue pair of jeans.

Nick had seen her face only briefly before, and she had looked like a photocopy of Judy then!

She had been very distracted and unfocused, turning around sporadically to look at a handsome buck who she had passed and jerking her whole body back around to continue her sloppily uncoordinated walk towards her destination at the time.

Unsatisfied, Nick lowered the binoculars. He was precisely on schedule but something about this timeline was different…

Judy Junior didn’t show up…

Judy’s POV

Time and date: 16:47 - Friday, 21st October 2016

Judy couldn’t figure out for the life of her how to tie those white future shoes. One was already covering her crammed foot, she held the other one in her hands to examine it more closely. Nothing about this looked odd for a boot, except the shoelaces had no ends. They disappeared under the fabric on either side. The bunny set down the shoe and got her foot in. Suddenly, there was a mechanical sound and she felt the pressure around one of her feet increase by a lot.

“Powered laces, all right,” noted Judy. This interesting technology excited her, even if it was on something as unappealing as boots. Finnick watched the footwear in amazement, unlike Nick or now Judy too, the fennec was not wearing any shoes or boots. At his age, at least in 2016, it appeared he no longer felt the need to keep up to date with fashion trends.

The bunny got the other shoe on. It too tightened around her foot automatically. Judy walked a few steps to test the fit. To her surprise, the boots were a lot less uncomfortable than she had feared from any shoe. One thing couldn’t be denied, however. They visually felt a little bulky on the outside.

“What are thooose?” barked the short vulpine while pointing at the doe’s footwear. “Gonna impress your boyfriend with ‘em?” he teased. “Oh, har har,” responded Judy with a smile. “As if boots could impress anyone from the eighties.” The doe grabbed a dark blue jacket from the gym bag. It was made out of plastic and looked generally uncomfortable, if not a little stylish, at least. She struggled a little with the sleeves but eventually got it on… Only to find, woopsie, the sleeves were way too long.

Judy held up her hands. They were still hidden well within the black plastic tubes. While she looked at this useless piece of clothing, Nick hurried back to the Jokemobile, checking his beeping watch and shielding his eyes from what view may lie ahead. “I’m dressed, Slick,” said Judy. “But this thing doesn’t fit.”

The red fox looked and found the lapine held up her hands to indicate the sleeves. Nick put his thumb on the bottom edge of the jacket, where a red light was blinking and beeping quietly. A robotic voice was heard. “Size-adjusting fit.” Like magic, the sleeves shortened automatically. The jacket fit Judy perfectly now. “Pull out your pants pockets,” instructed Nick. “All kids in the future wear their pants inside out.” The confused lapine did as she was told. Where was the practicality in that? Meanwhile, the fox in equally strange clothes reached into the gym bag and pulled out a shiny object. “Put on this cap,” he instructed.

Before Judy could respond, Nick placed the item on her head, her ears fit right through the designated slots. The bunny was now fully dressed in future grab. “Perfect,” complimented Nick. “You dressed her up good,” deadpanned Finnick. “Now, did ya want her to wear that on a date with you or with her buck friend?”

As per usual, the smallest member of this trio remained unacknowledged. “You’re the spitting image of your future daughter,” said Nick to Judy. She perked her ears at that. “What?” blurted out the surprised doe. The slender vulpine quickly stepped to the passenger side of the time machine. “Help me move Skippy over here,” he requested. Nick started lifting the unconscious buck out of the Jokemobile. Judy quickly came to aid him in this endeavour.

“So what’s the deal?” she asked. “Grab his feet,” said Nick. This was not really what the bunny was going for, she wanted to know why she had to wear those outrageous clothes. For now, the two lifted Skippy up and carried him elsewhere. Nick could easily have done that alone but they appeared to be in too much of a hurry now.

“Fine,” grunted the bunny as she lifted her boyfriend’s legs. “Okay, now what?” With both of his arms under Skippy’s, the red fox cumbersomely checked his watch again. “In exactly two minutes, you go around the corner into the Cafe Eighties,” said Nick. “Cafe Eighties?” repeated the bunny. She wasn’t following along, what was she supposed to do there? The two of them put Skippy down in a doorway alcove behind a futuristic waste processing unit.

“They sell the tears and shattered hopes of eighties kids with broken dreams,” said Finnick with a face as straight as the handle of a shovel. “It’s one of those nostalgia places but not done very well,” explained Nick. He retrieved some cash from his pocket. “Go in there and order carrot juice. Here’s a fifty.” He handed the money to Judy. Surely, Nick didn’t have any other pocket change on hand. No simple carrot juice would ever come close to costing fifty bucks. Inflation would have to be through the roof.

“Quick, there’s the time machine,” said Finnick. “Hop in and use that cash in the fifties. Worth much more there.” This gave Judy pause. Had money really lost so much of its value in the last thirty-one years? “Fluff,” continued Nick, pulling the doe’s attention away from her train of thought. “Once you got your you-juice, wait for a guy named Kideon.”

Carrots. You-juice. Very funny…

“All right. Kideon,” confirmed Judy. “Right. Kideon’s going to ask you about tonight. Are you in or out? Tell him you’re out. Whatever he says, whatever happens, say ‘no’! N. O. No. You’re not interested.”

Those were a lot of specific instructions and Nick delivered them with an uncharacteristically stern voice. “Okay,” Judy confirmed she got it. “You ain’t interested,” interrupted Finnick. “You have a boyfriend and his name ain’t Nick.” The red fox on the receiving end of this teasing didn’t react. “Then leave,” he continued. “Come back here and wait for me.” Nick shifted Skippy around some more, putting him in a more comfortable lying position. The tod put his hand on Judy’s shoulder.

“Don’t talk to anyone, don’t touch anything, don’t do anything, don’t interact with anyone and try not to look at anything.” He leaned down to Judy’s eye level as he talked. The doe, on the other hand, tried her very best to look around him to get more glimpses of future Carrot Square. She wasn’t listening too closely.

“Don’t drink any water. Don’t breathe any air. Don’t do anything and don’t exist,” added Finnick. This got the bunny’s attention. She was supposed to help but Nick didn’t give her any useful information to go off of. She sighed indignantly. “I don’t get it,” complained the bunny with annoyance. “I thought this had something to do with my kids.”

“It does, but telling you too many details could result in undeterminable risks and negative consequences,” reasoned Nick, much to the bunny’s immense disappointment. The red fox checked his watch again and rushed to the Jokemobile. “Long story short, the justice system works swiftly in the future, now that they’ve abolished all lawyers,” said Nick. “At least they ain’t treating us chompers too bad these days,” commented Finnick in a rare display of genuine seriousness.

“Oh, this is spicy…” commented Judy, still lacking practically all context. If the justice system was involved, though, did that mean her daughter was in legal trouble? The fox kept his nose buried inside the time machine, looking for something.

“Slick, I need at least a little bit more info,” argued Judy. “I have to know what I’m working with here.” Nick sighed from within the Jokemobile “I suppose I can tell you this much,” he started. “Your daughter goes to jail for vandalism and your other daughter will try and break her out.” The bunny’s ears shot up at that. “Wait, I have two daughters?” This was big news, it was very relevant to her.

The red fox stepped up to Judy and leaned down to her eye level. “You see, this one event starts a chain reaction that completely destroys your entire family,” he said. He was not at all teasing or joking. This was serious. Judy now really wondered why this issue had to be solved right now and not earlier with better parenting. Where had she and Skippy gone wrong? She glanced at her unconscious boyfriend and then back at the serious vulpine.

Something crossed the doe’s mind. “So, what does Gideon have to do with any of this and why do I gotta tell him no?” she asked. “Kideon,” corrected Nick. “That’s Gideon’s grandson. I already went further ahead into time and saw what else happens. I backtracked everything to this one event. That’s why we’re here today: To prevent this incident from ever happening.”

Judy considered this a second, the red fox hadn’t answered her question about the baker yet. He wouldn’t get the chance, a faint beeping interrupted the moment. Clearly, Nick had set himself several alarms to keep a tight schedule. “Darn,” he hissed. “I’m late!” The red fox prepared to head elsewhere. “Wait a minute!” interjected the bunny. “Where are you going now?” If she was supposed to impersonate her daughter, that was what she had gathered from this brief crash course, Nick would have to stay with Skippy!

“To intercept the real Judy Junior,” he responded. “I will be back in precisely five minutes! You’re taking her place. Around the corner at Cafe Eighties, guy named Kideon. Just say ‘no’!”

Judy’s ears fell back. She turned to look at the unconscious buck beside her. “Hey, what about Skippy?” she wanted to know. “We’re not just gonna leave him here.” Nick once again rummaged around in the Jokemobile. He really needed to get better at organising his luggage in there. “Don’t worry,” he tried to calm the doe. “Finnick can look after him. It will just be for a few minutes.”

The tiny vulpine gave Judy a toothy grin. “I can’t be trusted,” he teased. “Hide yo’ kits. Hide yo’ rabbits from me.” The disguised bunny looked at him. Of course, she trusted Finnick, but she was still not entirely at ease with the idea of leaving Skippy unconscious in a side alley with only a tiny fennec looking after him.

“Oh, Carrots,” said Nick. “Be careful around that Kideon guy. He’s got a few short circuits in his bionic implants.” As he spoke this concerning warning, he moved a hand in a circular motion next to his head, indicating craziness. Unsure about what to make of this, Judy nodded. She turned and finally got her long awaited chance to step closer to Carrot Square. The bunny mumbled to herself. “The future…”

Time and date: 16:51 - Friday, 21st October 2016

As Judy edged closer to the end of the alleyway, the walls on either side became increasingly denser displays of lots of old posters. There were promotional papers for Mayor Dawn Bellwether Jr., movie posters, miscellaneous advertisements, and some other posters about missing mammals.

To her right, where the Tuskaco gas station used to be in the past, was an array of open phone booths with barely any privacy. They only had tiny divider walls between the actual phones. Round light bulb covers provided space for illumination. This place no longer looked like a gas station, there were no pumps in sight.

The ground was still slightly moist from the rainy weather that had subsided not too long ago. On the other side of the road, this was Cabbage Road, were unfamiliar markings. There was the text ‘NO LANDING’ with a corresponding pictogram.

Everything considered, the future did not look too unusual so far. That was until Judy spotted mammals. They wore very strange and unusual futuristic clothes, they looked visually appalling for the most part. All the fabrics, or whatever these materials were, remained in mostly light and muted colours. A lot of fur was shown off, even by people that, in the eighties, otherwise didn’t look particularly open to such things.

Most vehicles had sleek and aerodynamic shapes. If they were cars, they sure looked fast. Had Bunnyburrow become a hub for motor sports? Why were those race cars legal to drive on public streets? All headlights were blinding the bunny, even at daytime. Did everyone have their high beams on at all times? What would animals with more sensitive eyes think? These metal boxes looked about as futuristic as Judy could have imagined. She was perfectly happy with her new Zooyota truck, these more modern designs weren’t her cup of carrot juice.

The time traveller shifted her focus to other pedestrians once again. She noted they generally seemed in better physical condition than what she was used to from her own time. Very few bunnies appeared to be overweight, Judy couldn’t really tell with other species. Nobody in sight wore a pair of normal glasses, though several passers-by wore strangely shaped sunglasses and other odd headwear that covered their eyes. Nick’s opaque pair was likely similar in nature.

Fur dye looked to be less uncommon than in 1985, with kids having painted faces once more. Maybe this was another time for proper Elkis makeup. A small group of bunnies, sheep, and some other species were chatting in the square. They wore olive green uniforms with red bandanas around their necks. Out of all the mammals, of course it would be the ranger scouts that had kept their physical outwards appearance largely the same over the course of the last thirty-one years.

All in all, Judy stared with wide eyes and took it all in. Yes, this was Carrot Square. It was familiar enough to be recognizable, not only thanks to the iconic silhouette of the courthouse building and the clock tower. Though many things had still changed and made it look just that bit less familiar. It was almost unsettling. When the time travelling doe had visited 1955, it had looked equally unusual, but positively so. Now, Judy did not yet know if the changes in 2016 were good or bad as a whole.

Elevated streets with floating lane markers and signs littered the backdrop above the buildings around the square. They were filled with numerous little dots of varying colours, those had to be flying cars, just like what the bunny had observed when first arriving in the future.

Only barely exiting the comparatively dim side alley, Judy walked past a fax machine. It was like a phone booth for anyone to use, though accumulating dust suggested people preferred to send their faxes from home. Its design was sleek with white and blue main colours and red accents dotted about. A ‘CATFAX’ branding was there too.

The bunny continued to look around in awe, taking in all the sights. Above Carrot Square flew a police cruiser at a low altitude. Judy crossed the street, she was quick to not get in the way of a colourless race car. Or was this how normal cars looked like in the future after all? The grey body, slightly darker in shade than the doe’s fur, was very sleek, the black windshield was curved aerodynamically. And luckily, it was not going very fast.

The middle of Carrot Square had been partially restored and showed more greenery again, much to Judy’s delight. The left and right sides each had a row of bushes and other plants. In the center was a big pond and a fountain with decorative rocks on the edge. It was a very big improvement over a boring parking lot. Insects had to be happy about this change too. In a farming community like Bunnyburrow, this wasn’t something to simply dismiss.

According to a sign next to the water, the recently renovated courthouse building had become the entrance to ‘Bunnyburrow Courthouse Mall’. The clock tower above still held the historic clock on proud display, and it was still perpetually displaying 10:04. Only now, it looked to be preserved properly and protected from the elements behind a sealed layer of plexiglass. The way the sign described it made it clear this was now a tourist attraction. Below the clock tower, behind four pillars in front of the entrance, was no longer an opaque brick or stone wall, whichever it used to be. Now, there were large colourful windows letting light into the room behind.

The sign also marked a staircase downwards to an underground section of the Courthouse Mall. It advertised seventy-five shops, a proud number. This pond in the middle of Carrot Square had to be very shallow if it sat on top of more constructions.

Shifting her gaze to the left side of the old courthouse, along Pitchfork Way, there was the Bank of Animalia. It offered easy credit. Judy rolled her eyes at that, some things really never changed, by the look of things. The Ask Mr. Foxter Travel Agency had made way for a place called Uniglobe Travel. It had a strange billboard on the roof. The bunny could see right through it! This reminded her of her own hand when she had almost faded from existence in 1955. Maybe this advertisement was a hologram.

However this display technology worked, right now it showed advertisements for ‘GPH Golden Palm Hotel Sahara Vacations’, ‘Fruit Juice Plus’ with an extra label, saying it was vitamin enriched and included various types of vegetables including carrots. Lastly there was an ad for ‘M.E. Mammal Electric Superconductors’ on display too.

The next building down the street was no longer a book store but rather a place called ‘Mr. Purrfect - All Natural Steroids’. It had a mascot of a muscular bull above the entrance, Judy was reminded of Sheriff Bogo. This connection fit so perfectly and yet felt so uncomfortable to even think about. Why did a place called Mr. Purrfect even have a bull as mascot and not a cat?

Next up was a jewellery store and then a store called ‘Tails Up’. The advertisement in the front suggested this was a place where one could get plastic surgeries done: Snout lifts, ear implants and shortenings, the works. A gift shop came next and then, where there had been the Statler Zooyota store in 1985, there was a ‘Bellwether Hover Conversion Systems’ store. Whatever that was supposed to mean, Judy didn’t know.

The bunny turned to the right side of Carrot Square. She saw a ramp for cars, though she couldn’t tell if it went somewhere or if it was just a start and landing ramp for flying cars specifically. Did those future vehicles even need ramps? Nick had landed the Jokemobile entirely unimpeded without utilizing the help of one.

There was also a building with big letters on it, spelling the word ‘HOLOMAMMAL’. Below was a logo for the movie ‘Maws 19’. This had to be a future cinema. Alongside the logo was a catchphrase: ‘This time, it’s really, really purrsonal.’ The listed director for this feature film was Max Spitzmaus.

A robotic voice made Judy perk her ears. “Welcome to Tuskaco. You can trust your car or tractor to the system with the tusk.” The bunny turned further to the right. Contrary to her earlier assessment, the Tuskaco gas station was still here, only, it no longer had any gas pumps. There were two levels. A flying car landed on the top floor and was greeted by the same artificial voice. A series of robot arms immediately went to work washing the windshield and checking the tires. “Checking battery. Checking landing gear,” came the accompanying computer speaker.

This voice appeared to be futuristic customer support. What had happened to the mammals who worked there? Did Tuskaco even employ anyone anymore? On the side was a sign with the most popular products and their prices:

‘Fursion Gold - 6.95Ƶ’

‘Super Fursion Plus+ - 7.62Ƶ’

‘Liquid Hydrogen - 8.10Ƶ’

‘Regular - 8.37Ƶ’

‘Super Plus+ - 8.99Ƶ’

If those were gas prices for petrol and diesel, they were certainly very high. Judy’s ears dropped behind her back. Maybe she would actually need all fifty bucks she had gotten from Nick to purchase her carrot juice.

The Holomammal cinema started playing a low rhythmic tune. It took the bunny barely a moment, she quickly recognised this as the iconic Maws leitmotif. She faced the cinema to see where the speakers were hidden. To her absolute horror, a gigantic shark floated out of the building! It was headed right for Judy!

It came closer and closer, now it opened its huge mouth. There were so many sharp and pointy teeth and they approached the helpless lapine rapidly. Judy’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets and her ears shot up in shock. With a twitching nose and a frightened squeak, the bunny dropped onto all fours and quickly scrambled out of the way of her demise. With wide eyes, she watched as the shark hit the ground where Judy had stood only a second prior. It stopped, as if someone had hit the pause button, then it disintegrated in mid air.

It was a hologram. The shark wasn’t real.

The doe could feel the awkward stares of passers-by on her. She glanced around and saw some looks thrown her way, as if she had lost her mind. Luckily, they quickly continued on their way. The time traveller got back up on her hind legs and tried her best to shrug off the awkward moment. “Shark still looks fake,” she grumbled as her nose calmed down again.

“Hi, friends,” came another voice from behind the lapine. This time, it was the voice of a real person and not a computer. The bunny turned around to see where it had come from. It was another hologram billboard with a video of a young ewe with superbly soft-looking wool. Underneath her was a logo that looked like it came straight from the fifties. In the background was a diagram of a car from the same time period.

“Dawn Bellwether the Third for Bellwether Hover Conversion Systems. You know, when my grandma was mayor of Bunnyburrow, she had to worry about traffic problems. But now, you don’t have to worry about traffic! I’ll hover-convert your old road car into a skywayflier for only thirty-nine, nine-ninety-nine, ninety-five. So come on down and see me, Dawn Bellwether the Third, at any one of our twenty-nine convenient locations. Remember, keep ‘em flying!”

Judy looked around. As interesting as a glimpse into future advertising and tech was, she still had a mission to complete. ‘Cafe 80s’ was right on the corner where Jumbeaux’s Cafe used to be in 1955 and where Jumbeaux’s Gym Trunks used to be in 1985. It looked like this Jumbeaux guy was now too old and either had sold off his business or handed it down to a family member. Either way, it had received quite the rebrand since then. The friendly light blue facade was broken up by a black and white pillar painted in the middle between simple geometric shapes here and there.

Judy walked towards the cafe. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the building to her left, between her current destination and the Tuskaco station. It was an antique store called ‘A Blast From The Past’. The bunny paused another moment to look through the display window. This was an impressive sight, just because of how unusually familiar it looked. Those ‘rare antiques’ were common household objects of the 1970s and 1980s.

There was a Bat-a-max tape, a Catsio synthesizer keyboard, Terrier bottles, a Super-8 movie camera, a Yakintosh computer, mannequins with normal clothes, a lava lamp, other old toys, mayoral posters for Leodore Lionheart, cassette tapes of Maws, A Match Made On Savage Island, and other movies from the time, some old books about various topics like music or sports, and many other little items. Almost everything about this shop’s display window looked familiar to Judy. Right in front of all the display pieces was a sign, asking for antique coins and bills.

The time traveller continued down the sidewalk and headed towards Cafe Eighties.

Chapter Text

Time and date: 16:57 - Friday, 21st October 2016

The bunny opened the door to the retro-esque establishment. Before she had the chance to enter, another doe with striking blue eyes stepped out the building. Her very revealing clothes hid only small parts of her chocolate-toned fur. Judy did a double take, she couldn’t believe this was a normal attire in 2016. The lapine entered the cafe and immediately noticed the music. It was Gazelle’s ‘Try Everything’.

Judy looked to her left first, towards the half of the cafe that faced Cabbage Road and by extension Carrot Square. The decor on the walls and around the room incorporated icons of the 1980s. There was a photo of an astronaut, a black ewe’s face was visible through the visor, floating free in space, untethered. Electric guitars hung on the wall above an arcade machine. Masks of various political figures from the eighties hung on another wall. A checkerboard pattern spanned across the whole cafe floor.

The counter looked more like a fast food restaurant than a cozy cafe. Large screens hung above, showing off various food items on the menu. The wall behind the counter had an array of several more TVs, all on different channels. Each seat had a video screen and more monitors were suspended from the ceiling with yellow robotic arms. The hanging screens were encased in a red cover, maybe to make it less likely customers ran into them. It all looked very strange. Why would a retro cafe have so many TV screens? How did other shops look that did not try to mimic the past?

Judy’s gaze wandered to the right and she looked at the half of the cafe that bordered Cabbage Road. She spotted two seats that were equipped with pedals, allowing whoever sat there to exercise while dining at this establishment. Behind them was another arcade machine, Pacmammal. Above was a poster that showed many rockets scaled correctly relative to each other. Another guitar hung on the wall there too. One of the patrons there was a relatively small type of cat with brown eyes, her light brown fur had dark streaks all over. She was using a strangely shaped pen to draw on some sort of video screen that laid flat on the table in front of her, the 1985 bunny found that odd.

“Waiter! Waiter!” called out another customer, an antelope with long twirly horns and plain brown fur. He was enjoying a drink. One of the robotic arms moved over to the customer. Were these screens the waiters? How did that even work? They had no hands to carry any food or drinks.

The bunny stepped up to the counter. Another mechanical waiter droid appeared in front of Judy and got right up into her personal space. For a moment, the doe was unsure if it would stop or if it would run her over. Her confused gaze turned upwards. There were no rails on the ceiling. Somehow, these machines could move across the entire room. The doe was quite fascinated by the technology.

The monitor in front of the bunny flashed and the small face of none other than Leodore Lionheart appeared on it. The background was a black void with brightly coloured lines moving about sporadically. Judy had seen this strange style on TV before but couldn’t place what other media it belonged to.

“Welcome to Cafe Eighties, where it’s always morning in Animalia,” greeted the artificial waiter. “Even in the afternoo- noo- noon.” What followed were sounds of chuckling, only, they sounded like a broken record was repeating the same half second rapidly. Judy stared at the screen in confusion and amazement. She was taken aback by the startling technology. Was she supposed to talk to this robot before her…? …to order carrot juice?

“Our special today is Veggie Medley, mother’s style, alongside a Shrub Salad,” explained the robo-lion. All of the sudden, the image was shifted aside. Another face seemingly fought for screen space, as a large rhino with a shiny polished silver horn came on screen. “No! It is the Great Evil Special!” his generated voice exclaimed. “I demand you have tofu!”

The digital feline tried to retort but the rhino likewise kept talking. They were saying words over each other, shifting back and forth on the monitor. The voices became higher pitched and the animation sped up rapidly. Judy couldn’t understand them anymore, her senses were overstimulated.

“Hey, hey, hey!” she interrupted. The voices didn’t stop. “Hey, guys!” the lapine needed to raise her voice. Finally, the two faces on screen paused and turned silent. “All I want is carrot juice,” explained Judy. The screen moved again and only Leodore Lionheart remained visible. The machine moved on to tend to other patrons. Judy found this type of customer service highly unusual and frankly off-putting.

A circular hole embedded in the countertop opened up. A clear plastic tube with a hole in the side extended upwards out of it. In the middle sat a bottle of carrot juice. Judy took it out and the delivery tube retracted again automatically. The bunny was suddenly very nervous about getting her fingers stuck in those autonomous mechanisms by accident. She had her juice now and wouldn’t order anything else, it would be that simple.

The time traveller examined her bottle, she couldn’t figure out how to open it. Why did beverages in times other than the 1980s always have to be so hard to open? The bunny had already struggled with a simple bottlecap in 1955. She inspected the counter for any attached bottle openers, though the lid was a smooth surface without any visible gaps to the rest of the round container. A traditional opener wouldn’t be of much help.

“Hey, Hopps!”

Judy perked her ears. This voice sounded too familiar for comfort. The bunny turned. “Yeah… Ah’ve seen yew ‘round,” said the same speaker. It was an ancient fox. “Yer Stu Hopps’s gran’kid, aren’t yew?” The lapine stared in surprise. She was looking at none other than Gideon Grey. He had to be in his late seventies by now. His fur was getting thinner and the orange had started to fade several years ago by the look of things. He sat at a table next to a window, the TV screen at his seat played a cooking show on low volume.

The fox gave Judy an odd look and nodded knowingly. He recognised her. How was this possible, she was in the future!

“Gideon…?” asked the bunny. The old tod got up and slowly stepped closer. He rested some of his weight on a dark wooden cane. “Yer one of ‘em Hopps kids,” he clarified. “Tough break, kid. ‘t must be rough bein’ part of that family full of buckheads.” The irritated doe furrowed her brows, she was offended. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked. The time traveller didn’t feel like challenging this vulpine again but how could she leave it at that?

Gideon took his cane, the top of which was a sculpted clenched canine fist, and knocked it on Judy’s head repeatedly. “Hello! Hello! Anybunneh home? Huh?” Judy tried and failed to swat the makeshift weapon away. “Hey! Hey!” she protested. The bunny even clenched her own hand into a fist but refrained from throwing any punches. This old fox looked too fragile to get into a proper wrangle anymore. “Think, Hopps! Think!” he finished his disrespectful catchphrase. Finally, the knocking on the doe’s head stopped too.

“Yer old rabbits? Th’ Loser Bunnehs?” he asked, as if Judy didn’t know who he was talking about. “What?” she asked, only because the situation was so unexpected. The lapine felt like she knew who he meant, Gideon’s main rival had always been one certain buck, as far as she could tell.

“‘at’s right,” confirmed the smirking fox. “Losers with a capital L.” The mean vulpine sat down at the counter beside Judy. She didn’t know how to respond but blurted out some resemblance of a retort anyways. “Look,” she started defensively. The doe was angry. “I happen to know Stu Hopps is not…” Gideon cut her off. “Naw, ah ent talkin’ ‘bout Stu Hopps! Ah’m talkin’ ‘bout his kids. One of ‘em’s gotta be yer parent fer shore, yew buckheads all look th’ same t’ me.”

The confused bunny looked around. Was this a practical joke waiting to happen? Nobody else in the cafe spared her a glance. The doe noticed outside the window, there was another fox walking up to a beat up Bovine Motor Works car. It looked almost like it was straight from Judy’s time but she didn’t recognise the specific model. Maybe it wasn’t out yet. The fox checked something in the trunk while three other guys leaned up against the vehicle.

Judy shifted her attention back to Gideon, who shook his head and kept talking. “Th’ bunnehs who took their lives an’ flushed ‘em completely down th’ toilet.” This stunned the doe into silence for a few awkward seconds. “I did…?” She couldn’t say that, what was she doing? “I, I mean… They did?”

The other fox from outside pulled open the entrance door and stepped in. He bore a startling resemblance to Gideon. “Hey, Gramps!” he yelled aggressively. “Ah told yew ten boxes of blueberry pies, not jest three!” The elderly baker visibly flinched at the sound of the new voice. The vulpine turned around sheepishly, a very unusual appearance from the otherwise so confident fox.

“Hey, hey,” he tried to calm the newcomer. “Ah jest put th’ fifth box in yer car a minute ago.” The other vulpine was having none of it. “Yeah, but kin yew even count?” Judy looked back and forth between the two foxes in amazement. “Uh, are you two related?” she asked. They really looked very similar to one another. The older of the two tods turned back around and assaulted her head with his cane once more. “Hello! Hello! Anybunneh home? Whataya think, Kideon jest calls me gran’pa fer his health?”

The bunny didn’t swear much, this was no exception, but her internal monologue spelled out the words ‘Oh, rut…’ without hesitation. She looked at Gideon’s grandson. “He’s Kideon?!” the lapine asked in shock. She was supposed to meet up with him to decline whatever offer he was going to throw her way.

“Gramps! What th’ scat am ah payin’ yew fer? Ah need them pies this evening!” demanded the fox who sounded just about ready to start a physical altercation with anyone who looked at him the wrong way. The older predator now stood in the doorway already but paused another time to address Judy again. “Hey, kid. Say hello t’ yer gran fer me.” Her grandmother… That would be Bonnie! “Git outta there, Gramps!” Kideon violently dragged his grandfather out of the cafe. “Hey! Take ‘t easy!” protested the elderly vulpine.

The door fell shut automatically, leaving Judy dumbfounded. A few seconds passed in which absolutely nothing happened. Then the door swung open again and Kideon peeked his maniac face inside again. “An’ rabbit!” he yelled at the time traveller unprovoked. “Leave my gramps alone, his pies’re mine!” The fox loudly slammed the door shut. Judy was deep in thought. What the spicy onion rings had happened to the Grey family? What in the name of diced pickles and fried sweet potatoes had happened to the Hopps family?

She watched through the window, as Kideon pointed out the lack of pastry boxes in the trunk of his scrapyard-ready car. The other guys there didn’t seem to mind this highly concerning behaviour. The faint sound of a familiar tune pulled the bunny out of her thoughts. She looked for the source and found it at one of the TVs behind the counter. It played the music video of an oldie, the song first performed by Judy herself, in 1955: ‘Hey Hey Mr. Fox’. The doe watched and bobbed her head to the beat. She had always found the vulpine in the video looked familiar.

Three nearby bunny girls, they were a few years younger than Judy, shook their heads in disgust. “Oh, cancel that!” one of them said. “One does not simply listen to cringe’s theme. I only scan that kinda vid at my grandma’s!” The time traveller was appalled by this reaction. This was perfectly fine music. And what did half of this girl’s words even mean? “Yeah,” nodded her friend in agreement. “What do they call it? Rock and Rail?” The third one in the group chimed in. “It doesn’t even sound like music!”

Judy’s mouth hung wide open, like before, but now the reason wasn’t shocking behaviour from a fox but rather a change in music taste beyond comprehension. “I know, right?” responded the first bunny again. “Thank gods we don’t live in the eighties. It must have been so boring.” Judy felt very old at the girl’s words. “Don’t tell me, captain obvious.”

“This is a video game.” came a new voice. This one sounded much younger or perhaps smaller. With tiny mammals it wasn’t immediately obvious how old they were, based on just their voice alone. Judy turned to see one of the arcade machines. This wasn’t the pacmammal cabinet but the other one the doe hadn’t immediately been able to identify when she had entered the cafe.

She stepped closer, needing a distraction from those crazy bunny girls that didn’t respect real music anymore. Just then, the arcade turned on with an upbeat chiptune jingle. Recognition overcame the past lapine and a smile crossed her face. It was Wild Gunmammal, one of those games where the player shot a light gun at the screen. This was fascinating technology too, but it originated in Judy’s own time, not 2016. “I got it working,” chimed another child.

Two kids came from behind the arcade machine. It seemed they had found the power switch in the back. One of them was a fox pup with bright blue eyes, the other was a kangaroo joey, both were about ten years old, from the look of things, Judy couldn’t really tell exactly with species other than bunnies. The kids moved to the front of the cabinet and stood before it. They didn’t take the gun-shaped controllers and instead only stared. Judy thought maybe they didn’t know how to play. “My mom taught me about these, she’s in a Snootbook group about that stuff,” said the kangaroo. The bunny stepped up to them. “It’s Wild Gunmammal,” she giddily said to herself.

“How do you play this thing?” asked the little fox with furious curiosity. With his wide and astonished eyes, his cuteness challenged one of an adorable bunny child. “I’ll show you, kid,” announced Judy with pride in her voice. She was a master at this game, Skippy had given up on challenging her highscore long ago.

The bunny took her shiny cap off and threw it on top of the large CRT monitor. She grabbed the controller on the left, as it belonged to player one. “I’m a crack shot at this,” bragged Judy. She held up the toy gun with an attached cable, ready to draw at a moment’s notice. The screen displayed a barren scene with a little saloon in the background and a blue sky. Pixelated bandits and reptiles came from off screen and moved around. The game tried everything it could to make the player feel like a henboy revolver hero. Original arcade cabinets were decorated appropriately, with a lasso and a stereotypical hat from a hundred years ago… a hundred and thirty years ago.

Judy drew and shot all of the digital enemies one by one. In record time and without missing a single shot, she defeated every last foe. The screen flashed with each hit and soon displayed a victory screen with the text ‘CRACK SHOT!!!’ and an accompanying happy jingle. The doe felt very smug about showing off her skills to these unsuspecting children. Her quick aim had always been a source of pride for her, especially when teasing her boyfriend.

These kids, however, looked at the lapine like she had grown a second head. “You mean you have to use your hands?” asked the joey incredulously. The bunny returned the controller into the plastic holster and turned to the children in surprise. “That’s like a pup’s toy,” insulted the fox. The two children shook their heads and walked off. Judy was very confused by their reaction. This was a perfectly normal video game, how else were players supposed to control it, if not with their hands? “Pup’s toy?” repeated the stunned doe.

Movement out of the corner of her eye caught the time traveller’s attention. Where Kideon was harassing his elderly grandfather outside, wild gesturing was quickly accompanied by a group of four mammals laughing and walking towards the entrance of Cafe Eighties.

The door swung open again and Kideon entered. Behind him were the other guys from outside. They were a black-footed ferret girl, a weasel boy and a sloth boy. They looked like they could have been the grandchildren of Travis, Duke and Flash. Did Judy remember their names correctly?

“Carrotsticks…” blurted out the time travelling bunny. She retrieved her cap from the top of the arcade machine. “Strawberry Milkshake! Strawberry.” demanded the 2016 youngster that was Kideon Grey. The older doe turned around to face the fox sceptically. She was growing nervous, thanks to the drastically unpredictable nature of this future predator. At least, she wouldn’t need to convince anyone to go to a dance with a loser.

A delivery tube came out of the countertop and served a light red liquid automatically. The fox grabbed it and started drinking. The two mustelids were chatting about something unrelated.

Finally, Judy got a chance to take a good look at Kideon Grey, grandson of Gideon Grey the bully. He was looking even meaner than his grandfather had in his youth. A light cream-coloured helmet protected his head from who knew what. It wasn’t shiny and the edges of it looked like a furline. The top of the headwear appeared like it was cut off with spikes. The tod’s ears peeked out beside the helmet. Kideon’s light green jacket looked as if it had snakes all over it with little extruded grooves in a slightly darker shade of green. It fit together surprisingly well with one of his gloves, which was black with a red band around the knuckles and another around his wrist. On his other hand, the fox had what looked to be cybernetic attachments around his wrist. Kideon’s trousers were all black, except for a knee pad on his left leg.

And his shoes… Oh, his shoes. They were thick black synthetic leather boots with heavy belts instead of shoelaces. The most striking feature about them, however, was a big silver horn above the toes. They looked like two aggressive rhinos protected those vulpine feet.

Judy approached the group hesitantly, she sat down to resume drinking the carrot juice she herself had ordered a few minutes prior. At least that was what she would have done, had she figured out how to open that fluffing bottle. The past bunny kept glancing to her side, right at the intimidating fox. Her nose felt like it was on the brim of twitching, though it remained still and didn’t move.

Finally, Kideon nearly smashed his drink on the countertop. Strawberry-flavoured liquid splashed in all directions. “What?!” he barked aggressively. That was uncalled for! Judy’s nose twitched a few times, she kept hesitating. “Hey, rabbit!” yelled Kideon loudly. She was sitting right there, why would he need to call for her attention? The intimidating fox slowly leaned closer. “Rabbit!” he yelled. “Yeah?” asked Judy uneasily in response.

“Rabbit!” he repeated his snarl. “What?” asked the doe another time. The strange tod looked at the lapine’s feet. “Yer shoe’s unbelted,” he barked. Judy had a painfully clear case of deja-vu, she knew a phrase just like this all too well. “No, it’s not,” she responded flatly, hiding her nervousness well. She wouldn’t fall for the same trick Stu had already fallen for countless times over half a century before. “Aw shucks!” came another snarl from the weird tod. He picked up his drink again and kept sipping.

“So…” Judy said after several more excruciatingly awkward seconds. She finally needed to start the topic at hand. The fox turned again. “Aren’t you gonna ask me about something?” she carefully questioned. “‘bout what?” growled the uninterested tod. “Something about… tonight?” she pushed. Nick hadn’t told her what Kideon had planned or what her daughter’s involvement was supposed to have been, so the doe really didn’t have anything else to nudge the fox towards the topic.

“Th’ scat do yew know ‘bout tonight?” he barked loudly. Judy noticed the aggressive vulpine spoke as if he was about to explode at any moment. He had paused briefly in the middle of his sentence, as if to hold back on a big outburst. The words themselves were rather confusing too. Judy was supposed to decline the offer but with Gideon’s grandson seemingly oblivious to it all, this might turn out to be more difficult to accomplish than initially expected.

“Uhm, yeah, Kideon, you know,” Judy looked for more words. “Funny you should say that, because, I’ve been thinking…” There was no denying it, the bunny was rambling, just like Nick sometimes did. She had become the very thing she had sworn to destroy. “It would be nice to go separate ways… I’ll say no.” She was giving a likely unconvincing smile. “I will pass. Count me out. No can do. I decline. Gone fishin’.” The ferret girl in the group stepped closer. The doe noticed the female mustelid had fur dye in her face that looked like a spike around one of her eyes, making her look like she belonged in a heavy metal band. On top of her natural mask-like fur pattern, this was a really odd sight. The claw on one of her index fingers was filed down to a sharp spike. Judy wouldn't fault anyone else for twitching their nose at that.

“What’s wrong?” the mustelid asked the very uncomfortable bunny while running her long claw down Judy’s cheek and up her black tipped ears in a teasing fashion. “You don’t wanna be part of it?” she asked. “Why not? You got no balls?” Without a warning, the ferret grabbed the doe by her long lapine ears tightly. The mustelid even attempted to lift Judy off of her feet by nothing but her ears! The young bunny screamed in pain. Why was this escalating so quickly? What the fluff was going on?!

The ferret didn’t just push but rather threw her opponent onto the counter. Had this been anyone else and the doe simply observed, Judy might have found it slightly challenging to feel particularly sorry for them. Getting picked up and thrown around by a mammal smaller than you was something other mean kids would laugh at. Judy felt like a complete wimp…

First Stu turned out to be a peeping tod, now the time traveller herself had feelings of being a bit of a loser… What would be next? Her great grandpa peed his pants? Anything seemed possible at this point.

The bunny disguised as a 2016 teen was about to get back on her feet when Kideon picked her up yet another time. “What ‘t scat do yew know ‘bout tonight, rabbit?” he asked again. He might as well have skipped the question and went straight to beating up the poor lapine. “Are yew tryna foil our plans?” This gave Judy pause, was this maniac not planning to ask her about anything? Had Nick given her wrong information? “No, I just want nothing to do with it,” she insisted, shaking off the fox’s hand. “So leave me alone.”

“Wrong answer, rabbit!” yelled the gang leader. As he said it, Kideon tried to pick Judy up another time. The past bunny was skilfully dodging his clawed hand, she could feel all eyes in the cafe on her. Other patrons reacted with concern to the fox’s aggressive outburst. “Now, now, let’s behave ourselves,” came an artificial voice that sounded like it could have been intended to be Leodore Lionheart. Most customers in the doe’s field of view stared at Kideon, they appeared alarmed for the young lapine. The fox pointed at two of them and yelled in their direction. “Keep pedalling, yew two!”. Both customers at the work-out seats sat back down slowly.

Judy and Kideon had a tense stare-off. A ferret, a weasel and a sloth were by the fox’s side, giving him their support through their presence alone. After taking a deep breath, the bunny assumed a less uncomfortable position, though not one that made fleeing any more difficult. She stood there confidently. Kideon kept staring intently, though his eyes grew a tiny little bit wider. Had he not expected such a reaction from this bunny?

Judy smoothly approached the counter another time, though now she made sure the gang didn’t block her path to the exit door. “Now…” barked the fox with wide eyes. He grabbed the bunny’s shoulder tightly, trying to assert his dominance. Then, the tod also put his fist up, right into Judy’s face, in a very threatening gesture. “Let’s hear th’ right answer,” he demanded. “Ah wanna know who told yew scat ‘bout us!” Judy shoved Kideon back. He and the guys reacted with slight amazement at such unusual behaviour for a bunny. “Well…” he yipped in surprise. “Since when were little chicken th’ physical type?” Kideon’s gang all bared their fists, preparing for trouble.

They wanted trouble? They would get trouble!

“What did you say?” the bunny asked with a serious expression. “The answer’s no, Kideon,” she continued confidently, shutting down any stupid idea this jerk might have had. “Nobody told me about your plans and I won’t partake in it!” If he was seriously unaware of anything, though, he had to be so confused about everything the bunny was saying. “Naw?” growled the incredulous fox. “Yeah, are you deaf and stupid? I said no!” Judy had to raise her voice to get the info all the way into this vulpine’s otherwise empty head. She turned around and started heading for the door.

“What’s wrong, rabbit?” barked Kideon aggressively. Judy tried to remain undeterred. “Yew Chicken!”

Just before she reached the door, the doe stopped dead in her tracks and tensed up. Her face tightened and her anger rose.

Chapter Text

Time and date: 17:03 - Friday, 21st October 2016

The weasel pressed a button embedded in his clothes full of more buttons. A little integrated speaker played clucking sounds. Judy was seething, she looked back at the bullies. “I already asked, but maybe you didn’t hear me… What did you call me, Kideon?” she asked threateningly. The mustelid played the sound again. The doe studied the guys in front of her, pondering how to proceed. She wouldn’t start a fistfight with them, not that she could take them all at once anyways. The bunny noticed an unexpected and faint mechanical sound from behind the fox’s back, where his right hand was currently hidden. It reminded Judy of a spring being wound up.

“Chicken, little rabbit!” teased the mean vulpine. The time traveller was done with those guys! With resolve, she stepped up to them and took off her cap. Things were about to get serious. It was smarter to vent out frustration in a harmless way, so instead of throwing punches or kicks, the bunny threw her colourful headwear roughly in the counter’s direction with a lot of force and anger. “Yeet!” barked out the sloth in the group as quickly as he could. This exclamation confused Judy but there were more important things now, she needed to put Kideon in his place.

With more anger than the lapine ever remembered speaking with, she started talking. “Nobody calls me…” As she spoke, Kideon moved his hand out from behind his back, revealing a Jack-in-the-box. This caught the bunny off guard and she paused her sentence. Judy tilted her head in confusion, then she remembered what she was about to say. “…chicken?”

The crazy tod moved the box so the front faced his time travelling opponent. He started cranking the handle on the side, prompting a jumbled mess of notes ringing out from within. Before Judy could react, a red boxing glove shot out and punched her right in the face!

This turn of events left the bunny dazed but luckily for her, the glove wasn’t too hard. She grabbed it before the fox could retract it again. Just as one of the robotic waiters moved past behind the counter, Judy shoved the spring powered weapon into the mechanical arm that held the customer service monitor. Sparks started flying as Kideon got a few electric shocks via the metallic spring mechanism. He flopped face down on the counter.

Next to him, Judy prepared for a more traditional physical altercation. She still did not plan to start anything, Kideon had already gotten what he deserved, but she needed to be ready to defend herself if need be. The fox let go of his metal box and singled in on the bunny once more. He was still dazed enough to a point where he needed to lean against the counter for support. Judy took this moment to regain her composure too and noticed the cafe’s sound system now played ‘Beast It’ by Michael Jackalson.

There was a moment of stunned silence from Kideon and his cronies. Clearly, the bunny’s actions did not line up in the slightest with the expectations they must have had from a young doe like Judy. The fox got back on his feet and rose in front of the little bunny, slowly but surely standing up to his full height. Even though he was taller than his grandfather in his prime, Kideon wasn’t as tall as Nick. However, what he lacked in height, the vulpine more than made up for with intimidation. Judy was usually resilient to these sorts of tactics for the most part, but now she had wide eyes and her nose probably twitched once or twice.

“All right, punk!” barked a fox that sounded like a record player that didn’t turn smoothly anymore. His voice had been raised from the moment he had first entered the cafe, so now, he raised the tone instead. Judy pointed to the counter behind him. “Hey, look!” she yelled while faking a shocked expression.

Kideon fell for it and turned, this was almost too easy, the Grey family always fell for this trick. Judy took the opportunity to throw the first punch, if only to get a lead on her following escape. She hadn’t thrown the first punch in 1955, she had thrown a kick instead, but with this twenty-first century fox, she had no idea what to expect.

Judy’s punch connected to his… hand. Kideon blocked her attack with ease. He hadn’t fallen for it. Neither did he let go of the doe’s fist, so he was able to twist it painfully. The aggressive vulpine smiled sadistically at his latest victim. The bunny was having none of this, however. With her strong lapine legs she kicked him in the groin, producing the sound of a metallic clunk!

The future tod wailed in pain. The bunny grabbed his shoulders, dragged him down to her own height, and pushed the fox right into the weasel, who in turn fell back and took out the ferret girl behind him. Their sloth friend didn't fare any better either, considering he was understandably too slow to react. They all fell like dominos. Judy bolted out of the cafe.

In front of the retro establishment, an elderly Gideon was putting down the fourth box of pies on the similarly but slightly less old and beat up car of his grandson. Judy did not spare him a second glance, but his presence reminded the bunny of her next course of action in a very similar situation not a week earlier, in 1955. She spotted a hippo girl and her mother behind a hedge. Apparently, the child was on a kiddie skateboard-scooter. “Hey, hey, hey!” the doe called out to them. “Stop!” she demanded as she leapt over the greenery and onto a pathway on the edge of a pond.

“Little girl! Hippo, wait for a moment.” The large animals turned to see what the bunny wanted. While doing so, the child stepped off of her pink skateboard. “Look,” said Judy as she grabbed the plastic object. “I need to borrow your…” she paused for a moment as she realised this device had no wheels. The doe had seen the hippo girl use it like a skateboard, so she concluded it had the ability to hover like all those future cars around her.

The board had a loop strap for one foot. Next to it was the word ‘Hoverboard’ written. “Hoverboard?” asked Judy as a conclusion to her request to borrow the aforementioned object already in her hands. Behind her, she could hear the cafe door swing open. Judy turned and saw two mustelids running out. “Where is she?!” yelled the weasel. The lapine had to hurry. She pulled off the detachable scooter handle, converting the transportation device into a skateboard… well, into a hoverboard. As she handed the grip to the hippo girl, Judy noticed it was a Mammattel product.

“Hey!” cried the girl. “Give it back, rabbit!” This loud outburst alerted the sloth, who had recently come out of the cafe too. “……there…!” he said while slowly raising his arm to point Judy’s way. The chase was on.

The bunny threw the hoverboard down in front of her. It almost touched the ground but floated back up like a little model ship in shallow water. It levitated in place a good five to ten centimeters above the ground.

Taking a deep but quick breath, the doe prepared to use this thing. She gave herself the mental push and went for it. Judy hopped on and kicked herself up to speed. It functioned just like a normal skateboard so far. Kideon’s gang must have noticed her sudden increase in speed. Confirmation came when the ferret pointed out the obvious. “She’s on a hoverboard!”

Judy glid over a gravel path like butter. Doing the same with a skateboard would almost certainly result in an involuntary, quick, and personal introduction with some of the pebbles. The bunny’s legs pushed like on a normal skateboard, except now, they did not quite reach the ground. The hoverboard got faster regardless. To Judy, this felt less precise to control but at least she could traverse over uneven ground now. This seemed like a reasonable trade-off.

The path did not stretch on forever, though, a turn came up. How did hoverboards get steered? Judy lifted her feet up to the side, like she was going up a half pipe. Somehow, it worked and the bunny adjusted her course. This felt very spongy but the time traveller slowly got the hang of it. “Get tha boards!” yelled the weasel from near the entrance of Cafe Eighties. His words were hard to understand and almost sounded like what could only have been described as a war cry. “Get the bunny!” agreed the ferret girl. “Her nose must be all twitchy and glitchy right now!”

Judy turned around without stopping and saw two of the gang members, the mustelids, get out their own hoverboards from Kideon’s car. They were wicket-looking models and appeared easily faster than Judy’s! The sloth might have needed a little more time to get his own board out. The bunny turned back around and noticed the path she was on hugged the outline of the big water feature in the middle of Carrot Square. There was a bench on a little extrusion into the pond, and two people were sitting there!

The lapine briefly screamed in alarm, as she fumbled to avoid a collision. She lifted the hoverboard but instead of slowing down, this caused her to make almost a whole backflip. The bunny laid flat on her face. Luckily, she had landed in the grass next to the gravel path, it would have been more painful otherwise.

“Get her! yelled the weasel. “C’mon, Jill!” He addressed the ferret girl. Judy looked up. The borrowed pink board floated right next to her. She actually used it as support to lean against while lifting herself back up to her feet. And she was off again. The bunny felt less confident now than just a moment ago, she struggled to keep her balance but just about managed.

While they were chasing after Judy, the two mustelids pointed at her and cried out encouragement to each other, which simultaneously served as intimidation for the bunny. “Yeah!” cheered the weasel. “Yeah, we got her!” celebrated the ferret girl previously called Jill. She had to be full of scat, they hadn’t gotten her. Judy had fallen without any outside influence.

The gravel path soon terminated in Pitchfork Way, right next to the only tree on Carrot Square. A few branches had visible scrape marks or were missing entirely but it was still the same tree as all those years ago. Judy was now only a few meters from where she had travelled from 1955 to 1985 the previous evening… Time was confusing…

A Jsheep came flying over Carrot Theater, the lapine saw that building now belonged to the Bunnyburrow Museum of Arts. The vehicle landed and kept driving past the doe. She did a ninety degree turn to the left and hooked on to it. If Bogo was still alive, he would lose his marbles. The weasel and the ferret were coming down the street from the opposite direction and barely missed Judy.

Their next move was unexpected, however. In an almost imperceptible motion, they tapped their boards upwards only a tiny bit and turned around on the spot with ease. They didn’t even lose any of their momentum in the process!

Judy was getting towed right back towards Cafe Eighties, where Gideon was watching. He scratched his chin and appeared to be digging deep through his memories. “There’s sum’n’ very familiar ‘bout all this…” he pondered, barely loud enough for the bunny to hear. The cafe’s door slammed open and the younger fox returned to action. He had his jack-in-the-box in his hand and looked even madder than before. Judy held on to the Jsheep for now to weigh her options. The two mustelids were hot on her tail.

The bunny spotted a cord rope in the back of the car she was holding on to. After making sure it was securely attached on one end, she took the other. The doe had never tried wakeboarding but maybe this might give her an idea how it worked. A skateboard sure wouldn’t have allowed those actions. The bunny threw a glance back and noticed the weasel and the ferret gaining quickly. Just as the lapine spun back to see where she was going, the Jsheep turned to the left to head off onto Cabbage Road.

Isaac Meowton’s first law of motion demonstrated itself and Judy flew outward in the curve. She only barely, with one hand, managed to hold on to her end of the rope. Pedestrians in front of Cafe Eighties jumped out of the way to avoid getting hit by the tethered grey furry missile.

Just as the lapine got dragged out of the curve, she got flung right into Kideon. The fox was cranking the jack-in-the-box, ready to strike. It sprung open just in time to be a threat to the doe. She dodged the fierce attack with a squeak, causing the larger predator to hit not his intended target but rather one of his own car’s tail lights. It was completely wrecked. His sloth buddy would have gotten hit himself if it weren’t for the fact that he was just putting down his own hoverboard.

Dodging a mechanical boxing glove was a success but now, the bunny faced a new problem. She accidentally headed right into an oncoming car. The aerodynamic design caused her hoverboard to gain altitude quickly. It was like a jumping ramp!

Judy got flung high up in the air. This time she let go of the cord that had kept her attached to the towing Jsheep. The lapine flew right over the hippo girl and her mother. “My mommy says she wishes you were dead,” the child called out. The bunny was spinning around, trying to regain control. She quickly accelerated downwards, getting closer to the ground again, and found herself right over the water in the middle of the pond.

The fleeing lapine no longer had any vertical motion and faced the courthouse but her board slowed down, then it stopped entirely. Judy stalled above the pond, just a few meters from the edge! She looked behind her. The chasing mustelids both got off of their own boards next to Kideon. The sloth was there too. “Hey, rabbit, you flop!” called out the weasel. “Them boards don't work on water!” Jill the ferret girl was laughing disrespectfully to ridicule the bunny. “Uhm, actually, Dude’s wrong,” she informed. Was Dude the weasel’s name? “They do, as long as you’ve got power! Hahaha!”

Kideon got an idea. His head whipped around suddenly and he walked over to the back of his dented car. His grandfather was there too but he was uninvolved for once. The older tod was getting pies from a nearby red van.

The young bully fox pulled out a big black mechanical suitcase with sharp edges. Kideon, Dude and Jill walked in synchronisation. They stepped up to the edge of the pond. Somehow, the sloth already walked there over the course of the previous minute. The gang leader opened up the suitcase and the meanest looking hoverboard Judy had ever seen floated out. This was only the fourth board she had ever laid her eyes on, but her assessment still held true.

The bunny’s ears picked up a faint low humming sound coming from this black board, it figuratively came to life with an electronic growl! It had fins and spikes around the edge, it almost resembled a chainsaw. Two jet engines were attached to the back end. Yes, Kideon’s board had power. He could chase her down over the water while Judy was a sitting duck.

“Hook on!” commanded the fox with a quick bark. The sloth stepped on his own board… very slowly… Jill and Dude stepped closer behind Kideon. They pulled tow lines out from the back of the vulpine’s evil hoverboard. Each mustelid attached the end of their line to one of their hands, they resembled gloves. The weasel pulled out another tow line and put it around the sloth’s hand. “Here you go, Dash,” he said, before he let out another mean laugh.

Kideon returned to his car. He exchanged the now empty suitcase for four boxes of sweet pastries. One for him and one for each of his gang members. He stepped back to the action and got onto his own hoverboard. The mean rhino boots around his feet matched the aesthetics of the board perfectly.

All four of the bullies assembled and lined up to send Judy a sweet but unpleasant message. The two jet engines noisily started up and swivelled in place like it was some pre-flight check. Kideon handed each of his buddies a box of pastries. He raised the pies and prepared to throw. “Batter up!”

The jet engines screamed to life and accelerated the aggressively mad fox in Judy’s direction. His gang was close behind, as they got towed along behind him. The bunny tried to paddle to shore with her foot, but to no avail. She reacted with a nose twitch and no clear escape plan. Kicking off of the water was ineffectual, she would not be able to run away anymore. In addition, the bunny struggled to stay on top of her hoverboard, it was like balancing on a log. She only had a stubby little bunny tail that wouldn’t help her keep her footing.

Kideon smiled sadistically at the helpless doe. His guys fanned out behind him, cackling and cheering in anticipation of their expected victory. The bunny grew increasingly anxious. The gang was quickly closing in on her!

The fox and his cronies went into their backswings. Judy was about to become a sweet mess. The bullies started their throws!

In the last possible moment, the lapine pulled her foot from the strap, and simply stepped off the hoverboard. She dropped into the shallow pond.

As her head hit the water, Kideon’s board whizzed across, missing her by mere millimeters! The fox couldn’t stop his pie throw, however. He lost his balance in the follow-through, causing himself and the guys behind him to go flying wildly and completely out of control! The whole gang got flung in a tall arc, right into the old courthouse building. Pies flew everywhere, the entire front of the historic structure was covered in tasty sweets. An alarm went off!

The very wet bunny was out of breath and her adrenaline wore out. “Holy horseradish…” she swore. This was a very close call. Uniformed wolf security guards came rushing out of the courthouse to apprehend the gangsters. Judy glanced around to see if anyone else noticed.

Yeah, everyone on Carrot Square was staring at the aftermath. The bunny saw Gideon shake his head and mumble something to himself. “Buckheads” was the doe’s best guess as to what the old fox was saying.

The lapine sighed in relief at her escape. She waded through the shallow water, reaching up to just above her hips. It was very cold but Judy still felt it was a better idea to get back on land on the far side from the action. She carried the pink hoverboard all the way, making sure to keep it dry. Who knew if this thing was waterproof or not.

Finally, the bunny climbed out of the frigid water. She turned to watch a crowd forming around the courthouse entrance, they all wanted to get a taste from the free pies. Now, a beeping sound made Judy’s ears twitch. It took her a second but she remembered the thumb pad next to the bottom end of the jacket’s zipper. The time traveller placed a finger on it and luckily activated the button without a problem. Fortunately, this device did not require a fingerprint or only animals with paw pads would have been able to use it. By the doe’s best guess, it detected only the pressure of a button push, so Judy’s furry finger activated it without any issues.

To the lapine’s surprise and delight, a strong breeze of hot air hit her from underneath. The jacket puffed up like an inflatable raft. “Drying mode. On. Jacket drying,” said a robotic voice inside the jacket’s electronics. A few seconds later there was another beep and the blowing stopped. “Your jacket is now dry,” announced the artificial voice. The doe patted her garment, her face and her ears. To her amazement it was all dry. This sure was a fascinating piece of technology.

The hippo girl and her mother caught Judy’s attention. She had borrowed the hoverboard and had every intention of returning it again. “Hey, kiddy. Little girl,” the bunny called out to the bigger mammal. She stepped up and offered the board back. “Thanks,” the lapine said with a friendly smile. “Keep it,” retorted the dismissive mother. “I’ve got a Pit Bull now!” bragged her daughter who was about the same height as the adult bunny. She held up Kideon’s black and spikey board to show it to the doe, then she hovered away on it next to her mother. The time traveller shook her head in mild disbelief. A clock on one of the shop fronts at Carrot Square showed the current time.

Time and date: 17:08 - Friday, 21st October 2016

Judy sighed in relief at her escape from becoming a Bobcat Ross painting of a pie. She tucked the hoverboard under her arm and started heading back to the side alley and the Jokemobile.

“Save the clock tower! Save the clock tower!” came a call from behind her. The bunny felt a few short taps on her shoulder and turned around. There was an elderly goat with a thin beard walking around with a portable thumb unit, soliciting.

“Throw in a hundred bucks, will ya, and help save the clock tower?” she asked. Judy looked up to the courthouse top. The hands were still displaying 10:04 after all those years. Part of the structure was charred and underneath it, a part of the ledge had broken off. The doe didn’t remember anything other than the clock itself being visibly damaged, this must had happened more recently.

“Uh, I,” she started. “Sorry, no.” This goat would need to find someone else to pay for whatever. “Come on, kid, that’s an important historical landmark!” the caprid pushed. Judy knew all too well about it. “Look, some other time,” she said dismissively, remembering a situation a week ago when a similar goat, maybe even the same one, had interrupted her and Skippy for the same reason. The bunny started to walk away but the goat put a hand on her shoulder and walked along. “Lightning struck that thing sixty-one years ago,” the elderly mammal explained. “Yeah, I know,” confirmed Judy. She had been there when it happened.

With irritation, the lapine moved her shoulder to get away from the persistent goat, but not half a second later, there was a hand around her other shoulder instead. “Twelfth of November, 1955. I always remember that date, you know why?” continued the caprid. Judy was entirely uninterested. The two came to a stop next to an old fox. It was Gideon Grey in the process of sorting trays of pies in his grandson’s car.

“Because this old chomper tried to ship me out of 300 bucks for fixing his van,” said the caprid with a raised voice. “Aw, shut up, Mabel,” retorted the similarly aged fox with a roll of his eyes. He walked towards a nearby delivery vehicle. “The van was filled with manure, Gid,” ranted the goat. “Manure! I am a mechanic, not some kind of stable girl!”

“Ah, yew let ‘t in th’ past, Mabel,” groaned the old fox. He went back to work, bringing another box of pastries to Kideon’s car to escape from the annoying caprid. Judy couldn’t blame him. Her attention got dragged elsewhere now. The holographic billboard above the travel agency on Pitchfork Way blasted out sports news across Carrot Square. It showed ‘SportsFlash’ in bold letters, and some video of a tense Munch match. There was a bunny appearing to play as a fox, and he munched away his lupine opponents on the bunny team with great efficiency. Judy had never seen a play like this before. “Punks Of Podunk Sweep Fenrir In Animalia Series!” announced a real voice. The time traveller couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Wait a minute,” she blurted out with alert ears. “Punks win the Animalia Series? Against Fenrir?” The clock tower goat next to her shook her head sympathetically. “Yeah, that’s something, huh?” she agreed. “Who would’ve thought? And only one bunny left on the field at just nine points… Against a wolf!” The goat was clearly just as impressed as the time travelling doe. “Those tiebreaker games are something else, I tell you. I wish I could go back to the beginning of the season, put some money on the Punks.”

“No, I meant that Fenrir…” Whatever Judy was going to say next, she had already forgotten. Sudden realisation overcame her. “I'm sorry, what did you say?” she asked the goat for clarification. “Aw, she’s talkin’ ‘bout betting, Hopps,” chimed Gideon with an unusually indifferent demeanor, it wasn’t disrespectful or condescending. “Ah used t’ place sum bets muhself but stopped after a season on account o’ what happened t’ muh wallet.” He barked out a laugh. Judy stared at the ancient fox as he closed the trunk of his grandson’s car and headed inside Cafe Eighties.

The bunny’s face lit up as she got an idea. Her idea was terribly wonderful. Forgetting all about the goat beside her, she looked towards the antique store between the cafe and the side alley she needed to return to soon.

Time and date: 17:13 - Friday, 21st October 2016

“Now this has an interesting feature. It has a dust jacket,” explained a friendly otter saleslady. Her accent revealed she had her roots on Outback Island. The mustelid grabbed a little red book from the display window. It was called ‘Grey’s Sports Almanac: 50 Years of Sports Statistics, 1950 - 2000’ Judy found the author’s name, only their last name was provided, to be a highly odd coincidence. Below the title were additional details, indicating the book contained information about Munch, Football, Horse Racing, Boxing, Skiing, and more.

The friendly otter flicked through the book and showed off the aforementioned dust jacket. “Books had these to protect the covers,” she explained. “Of course, that was before they had dust-repellent paper.” The attentive bunny nodded along, hiding her confusion perfectly. Dust-repellent paper? She flipped the book open and looked at it in interest. This was a normal book. The doe was more curious about the information contained within, not the physical composition.

“And if you’re interested in dust, we have a neat little piece from the nineteen eighties,” continued the saleslady. She retrieved another item from the store window. “It’s called a dust buster,” the mustelid announced, holding up a portable hand vacuum. Judy wasn’t there to learn about any of that, but hearing a twenty-first century opinion on common household items from her own time might be interesting, so she decided not to interject for now.

“One of the intended use cases for this particular device was to remove dust from video game consoles but kids in the eighties preferred to blow into the cartridge slot instead,” explained the otter. It sounded not too unusual for the bunny from the time in question. “It did the trick but if you ask me, I think that’s a bit of a health code violation,” continued the otter with a polite chuckle.

The lapine looked at her incredulously. What about kids playing video games at home involved any sort of health codes? Everyone knew the connection to the cartridge was better if you blew the dust out of the slot first!

The doe thought maybe they also sold a book about the stock market over time, though she dismissed that idea quickly. This was a retro store, not a business place. Maybe, investing in Zooyota, Bugburga, Chez Cheez, or Mousy’s, as well as potential future brands like that Snarlbucks thing Finnick had consumed, would remain nothing more than a fleeting thought. The otter continued talking.

Chapter Text

Nick’s POV

Time and date: 17:13 - Friday, 21st October 2016

Nick was approaching the end of the narrow alleyway where he had left Finnick and Skippy a few minutes prior. He had needed to get some gas, though doing so in 2016 might have been a poor financial decision. Inflation made the prices very high. At least the fuel burned more cleanly and was easier on the engine. The gas station right on Carrot Square didn’t have the best prices, though, so the red fox opted to fly to one a bit less prominent. Now, he was about to land, when he spotted a police cruiser parked right there in the alleyway, right next to Finnick!

Great Tod!

The vulpine landed a fair bit away from the action, where the alley opened up into a wider but by no means busy street. He parked on the sidewalk and lowered the window to eavesdrop on his lifelong companion and on the two police officers, one wolf and one very muscular tiger. They were having a heated discussion!

Nick observed closely and found that Finnick was looking his way. His sensitive ears must have allowed him to hear the time machine’s powerful engine. “Look at me when I’m talking to you, sir,” hissed an irritated tiger. The comparatively tiny fox sighed. “Officer, I already told ya, we’re friends and I’m just waiting here for my homie to finish his little nap so we can head home.” It was the wolf with fur as grey as Judy’s, if not significantly darker on most of his visible body, who responded next. “Great,” he chimed with possibly forced friendliness. “So when this gentlemmammal wakes up, we can just ask him if your story checks out.”

This caused the fennec’s large ears to subconsciously drop slightly. Finnick looked worried. While Skippy knew about the little vulpine, the two had never talked or even seen each other face to face until less than an hour ago. Even Nick had only seen the young lapine for the first time before his latest jump through time. The buck would not be able to back up the tod’s story.

“Come on, Big Guy,” whispered Nick to himself in anxious anticipation. “Get them to leave you alone. Talk your way out of this…” He was quite worried for his friend. The taller fox felt like he had to stop the officers, though what was he supposed to tell them? They’d have him committed if he informed the two bigger predators of time travel. Finnick briefly glanced towards Nick again, they made eye contact once more.

The taller of the two foxes figured he could try and bust out his friend later. It would be very risky but at least it would be a more secluded and controlled environment. If only he hadn’t gone to get some gas, it really hadn’t taken longer than five minutes…

“Sir, I’m gonna have to see your credentials,” requested the tiger. She held up a device similar to the one a friendly mouse in uniform had presented when the foxes first arrived in the future. “Why would ya wanna see my credentials?” the rebellious vulpine demanded to know. “I ain’t in the wrong here, all I did was look after my bunny buddy.” The tiger rolled her eyes. “Sir, you’ve just about crossed off almost all the checkboxes for suspicious behaviour,” retorted the wolf officer. “Middle aged predator next to an unconscious teen prey, in a shady side street, avoiding eye contact, saying things that can not be backed up, suspicious body language, the list goes on.”

“Please put your thumb on the Identi-Pad,” instructed the tiger officer. Finnick growled in response, barely loud enough for Nick to hear it from his vantage point. Eventually, though, the little fox gave in and did as he was told. Meanwhile, the lupine officer stepped up very close behind him. “Finnegan Deserttail. 1640 Cypress Grove Lane, Happytown. Age…” The tiger stopped reading out the scan results and paused for a moment to furrow her eyes in suspicion. “What is it?” her partner inquired. “Looks like we got a thumb faker here,” she responded quickly. The wolf raised an eyebrow. “It says this little guy is ninety-four years old.”

Finnick bared his teeth at being called little. “Easy now, sir,” warned the wolf officer, he must have seen the sides of the fennec’s snout wrinkle slightly. The tiger huffed in amusement and kept reading the scan results. “Date of birth: Fourteenth of March nineteen twenty-two. Arrests: Four. Warrants: One. Convictions: None.” The wolf clapped his hands together, he looked like he was more than ready to move this situation along. “Sir, please put your hands behind your back where I can see them,” he said from behind the fennec.

Once again, the little fox obeyed and soon found his hands in cuffs. He struggled a little and spared another glance towards his red fox friend, who was watching intently. The taller vulpine nodded reassuringly. The fennec cooperated and got helped into the back seat of the police cruiser by the wolf officer. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you by the algorithm,” listed the canid officer.

The tiger meanwhile turned her attention to Skippy. “He’s not injured, we know that much,” she announced to her partner. “Tranked out, I’d say. Smell his ears,” said the wolf. Shouldn’t the canid have a better sense of smell than the tiger, Nick wondered. “Nothing,” she said, after taking a sniff that surely would have made Judy’s blood boil.

“Run a nose check,” requested the wolf. The tiger pulled out another device similar to the one Finnick was asked to put his thumb on, and gently pushed the buck’s little nose to a silver pad on its side. While the time traveller wasn’t entirely sure of the police procedure he was observing, he assumed they were using his noseprint to assess his ID.

“Name: Error. Address: 404 Page Not Found. Age: Undefined. Date of birth: The past. Arrests: None. Warrants: None. Convictions: None. And this guy isn’t in the computer system yet, so reliability of any of that info: None!” The feline let out a brief chuckle while the lupine lowered his ears a little. “Hmm, what if you send it in, maybe there’s info on that flatfoot in records,” he pondered, getting a nod from his partner.

Finnick was in their computer system, why couldn’t they find anything on Skippy? His older self should have been programmed in years ago. Nick found this highly odd.

“Results came in,” mentioned the tiger, getting the attention of her partner. “Skipper Robin Whitaker. 1973 Sherwood Street, Rabbyt Estates. Age: Fifty. Date of birth: Eighth of November nineteen sixty-six. Arrests: None. Warrants: None. Convictions: None,” listed the tiger. “Sounds like a clear case to me.” Her wolf partner interjected, however. “Hey, did you just say fifty?” he asked with a tilted head. “He’s got one helluva good job with the face lift! Wonder who his doctor is. My mother-in-law could use a lift like this.”

The tiger moved Skippy’s flopped over ears out of his face to get a better look at the young buck’s appearance. “Wow. Now this is a real good de-aging job,” agreed the feline officer after she got a better look at the buck. “Officers,” called out Finnick through the open cruiser window in his usual low voice. Nick thought he could hear the hint of a growl in it. “How come ya don’t believe me but forget how to speak when ya see the bunny?” That was a very reasonable question. The tiger only huffed in response. “Nobody is over ninety without cybernetic back supports and tail balancers, mister…” The wolf rolled his eyes at the fennec’s antics and his partner’s lack of empathy for this suspect.

“Besides,” the feline continued. “Timmy, remember the textbooks? You might wanna get a look at this.” She motioned her partner to come over to show him something on the little screen in her hands. The wolf widened his eyes, he shot another glance towards Skippy, then he turned to Finnick. “Sir,” he started with a worrying change in tone. “Who did you say this bunny friend of yours was?” Nick could hear a sigh from the little tod. “I met him out of town a few years back,” he explained. “Told me his name is Robin or whatever.” The fennec sounded very irritated, why was he giving them incorrect information…? “Why you asking?”

The feline turned the screen towards the police cruiser to show it to Finnick. “It says here that this bunny has gone missing thirty-one years ago. The case file says that another bunny went missing the same day too.”

Nick’s eyes went wide in shock. Had he heard the officer right? Judy and Skippy had gone missing thirty-one years ago…?

That was 1985!

The tiger pulled the device in her hands back to keep reading the information on it herself. “They were a young couple, by the look of things,” she murmured, no longer addressing the fennec and instead talking to her colleague. “Yeah, I remember them now from the textbook, like you said,” the lupine murmured with surprise. “He has no living relatives anymore, they passed away a few years ago,” the tiger continued. “The girlfriend’s family’s still around, though.” The wolf put a hand up to his chin. “So what do we do?” he asked. “Should we give her parents an update?” The tiger looked unsure, though. “I don’t know, they would be starting their retirement years now. Let’s get in the cruiser, maybe the missing doe has a sibling.” This seemed more logical. “Sounds like a plan,” agreed the wolf.

Nick always thought he had a grip on his emotions, now he was thinking logically too. Judy on the other hand, she mustn’t find out about this, she would explode with worry. The time travellers all needed to be patient now. Skippy probably wouldn’t get arrested for being passed out.

The tiger officer pocketed her Identi-Pad device and handed it to her colleague. They were still oblivious to their audience. “He’s clean otherwise,” announced her partner. “That means we take him to his girl’s family.” The feline sighed. “To Haraburrow?” she asked, having had looked up the future address of one of Judy’s siblings. It’ll be dark by the time we get out there,” she groaned.

With ease, the muscular feline lifted Skippy into their police car. “Let’s keep this little guy around,” mused the wolf. “I wanna hear his yapping while we’re stuck in traffic.” Those words confused the observing vulpine. How were they stuck in traffic when they could just fly over other cars? Another surprising thing was the sudden amusement the feline officer displayed as a reaction to her partner’s words.

Nick collected his thoughts. Two police officers were about to take Skippy home to Haraburrow where one of Judy’s siblings lived now. That was on the other end of town, just past Potato Peak and Faulkner Ravine, the fox remembered. He was deep in thought and formulated a plan.

“No!” gasped Nick. “Great Tod!” Skippy could conceivably encounter Judy’s family, it was likely, even! The consequences of that could be disastrous. The vulpine stole another glance around the corner to the officers. He was suddenly slightly out of breath from his shocking revelation. The scientist had two leading theories at the moment: One, unexpectedly coming face to face with his girlfriend’s family thirty-one years older would put Skippy into shock and he’d simply pass out before being able to exchange too much information. Given his species, his heart might stop too, nothing that a little CPR couldn’t fix.

Or two, the encounter could create suspicion about de-aging technology, rejuvenation clinics would be highly interested in this case but upon finding nothing, perhaps the local government might get involved and dig up anything and everything they could find on Skippy and Judy. Their connection with Nick would lead to all sorts of inventions, they might dig up all the information on him they could find and open a whole new can of spoiled blueberries in the process! It could create all sorts of unforeseen consequences the red fox was in no way prepared to deal with.

Granted, that would be a worst case scenario. The investigation of the two bunnies might not even lead to Nick in the first place. The tod shook his head, trying to vent off some of his built up frustration. On second thought, simply meeting a far older version of someone familiar wouldn’t be too shocking either, the scientist had to admit, ruddering back on his concern about the first scenario. He mustn’t take the risk, though. The vulpine peeked towards the officers again. He did so just in time to see the police car take off. It turned towards Carrot Square and very narrowly threaded the needle between the buildings on either side.

Nick waited for the law enforcement vehicle to have exited the narrow alleyway completely before he started up the Jokemobile again. He sure hoped he would find Skippy before he would find anyone else. The fox took off and likewise flew through the narrow path towards Carrot Square.

Time and date: 17:17 - Friday, 21st October 2016

The antique shop’s front door opened up and a giddy bunny stepped out. She looked around Carrot Square briefly, finding another police cruiser flying low overhead. In her hand she held a shiny silver bag that must have been made of some new futuristic material similar to plastic. Just like the paper bags from her own family’s market stand, this one had the store’s logo printed on it. The bunny opened the bag and retrieved the sports almanac, she looked around and saw Gideon through one of the cafe windows.

“I can’t lose…” gushed Judy to herself with a big grin. “Carrots!” called out a familiar voice from near the alleyway. The doe looked around but didn’t see anybody. Naturally, she looked down, a rodent could have tried to get her attention.

Wait, no… This was Nick’s voice. Only he would call her ‘Carrots’…

“Fluff, up here!” he called out. Judy looked up and saw the Jokemobile slowly hovering out of the narrow alley a few meters off of the ground. The driver door was open so Nick could talk to the bunny. Judy waved at her friend and noticed he had changed his outfit to more normal 1985 clothes. Now, he wore a yellow shirt with an array of blue steam locomotives and emus on it.

“Hey, Slick,” greeted the doe. “What’s going on?” She stuffed the almanac back in the silver bag alongside the receipt. “Stand by,” said Nick. “I’ll park over there.” He pointed at the pavement in front of the antique shop. “Yeah, all right,” answered Judy. The fox lowered the time machine, he flipped out the wheels to allow a proper touchdown. The Jokemobile now stood directly beside the bunny. “Hey, right on time,” she said.

The doe’s ears twitched, as a sudden yell interrupted the relative peace and quiet. “Hey!” someone called out from near the intersection of Cabbage Road and Pitchfork Way. Brief honking soon followed. “I'm walking here! I’m walking here! Don't drive trank, low-res scuzzball!” Of course, there was still that commotion at the old courthouse building, but that was on the other end of the square. This new conflict, it had concluded again already, was far closer. Those phrasings and expressions seemed so very foreign to the time travelling lapine, she looked after the mammal who said them to find another oddly dressed stranger.

The Jokemobile’s driver door opened up all the way. Nick got out of the time machine and immediately noticed the commotion in front of the clock tower. “Carrots!” he hissed. “What in the name of Thomas Alva Ebison’s delicious blueberries happened here?” He sounded very alarmed. Judy deposited the hoverboard inside a futuristic retro egg-pot chair on the side of the adjacent building. She laid down the silver bag on the fender of the Jokemobile’s single front wheel, then she stepped closer to the fox. “Oh yea, Slick,” the bunny answered with a suddenly more concerned attitude. “Kideon didn’t ask me about anything, it was like he didn’t even know my daughter.”

“He didn’t?” repeated the fox with concern. He gasped, as something crossed his mind. “Great Tod! The timeline!” He sat back down in the Jokemobile’s driver seat and leaned back in frustration. This confused Judy. “What about the timeline?” she asked. “Don’t worry about it, Fluff… It’s a bummer… Such a stupid oversight…” The frustrated tod lightly banged his fist against the steering wheel. The bunny was confused. “Nick, what do you mean?” she asked. The fox shook his head. He frantically retrieved a newspaper from the storage compartment underneath his seat.

‘YOUTH JAILED! Judith Hopps Junior (Bunny, 17) Arrested for Vandalism’

This shocking headline immediately caught the time travelling doe’s attention, she was by the tod’s side in an instant to look at the page more closely. Underneath the headline was another smaller set of words, reading ‘Youth Gang Denies Complicity’ A photo of Judy Junior accompanied the lengthy article. “My daughter?” asked the time travelling lapine with a lot of worry. She took the papers from her friend’s hand and inspected the image closely. “Well she’s out of the picture now anyways,” murmured Nick in frustration. “The ripple effect should catch up any second now and change the whole page.”

Judy didn’t really listen too closely. The idea that this valuable information would fade away shortly made her want to read the whole article even quicker, though. “Gods, she looks just like me,” the doe said in awe. The red fox checked his watch. The doe started reading the article out loud.

“‘Within two hours of her arrest, Judith Laverne Hopps Junior (Bunny, 17) was trialled, convicted and sentenced to fifteen years in the Burrow Penitentiary’?!” This was outrageous! The bunny’s ears reflected this shock. She looked at Nick and back at the newspaper, then back at Nick. There had to be a misunderstanding. “Within two hours?” The fox nodded. “Uh-huh,” he confirmed. “I told you, the justice system is very quick these days.” The bunny’s ears drooped down at the thought. “Cheese and crackers…” she commented.

Something else confused her too. “Wait, Slick, why would my kids be named Hopps? Won’t I take Skippy’s last name?” The fox rolled his eyes at that. “You would have,” he confirmed. “But your grandpa had other ideas. I think he convinced Skippy to take your family’s name because of how proud he was of it. I’m not entirely sure myself.” Judy found this believable. Stu’s father had always been quick to point out his name whenever he was bragging about something. He also tended to suspiciously leave out the last name wherever Stu was involved. Maybe now, with Judy’s father being so successful, that might not have been the case anymore.

Another detail caught the bunny’s attention too. Her focus got dragged towards the corner of the page. “Hey, Slick,” said Judy. “This date. This is tomorrow’s newspaper.” She pointed at the date. Before Nick had the chance to reply, Judy noticed something a lot more drastic about the papers.

“Slick,” she said. “Slick, look at this! It’s changing!” It really appeared like the ink that had gotten imprinted onto the page faded from existence and different ink appeared at the same time. Nick’s eyes wandered across the pages and he nodded. “Just as I predicted. Remember the photograph of you and your siblings? It’s the same thing now,” he informed. “We changed something about the timeline and after a while, those changes get carried over to things we brought along… or to ourselves.” He leaned in closer to see the text more clearly. The old article was disappearing, it faded away completely and got replaced by a new article.

‘GANG JAILED! HOVERBOARD RAMPAGE Ruins Courthouse. Gang Leader: I was framed’

Below was a picture of Kideon and the gang, as they got arrested. Judy Hopps Junior was nowhere to be seen or mentioned at all. Nick looked at the story and pictures, then he turned his gaze forwards to the real courthouse building with the actual vandalism he had just learned about from the papers in his possession. The fox pulled out the same little object he had already shown off to Judy, it still looked like a tiny cassette player to her. The vulpine held it up to his eyes and looked through it.

The doe turned back to look at the chaos she had left behind. She saw Kideon getting led down the stairs of the old courthouse while trying to wiggle his way out of custody. “Ah was framed!” he yelled with anger. A floating robot with the ZNN logo on the side flew down to take the very same picture that would appear in next morning’s edition of the Bunnyburrow Beacon! Behind him, the old courthouse building was still covered in sticky sweet pies. It was a real shame they couldn’t get enjoyed to their fullest extent anymore.

“Boy, look at that ruckus over there,” commented Nick. “How about we go up to Chuck in newsflash central?” This was an obsolete joke, considering their previous revelation from only a minute ago. The fox continued regardless. He put two fingers up to his ear, imitating a reporter. “Chuck, how're things looking in Bunnyburrow today? We had a report of a gang getting arrested!” The silly vulpine played his parts well, imitating an enthusiastic news reporter with surprising accuracy. “Nick, look at the newspaper,” giggled Judy. “It tells you everything right here already.”

The tod paused and his expression turned blank. He was deep in thought by the look of things. “…a gang getting arrested…” he repeated his last couple of words. “Yes, Nick,” reassured the bunny. “They’re getting into the police cruiser right now,” observed Judy. “No, no, no. Shhh,” said the tod, shushing the doe. “The gang got arrested!” he repeated for a third time.

“Because this hoverboard incident has now occurred, Kideon now goes to jail,” explained Nick. “Therefore, your daughter wouldn’t go with him tonight and that vandalism would never take place!” Judy’s ears shot up. She understood what he was getting at. “So my daughter is fine!” she nearly yelled out. “Bingo,” confirmed Nick.

“Hey, pretty slick, Nick,” she celebrated, lightly hitting the fox’s arm with a fist. “Yeah, however…” continued the fox with a more grounded tone. “Since… uhm, my latest revelation… it is impossible to know what would happen once you and Skippy return home,” he said cryptically. “I’m hoping our interference will still prevent anything of the sort, though I can’t be sure about that.” This gave Judy pause, her ears dropped down again. They weren’t droopy but the excitement was gone. “Nick, please tell me about this revelation of yours, you act very serious about it and it’s worrying me,” insisted the bunny.

“Fret not, fluff, I will deal with it,” the fox reasoned. “Either way, Kideon doesn’t have enough cakes left for his evening plans now anyways. Thus, history…” the slender tod paused and indicated the newspaper. “…future history has been altered. And this is the proof!”

Both time travellers were getting more lighthearted again, Nick smiled reassuringly. “Carrots, we’ve succeeded! Not exactly as I planned, but no matter. Let me run one last quick errand and then we can go home.” Judy agreed with those plans. She had barely gotten the time to reunite with her boyfriend after her adventures in 1955.

The doe took the hoverboard from the nearby futuristic retro egg-pod chair and put it into the Jokemobile. Then, she turned to the car’s middle front wheel, where she had placed the silver bag on the fender while she talked to Nick. She grabbed the merchandise from the antique store and turned around with the bag in hand. The clumsy bunny only gripped the bag itself and not the book within. Combined with her quick motion, this caused the sports almanac to slip right out. It fell to the ground in front of the fox. This reminded the lapine of the previous evening when she had slipped and dropped the letter that was so very crucial in saving her friend’s life thirty years later.

Nick picked up the book.

“What’s this?” he asked curiously. Judy looked for a quick excuse, she did not want him to know about her plans right away, it was her intention to tell him at a later time. “Aaah, it’s… a souvenir,” she didn’t quite lie. The fox read the title of the book with much scepticism. “Fifty years of sports statistics.” With a hint of a smirk, he turned to the bunny. “Hardly recreational reading material, Carrots.”

“Well, I…” stammered Judy. “Slick, what’s the harm of bringing back a little info on the future?” She was sweettalking it, there was no denying that. “You know… we could place a few bets.” The vulpine didn’t lose any of his smugness but turned more serious regardless. “Fluff, I admit, the thought is tempting,” he started. “It would be the best hustle in the history of all time. But I didn’t invent time travel for financial gain. As a fox especially, I want to distance myself from those stereotypes.”

Now that he had pointed it out like this, Judy felt a little guilty. However, she was also sure she specifically remembered Nick mentioning this very same idea a week ago… thirty-one years ago… when he had first explained to the lapine how the time machine worked. She would have to go back and rewatch those tapes, if the tod had kept them anywhere.

“It’s probably best… if the intent here remains to gain a clearer perception of mammalkind,” explained the slender vulpine. “Where we’ve been, where we’re going, the pitfalls and the possibilities, the perils and the promise… perhaps even an answer to that universal question: Why?” 

As he talked, Nick had been leaning in close to the doe’s eye level. He was very serious about this topic. “Hey, Slick, I’m all for that!” agreed the lapine with a lot of forced enthusiasm. “What’s wrong with making a few bucks on the side?” She was quite fond of her idea. “Judy, as much as I like the thought, we can’t do that,” insisted the tod. “I’m putting my foot down on this. The book goes in the trash.”

Nick stuffed the book back into the silver bag. He spotted an orange carrot-shaped trash can robot slowly rolling into the side alley. The fox went after it for a few meters, into the slightly wider mouth of said alleyway. To his left was the array of public telephones Judy had seen earlier. On his right was the back door of the antique store.

As the tod approached the trash can robot, its green stalk-shaped lid automatically slid open to let the vulpine deposit his rubbish inside. Judy stepped closer too, not quite wanting to let go of her brilliant idea. Nick noticed. “I didn’t invent the time machine to win at gambling, I invented a time machine to travel through time,” he reasoned in a more caring tone, trying to nail down his point. His words sounded very final, though. The lapine was disappointed, both to get her idea shut down but also in herself she had even considered the notion. “I know… I know, Slick,” she sheepishly responded.

The red fox tossed the silver bag with the book and receipt inside into the trash receptacle. Judy sighed as she saw her scheme of wealth lost like that.

“All right,” she said, wanting to take her mind off of this slightly uncomfortable topic. “Let’s go get Skippy and Fin and get back to the past.” Nick hesitated, however. “Not yet, Fluff,” he interjected. “I have another errand to run. I’ll be here in no time, I promise.” The bunny tilted her head. “What do you need to do? Can I come along and explore more of the future with you?” she wondered. Her friend became suddenly very anxious, “It’s nothing I want you to be involved in,” he insisted. “Wait for me right here at Carrot Square. I will be back in one minute.” The doe raised an eyebrow. “What errand only takes one minute?” she asked, then her ears stood up tall.

“You’re doing something bigger and then travel back in time to get me afterwards?” she guessed. Nick looked to the ground, ashamed. “I can’t take you along, you might see too much of the future, it is too dangerous,” he doubled down.

With a sigh, Judy shook her head, unamused. She didn’t really like this plan. “Come on, Nick,” she insisted. The fox sighed. “Do you trust me?” he asked. The first response that came to the doe’s mind was ‘yes, of course, I trust you.’ It was correct, though during this trip, there had been a number of alarmingly suspicious oddities. “Yes, I trust you,” the doe confirmed with a sigh. Judy would have preferred to keep an eye out for things herself too. If she wouldn’t help her friend in the process, at least she could spend this time socialising with him.

Judy didn’t want to argue with Nick, though. He got back to the time machine and sat down in the driver seat. “It won’t take long, I promise,” the fox repeated. “All right. Guess I’ll go check out the courthouse, then,” the doe said. Nick nodded and waved her off. The bunny’s attention was pulled elsewhere, though. She looked off in the distance. The fox followed her gaze to a traffic sign with futuristic antennas all over, as well as fancy solar panels to keep it powered up.

‘Skyway condition: Skewd on’

‘Ozone: 10,5%’

Pictogram of a sun

‘W -> SSE’

‘H45,6%’

‘BP428’

‘AZ48 VT6’

“The skyway is jammed,” sighed Nick with dismay. “It’ll take forever to get to my next destination.” He gestured to the sign with disappointment. “Not for me, Slick, you’ll have sixty seconds,” she teased, trying to lighten the mood. The fox gave her a smug smile, then he flew off. Judy made her way away from the side alley and towards the old courthouse building.

Chapter Text

Wolfard’s POV

Time and date: 19:05 - Friday, 21st October 2016

Today was a strange day. First, the chief had given Officer Wolfard and his partner, Officer Fangmeyer, no assignment, which meant standard patrolling for the predator team. About half an hour later, they had received a call about an accident on River Road, where a distracted pedestrian had walked right into the back of a rodent class transport truck that had carried countless nuts. The mammal had received a ticket for a traffic violation and a mandatory visit to the vet, but the annoying part about this call was the spreading of nuts across the whole road.

The entire area had to get closed off until the mess could get cleaned up. River Road was annoying anyways because the road included a tunnel. Why wouldn’t they just make a skyway around or over the hill? No, they needed to dig right through like moles. Potato Peak had a skyway running right overhead too, it really wasn’t that hard.

Then, after the wolf had enjoyed a lunch break together with his tiger partner, the two continued on their standard patrol route, which had taken them past the historic town center of Bunnyburrow. Next to Carrot Square, they had found a suspiciously behaving fennec tod beside a much younger unconscious bunny buck. After a brief discussion, which greatly irritated the feline in the team, the two officers determined the lapine in question had gone missing thirty-one years prior. They opted to chauffeur the buck all the way to Haraburrow and took the fox along for a ride too because of a shortage of police cruisers.

The sun had already set, as the car hovered past the entrance sign for the housing development. The sprawl of identical cluster burrow homes stretched on for a long distance. Originally built in the 1980s as a supposedly classy development, the reality of the twenty-first century meant the place really showed its true colours.

As Wolfard flew the cruiser across Haraburrow in search for the correct street, his partner scanned the area below with bright integrated spotlights, as was standard protocol for class yellow areas on the precaution index. Finally, the officers arrived at the correct address, and the canid landed right at the front door. Just to make sure, the wolf looked for a name code on the warren building, finding one that scanned to ‘Hopps’. This was the right place. He shut off the engine and stepped out of the car.

“Haraburrow…” the lupine sighed with a hint of disgust in his voice. “Nothing but a breeding ground for tranks, bozos and zipheads.” The officer stepped to the other side of the police car where Fangmeyer was standing. “Yeah. They ought to tear this whole place down,” she agreed with an identical tone. “Maybe we should leave the fennec here after all.” This solicited an amused huff from the uniformed canine.

The big tiger carried the still unconscious bunny to the warren entrance. Her partner closed the doors to the cruiser but left the window open, as was common practice. The fennec suspect was cuffed to the back seat but it was improper to leave a police cruiser unattended with an individual inside. On hot summer days, this could quickly lead to a medical emergency and a following lawsuit. At least this task at hand wouldn’t take long.

The doorbell rang out. Several seconds passed without anyone answering, no sounds came from within the building at all. “They’ve got an Identi-Pad. We could try to just take him in,” suggested Fangmeyer. The wolf’s eyes grew wide. “Are you for real? That’s a violation of the privacy act. We could get our badges popped off!” He was not happy with the idea. Besides, it was very unlikely the bunny’s noseprint would even be registered.

If nobody was home, the officers would be obligated to take the sleeping buck to the precinct. The thought alone was annoying as it was. Having gone missing so long ago would certainly result in questioning, though Officer Wolfard hoped to dodge this task and have detectives look into this aspect instead.

“Man, I hope someone’s home,” said the large feline in uniform. Her partner nodded in agreement and gently slapped the bunny’s unusually soft cheeks. “Mister? Mister?” he asked in a compassionate tone. This sufficiently disturbed the buck’s slumber, the little lapine started to wake up at that very moment. Hopefully, their pleas had been heard by Karma itself too, and someone would open the front door already.

Skippy’s POV

Time and date: ??:?? - Weekend?, ??th October 1985

Skippy was groggy and disoriented. He didn’t remember falling asleep or what he had been doing beforehand. He had helped his grandmother with some furniture… That was all that the confused buck could picture in his head.

One thing became immediately terrifyingly clear, however. A huge tiger with sharp teeth and claws was carrying him.

The buck’s ears perked, why weren’t they on full alert already? Either way, this brought the lapine’s attention to a mild headache, but that was the least of his worries at that moment. The huge and scary tiger put the buck down on his shaky feet. Now, a big wolf with likewise intimidating teeth stepped closer. He reached under one of Skippy’s arms and held him up. The nervous bunny realised his balance was very unsteady and he would have fallen right over without any physical support from the wolf.

Meanwhile, the tiger stepped up to a wall with a frame around a bright red rectangle. There was no door knob or window in sight. The bunny realised why his nose wasn’t wiggling as much as it should have, he was much too groggy. The predator pressed a button and the sound of a doorbell could be heard. What sort of door was this? The frame had the right size and the area inside had a different colour from the otherwise completely white house, but nothing else about this resembled a door. The buck glanced around and saw all other houses were of similar colour, all white, all grey, all light beige, none of them had brightly coloured doors, though.

Finally, the wall turned. It actually was someone’s front door. Inside stood Molly, she looked at the predators with a blank stare. The doe had a very strange device covering her face, though. Could she even see anything with that thing in front of her eyes? “Good evening,” greeted the wolf with an unusually compassionate tone. “Are your parents home?”

Molly’s parents… Bonnie and Stu… They had a normal front door. There was a barn next to their warren too. Where was Skippy?

“Yup, my mom’s here.” replied Judy’s sister, she sounded very indifferent about everything only barely sparing Skippy a glance… At least her head turned his way, it was impossible to tell what she was actually seeing.

“Could you please go and get her?” requested the predator behind Skippy. The buck was still slightly groggy but was too afraid to move much. His nose was on the wiggle. “Sure, I’ll tell her there’s someone here,” Molly continued with a bored tone. “You wanna chat with her too or just this guy? She’s in an important meeting or whatever. Not sure she would interrupt it for you guys.”

“That is fine,” said the tiger. “We are only here to bring this bunny buck to your family. Tomorrow, a detective will knock on your door to ask him some questions, that’s not our responsibility anymore, though.” Skippy would have perked his ears if they weren’t frozen in place because of the presence of those ominous predators. A detective? What would Sherlock Hounds want to know from him? “Please help this buck inside, he might still be unsteady on his feet. And inform your mother of his presence at once.”

“Whatever. Will do,” confirmed Molly. She practically dragged Skippy inside and threw the door shut. There was a couch. Judy’s sister helped the buck sit down. He was still not all there. “Just take it easy or whatever. Or take a nap, I don’t care.” said the doe. She sounded so entirely indifferent, even more so than usual. “And be careful in the future, I guess.” Skippy perked his ears at that, he was finally able to move again with the intimidating predators gone. Since when did chompers scare him that much? “The future…?” Why was this striking the buck as noteworthy?

Before he even had the chance to say anything, Molly strolled up the stairs again and disappeared behind another door, closing it behind her. Skippy looked around the room. There was a window showing the grounds of a large estate outside. Manicured lawn, gardens, gazebos… The whole image seemed a bit surreal. It took the bunny a moment but then he realised it had been dark outside. Why was it daytime now when he looked out the window?

“Broadcasting beautiful views twenty-four hours a day,” said a voice. Skippy whipped his head around, noticing his light headache once more. Who had said that? He looked for the origin of those words. They exuded a calm and relaxed feel. Emotions that the buck was nowhere near experiencing at the moment. It sounded like it had come from the window. The lapine leaned closer. What was this? The bottom flickered a bit.

This was no window, it was a TV! “You’ve tuned to the Scenery Channel,” advertised the same voice. The bunny got up. He was trying to wrap his head around what was going on. “I’m in the future…” he mumbled, not quite believing himself but not knowing where else he might be.

Time and date: ??:?? - ?????, ??th ????? Future

The bunny looked around. He heard footsteps upstairs somewhere but didn’t spot anybody. Carefully, Skippy stepped up to a bookcase. Without knowing what else to do, the buck decided to browse it a little. On the shelf was a row of very narrow cases with titles and logos of what surely had to be movies. There was Maws, Hairy Otter, A Match Made On Savage Island, Robin Hood, Wreck It Rhino and Pig Hero 6. This was a jumbled mess of genres and styles and half of those titles didn’t ring any bells. There were more little tablet-like shapes, and they were all black with handwritten words on the side.

‘Family Vacations - 1995 - 2005’

‘Stu & Bonnie 50th Anniversary’

‘The Kids: Molly Jr. & Jimmy - #1, #2, #3’

‘Judy & Skippy’

Skippy grabbed the one labelled with his name and looked at it. A little screen turned on automatically and started playing a video of Judy and him. They were dressed casually and sat together on a park bench, chatting and laughing. In the background were two foxes. They had to be the buck’s girlfriend’s scientist buddy and his little assistant. This video tape had been recorded only last summer, the bunny remembered how Judy had told him after the fact that she should have introduced him to the foxes, had she known they were there. Only upon viewing the tape back did she even notice her two good predator friends were present at all.

The buck glanced around the room once more. He returned the strange device in his hands to where he had taken it from and stepped to a chest with lots of drawers. It was filled to the brim with framed pictures on top. Some were familiar, there was a photo of Judy, Molly and Timmy. Another one of Bonny and Stu at their wedding, Then one of Judy with one of her nieces and one of Judy and her dad.

One photograph, though, caught the buck’s attention for all the wrong reasons. He couldn’t believe what he was looking at. This was a photograph of two missing mammal posters!

And even worse, it displayed the faces of Skippy and Judy!

Had they gone missing…? But he was right here! Molly was there too! The buck looked closer and actually found shocking words added to the photograph of the poster:

‘In loving memory, 26th October 1985’

“Judy and I are presumed dead?!” squeaked Skippy in shock.

“Who’s there?” called a boy’s voice from upstairs. The time travelling buck dropped the framed photo in panicked disbelief. He was freaking out. Skippy stumbled backwards until he bumped into a wall. No, this was the front door. He kept looking around and explored the vertical surface with his hand, searching for the doorknob. The bunny turned around and was shocked to find there was no handle at all! He had been sure he had simply overlooked it when coming inside but it was missing entirely.

The doorbell rang.

“Hello?” came another call from upstairs. The doorbell rang out once more too. This whole situation was entirely overwhelming for Skippy. He tumbled through the room, looking for a place to hide. The buck’s eyes fell onto a walk-in closet under the stairs, and within seconds, he snuck inside. “Hello? Is there anybody here?” asked the same male voice again. He had a higher voice than Timmy, Judy’s brother, but otherwise sounded very similar in tone.

Skippy closed the door of his hiding spot almost all the way, leaving it only slightly ajar to carefully peek out. Another time, the auditory nonverbal request to open the front door rang out. Steps announced the voice from upstairs took on the responsibility of answering the call of whoever waited outside. The hiding buck’s eyes grew wider than his desire to get back home.

The voice from upstairs turned out to be a buck, he looked to be maybe seventeen or eighteen years old. While Molly hadn’t rang any alarm bells initially, Skippy had since found out he was in the future. She probably wasn’t Molly. This meant that this buck probably wasn’t Timmy, though he looked nearly identical.

Before Skippy could fully comprehend the implications of that, the bunny from upstairs grabbed a strange box beside the wall and brought it up to his… nose…? What in the world? The next second, there was a beep, a red light turned off, and something in the strange framed wall that was supposed to be a door made a faint clicking sound. The entrance opened up automatically. “Grandma Bonnie,” greeted the young buck.

Bonnie was the name of Judy’s mother! This could still just be a very strange coincidence…

“Sweetheart!” chimed a very familiar voice, even if it was a little frailer than usual. Skippy’s suspicions about the mysterious bunny got undoubtedly confirmed when his girlfriend’s mother stepped in. She had to be in her seventies, judging by her look. The elderly doe carried a basket of the farm’s produce, as well as a bag with barely any contents. It had the logo of some food place, but given it was barely filled, this might not have meant anything.

The two bunnies of differing ages greeted each other with a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. “What happened to Grandpa?” asked the buck… Timmy’s probable son. This revelation needed more time to fully sink in. “Oh, he threw his back out again,” complained Bonnie, as she stepped through the front door. Behind her was an upside down Stu. He was suspended from a floating droid of some sort. How did this work? Was there a frame behind the older buck?

There were flying cars too. Had that only been a dream? Stu’s ears hung down low, almost reaching the floor. The droid floated higher up as the hanging bunny started speaking.

“How’s Granddad’s little cotton ball?” he asked happily. “How did you do that?” asked the youngest bunny in the room, as he leaned down to the eye level of the inverted buck. Then he turned to Bonnie. “How did he do that?” As the futuristic device floated through the doorway, Skippy could read the branding as ‘Ortho-lev’.

“Oh, out on the field,” replied the bunny in a strange harness. His positioning looked fairly uncomfortable and headache-inducing. Both of Judy’s parents had plenty of grey spots in their fur, Bonnie’s fur had always been grey anyways. They had slightly more wrinkles but generally looked really healthy. “Are your aunt and your cousin here yet?” asked the elderly doe. “I brought pizza for everybunny.” She held up the little plastic bag. The volume suggested this was barely big enough for half a meal for one mammal on a strict diet. How was this pizza… for everybunny?

“Oh, who’s gonna eat all that?” asked the buck with striking resemblance to Judy’s brother. “Oh I will,” joked Stu with an awkward laugh. “Those pineapples aren’t gonna eat themselves.” This was his way.

Nick’s POV

Time and date: 19:07 - Friday, 21st October 2016

Nick was growing increasingly impatient. The darn traffic was a waste of time. The irritated fox remembered Judy’s family would have dinners together on most Fridays, hopefully the time travelling vulpine wouldn’t be too late.

Suddenly, a yellow dot caught the vulpine’s attention, he could see it in his futuristic information glasses. The time traveller grabbed his shiny accessory with a few fingers and held it in concentration, accidentally moving it slightly further up his snout. He was looking more closely, had this yellow thing behind him been there before? Was this a different car? Nick shook his head and kept flying the time machine like before. For a second, it looked to him like a taxi was following him.

Both the fox’s hands with black fur were back on the steering wheel, as he shrugged the whole thing off. This was a weird observation… Nobody would have any reason to follow him around, especially not in this time.

Skippy’s POV

Time and date: ??:?? - ?????, ??th ????? Future

Bonnie looked at the screen with the estate view which Skippy initially mistook for a window. The image rolled, it was a typical vertical hold problem. There was also video tearing at the top. “I can’t believe the window’s still broken,” huffed the older doe. She had called it a window but this was very obviously a screen. Skippy was exceptionally confused.

The elderly lapine picked up a remote and pointed it at the screen… window. She pushed a button and the image changed to the South Seas. Then it displayed a mountain range. Skippy thought he had seen them before in some geography book. Were those the mountains north of Zootopia? The picture changed again to display Downtown at night.

“Well, when the screen repair mammal called daddy a flatfoot, daddy threw him out of the house. Now we can’t get anybody to fix it,” explained Timmy’s son. Bonnie shut off the image and the screen went blank. She took the bottom edge and rolled it up like roller blinds. “Oh… Look at how worn out this is!” she complained. Finally, the real window was visible with a clear view of the neighbour’s burrow and their garbage cans. This fascinating technology really was something else. Skippy had to keep reminding himself to not peek out too much or he might get discovered.

“Your father’s biggest problem, Jimmy, is that he loses all self control when someone calls him names,” said Bonnie. “How many times have we heard it, Stu?” continued the older doe. “Mom, I have to show him who is the buck in this house,” both her and her husband said in unison. Bonnie rolled her eyes. “He wasn’t like that when he still had two sisters,” she huffed. “You’re right,” sighed the oldest buck in the room. “Well, you’re right.” Two bunnies walked through the living room and into the kitchen, another floated right behind them.

Skippy was still hidden in the closet but had a hard time visually following them to the other room. He spotted another set of doors in the living room at the opposite end of the house. The young buck stepped out of his hiding spot and cautiously crept through the warren. He had to be really careful to stay out of sight of Bonnie, Stu, and Jimmy. “I’m sad to say, this hotheaded nature runs in the family,” the mother admitted. “Even your younger aunt let others push her around by calling her names… I sure don’t know where your father and his sisters would have gotten it from…”

“Oh, you mean that thing with the Gerbils?” asked Jimmy. His grandmother nodded in affirmation. “Yes, them. They used to bully Judy relentlessly back when they were all your age,” the elderly doe remembered. Finally, this was something that Skippy not only found believable but also remembered too.

Nick’s POV

Time and date: 19:10 - Friday, 21st October 2016

The Jokemobile lowered to the ground at the entrance of Haraburrow. Nick parked it right on top of road markings that said ‘NO LANDING’. It was all right, he just needed to get Skippy and head off again. It would not take long. The fox spotted a sign that advertised the housing development: ‘Haraburrow - Address for Success’. The engine shut off, the door opened up, and the vulpine stepped out. Before heading off to find Skippy, the tod removed his shiny metal glasses, he wouldn’t need them now. Nick shut the driver door, then he jogged towards the home of Timmy Hopps, brother of Judy Hopps.

Skippy’s POV

Time and date: ??:?? - ?????, ??th ????? 2016?

“Judy’s disappearance caused a chain reaction, sending the lives of her siblings down the tubes,” lamented Bonnie. “If not for that incident, your father’s life would have turned out very differently.” After Skippy had abandoned the walk-in closet and followed his future family members towards the kitchen, he stood peeking out of the doorframe between the first room he had entered and the living room. Anyone coming from behind the buck would see him without a doubt, he was in plain view. Skippy was too engulfed by the conversation about his girlfriend’s family, however.

In the kitchen was a dining table, Bonnie and Jimmy prepared it for dinner. A collection of potted plants with various fruits, most of them were little berries, was lowered from above. They came out of a compartment in the ceiling which was flooded with nearly blinding light to allow for optimal plant growth. Unlike Rabbyt Estates, other local neighbourhoods didn’t appear to be on the farm side of Bunnyburrow.

“Timmy and Molly wouldn’t have needed to grieve,” continued Bonnie. “They wouldn’t have started associating with the Gerbils, and they wouldn’t have given up on their dreams… and they wouldn’t have spent all those years turning into bullies.” Skippy was devastated to hear such a tragic turn of events would befall his girlfriend’s family in the future.

The somewhat hidden buck was deep in thought with droopy ears. The footsteps rapidly coming down the stairs behind him didn’t register with him as something to be concerned about. Once they did, it was already too late. Skippy tensed up with concern. He was right out in the open! A moment later Molly walked past him, she didn’t even look at him!

“Hi. Nice pants,” she commented as she sat down on a comfy sofa in the living room.

This couldn’t have been Molly, she would have been much older, if her mother was anything to go by… ‘You gotta be kidding’ was the most coherent thought the buck had at the moment. Then he finally remembered he was still far from hidden. Beside the bunny was an open door into the bathroom. He darted inside.

The Molly clone, that was how she looked, walked up to a painting and stopped right in front of it. The artwork hung a little crooked on the wall but nobunny seemed to be concerned about that. “Turn off,” she spoke with a bit of a mumble. The painting turned into static noise, before vanishing completely. It was blank. This was not a painting…

“Okay, I want channels eighteen, twenty-four, sixty-three, 109, eighty-seven, and the Weather Channel.” The future bunny listed off those numbers rapidly, Skippy couldn’t have hoped to remember half of them.

Where decoration had been displayed a few seconds prior, an array of television channels popped into view, one by one appearing in a grid pattern. One of them showed a savage animal, another played an advertisement for ear reduction surgeries, the next one obviously showed a weather forecast. The lapine hidden in the bathroom couldn’t tell what the other channels were showing. All six of them played their sound on top of each other, it was impossible to listen to any one of them. This wasn’t a painting, it was the largest TV Skippy had ever seen!

The doe who looked practically identical to Molly turned to step away from the enormous screen. The observing buck quickly closed the sliding bathroom door, nearly slamming it in the process. Once again, he kept a little slit open to peek out. His presumed future niece slumped down on a comfortable-looking rotating armchair.

“Yeah, it will be great,” came a voice from upstairs. “Totally. We’re brilliant, that is a genius idea.” responded another. They sounded like none other than Timmy and Molly, though their voices were more in line with Bonnie’s and Stu’s from 1985: Not as smooth as in their prime but still far from frail. Footsteps and accompanying chuckles signalled the two bunnies were about to come downstairs.

And there they were. Judy’s siblings descended the steps. They had to be in their early fifties by now, and they initially looked almost like their parents from 1985, though with some distinct differences Skippy noticed soon after.

“Hello,” Molly called into the warren without getting an answer. “Hey, mom and dad,” Timmy likewise tried to greet. They both wore business suits that looked formal and relatively freshly ironed. Molly stepped closer to the living room and kitchen. “Hello?” she called out. Bonnie and Jimmy were still talking in the other room. Now Timmy looked at the wall right next to the bathroom door. “What the scat is this?” he mumbled to himself.

Had he found Skippy? The younger buck’s nose twitched, not only at his current situation but also at hearing someone as polite as Judy’s brother openly swear like that.

The now middle aged buck pressed a button Skippy couldn’t see and another computer voice came to life. “Lithium mode on.” What was he looking at? Maybe there was a thermostat. “Yeah… That’s better. Darn kids,” he mumbled.

Molly meanwhile continued into the living room. “Hey Junior,” she greeted her daughter. “Watching a little TV for a change?” the mother asked with a smile. It sounded like watching television was a welcomed rarity, like how Skippy’s parents might have seen books. Timmy joined his sister and the two of them stepped into the kitchen to Bonnie, Stu, and Timmy’s son.

“Oh, hey, it’s my parents!” Molly said in a monotone voice. “Hi sweetheart!” greeted Bonnie with a much greater level of enthusiasm. “Good evening,” said the middle aged buck. They all greeted each other with kisses on the cheeks and some hugs. “Hey, Jim,” said the aunt to Jimmy. “Hey there, Molly, Good evening Timmy,” came the comparatively weak welcome from Stu. Being upside down did not appear any more enticing now than it had when Skippy had first seen Judy’s father like this.

Molly sat down at the table and pulled out some odd device from her pocket. It looked like a little cassette with a screen in the middle. The middle aged buck meanwhile looked at Stu and the machine that held him up in the air. “Dad, what the heck happened?” he asked, feeling sorry for him. “You look like you’ve slept in your clothes last night.” The machine automatically raised itself and the bunny below higher up to make his eye level match Timmy’s more closely. “Oh, I was out on the pumpkin field and…” he got interrupted by his son. “Dad, I told you to watch your back when lifting those heavy things,” he advised. Bonnie was next to talk. “No, he was hit by a car!” she corrected. “It just fell out of the sky, he could have been killed!”

Timmy raised his ears at that but not in a shocked panic like Skippy would have expected. “Cripes, at least they would have hit me and not you,” said Stu to his wife. “The kids would miss you more.” Bonnie rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what this world is coming to…”

Without lifting her eyes away from a strange little monitor in her hands, Molly addressed her father with a bored tone. “Dad, I really think you should get that spine operation,” she suggested. “I know, I know,” the elderly lapine admitted. “But who’s got three extra hours to spend at the hospital?” His daughter shook her head, eyes still glued to the little screen in her hands.

“Kids, what was such a good idea?” Bonnie wanted to know. “Oh, Mom, we were talking about a new opportunity at work,” promised the younger bunny. “Anyway, I’m starving. Let’s eat,” Timmy continued bluntly. His sister got up again and returned to the living room. She turned to her daughter. “Come on, Junior,” the doe said. “It’s dinner time.” The younger bunny barely moved at all, she turned the whole chair to face her mother. “Mom, I’m watching these programs,” she pointed out. Skippy looked back and forth between Molly and Junior. They really looked so much alike, it was uncanny. It was like they were one and the same bunny at different ages.

“Misses, we eat at the dinner table when your grandparents are here,” the older bunny lectured, though her words were the only thing that implied as such. She still talked with a monotone voice. The middle aged bunny threw some futuristic device into the younger doe’s lap. “Put your damn glasses on, huh?” she suggested. The younger lapine did as she was asked and reluctantly got up. “Mom, I can only watch two shows on these things,” she whined. “Yeah, you kids really got it rough,” retorted Molly. When I was your age, I wanted to watch two shows at once, I had to put two TVs next to each other.”

This made Skippy feel very old all of the sudden. He would always roll his eyes when older people told him how things used to be ‘back in their day’, but now he couldn’t agree more with his girlfriend’s sister. Why would anyone even want to watch more than one program at the same time? Who could focus on multiple things at once anyways?

Chapter Text

Time and date: ??:?? - ?????, ??th ????? 2016?

“Hey, pizza! I’m hungry!” squeaked Junior with an impatient giggle. “All right, just wait your turn,” answered her mother as she sat down at the table. Bonnie opened up the little bag she had brought and retrieved a tiny mini pizza. It was maybe five centimeters across but it was bone dry. She positioned it in the middle of a silver plate and put it in a machine on the counter.

The white device was a little wider but certainly flatter than a microwave or a toaster. Its curvy edges looked like they were a design choice, rather than a hardware limitation. There was a hatch on the front and a little window to peek inside. Above was a green and a red light, as well as a yellow button. It was labelled ‘Claw&Decker Hydrator’.

“When it’s ready, can you just shove it in my maw? Haha!” joked the impatient kid. “Don’t you be a smartass,” warned Molly. Junior leaned back and kept talking. “All right. The savagery Channel,” she announced. Nobody reacted to her words. A light turned on on the odd glasses her mother had handed her. Was she watching TV… on glasses? Unbelievable…

“Hydration level four, please,” requested Bonnie, as she leaned closer to the hydrator. The inside of the machine lit up and sounds of bubbling could be heard. With a ding, it went out again, then the elderly doe opened up the door. With her bare hands, she pulled out the silver plate. To Skippy’s absolute astonishment, there was a full sized pizza sitting on top. It was steaming and looked freshly baked. This was a flawless meal for the whole family.

“Is it ready?” yelled Junior. “Here you go,” said Bonnie as she served the food. “Pizza time!” celebrated Molly’s daughter. Everybunny’s hands shot out to the large meal, as the food which was apparently pre-cut into slices was split up. “Oh boy, oh boy. Mom, you sure can hydrate a pizza,” praised Timmy.

The two teenagers both wore video glasses. They were opaque from the outside with only a little readout on the side showing what channel they played. Before Junior had even put down her slice of pizza on the plate, she scraped off all the chunks of pineapple. She mimicked cartoony explosion sounds with her mouth, not paying attention to the others at the table. If Skippy had to guess, she was being very invested in whatever this ‘Savagery Channel’ showed, instead of dinner.

The buck hidden in the bathroom turned his attention back to the seemingly more polite lapine. “Nah, I’m sorry,” Timmy said to Bonnie. “I missed that whole thing.” His mother sighed and apparently repeated her previous words Skippy had likewise failed to listen to. “It would be nice if we threw a little party for him,” she said. “Mom, before we plan a party for Uncle Terry, let’s wait and see if the cure works this time,” reasoned Timmy.

“Munch! I can’t believe it! Take him outta the game!” interrupted Junior loudly. Maybe she had switched to the sports channel. Bonnie hadn’t sat down at the table yet. Instead, she put a slice of pizza on another plate. The elderly lapine carried it towards her husband, who was still hanging upside down beside the table. “Stu, will you rotate your axis?” she asked. “That way your ears won’t hang into your food while you eat.” Bonnie sat the plate down on the carpet below the elderly buck.

“Okay, dear,” he answered, as he moved to push a button on his harness. The bunny started slowly rotating into an upright position. This caused his ears to hang down sideways in comical fashion. Stu awkwardly laughed at that, he was quite entertained. Bonnie kissed him on the cheek as his head slowly lifted higher.

“Ah, Jimmy, darling, pass the kelp, please,” asked Molly. “No, I don’t want to, so thump off!” her nephew answered. Before Skippy could tilt his head in confusion, Bonnie already bapped her grandson on the shoulder. “Jimothy, don’t talk to your aunt that way!” The young buck was very annoyed at that. “Grandma, I’m on the phone, okay?”

Junior meanwhile emptied her glass with gusto. “I’d like some tea, please,” she asked. Jimmy sighed with irritation. “Look, I’m gonna have to call you back,” he said. There was a faint beep and the bunny lifted his futuristic glasses away from his face. He actually hung them down in front of him like a strange necklace. “I still think we shouldn’t have started eating dinner without Stu,” mentioned Bonnie. Nobody listened to her. The whole dinner scene was quite messy and hard for Skippy to follow along.

The young bunny that looked identical to Molly tapped her glass on the table. “Jim, can you please…” Her repeated plea for tea got interrupted when Timmy put down his cutlery with a good dose of frustration, he accidentally dropped his knife to the floor in the process. Skippy hadn’t noticed the cutlery before. Why the fluff would they eat pizza with fork and knife? Was this an old-person thing?

“Damn it, Jim, pass the darn cup of tea,” he hissed, then he bent over to pick up his knife. The younger buck took a big glass jug with a black plastic lid and moved it only barely outside of his cousin’s reach. Junior grunted as she reached for the object without success. She didn’t even lean forwards to try and get to her tea. Timmy took the jug and poured a glass full for his niece. Then, without tilting the container back, the tea stopped flowing automatically. He moved it above his own glass and filled it up too. Maybe the lid had some mechanism inside to detect when the glass underneath was full?

“Molly, I’m worried about you and your brother,” said Bonnie. The hidden buck’s heart was beating quite fast, the whole scene was chaotic and strange. “I think you two focus too much on work.” This resulted in an eyeroll from her daughter. “Mom, our careers are important,” retorted the bored sounding middle aged doe. “I just think you two don’t focus enough on family,” continued Bonnie. “I mean, you are both single, cripes.”

“Yeah well Timmy’s wife left him because she found someone else and I never even had a boyfriend to begin with,” replied Molly while chewing pizza. To Skippy, it sounded like this was supposed to be an excuse from his girlfriend’s sister, though the words implied questionable decisions, to say the least.

“I wish Judy was still around,” lamented the elderly doe. “I miss her and I’m sure she would have had a positive influence on the two of you as well.

“Mom, whatever happened to Judy and her boyfriend is very sad, sure,” interrupted Timmy. “But we aren’t miffed about it anymore, it was so long ago.” The aforementioned buck’s ears shot high up in the air. He and his girlfriend weren’t missed by Timmy and Molly! What sort of family was this…?

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” lectured Stu, he was standing upright in the odd floating device for his spine. “Even Gideon misses them. And as much as I hate to admit it, the way this fox used to act when he was young is alarmingly similar to how you and your brother act now.”

“I want fruit,” determined Junior. Nobody reacted. The young doe surprisingly stood up now. She looked at the ceiling and got louder. “Ey, fruit!” Still, there was no reaction. “Fruit please!” she demanded. Finally, the array of potted plants lowered from the ceiling like before, allowing the lapine to take what she wanted. “Thank you,” she said in an equally loud and slightly obnoxious tone. Why was this girl seemingly entirely bored and indifferent to anything and anyone before eating, but at the dinner table she would raise her voice’s volume?

What was the meaning of all that? Impolite children… indifferent siblings… Skippy was worried for his future marriage, should he and Judy ever take that step. This whole scene was rather obscure, now that he thought about it. Why was Timmy so quickly frustrated?

Jimmy’s glasses beeped loudly and displayed ‘Telephone Reminder’. Something on his father produced a similar sound. Red lights were flashing on the children’s glasses. Junior didn’t react, she held a bundle of grapes and ate them one by one. “Uncle Tim, you set some reminder to call someone,” she announced between bites. “Dad, go have your phone call if it’s important,” suggested Jimmy.

The middle aged buck checked his watch, then stood up. “All right,” he said. Molly got up too. “Well, we’ll take care of that in the living room,” she announced. Junior lightly punched the flower pot closest to her. “Retract” she yelled and the machine obeyed.

The two siblings walked to the other room. Skippy had to retreat further into his hiding spot slightly while they did so. The middle aged bunnies paused at a mirror to adjust their ties and to check their fur. Timmy’s work suit looked even more formal than before now. Molly looked all right too.

The buck stepped up to the large screen. “Open muzzle-time,” he requested. The TV on the wall changed pictures, reducing the six television programs into a small corner and showing a list of names instead. “Call the Gerbils,” commanded Molly.

Two personally infamous rodents appeared on screen, replacing anything that had been displayed before. There was also the caption ‘Calling Tyra with MuzzleTime…’, with the name being written much bigger than the rest of this sentence. “Wanna bet they’re gonna take the bait?” mused Molly, still in her monotone voice. “Nah, I don’t gamble,” Timmy replied.

Finally, the image of two gerbils filled up the whole display. The rodents sat at an office workstation besides one another. A handy readout automatically displayed information and statistics. It cycled through a list for a while:

‘Name: Tyra, Gerbil J.’

‘Occupation: Sys. Operations’

‘Age: 49’

‘Birthday: August 6. 1967’

‘Address: 88 Cheese Rd.’

‘Husband: none’

‘Children: none’

‘Drinks: Mill, Apple cider’

‘Hobbies: Avid Cheese Fan’

‘Sports: Car Racing, Jogging, Cardio’

‘Politics: Swinton’

This large screen served not only as a TV and a painting, it could also become a video telephone! Skippy was astonished. Did the Gerbils see Judy’s siblings the same way? Were they only sitting in front of a camera? One slight shortcoming, as advanced as the technology was, was that the monitor only displayed the name of one of the mammals.

The awe of fascinating future technologies wore off rather quickly when the time traveller realised who exactly those rodents were. “The Gerbils…?” asked the buck in an appalled whisper.

In school, those two pesky individuals had been a grade above his girlfriend and always took particular interest in bullying her. Luckily, the buck, who was still hidden in a bathroom, had been left alone by them for the most part. Their last name was literally ‘Gerbil’ and since there were two of them, most of their peers and other associates tended to refer to them simply as ‘Gerbils’.

“Hey hey!” Tyra said on the screen. “The Big H!” She sounded surprisingly upset. Usually, the Gerbils would keep a very enthusiastic mask up, which Skippy knew was fake. Those rodents had always been a thorn in his and Judy’s eyes. “How’s it hopping, Hopps?” asked the other one, Tora, trying to strike up smalltalk seemingly against her will. Her name sounded like it matched Tyra’s, though looking at it more closely revealed to Skippy that her parents had to have been rather entitled. What rodent in their right mind would give their child a name that would only really fit tigers?

“Hey Tyra… Tora,” chimed Judy’s brother in a rather dominant tone. Skippy watched with intense interest. “Let’s skip the scat, shall we?” asked Timmy. “Yeah, we’re calling for one thing and one thing only,” added Molly. “We even had to interrupt a family dinner for it.” They sounded so very mean, this was incredibly uncharacteristic for either of them! “We’re sorry,” squeaked Tyra. “Yeah, we’ve been super busy with work. We didn’t have time earlier,” excused Tora. Timmy huffed and shook his head slowly, making the rodents squirm uncomfortably.

“Sorry doesn’t cut it,” threatened Molly. “Anyways… didja take a look at that little business proposal of ours?” asked Timmy. “If you didn’t, we’re gonna need to have a word!” added his sister. The two formally dressed bunnies remained standing fairly close to the large TV screen. “I don’t know, Timmy,” replied Tora with a sigh. “This idea is very bad,” added Tyra nervously. It seemed whatever business proposal Judy’s siblings had in store, the Gerbils weren’t fond of it in the slightest.

“What are you afraid of?” asked the middle aged buck. “If this thing works, it’ll solve all your financial problems,” Molly informed evenly. “You know that old piece of junk you drive to work?” continued her brother. “Maybe you can finally get a hover conversion for it, huh?”

“And if it doesn’t work, Bunnies, we could get fired,” retorted one of the rodents. “Who’re you calling Bunny, Gerbil?” asked Molly meanly. “Holey cheese, it’s illegal, I mean…” Tyra continued, then she paused talking for a second. Tora’s next words were spoken more quietly, like she didn’t want anyone else to overhear them. “What if The Nang is monitoring, huh?” She sounded genuinely worried. “She’ll squish us just like that,” theorised the Gerbil.

“The Nang’ll never find out,” dismissed Timmy. Whatever or whoever ‘The Nang’ was, Skippy found them intimidating already. “You think that overgrown waste of space even cares?” insulted Molly. Two rodents huffed. “Come on,” insisted the buck. “Stick your hand on the scanner and we’ll handle it,” the other bunny commanded. “You’ll get your money in no time,” promised Timmy. The Gerbils exchanged looks. Skippy had always loathed interacting with either of them but now he actually felt bad for those little rodents. Why in the world were Judy’s siblings bullying them…?!

Skippy’s irritated and undoubtedly stressed past bullies nodded along. They were likely torn between their morals, as surprising as this sounded to the buck from 1985, and the opportunity to lift a big burden off of their shoulders. Tyra clicked a little button off-screen, then her lips started moving rapidly. Tora’s soon did the same, they were talking but none of the bunnies could hear them. Their microphone had been turned off. “Come on, there’s no risk for you little ones,” pushed Timmy. “It’s honestly the least you could do for us,” added Molly.

Tora pushed the same button again, then they kept talking. “Wh… why do you guys act like we owe this to you?” she questioned nervously. The doe tilted her head in annoyance, she crossed her arms too. “Is this a serious question?” she deadpanned. “Y… Yes?” asked Tyra.

“Damn it, you two would have destroyed Judy’s life and now you keep mocking her by disrespecting us!” accused Timmy. Where was the logic in that? Molly’s ears shot up as Skippy’s fell down at Judy’s mention. “She is still missing after all those years,” the doe started. “While we were grieving for our sister, you came to us in person with your obnoxious red toy car and mocked us about how you would have pushed Judy to crash her real car! Do you even care to remember any of that? It’s about time you make it even!” As she talked, Molly was getting surprisingly worked up over this, showing emotions and lowering her ears to a defensive forty-five degree angle.

“Besides,” Timmy continued for his sister. “We are doing this for you. This is an opportunity for you, don’t complain about a gift!” The Gerbils exchanged looks. “It sure doesn’t sound like we get much out of this,” one of the rodents squeaked defiantly, though not without apprehension. “Excuse me?” asked the middle aged Buck. “Think of all the money this will bring you!” reminded Molly.

“Wait, hold on a second,” said one of the Gerbils. “How dare you tell us to wait?” asked Timmy angrily. “We waited for our sister to come back for thirty-one years!” The rodent quickly did a submissive hand gesture, trying to calm the buck down. “No, I don’t mean it like that,” she insisted. “It’s just,” the other one of the two took over with hesitation. “You constantly ask us for favours,” she said. “I don’t think we still owe you anything. We even apologised for having bullied Judy back in the day!” The rodent was getting very defensive too now.

How did this involve Judy anyways? Skippy figured if it was work related now but his girlfriend had vanished decades ago, she would be irrelevant to the topic at hand. Were Timmy and Molly using her to gain sympathy? The buck had even mentioned to his mother he didn’t even miss his sister anymore! This was outrageous!

“Do we need to have a word with your badger buddy?” threatened Timmy. “She wouldn’t be too fond of you two causing trouble for us,” added Molly. Both Gerbils immediately bulged their eyes, they were very worried. “You can’t do that!” one of them blurted out. “Sure we can,” said the buck. “She’s crazy! This would be career suicide for us!” feared the other of the two rodents. “It’s literally your decision,” deadpanned Molly.

Both Gerbils sighed loudly. There were several silent seconds. “All right…” Tora said in defeat. “We’re in,” announced Tyra in a similar sullen tone. One of the rodents stood up and went to get some sort of scanner. She dragged it into the picture, then the other of the two put her hand on it. Electronic beeps and boops came from the device and a little green indicator light lit up. The tiny mammal withdrew her hand again.

“Thanks, Gerbils,” said Timmy. He sounded as formal and polite as ever. “See you at work on Monday,” he added before his sister pushed a button on a TV remote. The screen switched to a logo of the phone provider and a calm and faint voice came to life. “Thank you for using PB&J.”

Timmy shook his head. “Those rutting Gerbil Jerks… Always little push-overs.” His sister nodded. “It’s almost too easy with them,” she added. The rodents were in really hot water by the sound of things. Skippy was shocked once more, not just from the buck’s swearing but by the entire situation. As the bunnies turned to leave the room, there were some more electronic tones coming from the large screen. Then, a new image broke in on the silence.

“Hopps,” came a rather relaxed voice. It belonged to a yak with long dreadlocks and a very slouched over posture. He sat cross legged on the ground next to a large elephant. Additional information was once again displayed.

‘Name: Nangi Uchi’

‘Occupation: Sys. Manager’

‘Age: 34’

‘Birthday: May 10. 1993’

‘Address: 39 Heat St.’

‘Husband: none’

‘Children: none’

‘Drinks: Water’

‘Hobbies: Yoga, Sudoku’

‘Sports: Yoga’

‘Politics: Oak’

Skippy didn’t know if those readouts belonged to the pachyderm or the bovine. This elephant looked as uninterested as she possibly could, and like the displayed text had advertised, if it was hers, she was doing yoga while taking this video call. The time traveller tilted his head in confusion. Timmy and Molly meanwhile froze in shock. Four bunny ears stiffly pointed straight up all the way, the hidden buck could see two lapine noses twitch a few times. His own did the same, though not as rapidly. With surprise and concern, Judy’s siblings turned to the TV.

“Yax, sir!” The older buck greeted with furious friendliness, trying to get out of trouble. “Ni furaha kukona. Hakuna matata.” Skippy was at a loss for words when it came to the meaning of those last couple of syllables that escaped Timmy’s mouth. His and his sister’s body language suggested whatever this conversation would be about, it couldn’t be good.

“Nangi was monitoring that scan Mrs. Gerbil just interfaced," said the laid back yak with a strangely carefree tone. Timmy could only squeak in terror as a response. “Woah, slow your roll there, Mr. Hopps,” the bovine continued. “Don’t pop all the lightbulbs.” He chuckled lightly at that. ‘The Nang’, as she was called behind her back, meanwhile changed her yoga position with an air of indifference. “You are terminated,” informed the bovine as if he was commenting on the weather.

Skippy’s eyes shot wide open, Timmy’s likely did the same. “Terminated? No! No! It wasn’t my fault, sir!” rambled the middle aged lapine in a panic. “It was the Gerbils! The Gerbils were behind the whole thing!” The yak scratched his chin for a moment. “You pushed them to do it,” he observed. “We’ve been getting complaints about you anyways, bunch of not so cool stories Nangi’s heard.”

The large pachyderm changed her yoga position once more. Up to this point, Skippy had been blissfully unaware what tight clothes did to an elephant’s physical appearance. “Nangi, what's paragraph eight of article five of the company rule book of compliance?” asked the cross legged yak. “I don’t know,” deadpanned the pachyderm without any variation or emotion in her voice. She continued her exercise undeterred, she didn’t even look at Timmy, Molly, or the other mammal in the same room with her. Was this an office? Were they living together? Skippy had so many questions. “No, please, I, it’s, aaahm…” Timmy tried to reason without success.

“Interfacing unauthorised transactions with company resources is a big no-go and a red flag, especially if it involves pyramid schemes,” explained the calm yak. “We ain’t chill about that. Our vibes don’t align with that. No thank you. So yeah.” He scratched his chin with a nonchalant smile of indifference. “No, Yax, sir! Nangi! It was a sting operation! I was, I was, uhm, setting them up!” Timmy’s frantic rambling sounded like a hopeless attempt to salvage the situation any way possible.

“Nangi heard Mrs. Gerbil say it was illegal while you were listening. If she heard that, it’s good enough to hold up in court,” commented the yak while the elephant in question reacted with no action whatsoever. “Yeah, Mr. Hopps, Nangi has a mind like a steel trap. I wish I had a memory like an elephant. Anyways, that all means you’re gonna need to read Nangi’s E-mail, I guess.” he once again chuckled lightly.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” the yak continued. “Mrs. Hopps, your manager at Wilde and Son’s might wanna have a word with you too. That’s what happens when your actions ain’t cool.”

The buck in the room failed to remain quiet. In fact, his rambling had already picked up quite some volume. “No!” he pleaded. “Please! I cannot be fired!” With a neutral bored look on his face, the bovine reached closer to the screen with one hand. He typed on some keys for a moment. The screen went to a giant display of large bold letters. ‘YOU’RE FIRED!’ In the background, the elephant changed her yoga position again before the screen went blank once more.

“I’m fired…” commented a devastated bunny in continuation to his ineffective pleading from before. Molly’s ears drooped down too. “Scat,” was all that she came up with. A computer voice, as friendly and soothing as ever, came to life. “You have received an E-mail from ‘The Nang’. Automatic printing will start shortly. To change settings for your Caton printers, download the free PDF manual from our website.” A second later, what looked like a fax came out of a printer in Timmy’s living room. ‘You’re fired. I have no memory of this employee. They are kitu.’

An identical copy came out of the fax machine in the bathroom. Why was there a fax machine in the bathroom? Skippy’s sensitive ears picked up more printers in the other rooms too. He pulled out the lukewarm sheet of paper with fresh ink and looked at it in amazement.

Judy’s siblings meanwhile stared at their copy in disbelief. “Pickled onions with scat-sauce,” the buck said in defeat. The lapine held the fax up in his hand and formed a fist in frustration. Without letting go of the message, he put his hand to his face.

The large TV screen turned back to displaying a painting. “What are we gonna tell Mom and Dad…?” mumbled Molly. The buck who was listening in secret was devastated at seeing his lover’s family tear itself apart.

Suddenly, there was knocking on the bathroom window behind him. “Skippy! Skippy!” whispered someone right outside the warren. The startled lapine shoved the printed fax in his pocket and turned.

Doc Wilde was outside and he gestured for the bunny to come closer. “Oh, Doc,” he responded with an equally hushed voice. “Am I glad to see you…” The fox wasted no time. “Go out the front door,” he commanded. “I’ll meet you there.” Skippy would have loved to do just that a few minutes ago already, though he hadn’t been able to. “But it doesn’t open, there’s no doorknob!” whispered the bunny. The bathroom window didn’t appear to have a way to get fully opened either.

The concerned lapine looked around, fearing someone might have heard his conversation. “Take the device next to the door and press the sensor plate against your nose,” instructed the doctor. Was he a doctor? Judy called him Doc sometimes, she knew him better than Skippy did. As he explained the process, the fox pressed his thumb against his own nose to demonstrate how it worked. “What device? What plate?” asked the bunny. He was confused and didn’t know how to open the door.

The explanation faintly rang some bells, he had seen it before, but there was too much on his mind to remember it now. Timmy had just gotten fired! Maybe he could figure it out if presented with the device in question, but he wouldn’t be hidden in the meantime.

“I can talk you through the process from outside the front door,” suggested the fox. He wasn’t very sly, though. Speaking loud enough for someone behind a wall to hear one would require a volume that would without a doubt alert Judy’s family. Before Skippy could ask more questions, though, the scientist outside already snuck off towards the main entrance of the burrow. With no hope for further help, the buck decided to slowly creep out of the bathroom, keeping low as he walked toward the front door.

In the living room, Molly stared at an electric guitar hanging on the wall, it looked identical to Judy’s. Had it been there the whole time? She simply stood there, looking at the instrument. Her brother stepped beside her and likewise stared at their sister’s belonging. They both displayed body language which suggested they were having a moment of nostalgia, though they looked upset too. If Judy had really been gone for more than three decades, of course a harsh reminder of her would bring up emotions. It looked like they still cared about her, at least deep down.

Footsteps approached from the kitchen, interrupting the moment. Skippy quickly dashed out of the room and around a corner. “Timmy, what does this mail mean?” asked Bonnie, approaching her oldest child with another copy of the fax. Her voice made it obvious she was greatly concerned for her son. “Oh, this? No! Oh, no, no! This. Mom, it’s just a joke mail,” the younger bunny tried to explain. Skippy’s shock was fueled even further, this buck lied to his own mother!

“A joke? Timmy, I heard you yelling,” accused the elderly bunny. “No, Mom, Mom. Calm down. I wasn’t yelling,” insisted the newly unemployed lapine. “The Gerbils and I were just kind of joking.” Skippy knew better. Timmy had been yelling just like he was rambling right now.

The far younger buck used this distraction to move to the front door undetected. He was still taken aback by the shocking realisations he had made about his future family, but now he needed to find whatever device Doc Wilde had been talking about. Next to the door was another identical copy of the fax.

And there it was. A strange box hung on the wall with a short string hanging down from it, connected to a plug beside the door on the other end. Skippy carefully grabbed it, it was stuck. He tried pulling it in different directions before sliding it upwards and out of a holder. It was louder than he would have liked but nobody seemed to have heard. On the device was a smooth plate. An array of lights on the side indicated some things the lapine was unaware of. One of them was red and had a lock symbol next to it.

It was so strange thinking about what the bunny was about to do. The idea alone was a little embarrassing. He moved the box up to his nose. Out of the corner of his eyes, the bunny saw a series of green laser beams shot out of the little machine and danced around on his face. The next second, there was a beep, the red light turned off, and a faint clicking sound could be heard.

“You are now leaving the Hopps burrow,” called out a robotic voice automatically! “We hope you enjoyed your stay. Goodbye.”

Chapter Text

Time and date: ??:?? - ?????, ??th ????? 2016?

Skippy’s ears shot up. This automated greeting was far from quiet! The door had clicked, it didn’t move. What had he done wrong? Finally, the wall without a handle started moving. “Who is there?” someone called out. This was very bad. The buck hoped the door would have moved quicker. He even pulled on the mechanism to accelerate it. This only caused it to stop, however!

“Mammal avoidance active. Remove obstructions from the door’s path,” said the calm and indifferent robotic voice. Skippy quickly pulled his hand away from the machine again. His nose was twitching.

Footsteps signalled someone was coming closer. The buck turned around and found one of the slightly younger bunnies in front of him. This wasn’t the Molly clone, this one looked like a younger and far more familiar version of Timmy. Jimmy was his name. “Who are you?” he demanded to know. “I will call the police!” More bunnies came closer. It was Judy’s siblings who approached next. Their eyes were wide. Did they recognise Skippy…? After all those years?

“Hey, Jim, get away from the intruder, we’ll deal with him,” said the middle aged lapine. No, he certainly did not see anyone familiar in the terrified buck. The door was finally open, though. Skippy could run. Before he could do just that, however, Molly pulled out a strange cassette of some sort, she held it up to the supposedly time travelling, or perhaps dreaming, buck’s face. Blue light strobed for a while, accompanied by electronic beeps.

Skippy became lightheaded. Why did this thing look familiar? 

The bunny became dizzy. He didn’t even care anymore about having gotten discovered, he was too preoccupied with his own consciousness at the moment. The buck’s vision narrowed and the sense of balance started playing tricks on him.

The last thing Skippy saw and felt, at least he thought he saw it, maybe he was having a strange dream, was Doc Wilde grabbing his arms and leaning over the buck. He got dragged out through the bright red door, into the night.

Nick’s POV

Time and date: 19:24 - Friday, 21st October 2016

Nick had quickly caught Skippy. He had to come up with a very quick excuse now. “Hey, is this bunny with you, fox?” Judy’s unusually aggressive brother demanded to know. “Stay right there, my sister’s calling the cops!” The tod shook his head adamantly. “No, I was just strolling past when I heard a commotion,” lied Nick. “I was about to knock on your door to ask if everything was good, when this buck fell down.”

“And you expect us to believe you?” asked Molly in a bored tone. Maybe she was just happy to see the supposed intruder out of her home again. Did she even live there or was she only visiting her brother? “Hey, you said you’re calling the police, right? I suppose discovering a burglar is quite the shock, I can look after him until they arrive,” the fox suggested with a hopeful expression. “Whatever,” said Timmy with a heavy sigh. “Just don’t come back here and keep this guy away too,” he requested. Nick was temporarily speechless, then he nodded emphatically. “Will do,” he confirmed.

Then, a door without a handle got thrown shut into his face. This could have gone worse. The tod picked up the bunny who was once again unconscious, he carried him to the time vehicle.

Time and date: 19:26 - Friday, 21st October 2016

Nick had nearly returned to the Jokemobile. He thought he heard something nearby and his heart froze for a moment. Upon arriving at the time machine with an unconscious buck in his arms, he found the vehicle’s doors were closed and the engine was shut off. Everything was exactly as the tod had left it maybe fifteen minutes prior. Perhaps the fox was too on edge after this latest blunder of his.

The vulpine got into the Jokemobile on the passenger side, he removed some scattered newspapers to make room for Skippy. A few moments later, the unconscious bunny sat inside the time machine. Nick sat down in the driver seat. He turned to his side and secured the lapine with a seat belt. Unfortunately, there were no cushions to make Skippy’s head more comfortable. There were only Judy’s clothes from 1985. The fox wouldn’t dare touch those. He would simply have to make sure to fly carefully.

Time and date: 19:29 - Friday, 21st October 2016

What was the plan now? Was Nick actually going to attempt to break someone out of prison? Historically, foxes had never been treated with the same level of respect as other species, even amongst predators. Now in the twenty-first century, this speciism was finally on the mend. Doing something blatantly illegal would without a doubt stir up public outrage and put a big dent in his species’s reputation… Finnick needed to get freed, though, there was no way around that reality.

Of course, the idea to simply travel back in time and pick up the fennec and the unconscious buck mere seconds after he had departed to get gas crossed his mind. That would only create further time conflicts, however. Nick would see himself, the consequences of which could be disastrous. It would also not help the other mammals much and instead only put himself in legal trouble too, for the same reasons Finnick had been arrested for, as well as for parking illegally.

For now, the time traveller figured he would be following the blueberries. Nick wished he could eat one right about now. Of course, the ones for consumption were actual plants while the ones the fox was after at the moment were simply police officers with a silly nickname. More specifically, their smallest colleague.

Nick fished out the newspaper from the messy pile of things on the middle seat, he remembered it included an article that would really help him out now. The tod looked for an image near the bottom of the page. The main article on the page was still ‘GANG JAILED! HOVERBOARD RAMPAGE Ruins Courthouse. Gang Leader: I was framed’ The fox was focused on a smaller headline down in the corner of the page, though. While carefully keeping an eye on the road… in the air… he tried to read the article again to get an idea of what may await him next.

‘OFFICER BRIE (Mouse, 29) PROMOTED: First Rodent Sergeant of Bunnyburrow’

That Blueberry had always been very helpful, Nick remembered. At least her grandmother used to be. Could this officer perhaps help the foxes too? Officer Brie had always had a reputation to stick up for the little guys and for foxes too, both characteristics applied to Finnick flawlessly.

An honourable member of law enforcement would be unlikely to be willing to help bust someone out, though…

Nick wasn’t sure, the idea was too sketchy for his liking. Maybe he could ask her for help with something unrelated to distract her… At least he could be sure she would be present, the article in the papers specifically mentioned how she was promoted from figurative jail warden straight to sergeant. The fox kept reading while flying, he couldn’t waste any more time.

‘Sergeant Donna Brie III. was promoted from officer to sergeant this morning. This makes her not only the first mouse but also the very first rodent in the history of Bunnyburrow to hold this title. Last night, Brie was guarding the cells in the Burrow Penitentiary, this morning she was pleasantly surprised when her superior, Chief Ralph Hornaby (Rhino, 53), asked the rodent to his office. Expecting a reprimand for something that might have slipped her busy and well-meaning mind, she was overjoyed upon receiving a promotion. “It is a great honour to serve alongside my brothers and sisters in blue. Thank you for the opportunity.”

‘This revelation for Bunnyburrow’s law enforcement marks the very first time in the history of all of the Tri-Burrows that not just a mouse but actually a rodent as a whole held any rank higher than regular patrol officer. Historically, there have been two caveats to this modern claim, however. Over 130 years ago, the marshall’s deputy had been a large mouse. Furthermore, back then, all members of the order of Lagomorpha had still been classified as rodents too, much to the embarrassment of modern day members of corresponding lapine species.’

With certain uncertainty, Nick had no choice but to keep flying and make the best of whatever situation he may find at his next immediate destination. Hopefully, Judy wouldn’t be too impatient. If everything went to plan, she was no longer in this millenia anymore anyways.

Time and date: 20:19 - Friday, 21st October 2016

The Jokemobile landed on the far side of the empty visitor parking lot of the Burrow Penitentiary and a hesitant fox stepped out. Perhaps it was procrastination, perhaps it was caution or planning ahead, but when Nick found a trash can, he relieved it of some of its contents. The flux capacitor would be ready for another time jump at a moment’s notice. The tod headed inside the building, where a skinny and fit cheetah worked as receptionist. He nearly instantly greeted the newcomer with a snore and nothing else. Had the feline not been sleeping on the job, he would likely inform the much smaller mammal to come back the next morning, as it was after hours already. It seemed like the empty Snarlbucks cups on his desk had not helped too much to keep this one out of dream land. It wasn’t even half nine yet, remarked the smugly thinking fox in his mind. He wouldn’t think of complaining about this, though.

“Hey there,” greeted a friendly but hushed voice. Nick nearly jumped out of his fur after such a sudden and unexpected greeting. “Oh, hehe, I’m sorry,” giggled the same high pitched mammal. The fox glanced around, finding the source of this new sound. It was a uniformed mouse with brown fur and blue eyes, this was one Officer Blueberry III.

“Good evening,” he politely greeted with nothing more than a whisper. It would seem neither awake mammal wanted to interrupt the receptionist’s slumber. “Visiting hours are long over, but don’t worry, we are open on Saturdays too between nine a.m. and noon,” the rodent explained quietly. Nick lowered his ears. “Could we talk somewhere where we don’t need to be whispering?” he requested. “It is something very urgent,” he added. He was not lying.

“Of course, your issues are very important to us. Let me help you best I can by referring you to the team that takes on new cases. I can call you in ahead of time to allow you to get help from my colleagues there quicker.” This helpful mouse really was a professional, Nick could see why she would get a promotion.

“Please, I need to talk to you specifically, it is very urgent and can’t wait until the next morning,” the fox insisted. He was still speaking with only whispers. The mouse hesitated. She glanced towards her slim cheetah colleague at the receptionist desk, the feline was still sleeping. Officer Brie sighed. “Follow me,” she gave in. “Thank you very much, ma’am, you won’t believe how big a relief this is,” insisted Nick.

The mouse walked to the door on the opposite side from where the time traveller had entered. She put her hand on a miniature version of the same Identi-Pad a feline officer had used to identify Skippy earlier today. With a faint beep and a little green indicator light, it unlocked, allowing the fox and the mouse to pass through. 

Neither of the two mammals said a word until the door was closed again. The little mouse pushed another button on the wall beside her and lights turned on. They were not motion or voice activated by the look of things. “How can I help?” the rodent asked with hesitation. “Had a fennec fox been brought in today?” asked Nick nervously. “Well, inmates always come and go,” mentioned Officer Brie. “I can look through the system for any fennecs. Why are you asking?” Now it was the tod’s turn to let out a sigh. “You see, a good friend of mine was arrested without having done any wrongdoings.” This immediately and visibly concerned the mouse. “Oh no!” she squeaked empathetically. Nick nodded along quickly. “What happened?”

“Maybe you don’t recognise me, but we’ve spoken about a month ago,” reminded the fox. Officer Brie narrowed her eyes, she was probably deep in thought. “We have?” she asked slowly. “I’ve had a conversation with a red fox and a fennec last month, but…” She stopped talking and her eyes grew very wide.

“Doc Wilde?” She looked around the empty hallway. “How is this possible? You look so young! I didn’t even notice because of the rain!” Nick didn’t immediately know how to react. “Uh-huh, I told you, we’ve been travelling a lot and lived very healthy lives, and we were no strangers to visiting rejuvenation clinics.” The vulpine hoped his made up explanation was believable and logical to the rodent. “You possibly didn’t see just how young we looked when we first interacted, but I assure you, I really am Dr. Nicholas P. Wilde.”

“Wait,” interrupted the mouse. “So are you implying that a fennec that you suspect was brought here today got arrested? for what?” She tilted her head. “Identity theft,” revealed the tod. “The officers assumed he looked too good for his age and arrested him without any evidence. I would go the conventional way of trying to get him out of wrongful trouble, but we have no time.” Nick looked to the ground in pretend-shame. “We are planning to continue our travels very soon. Our train leaves very early in the morning, there is simply not enough time.”

Officer Brie looked conflicted. “I can’t simply take your word for something like this,” she reasoned slowly, still sorting her own thoughts by the look of things. “Please, our train ticket was very expensive and the next one won’t come for a very long time,” begged Nick vaguely. His words, as untruthful as they were, didn’t hold much logic behind them either. The fox felt really stupid for not coming up with a better explanation.

Then he had an idea. “Tell you what,” he resumed with newfound confidence. The rodent sure noticed and perked up at the shift in tone. “How about I tell you something only the real Doc Wilde would know?” Nick felt really smug about this brilliant idea. The mouse was more sceptical, though. “If you say something which supposedly only the real Doc Wilde would know, I would have no way of verifying the authenticity of your claims,” she interjected.

Officer Brie III. was one smart mouse, that much was certain. Nick had to think of a new tactic. “Can you think of any information only you and the real Doc Wilde would know?” he asked the mouse.

This made the rodent pause, she was digging through her memories. “How did you call my grandmother?” she eventually interrogated. “Officer Blueberry,” the time travelling fox immediately responded with certainty, wondering why this question was asked. He and Finnick had called the mouse by that same nickname during their previous interaction already. The mouse widened her eyes slightly. “Hmm, I need more,” she continued. “Did you ever lie to her?” Nick’s ears subconsciously moved back. It had been a long time ago, thirty years of his own perceived time, in fact, but he had told a lie to this rodent’s grandmother. “Yes,” admitted the vulpine sheepishly. “One time. It was…”

“Wait!” the uniformed mouse interrupted in anticipation. “Do you mean…” She stopped herself from saying more words briefly. “Uhm…” The fox tilted his head curiously. “What… What is my next question?” asked Officer Brie III. Was this supposed to be a follow-up to the previous line of interrogation? “The… weather experiment?” the tod responded with what was more of a question rather than an answer. “…if I set anything on fire?” The mouse stared intently at Nick, her eyes were wide and her round ears were alert and listening. “Did you…?” she asked with mild worry.

“I’m sure you know we are talking about the night of the historic lightning storm,” the red fox elaborated. “You see, while I technically did not start any combustion, my experiment was concluded forcefully at precisely ten-oh-four p.m. by a bolt of lightning that struck the old clock tower.” Officer Brie III. nodded along with intense interest, she appeared deeply invested in this particular topic. “This violent event had damaged my stationary equipment beyond repair and started a little electrical fire. But I can promise you, no mammals or property were ever at risk of injury or damages.”

Brie’s POV

Time and date: 20:25 - Friday, 21st October 2016

This fox was so very intriguing. His initial claim was nothing short of outrageous, but he looked exactly like the real Doc Wilde on the very few old photos of him, all of which had been taken over thirty years ago. His knowledge about his weather experiment was beyond acquired, this tod had to have been there in person when it had occurred.

Doc Wilde’s inventions, even the scientist as a person, had always been belittled and laughed at for his theories, his inventions, as well as for his species. Finding out about something which had happened so long ago would be nearly impossible… unless, of course, this mammal had connections that tied him back to the real Doc Wilde himself…

Officer Brie couldn’t simply act irresponsibly and let a criminal go. First, she needed irrefutable evidence that the fennec in question was truly innocent. The mouse had always believed in the idea that a mammal was innocent until proven guilty, though without any lawyers around anymore, this assumption unfortunately was no longer a given in court. This topic needed to be approached with the utmost care it deserved. The mouse needed a little bit more proof from this fox. Something so personal, not even her own family members would know about it, with one exception, of course. The rodent sighed, she looked intently at the far larger mammal before her.

“Tell me about one thing you did for my grandmother,” the officer requested. “Something she wanted to get reported on in local newspapers to aid the reputation of your species, but you refused because you didn’t look for any attention.” This put the fox in an uncomfortable spot. At least he looked as such for a split second. “Well, Officer Blueberry number three, I’m not sure if I should stroke my ego like that,” he joked lightly. The mouse smiled, she kept looking at the tod expectedly.

“Two things come to my mind,” he started. The rodent was only after one occurrence, though. “One time, she was giving a ticket to an illegally parked rodent car. At first, I thought someone lost their toy car but it was a real one.” Officer Brie rolled her eyes. If this was a joke, it was overused, it had been many decades since the last time it had been considered funny. “This little thing was parked on the side of a busy street, right next to a tractor. I guess Officer Blueberry didn’t hear the engine or she mistook it for the traffic noise. Anyways, she didn’t notice the tractor starting to move. I saw it and swooped her up just in time. That big thing has wheels big enough to squish even me.”

“Oh, my,” huffed the rodent, she could feel herself getting a little emotional. The fox slowed down his recitation. “But come to think of it,” he changed course. “I think that’s not it.” He was right, of course. The mouse had a different tale in mind. “I think you are referring to a flash flood that happened during another storm. Not the big historical one from nineteen fifty-five, but a much smaller one with less wind and thunder but even more rain instead.” In a nearly imperceptible motion, the mouse nodded along intently.

“Officer Blueberry got swept away by the water and almost nobody noticed,” Doc Wilde continued speaking. “I saw it. My buddy, the fennec who I’m here for, he saw it too. He helped me lift the mammalhole cover to the side so I could reach in and fish her out. Your grandma was pretty shaken up but nothing too serious. It could have been a lot worse, though, if nobody would have seen her.”

The mouse in question had never told a single soul, keeping her promise to the fox who saved her life. Only on her deathbed many years later had she revealed this story to an audience of one: Officer Brie III. Nobody else would know about this very personal and highly emotional story.

This fox was telling the truth, he was Doc Wilde. His fennec friend was innocent. He needed to be freed!

The rodent kept staring, even after the fox had already stopped speaking. She was too deep in thought. Memories of her grandmother took her by surprise. “Yes…” she croaked out after a while, trying to pull herself together again. “You are right… I believe you. Thank you so much for saving my granny… twice.” The mouse could feel tears trying to break through but she pushed them down. There was no time to lose. “I’m sorry for all the precautions,” she excused her earlier scepticism. “Let’s get your friend out of here.”

Nick’s POV

Time and date: 20:29 - Friday, 21st October 2016

“I won’t stand for wrongful imprisonment,” declared a helpful rodent. “Especially foxes and little mammals.” Nick’s ears and tail displayed more hopeful emotions than a few minutes prior. “My grandmother still had to face discrimination for being a mouse, foxes still have the short end of the stick way too often, simply for their species.”

“You don’t need to tell me,” remarked Nick with genuine irritation. Of course, friends were an exception, but he usually tried not to let others see when something got to him. Now, though, the tod figured that since this rodent showed some of her emotions, it would be unfair if he kept hiding his own. Her grandmother hadn’t been a friend, but she had been one of the more closely associated mammals the scientist had always been on good terms with.

“Let me check on your fennec friend. Come along, I can’t leave visitors unattended,” announced the mouse. “Of course,” agreed Nick. “And thank you. It means a lot.”

That was almost too convenient, the vulpine thought. Hopefully, his internal monologue wouldn’t jinx anything. The police officer walked down a short hallway, it was very lengthy for her smaller form. She held her hand up to another pad on the wall and stepped through an adjacent door. Nick quietly followed. “Okay, unlock. Show a list of inmates,” she requested before even arriving at her desk. “Identity required,” came a dry and automated response. “Please scan your nose, paw pad or keycard.”

The mouse hopped up into an oversized chair, it was still far smaller than anything that would fit even Finnick. She placed her hand on another scanner, this one sat on the desk below the screen. “Welcome, Donna Brie. Displaying a list of jail inmates.” As announced, the computer brought up a long list of names with corresponding species, arrest dates, court dates, release dates, crimes charged with, and most notably: their cell number.

“List all inmates that came in today,” requested the fox, trying to accelerate the rodent’s search. The same indifferent computer voice answered. “The latest inmates in the system are Finnegan Deserttail, submitted today at eight p.m. Bolt Slothmore, submitted today at six twenty-seven p.m. Derrick Weaselton, submitted at five fifty-one p.m. Tracy O’Ferret, submitted at five forty-seven p.m. and Kideon Grey, submitted at five forty-two p.m.”

“Oh, wow, the sloth really took his time getting processed,” murmured Nick smugly. “Oh, shush,” retorted the humored Blueberry with a smile. It was her who spoke to the computer next. “Show details for Finnegan Deserttail.” The screen jumped to a different page and highlighted a few key data points.

“Name: Finnegan Deserttail. Address: 1640 Cypress Grove Lane, Happytown. Age: ninety-four. Date of birth: Fourteenth of March, nineteen twenty-two. Arrests: Five. Warrants: Two. Convictions: None. Species: Fennec Fox. Latest arrest date: October, twenty-first, twenty sixteen at eight p.m. Court dates: Not yet scheduled, Release date: Not yet scheduled. Crimes charged with: None. Crimes accused of…”

Nick had been happy to let Officer Brie read out the results, though now he would absolutely have to interrupt her. “Cell number…” He murmured while looking for the corresponding data point. “185… Great.” The mouse turned her eyes away from the screen. “Well, I’m cautious about this, I have to be. But your friend has never been convicted of anything. A couple of arrests and warrants aren’t too unusual for foxes, even the innocent ones. It’s really unfortunate.” Nick agreed.

“Is there a way to unlock his jail cell?” he asked sheepishly. “Oh, don’t be silly now,” giggled the rodent. “For safety reasons, the only way they can get unlocked remotely is by putting in a manual code that is only active during fire alarms. That way, we can safely practice our drills but if the building is actually burning, no lives are put at additional risks. The premises are still fenced up, so nobody could escape anyways,” she explained. It was irrelevant information in this case, but it was interesting to the fox nonetheless. He already knew he wouldn’t need to make use of this knowledge, releasing actual criminals without coordination couldn’t possibly end well.

“All right, let’s get going,” chimed the little rodent squeakily. “Yes! Let’s!” exclaimed the red fox in agreement and anticipation. “I will have to talk to Mr. Deserttail first and get a picture of the situation, though. Just to make sure.” Nick nodded along. “Of course,” he said. “That’s understandable.”

Brie’s POV

Time and date: 20:34 - Friday, 21st October 2016

Brie made sure to close the door behind her, offices mustn’t be left unlocked while unattended. The mouse was walking as speedily as her little legs allowed, she knew the other mammal wouldn’t have any trouble keeping up, he was much larger and could move a lot quicker than any mouse ever could.

Finally, after what felt like minutes when she would have preferred seconds, Brie III. arrived at an inconspicuous door. An innocent fox’s freedom was on the line! She scanned her hand and it opened up with a shrill electronic beep. Why every single Identi-Pad exuded the same slightly headache-inducing frequency was beyond her, but now was not the time to ponder such questions, she needed to deliver a positive example of justice! A fox and a mouse stepped inside another hallway.

Howls, growls, snarls, and barks nearly overwhelmed all auditory senses. On each side of this hallway, inmates were knocking on the bars of their prison cells. The room itself was huge, it stretched for a very long distance and it was wide and tall enough to accommodate even the largest of animals. It would be a whole hike for a rodent to get to the other end. The two little mammals hastily walked for a good while until they reached the cell they were looking for.

“Number 185…” Doc Wilde called out. That would be this one right here.” He pointed at a cell on the left side. The officer looked at it but it appeared empty initially, there were only the bare metal bars, the white, grey, and lime green walls, and a bench to sit down on. Of course, it wasn’t a proper prison cell and only held inmates temporarily until they got assigned a final room with other commodities like a sink or a toilet. The two mammals slowed their approach.

Only once the rodent stood in front of the cell itself could she see a grumpy fennec sitting quietly on the floor, leaning against the corner. Any cell this guy would get would almost certainly include a bed that would be large enough to be not just the size of a bedroom but of an entire apartment for this little vulpine. The fox stared at the wall on the opposite side of his cell.

“Mr. Deserttail,” called out the little mouse. The fennec fox looked up. He spotted the two newcomers and tilted his head in confusion. “Sir, I feel like there has been a terrible mistake,” explained the rodent. “What can you tell me about yourself?” The small predator looked at the officer curiously. “Well ya got my name right, Officer Blueberry,” he said. Brie nearly jumped in surprise upon hearing the nickname. She glanced up at Doc Wilde, who gave her an encouraging nod. “Continue,” she requested. The fennec looked at the red fox for a moment, then he turned his attention back to the mouse.

“Some of your colleagues didn’t believe me when they saw my thumbprint results,” he explained. “Thanks for setting that up, by the way.” The mouse nodded. “Of course, I’m always willing to help,” she assured.

The vulpine stood up tall, he wasn’t as big as Doc Wilde but he still towered far over the rodent. The fennec dusted himself off, stretched out his arms and legs, then he stepped up to the cold metal bars. The mouse scanned her tiny hand on the cell door. There was once again a deafening beep and the door opened up. The little fox stepped out.

All the real inmates made even more noise at that. So many growls and snarls made the rodent quite nervous but the fennec himself looked friendly enough. Of course, he had helped save her grandmother’s life many years ago, this was the least she could do for him. If the other inmates weren’t already contained, a riot would have started right here and now without a doubt.

“Hello?” someone called out from the other hallway. “Who’s there?” Doc Wilde and Mr. Deserttail, as well as a surprised rodent officer herself, looked towards their exit. A slim cheetah stood in the door, tranquilliser gun drawn and ready to fire a dart at a moment’s notice.

“Officer Clawhauser!” greeted Brie less cheerfully than she would have liked. “Good you’re here. I need to fill out the paperwork to discharge a falsely arrested mammal. His identity isn’t stolen, the arresting officers simply made a mistake.” This flawlessly reasonable explanation made perfect sense to the mouse. It was a shame some of her colleagues weren’t as willing to hear out smaller mammals or foxes. She didn’t know who those arresting officers were, though. If foul play had been involved, Officer Brie would have to get to the bottom of it.

“Wolfard and Fangmeyer brought this inmate here today, he is the only suspect in a cold case of double kidnapping from thirty-one years ago!” hissed the cheetah incredulously. The rodent assumed her colleague was joking, why was he delivering his humor with such seriousness? “He was found next to an unconscious bunny who had gone missing back in nineteen eighty-five! There was no misunderstanding!” elaborated the cheetah. “Why is this inmate out of his cell and not cuffed and muzzled? Where are you transferring him to?”

Officer Brie did not expect those questions. The revelation about a case older than her own career stumped her too. She tried to explain again, more slowly, her reasoning behind unlocking a jail cell to let out the innocent fennec. Was he innocent, though? What was Officer Clawhauser talking about? Communication was key, after all. “Mr. Deserttail has been taken away by officers without…” The mouse got cut off. “He is the one who took someone away!” accused a hectic cheetah. “This is all a ploy! Who is this other mammal with you anyways?”

The rodent officer looked at the red fox and the fennec. They returned sheepish looks. “They… I… But the blueberries…” stammered the little rodent. “I’m sorry, you two are under arrest,” said the feline regretfully, indicating Doc Wilde and… Officer Brie III. “And you…” Now, the cheetah was addressing the fennec fox. “…will not get any additional time if you go back into your cell. The smallest predator looked at the red fox and vice versa. “Great Tod…” mumbled the taller vulpine.

Nick’s POV

Time and date: 20:38 - Friday, 21st October 2016

The loud silence got interrupted, when everyone in the long hallway, inmates, officers, and foxes alike simultaneously noticed their fur stand up on end. The red fox widened his eyes. Up to a few moments ago, he had felt confident about getting Finnick out of there. But at this very moment, he instantly realised it… He had messed up big time…

Nick grabbed his fennec sidekick and dropped to the ground in a panic.

Chapter Text

Nick’s POV

Time and date: 20:39 - Friday, 21st October 2016

A bright flash of light illuminated the dimly lit jail hallway. A deafening explosion shook the whole building and a sharp blast of wind blew Nick’s fur around. Finnick might even have flown off entirely, had the red fox not tackled him to the ground for cover.

It appeared that some dust and even a small bit of debris grazed the vulpine, he had felt something on his tail.

Everything happened in only a fraction of a second. Immediately following the flash of light, the Jokemobile appeared seemingly right above the two foxes, still moving at eighty-eight miles per hour. Thankfully, the hallway was large enough to accommodate not just the time vehicle itself but also to allow for it to slow down again without crashing into a wall.

There was a lot of noisy wind, still, and a frightened hiss came from the entrance too. Soon enough, the time machine had turned around and came to a standstill right beside the vulpines, though it didn’t contact the ground.

The driver door opened up and none other than Judy hopped out. She looked very tense and focused, and she carried fuel for Mr. Fursion. As the doe hastily got to work providing enough energy for the next jump, the two foxes wasted no time to spring back to their feet. They both ran to the other side of the car while Judy was already returning to the open driver door. First Finnick, then Nick too practically threw himself into the passenger side of the Jokemobile. There was no time to get seated properly, let alone to put on a seat belt.

Before the passenger side door had even closed, Judy backed up to the end of the hallway. Not a second later, she hit the gas, the Jokemobile accelerated rapidly. The end of the hallway, a solid and likely very firm wall, was coming closer and closer, Nick’s ears were pinned back. Finally, at the last possible moment, another blinding flash of light preceded the next jump through time.

Time and date: ??:?? - ?????, ??th ????? ????

The bright flash of light was Judy’s cue to hit the brakes as hard as she could. The Jokemobile came to a sudden stop, though not before passing through a hole in the wall. The bunny slowed down, she somehow entered the presumably empty prison hallway once more, and managed to pilot the vehicle to the ground safely.

Then, she simply sat there with the steering wheel still in hand, looking out the windshield. The doe took a deep breath. The following silence was awkward.

“Thanks guys,” said Finnick earnestly. The two foxes were lying more or less on top of one another in a messy pile of red and tan fluff. “Carrots…” started Nick. “That was hella crazy, bunny,” the fennec praised, as a grin slowly but surely crept onto his face. The lapine turned her head to look at the smaller fox. “Good to see you too, Fin…” she said, still out of breath from the very tense moment. The adrenaline was wearing off now for sure… And she looked very irritated.

Being on top of the fox mountain, a vul-pile, if you would, Nick opened the door and stepped out. A short while later, the two remaining mammals did the same. They took in their surroundings. It was the same jail hallway but it had been abandoned. Graffiti decorated empty cells, rubble and trash was scattered across the floor, it was absolutely everywhere. Driving was nearly impossible, landing would restrict any further movement completely. The hallway ended in not a wall but a sizable hole to the courtyard.

The bunny that had been operating the Jokemobile walked to Skippy. She had left him there, leaning up against the wall of the hallway, alongside another bag of trash to refuel Mr. Fursion once more. “Damn,” commented Finnick. “Rabbit, ya impress me. Who’da thunk it.”

The lapine was probably still mostly preoccupied with getting her heart rate down, so she did not question Finnick’s expression that she couldn’t have understood yet, it was a future joke. “When are we?” asked Nick with hesitation.

Judy stroked her unconscious boyfriend’s cheeks and gave him a loving kiss. Then, she took the rubbish and went to work refueling the Jokemobile in preparation for another time jump. “Twenty-one sixteen,” she answered bluntly. “It says the time on the readouts.” The hesitant vulpine glanced inside the time machine.

Judy’s POV

Time and date: 20:41 - Whatever fluffing weekday this would be, 21st October 2116

She had to talk to Nick soon enough again but didn’t feel up for it just yet. The lapine emptied the rubbish bag into the funnel of Mr. Fursion. This time, she threw the items in one at a time and not all at once. She took a deep breath and prepared to speak calmly and evenly.

“I looked for a time where this building is still here but empty. Went a hundred years to the future and got lucky on my first guess.” Judy felt like her irritation was well hidden behind the calmness of her voice, but her audience were only two foxes who both knew her really well. They had to be able to tell she was very upset and likely about to explode.

The flux capacitor had enough electricity for the next time jump. The doe turned to the tallest mammal in the room and furrowed her eyes. The red fox’s ears went straight back. “Run, Nick,” said Finnick with a smug smirk. “A savage bunny is hot on yo’ tail.” How could he be so amused by the entire situation? He had just spent a few hours behind bars! Was he oblivious to the taller tod’s monumental mistakes? Now was not a time for smug expressions. Now was a time for violence! The doe pushed aside those intrusive thoughts and calmed herself down with another sigh.

“Now, Nick, tell me…” Judy started evenly. The lapine could already tell when she was done with her verbal bashing, she might have a sore voice. “What was your grand plan here?” The bunny stepped closer to the stunned vulpine, who stammered a lacklustre response. “What… uhm, Carrots, what are you talking about…?” Judy huffed with great annoyance. “Gee, I don’t know,” the sarcastic lapine lied, as she started raising her voice. “You take me to the future, almost get us killed by crashing into a flying taxi!”

This alone was already more than concerning to the taken aback teenager. “…Then you put Skippy to sleep with some shady future gadget, give me wrong info on Kideon, you get Finnick imprisoned by leaving him alone for five minutes…” By now, she was right up in Nick’s face, the doe really let him have it.

“…And then you leave me stranded in a completely foreign time! You’re lucky I found the time machine, or I wouldn’t have been able to even do anything at all!” Judy took a deep breath. This was a very uncomfortable situation for everyone involved.

“And then I see that newspaper,” the bunny continued her angry tirade. “Instead of the article about my daughter or that hoverboard chace, the big headline is now how a fox with stolen identity attempts to break out another fox with stolen identity, who was supposedly involved in kidnapping me and Skippy! What the rut were you guys doing?!”

There was a lengthy and intimidating silence. It felt like it dragged on for several minutes. In all likelihood, it lasted no more than a couple of seconds. Nick didn’t move a muscle, he looked shocked, disappointed, and ashamed. Finnick meanwhile didn’t look particularly concerned about anything, he merely made himself a little more comfortable next to the Jokemobile, as he waited for the conversation to conclude.

“Judith Hopps?” a squeaky voice asked. The tone suggested uncertainty and perhaps some fear, who had said that? It reminded Judy of the little mouse from 1955 who had assumed the doe was attempting to become a police officer. Two foxes and a bunny turned in time to find someone who looked just like that same rodent stepping out from underneath the time machine.

“Blueberry, no…” Nick stammered in further emotional distress. He let out a faint whine and put two fingers to the bridge of his nose. The oddly familiar mouse climbed on top of the single front wheel of the Jokemobile. She looked a little different than Officer Brie from 1955, though.

“Who are you?” Judy asked sceptically. The bunny was reasonably sure she knew the answer already, but asking anyways wouldn’t hurt. Nick had caused so much chaos with his time machine, now there was even an unintentional stowaway who had gotten transported to the wrong time! The bunny just wanted to grab the red fox by his tie to give him a piece of her mind by force. Perhaps, strong lapine feet could help to accelerate the taller mammal downwards. The doe pushed aside those intrusive thoughts that appeared worryingly enticing at the moment.

“I’m Officer Brie the Third,” responded a hesitant mouse. “Are you really Judith Laverne Hopps?” The bunny was astonished. This rodent looked familiar, not because she happened to be a mouse and an officer, no, she was actually the friendly mammal’s granddaughter! At least her name suggested as such. But why did this individual from the twenty-first century recognise someone who supposedly had gone missing? Judy would be old enough to be her mother.

“I am,” the uncertain doe responded. “What do you know about me?” The little mouse apparently didn’t expect to get interrogated like that. “You, uhm…” she stammered. “You are a somewhat famous missing mammal case from thirty-one years ago. Your face… and the face of this buck over there, are both printed in the academy handbook for police officers. You’ve sort of become the police-internal faces of missing mammals.”

Judy couldn’t believe what she was hearing, she forgot to close her mouth. She had kept toying with the idea of how things may be if she were famous, though the lapine had hoped it would be thanks to her skills on the guitar, not because of a supposed tragedy! “I'm not… I'm not missing,” Judy expressed in taken aback irritation. What was the meaning of all this? Nick could probably explain it.

Nick… He had caused this entire mess to begin with…!

Judy turned to stare daggers at the fox. He practically shrunk down under her almost deadly gaze. Two dark vulpine ears were pinned back, the guiltiest expression the doe had ever seen was firmly fixed to his face. “I came here to make your family happier…” he said weakly. “But I think I broke it…” those words practically came out as a whine more than anything else. 

“If you take me and Skippy back home to nineteen eighty-five, will everything be back to normal?” Judy needed to find out. She honestly didn’t know the answer. Was her life now permanently ruined? Would her and Skippy’s entire remaining existence take place in some limbo between different times?

“I believe this is the case, yes,” estimated Nick with far less confidence than what the bunny desperately wanted to hear. “I’m sorry,” Nick practically pleaded. “I didn’t mean to cause such trouble for everyone.”

“What do you mean?” Officer Brie questioned in a similar tone, though her voice sounded not guilty but uncertain. All three larger mammals stared at the mouse in unison. “How can you travel to nineteen eighty-five? It’s the year twenty sixteen, time travel doesn’t exist.” Judy dropped her ears down. She felt so terrible for this poor mouse who should have been left alone in her own time. “This is the year twenty-one sixteen,” Nick pointed out sullenly. “I’ve invented a time machine but I suppose perhaps it was a mistake to do so.”

“I’m a hundred years in the future…?!” the mouse squeaked incredulously. “How is this possible?!” Judy felt bad for this bystander who should have remained uninvolved in any of this mess. “You’ve gotten arrested for aiding the escape of a supposed criminal,” she informed. “I’m sorry, you were only trying to help. What happened?” The mouse was stunned for a good moment. “Doc Wilde asked me to let his fennec assistant out of his cell,” the rodent started. She sounded a bit lightheaded, perhaps it was just what mice sounded like when they were exceptionally stressed.

“Of course, I can’t just release prisoners like that but Doc Wilde has provided more than enough evidence for me that he is telling the truth.” The fox in question nodded along slowly. “Though I didn’t make the connection between Mr. Deserttail and your kidnapping until Officer Clawhauser pointed it out. What is the context behind this?”

The mouse looked so uncertain, like her whole career was over and her future was ruined. Judy felt absolutely terrible for her. “It’s all my fault…” said a sad red fox. “Finnick was only marginally involved in the disappearance of two bunnies. He is simply one of the friends I’ve taken to the future with me. I didn’t expect the timeline to change,” he insisted. “It was like Skippy and Judy never existed…”

The mouse tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Because I removed the bunnies from this timeline in nineteen eighty-five, we arrived in a different version of twenty sixteen where neither of the two existed for the past thirty-one years.” The fox let out another big sigh. “It’s a bummer… Such a stupid oversight… But since time travel is not considered by lawmakers, technically no laws were broken by any of us.”

It was Finnick who spoke next. “You parked the Jokemobile illegally, we both lied to police officers, the Blueberry probably broke some big rules at work. We all messed up.” Hearing this admission of guilt, as well as such accusations, was something the doe hadn’t expected to hear from the fennec. The mouse’s worries were not put at ease one bit, however. Judy couldn’t keep this psychological torture up any longer.

“Officer, we will bring you back to your own time, exactly to the moment you first talked to Nick,” she promised reassuringly, though still with frustration evident in her voice. “Were any colleagues with you? I saw a cheetah over there.” The doe pointed towards the other end of the abandoned hallway. “Maybe once you go back, you can go talk to him so he won’t find this jail hallway. You won’t get in trouble and nobody ever knew you were ready to let a supposed criminal go.”

Both foxes looked at Judy curiously. Finnick looked like he had expected something like this from her, Nick meanwhile appeared even more guilty but also greatly relieved that there was a plan in place to fix this terrible mistake of his. “Yes, Fluff,” he said. “Officer Blueberry was at the reception while the cheetah was sleeping there. He must have noticed she was missing and went to investigate. If we bring her back after we leave the room but before he wakes up, everything will be fine again.”

Judy sighed, she glared at the slender fox. “Hold up, not so fast,” interjected the fennec. “If we do that, ya wouldn’t know nothin’. Ya wouldn’t come and get us, there would be two blueberries and we’d have one of them paradox things Nick keeps yappin’ about.” The bunny’s ears moved up, she was concentrating. “We could…” Nick started, likewise deep in thought. “Officer Blueberry could tell the cheetah that there is a doppelgänger trying to bust someone out.” This suggestion sounded sketchy, but it sort of made sense to the doe. “So you mean the cheetah needs to find you guys right here, no matter how or when?” The doe questioned.

“But he also needs to know that Officer Brie is innocent in all this,” the red fox added. “If we send her back after the fact, the cheetah would ask her a million questions, it would only lead to more complications.”

“I can ask him for backup to look into a break in,” a squeaky rodent threw her idea into the ring unexpectedly. “This is a precarious plan… but it might just work,” commented Nick. “Just make sure to let your colleague go in first, you mustn’t see your other self.” The mouse nodded hesitantly.

“All right,” Judy said. “Nick, help me carry Skippy back into the time machine, will you. Once everything is sorted out with Officer Brie, I want to go back to nineteen eighty-five. I won’t travel through time ever again. It’s a nice toy you have there but I want nothing to do with it.” Those demands were very clear.

“I understand,” accepted Nick, he still felt terrible. “Judy, I’m sorry…” the fox said earnestly. “I just saw something was going wrong and tried to fix it.” He sounded very guilty and felt miserable from the sound of things. “And it kinda worked, didn’t it?” he asked more hopefully and with a sheepish smile. “And Fin is out of jail now too. Everyone wins.” The vulpine shrugged innocently with the same smile.

“Bunny, why is ya boyfriend still asleep?” asked Finnick, changing the topic nearly completely. It was still the same subject, because Nick was responsible for the buck’s state of consciousness. “How long did ya scout out this place?” the fennec asked a follow-up question. “I only read the article in the papers, went a hundred years in the future, found this hallway accessible by car, and took my chances,” explained the lapine. “I figured those look like cells, so I was on the right track.” She pointed out the abandoned compartments along both sides of the long hallway. The bars were long gone but the floorplan still included separate rooms everywhere.

“You’re lucky there’s enough trash here to refuel the time machine,” commented Nick. Everybody took a few more moments to collect themselves. The taller tod and the bunny carefully lifted Skippy back in the middle seat of the Jokemobile. Judy leaned down to allow the police officer to hop into her open hand, she lifted her onto the dashboard for now. The doe sat down in the passenger seat herself, then dragged the unconscious form of her boyfriend onto her lap, allowing Finnick to take the middle seat. He climbed past the bunnies and the mouse to get there. Nick meanwhile prepared everything for departure from this year.

He lifted off with the Jokemobile and carefully piloted it out of the abandoned Burrow Penitentiary building and off into the night.

Time and date: 20:21 - Friday, 21st October 2016

The Jokemobile landed back in the visitor parking lot of the Burrow Penitentiary. Nick pulled up right next to another identical version of the same vehicle. “Wait, maybe don’t…” Judy stammered, though she was a little too late to voice her concern. The frosty driver door opened up and Nick stepped outside. The bunny warily did the same, having squeezed herself out from underneath her unconscious lover. The seat belt could hold him for now. The fox who had caused all the trouble at the moment froze in realisation, Judy watched him in uncertain anticipation.

“Nick! Where the fluff have you been?” she called out. It wasn’t her, though. It was the same bunny from a few minutes prior!

“Fluff, uhm,” the red fox stammered. The doe who was not part of this awkward conversation noticed her other self was still wearing the light blue shirt from the future but not the odd jacket with weird sleeves. “Bunny,” Finnick called out through the open door. “Ignore us. Just keep doing what ya were doing.” Judy’s ears were standing upright, alert. “Fin, what’s going on?” she questioned with irritation. “Where have you two been all day? Why are there two time machines now?” Nick let out a sigh. The latest version of the doe noticed Officer Brie looking back and forth between the two lapines, she was speechless. “Judy, I am very sorry about everything,” he insisted with genuine disappointment clearly audible in his voice. “Please listen to Big Guy. Stay in the time machine, look at the newspaper, and do what you would have done, had you not spoken to us right now.”

“Promise you will tell me exactly what you were up to since you left me alone in the future!” an angry bunny demanded. Her other version still shared her anger. “I promise,” the red fox said, looking at her with pleading eyes. His tail hung low. “But please, Judy. If you don’t ignore that you saw us here, the consequences could be disastrous. It could destroy the space-time continuum!” The younger version of the time travelling bunny huffed angrily, she returned to the driver side of the other time machine and closed the door.

Nick let out a big sigh. He started looking for trash to use as fuel. “Officer,” the slightly older version of Judy started speaking. “You and Nick are about to leave the lobby.” She motioned through the entrance of the Burrow Penitentiary. The rodent looked towards her place of work and gasped loudly. “I’m sorry,” said the apologetic doe earnestly. She held out her hand to help the smallest mammal out of the time machine. “I just hope we didn’t accidentally ruin your future.” The mouse sighed. “I feel like I’m at the brink of a reprimand anyways,” she responded sullenly. This was unexpected but the bunny was too stunned to ask for an explanation. “Just… Thank you for making sure I can return to my own time at all.”

“Actually,” interrupted Nick, as he finished up refueling Mr. Fursion. “I don’t want to reveal too much about your future, but if this plan now goes smoothly, I promise you, there will be happy news waiting for you tomorrow morning.” Judy tilted her head. She didn’t, however, care to ask a follow-up question. The bunny was interested in this rodent’s future, of course, but she didn’t want yet another repeat of the whole conversation about knowing too much about one’s own destiny. If the plan to bring back Officer Brie III. didn’t end up working out, revealing more details would only lead to further disappointment anyways.

Nick opened the prison’s front door for the mouse. Officer Brie III. stepped into the building but turned around again right away, she hesitated. “I hope you all return back home safely,” she said. Judy nodded. “I hope so too,” the doe agreed. “Thank you for helping us tonight, it means a lot,” insisted Nick. “And sorry for all the trouble we’ve caused.” The rodent briefly looked to the ground, she sighed heavily.

“Now don’t forget,” the taller fox continued. “There is a mouse with stolen identity about to try and break someone out. Let backup go in first, you mustn’t enter the hallway yourself until your other self is gone.” The mouse took a moment to process this, she probably went through the plan another time in her head.

“Got it,” she confirmed. The red vulpine nodded as the other one started moving. Finnick leaned over the unconscious buck next to him and out the passenger door. “Thanks. Ciao,” was all he said.

“Right,” said the police officer. She turned around once again. Nick let go of the automatically closing door, he returned to the Jokemobile. “We should get going,” he commented. Judy got into the time machine and moved Skippy back onto her lap. She closed the door.

“I’m sorry, Judy,” repeated Nick, not starting the time machine yet. “I should have told you about my plan. I shouldn’t have gone through with it in the first place.” The bunny had been so upset at everything and especially at Nick’s poor decisions. Seeing him so regretful helped to ease most of her ill feelings for the fox. She was still quite miffed, though. It would take a few days to fully subside again. It worked out in the end, at least. None of her friends had gotten hurt or stayed in trouble.

Judy smiled. “Dumb fox,” she said.

The red vulpine returned the smile. “Let’s get back to nineteen eighty-five.” he announced. The bunny lightly shook her head.

“Actually,” the doe interjected. “Let’s stick around for a while, just to make sure Officer Brie is all right.” The vulpine in the driver seat nodded. “Of course.” He started the time machine and lifted off. The adventurers remained in close proximity, finding the same courtyard through which Judy had entered the building a hundred years in the future.

After maybe around ten minutes, another version of the Jokemobile lifted off from the visitor parking lot of the Burrow Penitentiary. It quickly gained altitude while accelerating up to eighty-eight miles per hour. It vanished in a brilliant flash of light, leaving behind only lines of floating flames. “You worked things out very quickly,” Nick commented. “You didn’t,” the bunny retorted. “I should probably tell ya that I supported Nick’s idea, it ain’t just all on him,” Finnick admitted. The doe sighed and shook her head.

Soon thereafter, there was another bright flash of light coming out of the window, as well as a loud sound. A couple of moments later, the same could be observed again. Nick, Judy, and Finnick all exchanged glances. They all nodded to each other, before the red fox started piloting the time machine away.

“Even if this latest series of events didn’t destroy the space-time continuum, something else might,” observed the scientist. “Once we’re back in nineteen eighty-five, I’m going to destroy the time machine. You’re right, it’s not something to get involved in.” The lapine perked her ears at that. “Destroy it?” she asked in surprise. “What about all that stuff about mammalkind, where we’re going, and why?”

Judy didn’t expect Nick to change his plans with time travel so drastically after such a short adventure. Granted, it was very risky and stressful. “Nick, I don’t want to be part of this journey any longer, but that doesn’t mean I don’t support your studies,” she reassured. Even with her current temporary opinion of this fox, he was still her friend.

The vulpine headed for the closest skyway. There were unusually few cars out and about and the skies seemed surprisingly abandoned. Maybe, after a certain time, air space was closed off to avoid noise pollution, Judy pondered. “The risks were just too great, as today’s series of incidents prove,” reasoned the vulpine. “And we were trying our best to behave responsibly.”

“Oh, I’m sure you did,” remarked Finnick. “Just imagine the danger if the time machine were to fall into the wrong hands!” Judy shuddered at the thought.

“My only regret is that I’ll never get a chance to visit my favourite historical era… The wild prairie,” said Nick. He paused to reflect on this. “Ya just interested in it for the name’s sake,” accused the little fennec. “The ‘Wilde’ Prairie…” Nick shook his head. “Time travelling is just too dangerous,” he said sullenly while he stared into blank space. The tod was still piloting a flying car, the bunny hoped he was still attentive and alert. “Better that I devote myself to study the other great mysteries of the universe: Vixens.”

Judy, who had been checking up on Skippy while Nick was talking, now turned to stare at her vulpine friend incredulously. Was he being sarcastic? He had the straightest face ever and didn't even look at her to see her reaction. Was he actually being serious? “If you wanna know about ladies, why not ask your favourite emotional support animal?” suggested Finnick. “Yeah, no…” dismissed Judy. “I have no idea about this part of fox culture.”

The time travellers had flown for a while now without leaving the twenty-first century. They were moving back towards Rabbyt Estates before making the time jump. On the time display the ‘Destination Time’ was entered by Nick’s clawed fingers: ‘Oct-26-1985, 9:00 p.m.’ “We’ll come back after dark,” he announced. “The less we’re seen, the better.”

The Jokemobile was flying through clouds. The fox put on his strange pair of opaque and shiny metal glasses, he made last adjustments in preparation for the final time jump. “Altitude, two kilometers. That should be high enough.” The tod hit the gas and the speedometer rocketed up to eighty-eight miles per hour. The flux capacitor glowed brightly and illuminated the dark night scene for a split second.

Time and date: 21:00 - Saturday, 26th October 1985

It was once again pitch black outside. Lane markers were gone, though Judy hadn’t been able to see any of those before the time jump either. There were only distant lights below. Light pollution was much weaker now than in 2016. Without any lamps from floating cars and lane markers, this was easily evident. Nick lifted his shiny opaque metal glasses off of his snout. Carefully, he peeked out of the windshield more closely, just to make sure. “Did we make it?” inquired a hesitant bunny. “No, we died,” deadpanned Finnick. There was nothing to suggest they had not made it but the awkward silence had to be filled with something. Otherwise, the only sounds would have been a quiet humming from the time circuits, as well as an alarm that indicated there was not enough energy for another time jump right away. Judy remembered how it had mocked her a week ago when she had first arrived in 1955 without any plutonium left. This time, it was far quieter than previously. The fox must had turned down the volume drastically. “Are we back?” added the doe again.

Suddenly, there was an incredible roar, as a giant commercial airplane thundered right overhead. All three of the conscious passengers inside the Jokemobile screamed in surprised fright. It was so much louder up close than when one stood on the ground while it flew overhead at cruising altitude. The large flying object caused a lot of turbulence, nearly causing the time machine to fall out of the sky! Two foxes and a bunny watched it depart through the windshield.

“Why is it flying this low?” croaked a panicked fox with his ears pinned back all the way. “There’s no airport nearby and we’re not even at half the altitude airplanes usually fly at.” The bunny’s nose was twitching a few times and her ears were standing up tall. Finnick’s body language closely mirrored Nick’s at the moment. All eyes were very wide. The doe leaned closer to the windshield to look upwards. No floating lane markers were anywhere in sight. “We’re back,” confirmed a fox who was still getting his heart rate down.

After catching their breaths, the Jokemobile descended to a 1985 residential street to make a landing. The piloting vulpine flipped a switch to fold the wheels down and turn off the flying circuits, then he kept driving past a few more houses. Eventually, he pulled into a dark driveway. The driver and passenger doors both opened up, Judy pushed her boyfriend off of her lap and stood up. Finnick hopped out too.

The mailbox in the front door was labelled with ‘The Whitakers’, indicating Skippy’s last name. This was his family’s warren. The red fox approached the house and was unsure how to proceed without breaking in. He snuck around the building to the garden in the back where a porch swing caught his attention. The tod patted the cushions to determine their level of comfort. “Let’s put him on the swing,” he suggested. “Then I’ll take you home and you can come back in your car and wake him up.”

Judy nearly forgot she had her own car now. Would she really need one? The other day, it had felt like a dream come true for her, though there was also the train to out of town and several buses. The doe figured, her own vehicle provided extra ease and comfort. At least going up to the lake would be more comfortable and romantic than in a rusty old farm truck. She was happy to have a new vehicle but after her latest time travelling expedition, Judy was a little tired of surprises of any sort.

“Finally taking your bunny home?” teased a little fennec. Apparently, he spent enough time in the future that he had forgotten about what had happened only the previous evening from the bunny’s point of view. The two larger mammals shook their heads at their friend’s comment. Together, they carried the unconscious Skippy around the house and onto the porch. “When he wakes up here in his own home and it’s dark, you should be able to convince him it was all a dream,” said Nick. They put the buck down on the porch swing. Skippy remained asleep. “Wait a minute, we’re just gonna leave him here?” asked Judy incredulously. “The disorientation will help convince him that it was all a dream,” explained the fox quietly, as to not wake the sleeping bunny.

The doe looked at her boyfriend caringly and with much worry. “How long do you think he’s gonna be out?” she inquired. “I’m not sure,” admitted Nick. “He received quite a shock. Could be for a few minutes, most probably a couple of hours.” The fox turned to his bunny friend and put a hand on her shoulder. “You better bring some smelling salts back with you,” he suggested.

“Yeah, you’re the doc, Doc,” said Judy without listening too closely. She was not happy about leaving Skippy outside unattended, even in his own garden. “You’re the Slick, Nick,” mocked Finnick humorously. “All right,” said the red fox, as he turned to the smaller vulpine. “Let’s go, Big Guy.”

The little tod furrowed his eyes but not because of anything Nick had done or said. Judy had noticed he was a little on edge from the moment he exited the time machine this year, even despite his usual bantering. The doe hesitated and took another look at her boyfriend. “Don’t worry,” calmed Nick. “He’ll be fine.” With uneasy hesitation, the doe left her buck’s side to head back to the time machine.

On the windows on the side of the house was something unusual. Judy had not noticed it initially but now she did. She looked curiously, like something was wrong. Her ears flopped down, when the doe realised what was so strange: “I don’t remember the bars on these windows…” she said with much confusion.

“Nick, did you fart?” asked Finnick, as he sniffed the air. “Something really stinks,” he complained. The bunny tilted her head. What was he talking about? The taller vulpine lifted his nose up to get a better sense of the surrounding smells too. He grimaced at what he detected. “Whoever smelt it dealt it,” came his unusual response. “Must be a fire somewhere. We’d better get going.”

“Whoever denied it supplied it,” grumbled the fennec. He sounded more grumpy than ever. “I have a bad feeling about this.” The bunny only barely smelled something too, now that the foxes had pointed it out. It was not a pleasant smell at all.

Chapter Text

Time and date: 21:18 - Saturday, 26th October 1985

The Jokemobile rolled through the familiar gates of Rabbyt Estates. The statues on either side looked especially bad in these poor lighting conditions, a street lamp had gone out. The road was strewn with trash and a lot more of it than usual. Graffiti decorated the place more than before too.

Had some taggers come by just today and picked this place because it was less brightly lit than normal? The lettering was partly unrecognizable too. A pack of seemingly homeless predators was lurking on the corner. There were coyotes, wolves, foxes and some smaller mustelids of various types. None of them looked familiar to Judy.

Nick parked the Jokemobile in yet another driveway, this time of the Hopps warren, and a bunny hopped out of the time machine. “If you need me, I’ll be at my lab, dismantling this thing,” informed Nick calmly. He wanted to remain quiet to not disturb the neighbours. “Right,” answered Judy. She shut the passenger door and noticed Finnick moved from the middle seat to the one on the right for additional space.

“Let me know if you have any trouble convincing your buck it was all a dream,” spoke a red fox through the open window of the time machine. “Way to avoid sounding jealous, Nick,” snarked the smallest mammal in the group. “…Or a nightmare,” added Judy to the sentence from the taller tod. They all wave goodbye and the Jokemobile departed, leaving the doe to her own accord for tonight.

The lapine perked her long ears up and she cocked her head. She tried to identify an unusual sound… there were some faint booms in the distance. Stupid kids were likely setting off fireworks at the wrong time of year again. Judy stepped up to the front door, only to find it secured with a giant padlock the doe had never laid her eyes on before. “What the butternut squash?” she swore.

Instinctively, the bunny searched her trousers for a key and actually found one. She fiddled with it for a lengthy moment but to no avail. It had the wrong shape. As strange as this was, the lapine didn’t read too much into it. After all, maybe someone had been snooping around in the open barn again. Installing a new lock was not out of the question.

Judy climbed up onto a garbage can and jumped over the gate. She made her way to her bedroom window and opened it from the outside. It was not uncommon for her to sneak in and out of the warren at odd hours, she had done this repeatedly in the past. While she climbed through the open window, the bunny tripped and fell… onto something very soft. What was this? Her bed was not up against the window. And it wasn’t as squishy as this…!

Then, the heavenly soft mass under the little lapine started to shift around. Then it began to scream loudly!

Judy had fallen into bed with a ram! He kept yelling and screaming! The bunny was in complete and utter shock.

“Ah! Hey, Hey!” replied the overwhelmed lapine with the same lack of calmness. “Wait a minute!” The large caprid got up. He looked like he was mentally preparing to deal with a thief. Judy was not there to rob him. Why was he in her room, though? If anything, this ram was the intruder!

“Wha, what…” tried the doe. “What are you doing in my room?!” she asked less than quietly. She looked around. The furniture looked very different compared to her own bedroom. Gone were the posters and shelves full of instruments. Instead, there were pictures of sheep and Fox Away products! This was outrageous! There was only one explanation for any of these unexpected ramifications: This was not Judy’s bedroom.

Everything was different. The wall’s dimensions and door- and window positions were likely the only thing that matched but the rest appeared like the home of a middle aged and mean looking ram.

“Woolter! Jesse! We kinda got a situation! Bunny burglar!” yelled the large ram in front of the lapine. Judy wanted to calm down the wooly mammal, otherwise she couldn’t figure out what was going on. Why was she being accused of being a burglar?

“Wait a minute!” she tried. “Wait. Okay, okay.” The only response she got was the ram standing up tall. He was likely trying to intimidate a totally confused bunny. Now, the door burst open and two other rams rushed in. The bigger one of the two had an eye patch! Judy thought such headwear was reserved only for actors who played pirates in movies. This sheep clearly did not mess around.

He turned on the lights. “Freeze, sucker!” one of the two new rams yelled. The bunny was terrified. Could her ears be any straighter than they currently were? It was unlikely. The doe took a stance which would allow her to leap out of harm’s way if need be, she raised her hands. “Hey!” Judy pleaded. “It’s okay, I don’t want any trouble.”

The doe’s unconvincing smile did little to get out of whatever mess she had found herself in. All three of the caprids kept making noise. “Well, you got trouble now, you piece of trash!” yelled one of them. He lashed forward, swinging his fist right at Judy! She dodged at the last possible moment, causing the punch to wreck not a bunny but a lamp on the nightstand. “What are you doing in Doug’s room?” the aggressive caprid demanded to know.

“Hey, listen, I’m just in the wrong house!” yelled the bunny in a panic. “Whoop her, Woolter! She’s lying,” accused the third sheep. “You got that right, you,” yelled the ram that had been addressed with the name Woolter, talking to Judy. He lowered his head and charged at the bunny. She kept dodging and weaving, remaining unharmed. Meanwhile, a shelf full of a stack of empty disposable coffee cups, scribbled notes, chemistry equipment, and a can of fox repellent was brutally smashed to pieces. “Doug, did she touch your latte?” inquired the sheep with seemingly little head coordination.

“I drank that already, you moron,” came the other ram’s reply. “But this rabbit hopped on me!” Judy was still in a panic. She tried hopelessly to calm the situation any way she could. “Hey, look, I just made a mistake!” she reckoned. “Damn right, you made a mistake!” yelled Woolter. He rushed towards the fragile bunny once more with his thick skull. The doe leapt out of the way once more, up to the lamp hanging from the ceiling, onto another shelf, and straight back to the ground.

The ram’s ram charge destroyed some more of his roommate's possessions! A broken lamp was violently thrown to the floor. “Woolter, stop!” yelled Doug. “You’re breaking my stuff!” The aggressive caprid lifted his head again and continued his attempts to assault a bunny with his fists instead. Again, he missed Judy and took out more of the innocent objects in this room. In an unexpected twist of events, Doug tackled Woolter to the ground. This situation was nothing but pure chaos and craziness. “I’m gonna tear your fluff but up!” yelled the downed sheep.

Judy dashed out the room, down the hallway and through the front door. Luckily, it opened from the inside just fine. On her way out, she noted the shabby furniture looked nothing like her own family’s stuff. Once the fleeing bunny reached the street, she paused to look back at the house. It sure looked like her family’s burrow, but a different name plate from her own said ‘Ramses’ instead.

Suddenly the third sheep that hadn’t spoken yet came out, shaking a fist. Doug had called for Woolter and Jesse, so this had to be Jesse. The two aforementioned other caprids were close behind him. Judy continued fleeing, it was the safest option for her.

“That’s right, keep runnin’, rabbit!” mocked one of the rams. “And tell those chomper buddies of yours that we ain’t gonna be terrorised! You hear?” The doe didn’t dare turn around another time. She bolted down the street. There was definitely the sound of explosions in the distance, was this… gunfire…? And barking dogs. Judy thought barking in public was a socially unacceptable sign of pure disrespect!

Time and date: 21:25 - ?????, ??th ????? ????

The lapine walked along another street, she was so very confused. The parked cars on the side of the roads were all dirty and rusty. Many of them had broken windows. The bunny had not stopped observing her surreal surroundings for the past few minutes. Now, she found a police car that had driven straight into a tractor in someone’s barn! The crash scene was completely abandoned, though. Another vehicle drove past. It was a car full of seemingly drunk and loudly screaming kids, and they threw beer bottles into the street. How disrespectful could people be…?

The bunny spotted another wrecked car, it was still on fire! She carefully approached. Should the doe try to extinguish the flames? With what? She had nothing to help her accomplish this task. As the lapine stepped closer, she could see lines on the ground. They had been drawn with white chalk… These were outlines of two bodies on the ground! Both had long bunny ears! This was a crime scene with police tape and temporary barriers! Everything was there… Everything, except for police officers.

Why had nobody bothered to put out the fire? It wasn’t the middle of the night or anything, Nick had set the time machine to jump to only nine p.m. Had he typed in the wrong time or maybe even the wrong date perhaps? Judy stumbled down the streets aimlessly some more. Behind her, on another road, a group of police vehicles rushed past with sirens blaring loudly and the blue lights briefly illuminating everything nearby. “This has got to be the wrong year…” mumbled the bunny to herself. Her ears twitched at a new sound. It was a police helicopter flying overhead.

What would definitively indicate what year Judy had found herself in? She needed proof for when she was and quick. The bunny noticed that the house she stood in front of had a newspaper lying on the doormat. Of course!

Every newspaper that had ever been printed included the date! Just like when she came to 1955, it could confirm the year for the disoriented lapine. Judy would pick it up and read they had landed who knew when. Then she would look for Nick, they would go back to 1985 and everything would be fine. It couldn’t be simpler.

The doe ran up to the front door, picked up the paper and opened it. Judy checked the date and saw…

No… There had to be some mistake…

This edition of the Bunnyburrow Beacon showed the date was Saturday, October 26th, 1985.

Time and date: 21:26 - Saturday, 26th October 1985?!

Judy was stunned. “Nineteen eighty-five…?” she gasped. “It can’t be!” Her ears fell behind her back. Suddenly, there was the sound of a pump shotgun cocking right behind the bunny! Her ears shot back up on full alert.

“Drop it!” came a booming voice from far above Judy. As requested, the bunny dropped the newspaper and nervously raised her hands. “So you’re the rowdy citizen who’s been stealing my newspapers!” This had to be a certain cape buffalo, it sounded just like him. Why was there a firearm involved, though? There had to be some misunderstanding. “Sheriff Bogo!” greeted Judy as she slowly turned around.

Yes, this was the one and only bovine member of Bunnyburrow’s law enforcement. He looked even meaner and so much more intimidating than the bunny remembered, particularly because his left horn had broken off. He was wearing a camouflage vest over his bathrobe. What sort of attire was this?

The buffalo looked at Judy without recognition. “Sheriff Bogo,” she tried again. “It’s me, it’s me! Sir, it’s Judy!” Having a shotgun pointed right at her face was unsurprisingly ineffective to calm her nerves. “Who?” asked Bogo with an aggressive grunt. He moved the large gun closer.

“It’s Judy Hopps! Judy Hopps!” screamed the bunny in a panic. She was absolutely terrified. “Don’t you know me from the market, sir?!” Finally, the large bovine lowered his shotgun slowly, as he spoke. “I’ve never seen you before in my life but you look like a slacker!” Just as he spoke the last word, he raised his firearm again, right into Judy’s face.

“Yeah, that’s right!” agreed the doe. Make the scary cow happy by agreeing with whatever he said, this would surely help. “That’s right, I am a slacker!” Don’t you remember, you gave me another warning last week for hanging on to a car with my skateboard! On the way to the market!” Before Judy even finished pronouncing the latest of her words, Bogo shot out an answer. Luckily, it was just more words and not a bullet. “Last week? The market was abandoned six years ago!” he claimed.

“Dismissed! Now you got exactly three seconds to get off my porch with your ears intact.” Just like that, he raised the shotgun to one of Judy’s long ears and started counting. “One!” The bunny screamed. Her ears were up on full alert, she was too scared to be able to lower them. “Ah! Please, Sheriff Bogo, I just wanna know what the rut is going on here!” she pleaded. “Two!” Once again, the lapine let out an uncharacteristic squeak. She had always considered herself to be very hard to intimidate. Some things made her nervous, like the thought of time travel or parking with her own mother, but nothing had ever scared her the way a firearm did. As sheriff, it was only logical Bogo owned one, but why would he pull it on a civilian?! Judy would make sure to file a complaint the next morning.

Now, there was the sound of screeching tires. Both the bunny and the cape buffalo looked up to find a car speedily approaching. A bunch of kids, all were similar in age to Judy, looked out the various windows. “Hey, Bogo!” yelled one of them. This guy looked and sounded like Woody Woodchuck! He played the synthesiser in Judy’s band, why was he being so disrespectful?! The comparatively large rodent was leaning out of the passenger window and over the car.

There was another kid, this one a squirrel, in the backseat. Was this Sally…? She was the drummer of the Melody Mammals. Were they here to free Judy from Bogo’s would-be assault? She looked out through the open roof window. Standing in a moving car was not the most surprising action the bunny remembered her friend take. She had always been someone to like adrenaline kicks. In the driver seat sat a racoon. This had to be Rhoy.

And then it hit Judy… They were all carrying their own guns and pointed them straight at Bogo and her! The large cape buffalo rushed to get back inside his home and dropped to the ground. “Yeah!” screeched the excited squirrel.

They opened fire!

Judy jumped behind a large sheep-sized flower pot to protect herself. Bullet holes ripped into the wall around the building’s front door. All the flower pots around shattered but there was enough soil inside to provide sufficient protection for an otherwise helpless bunny.

Many long seconds passed, as the bullet rain continued without interruption. Windows shattered, wood splinters flew everywhere, the noise was unbearable. Judy had her ears covered with her hands. Finally, they stopped shooting and sped off. The brave lapine dared peeking outside from her hiding spot. Her ears were back at a defensive forty-five degree angle. The bunny screamed, luckily in a panic and not in pain. She was uninjured, as far as she was aware.

Now, Bogo ran out of his front door and right into the street. He started shooting back at them! “Eat lead, insubordinate slackers!” he yelled out with his very intimidating voice. With a sound that could only have been described as a warcry, the buffalo ran after the car with Judy’s supposed friends inside. The bunny herself bolted in the opposite direction. This had to be a nightmare. Nothing ever compared to this. It was so frighteningly lucid, though.

Time and date: 21:40 - Saturday, 26th October 1985…

Bunnyburrow Farmer’s Market… that was, what was left of it. It had been abandoned and most of it had burned to the ground. All the temporary stands were long gone and what few permanent structures there were were mostly destroyed too. Only ruins were still discernible as anything that once stood there. The carrot statue at the entrance was nothing more than a broken off stump. Most of what was still standing was blackened with soot and ash. The one or two houses that still had recognizable windows all had their glass panes broken. The entire market was surrounded by a barbed wire fence!

A large ‘NO TRESSPASSING’ sign stood there, but it, along with the fence surrounding the market, was wrecked beyond repair, just like the whole area. On the adjacent field were a burned out tractor and the rusty remains of an old wheat harvester.

Judy gripped the fence in disbelief. It seemed like it was all she was able to get a grip on. Clearly, she had lost her grip on reality. The lapine stared at the ruins in disbelief. “This is nuts…” she mumbled with a heavy sigh.

Behind the remains of the lapine’s unofficial workplace were large smoke stacks with flames shooting out at the top. Those must have been nearby industries that didn’t care about anything in the world besides their own profits. Judy shook her head, then walked on, staggered. If the market looked like a war zone, she wouldn’t dare to check out nearby Woodlands Elementary School or the police station. The bunny had happy memories from at least one of those places and would rather not destroy them.

Time and date: 22:04 - Saturday, 26th October 1985…

The old ‘Welcome to Bunnyburrow’ sign laid on the ground at a different corner of Carrot Square from where it had initially been erected or at least moved to. It was dirty and riddled with bullet holes, and the dynamic population counter was long gone. It had gotten replaced by an even bigger gaping hole in the wood. The last two letters of the place name were crossed out and the second R had been turned into an N, making the sign say ‘Bunnyburn’ instead.

Judy stepped past it and was absolutely speechless upon finding the courthouse building had been converted into a gigantic building. The front was at least three or four times as tall as it should have been and it looked like it extended a lot further back than it used to! It was garnish, overdone, and completely outrageous but the worst part was the text on the front of it, covering nearly all of the old clock tower:

‘Gideon Grey’s Grey Times — Amusement Park — Resort — Casino — Hotel’

The huge sign was lit with flashing light bulbs on all sides and the letters on most of the words. It included an animated portrait of Gideon Grey eating a strawberry pie from a plate that looked like a one hundred buck bill. As she took in the sight, the bunny didn’t know what to think or say.

Carrot Square was a mess. More shops than ever were boarded up and destroyed. There was a pawn shop called ‘Hell Hole’ but most other places that were still open had their names written above in flashy neon lights with fonts the doe was unable to decipher. The fronts suggested there were bars, adult book stores, pawn shops, bail bondsmammals, porno theaters and other outlandish establishments. This place looked like a sleazy nightmare of a totally different lifestyle to Judy’s own.

On the right side of Carrot Square was still a movie theater but now it advertised ‘Live Mating Acts’. For such a dystopian alternate reality, this was surprisingly not too much crazier than the Adult Movie Theater Judy remembered from the real 1985. The shock factor had been the main selling point then too.

The Tuskaco gas station was nowhere to be found. In its place was a place simply called ‘Wrecking Yard’. Jumbeaux’s Gym Trunks was unrecognizable as ‘The Cloven Hoof’. It now looked like a run down biker bar and not much more. Surprisingly, most patrons there seemed to be caprids of various sorts, though the name implied some connection already. At least the building itself was still the same one, by the look of things.

The appalled lapine stumbled around some more until she bumped into someone. Judy turned to apologise but was taken aback when she found herself face to face with Pink the Drunkard. As crazy as everything around her looked, this pig looked and acted exactly the same as always, at least.

“Watch where you’re going, crazy drunk pedestrians,” she slurred in a drunken haze. “Pink!” greeted Judy. The swine gave the bunny a look, then went back to sleep. That strange encounter seemed almost normal in comparison to the rest of Carrot Square and Bunnyburrow as a whole.

The entire square was nearly packed to the brim with a lot of animals. Bikers revved their Hareleys and dragged up and down the streets. There were burning car wrecks, tractors with missing wheels, broken bottles and rubbish littered the ground. Suddenly, the idea of wearing boots was less off-putting to the dumbfounded lapine who was worried for her feet on this hostile ground. A low rumble that was distinctively different from the motorbikes roared slowly down Pitchfork Way. Judy turned to see it was an armoured tank with a T.U.S.K. unit patrolling!

In the distance, more large industrial smokestacks spewed thick pollution into the air, just like behind the market. Seeing stars in the night sky was not something anyone could hope to accomplish within Bunnyburrow.

Suddenly, there was a commotion from near the old courthouse building… Gideon’s place. Two bouncers, one grey and one white wolf threw a young bunny buck out of the amusement park. The lupines both wore fine black suits while the buck himself had only dishevelled clothes on his person. “Stop biting our guests!” one of them yelled. “And don’t ever come beggin’ for drinks in here again!” Judy figured the bunny they had thrown out looked familiar. “You freaggin’ thumper!” The other wolf added. Where had the doe seen this other lapine before?

The drunk fellow picked himself up off the pavement. “Can’t you guys take a joke?” he yelled after the bouncers with a slur. There was something really familiar about this odd character… The drunk buck pulled a bottle out of his ragged coat and started drinking. Finally, the time traveller connected the dots. With a gasp, she realised who this was.

Timmy Hopps, twenty-two years old, this was Judy’s brother! The doe hadn’t recognised him from behind, though now he had turned around. The buck’s nose was a bit reddish, his face was puffy, one ear hung down, his fur was a mess… he was absolutely plastered.

“Timmy!” yelled the doe in shock. Her brother drained what was left in the bottle and then threw it at the front door of the high end entertainment establishment he had just been forcefully removed from. “Timmy…?” tried the concerned lapine again. This time, he heard her and spared his sister his full attention with big round eyes. He was clearly surprised to see her there. “Judey!” the buck slurred. “What’s happening, sis! Say, you’re looking kinda ragged there. Did you sleep in your clothes again last night?”

The sober bunny was absolutely appalled. “Timmy…!” she raised her voice in surprise. “Timmy, my gods, what happened to you?!” The addressed bunny looked down at his jacket. His drunken mind apparently didn’t understand the question. “What happened to the town?” continued Judy. “What the heck is going on around here?”

“Oh all this?” came a question in return. “It’s the biker’s convention.” This did not answer any of the doe’s questions sufficiently but before she could ask anything else, her brother’s ears shot up and he smiled with excitement. “So when did you get back?”

Judy flinched. The smell of alcohol and who knew what else was overwhelming, even to a comparatively weak lapine nose. “Back?” she asked in confusion. “Back from where?” Timmy took a few more seconds to process those words. ‘Back from the future? Just an hour ago. Please tell me what the rut is going on!’ thought Judy but didn’t say aloud.

“Well if you don’t know…” started Timmy, then he shrugged. “…I don’t know.” He started laughing loudly. The buck gasped and leaned in closer to Judy, conspiratorially. “Say, let’s go have a drink,” he suggested. “You got money, don’t ya?” He headed off towards a tavern. Judy pulled him back by his floppy ear. “What are you talking about, Timmy? I don’t drink to get drunk!”

“To get drunk? Quit kiddin’ around!” retorted her brother. “I’ve been drunk since… since. Well, since I drank this!” As he spoke, he motioned roughly in the direction of the steps leading up to the entrance of the old courthouse building, where he had shattered a bottle a few moments prior. Apparently, the intoxicated lapine found this so hilarious, he roared out a loud laugh. Judy interrupted by grabbing his shoulders in an attempt to regain his attention. “Timmy, I gotta find Mom and Dad.”

“Dad?” asked a suddenly very upset bunny. He shrugged his sister’s hands away. “You gotta find Dad?” His tone almost sounded pitiful or perhaps mocking. This greatly confused the doe. Why was Timmy getting so worked up over this? Why did he not show the same reaction to everything else that was going on?

“What’s the matter with you anyways?” he asked cryptically. Judy didn’t know what that was supposed to mean. “And since when are you and Mom on speaking terms again?” The doe’s ears dropped down in response. “Speaking terms…?” Meanwhile, her brother started walking away, he was clearly upset for an unknown reason. “Where is she, Timmy?” shouted Judy after him. “Tell me where I can find Mom!”

“Same place as usual, I guess,” shrugged the upset buck. He sounded quite emotional about this. Judy blamed his intoxicated state of mind. “In there!” he finished while pointing to Gideon’s dystopian amusement park thing. Timmy walked away and left his sister flabbergasted. She stared at the building for a long second with much confusion.

Judy turned back to her brother to ask for further information but he had already crossed the street and was about to enter the next bar. The doe was about to stop him, then decided not to. There were more pressing matters and her brother was already drunk at this point. She again looked at the bully fox’s thing.

‘Gideon Grey’s Grey Times — Amusement Park — Resort — Casino — Hotel’ …and there she was, thinking ‘Gideon Grey's Real Good Baked Stuff Made With Fresh Produce From The Hopps Family Farm’ was a mouthful. The doe approached the entrance with scepticism.

Adjacent to the amusement park was a place called ‘Gideon Grey Museum’. Judy took a look at the outside display area in front of the ticket window. There, on proud display, stood a pink bakery delivery van Judy had seen a few hours ago in 1985… the real 1985. Grand music came from speakers outside the museum.

“Ladies and gentlemammals, welcome to the Gideon Grey Museum.”

A faceless narrator presented through the same loudspeakers, they belonged to a TV near the door. An introduction tape to the museum and Gideon had started playing automatically. Next to the little box with a screen stood a life sized wax statue of the fox himself with unconvincing fake fur. He wore a flashy suit and his typical arrogant grin. Maybe it was the quality of this artificial replication, maybe it was the same on the real vulpine, but his mean smile looked even more infuriating than usual.

“My name is Onçardo Boi Chá. Dedicated to Bunnyburrow’s number one citizen and this generation’s greatest folk hero… Please let me tell you about the one and only Gideon Grey.”

Judy stepped closer. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was this really about the same Gideon Grey? The wax figure certainly looked like him. Did he have a twin?

“Of course, we’ve all heard the legend. But who is the mammal? Inside, you will learn how Gideon Grey became one of the richest and most powerful mammals in all of the Tri-Burrows, and that as a fox, no less!”

A photo montage was shown on the small TV screen. There were black and white pictures, as well as ones in full colour. They all promoted the exhibits inside by revealing stills of Gideon at various stages in his life so far.

“Learn the amazing history of the Grey family, starting with his grandfather, Grover ‘Mad Fox’ Grey, fastest gun in the prairie.”

The TV showed a black and white photograph of a heavy fox over a few defeated coyotes lying on the ground. ‘Mad Fox’ looked very similar to Gideon, but he wore very different clothes. This vulpine was the embodiment of all henboy stereotypes. He wore a typical hat, as well as traditional wild prairiern clothes. The fur on his snout was long and unkempt. There was faint background music that sounded like a saloon piano. It morphed into a more triumphant tone, as the narrator continued speaking.

“See Gideon’s humble beginnings as a hard working baker and how a trip to the racetrack on his twentieth birthday made him a millionaire overnight…”

Clips from a horse race were shown. There was another photo of Gideon shaking the hooves of the contestant who won the tournament. This was probably a member of the Winddancer family, the name was familiar to anyone who paid attention in history class. A video clip of a young Gideon was shown. He held up his winnings check from the race, proudly showing it to a crowd of photographers and reporters. The video paused and began to zoom out, revealing the still frame had been printed on the front page of the Bunnyburrow Beacon. The headline read ‘Bunnyburrow Fox Wins Big At Races’.

“Share in the excitement of a fabulous winning streak that earned him the nickname ‘The Luckiest Fox on Earth’.”

The newspaper on TV got replaced with another one, then the next, and several more. Article after article about how Gideon kept winning his sports bets. How could this be…?

“Learn how Gideon parlayed that lucky winning streak into the vast empire called ‘GreyCo’.”

Imagery of power plants and a toxic waste disposal site briefly flashed on screen but it were quickly replaced by visuals of a happy fox with a lot of wealthy looking people in front of a very eccentric hotel shaped like a giant palm tree.

“Discover how in nineteen seventy-four, Gideon successfully lobbied to legalise interspecies marriage, as well as renovate the historic but dilapidated courthouse building into a magnificent amusement park by predators for predators! …and prey.”

Judy eyed the wax statue with the occasional twitch of her nose. Concern grew inside her. What was the meaning of this? A video clip of the tod was played on TV. “Ah jest wanna say one thing: Grey Times welcomes yew!” he spoke with an air of arrogance. The bunny pushed questionable thoughts of the wax statue aside and stepped closer to the little television set. She was staring intently and with alert ears. Behind her, Judy could hear some crackling from a police radio. She ignored it, after all, there were all sorts of shady dealings happening all around. The wolf guards likely did not have many calm days on the job.

“Meet the women who shared in his passion as he searched for true love.”

The TV showed images of Gideon together with Lady Hyana and Marilyn Mongoose. Judy scrunched her nose at that. Weren’t foxes supposed to mate for life? The doe shook her head. This revelation about a mean bully really wasn’t surprising. The topic brought up another question, however. Gideon had a grandson in 2016 but never had Judy known who he might have ended up with to reproduce. Who in their right mind would ever choose this fox over literally anyone else? Maybe, in the reality where he was happy about Stu publishing his first book, he wasn’t too terribly difficult to get along with.

“…And relive Gideon’s happiest moment, as in nineteen seventy-four, he realised his lifelong romantic dream by marrying his childhood sweetheart, Bonnie Cottontail Hopps.”

A colour video tape of a wedding was shown on the little screen. Gideon and Bonnie came down some steps with clothes that suggested this was a wedding! The doe on TV was visibly uncomfortable and had her ears down. Her nose twitched a few times too. The fox meanwhile was happy and looked like he only thought about himself at that moment. The crowd didn’t seem to care much about either of them, they just wanted to be seen with someone wealthy. Gideon had a tight grip on Bonnie’s arm. He addressed the camera to speak some words.

“Any lucky fox needs his own lucky rabbit, am ah right,” the tod said. He kissed the upset lapine on the mouth! Judy was having none of this. “NO!!” she screamed in terror and enraged shock. This couldn’t be happening! Whatever nightmare this was, the doe needed to wake up right now! She wanted to run off, Nick would surely have some explanation for everything and a plan on how to get back home.

Just as the bunny turned to run away, a small but clawed hand clamped down on her shoulder. The bunny found herself facing three thugs! Those were Duke, Travis, and Flash! At least they were, if she had remembered their names correctly from her brief but recent stay in 1955. Either way, their looks were unmistakable. Gideon’s cohorts from the past as middle aged mammals almost looked like members of the mafia. “No!” resisted the frantic doe.

“Hey! Hey!” yelled the weasel. “Hold on, there, Flopsy! You’re comin’ with us upstairs,” he instructed. “Let me go, carrotsticks!” demanded the outraged bunny. “Look at her nose, Duke, mocked the ferret. “She’s scared!” The lapine’s nose had betrayed her. “Listen, gal,” he continued. “We can do this tha easy way or tha hard way.” His buddy snickered at that.

“Tha hard way is the opposite of easy…” explained the jittery weasel. “It’s un-easy.” Judy struggled but having two adults hold her tight proved to be too much for her, even if they were just little mustelids. The doe could only watch in horror, as the sloth pulled out a tranquiliser dart slowly… very slowly. He poked Judy with it! The tufts of bright colour on the other end of the dart started to look like lush carpet to the doozy bunny. It didn’t make any sense.

The lapine slowly lost consciousness, as the chemicals gradually entered her bloodstream. Her vision became blurry and her hearing distorted and muffled. The last thing she was faintly able to make out was something she was not very familiar with: Flash’s voice.

“The easy… way…”

Chapter Text

Time and date: ??:?? - ?????, ??th ????? 1985?

Judy was lying in bed. Dim ambient light from who knew where lit up her immediate surroundings. Wasn’t it dark outside? What time was it? What year? The disoriented bunny groaned and stirred. “Mom? Is that you?” she asked.

What a silly question, she didn’t see anyone next to her, not that she looked around much. A dark figure got up from a chair and approached the waking doe. “Just relax, Judy,” said Bonnie. This was her mother, all right. “You’ve been asleep for almost two hours.”

A cold compress was placed on Judy’s forehead. Her mother was sweet and caring like that. “Ohhh, what a horrible nightmare,” mumbled a sleepy lapine. “It was terrible…” Bonnie always had the best advice to help sooth her daughter, now would be no different. “Well, you’re safe and sound now, back above the good old Roar-A-Coaster.”

Two black tipped bunny ears shot up, Judy had wide panicked eyes. “Roar-A-Coaster?!” The doe sat up in horror, as Bonnie sat down beside her and turned the bedside lamp on. This simple action revealed a Bonnie who was very different from anything Judy could have ever imagined. “Ah!” squealed the younger bunny breathlessly.

This middle aged lapine had excessive fur dye like Tammy Barkker, she wore an outrageous wig that almost completely hid her ears, there was lots of jewellery, as well as an expensive glittering gown with a very low cut. It emphasised her fur above the chest. And the strangest of all: Bonnie had clearly undergone plastic surgery and got herself an ear shortening!

Judy didn’t want to look but she couldn’t help herself. This was like a car wreck, it was just impossible to look away. “Mom?!” she asked. Bonnie looked at her daughter with confusion. “Mom, that can’t be you!” insisted the shocked bunny. “Well, yes, it’s me, Judy. Are you all right?” came a worried question.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” said Judy between breaths. She felt like hyperventilating. “It’s just that you’re so… you’re so…” the young lapine really tried but she was simply unable to move her eyes away from her mother’s unusually short ears. “…short!”

“Oh, everything’s going to be fine, Judy,” comforted the elder doe. “Are you hungry? I… I can call room service…” she slightly stuttered. Bonnie stood up and stepped to a telephone. “Room service…” repeated Judy in disbelief. She stood up herself and looked around the garnish decorated bedroom. A sizable window behind half open curtains showed this room was inside another much bigger room, right behind a large loop of a roar-a-coaster! This was some sort of penthouse near where there had to be the office of this dystopian amusement park…

Judy remembered it now. There was a museum about Gideon… She had arrived at ten in a crazy version of 1985… Two hours since she had fallen asleep? How had that happened again?

Time and date: 00:0? - Sunday, 27th October 1985…

“I forgot, you haven’t seen the penthouse since we redecorated…” noted Bonnie without much enthusiasm. She held a glass of scotch in one hand and the phone in the other. A loud and very angry male voice screamed from somewhere behind a wall or door or both.

“Bonnie!” Whoever this was, he sounded absolutely fuming mad. The addressed doe reacted with fear. She put down the phone and got visibly nervous. “Oh my gods, it’s your father!” she said. “My father?” repeated Judy, not knowing what in the world would get Stu so upset.

It was Gideon who kicked the bedroom door open. He was dressed in a silk suit with showy jewellery and various chains. The vulpine glared at Judy with bared teeth. A sloth, a weasel and a ferret, all dressed in expensive suits, accompanied the angry fox… Well, the sloth would be there in a few minutes at least.

The young doe was absolutely shocked, as demonstrated by her vibrating nose. “My father?!” she repeated another time with a lot more concern.

The weasel, toothpick in mouth, turned on the light. “Yer supposed t’ be in Zootopia, yew little bitch!” growled a mad tod while he pointed his clawed digit at Judy. “Uhm, I’m pretty much sure she’s a doe and not a bitch,” the ferret interjected sheepishly. Gideon swatted him away, which caused the mustelid to make a whimpering face with very large and likewise round eyes. “Don’t tell me what ah know, Travis!” hissed the aggressive fox.

Judy’s eyes imitated the ferret’s, she was in absolute shock. How could Gideon be her father? Not her real father, of course, he was a fox, after all. Why would he adopt her? What had happened to Stu?

“Didcha lose another internship at a bakery?” growled the heavy vulpine with the roll of his eyes. “Dammit, Bonnie, do yew know how many perfectly good bucks ah’ve blown on this naw good kid of yer’s? Huh?” The older bunny took a big sip from her drink. “On all three of ‘em?” elaborated Gideon.

The heavily made up lapine stomped over to her supposed husband, as terrible as this sounded… At least she tried to stomp, her high heels made this very difficult. Bunny feet were not supposed to wear shoes like that, or any other type of boots for that matter. “What the hell do you care about?” she spat out the question. “We can afford it!”

During this discussion, Travis and Duke surrounded Judy. Flash still needed a little more time, he had only just entered the room. Gideon and Bonnie walked past him and into the spacious living room. Judy and the two predator gangsters followed. “The least we can do with all that money is provide a better life for our children!” argued a very upset Bonnie. “Oh, hold on!” interjected Gideon loudly. “One sec, let’s get this straight. Judy’s yer kid, not mine, and all th’ money in th’ world wouldn’t do nuth'n' fer that lazy bum bun!”

Judy was mad but held down her frustration. Bonnie tried to do the same, the fox really got to her. “Stop it, Gideon,” she pleaded. “Just stop it.” The possibly slightly drunk bunny poured herself another glass of scotch. The vulpine and his cronies made themselves comfortable around the luxurious room. The poor sloth had only barely entered the bedroom before and now was still in the process of turning around in the door.

“Look at her,” Gideon teased Bonnie. “She’s a buckhead, jest like th’ ol’ buck was!” The more mature lapine turned around with nothing but anger in her eyes. “Don’t you dare speak that way about Stu!” she nearly growled. The bunny approached the large vulpine with uncharacteristically bared teeth, she was fuming mad. “You’re not even half the mammal he was!”

The fox glared at his wife, then he shoved her to the ground. “What’re yew gunnah do, cry?” Judy couldn’t watch this madness any longer. She charged at Gideon. “Hey!” she yelled. Once again, the weasel and the ferret grabbed the bunny’s arm to restrain her. She was trying to shake them off but they had a very tight grip and made it impossible for the doe to free herself. Flash approached from behind… very slowly. Gideon turned to the younger bunny too. She was surrounded and outnumbered.

“You heard her!” Judy yelled regardless. "Don't talk like this about Stu!” she allowed herself a brief pause in staring the infuriating fox down to visually check up on her mother. She held her knees in pain and didn’t get up right away. The bunny’s ears dropped down and her anger increased by an order of magnitude.

“Always th’ little hothead, huh?” Gideon snarled to the young doe. She was still struggling to get the two mustelids to release her. The vulpine menacingly stepped closer and so did flash… at his own speed. His footsteps suggested he was maybe half way between the bedroom door and the action.

The heavy fox gruffly put his hand on top of the doe’s head to belittle her, just like he had done at Bunnyburrow Farmer’s Market thirty years before. “Yew wanna take a poke at me?” he dared. A very tense and quiet staring contest ensued. Then, just as the fox was about to lose, he bared his claws and scratched open the doe’s left cheek!

Judy curled up in pain. Bonnie did the same at the sight. Travis and Duke dropped the bunny to the ground, they gave each other high fives. Gideon leaned down and pinned the lapine to the ground. He bared his teeth and growled from deep within his throat.

“Ah want yew t’ remember this moment th’ next time yew think yew kin ever stand up t’ me an’ be anythin’ more than jest a stupid, money-wastin’, dumb bunny!”

He shoved the doe’s head against the ground another time, just for good measure. “Darn it, Gideon!” cussed Bonnie, as she luckily got up again. “That’s it, I’m leaving,” she announced, starting to head for the door. The heavy vulpine only laughed at that with self righteousness. “Oh, hoho,” he mocked. “So go ahead. Think ‘bout this Bonnie!” To Judy’s surprise, he actually sounded slightly worried himself. “Who’s gunnah pay fer yer clothes? Huh? An’ yer jewellery an’ yer liquor?”

Bonnie kept walking defiantly. Up a short staircase she went, onto an indoor balcony and towards an exit. Signs indicated the elevator was in this direction. “Who’s gunnah pay fer yer cosmetic surgeries, Bonnie?” added Gideon. The doe angrily stopped and turned to the fox teasingly. “You were the one who wanted me to get these… these…” She gestured to her too short ears with disgust. “…things.” The middle aged doe paused, then she spoke her next words in a low growl. “If you want them back, you can have them.” This was so uncharacteristic, not only for Bonnie but for a bunny in general. Surely, this one had spent too much time with a predator that growled excessively.

Judy’s mother kept walking towards the exit. She was dead set on leaving. Gideon’s ears actually lowered ever so slightly and so did his tail. “Look, Bonnie,” he yelled angrily. “Yew walk outta that door an’ ah won’t only cut off yew, ah’ll cut off yer kids.” The helpless lapine’s ears shot up in a panic, she stopped short of the exit door and hesitated. The doe turned and rushed towards the balcony railing to look at the outrageous bully. “You wouldn’t!” she pleaded, being close to tears from the emotional roar-a-coaster.

“Wouldn’t ah?” mocked the fox. “First, yer daughter, Molly. Ah’ll cancel all her credit cards. She kin settle her debts with th’ bank all by herself.” Gideon approached Bonnie slowly, one step of the stairs at a time. “Yer idiot son, Timmy. Ah’ll git his probation revoked. An’ as fer Judy…”

The mentioned bunny furrowed her already narrowed eyes further. Gideon now stood up on the balcony, right inside of Bonnie’s personal space! This was so outrageous! “Maybe yew’d like t’ have all three of yer kids behind bars, jest like your brother Terry…” he insulted. “One big, happy, jailbird family.”

Finally, the younger of the two bunnies in the room was back on her feet. She still held her cheek in pain. The doe had been watching the conversation in shocked awe previously but now interrupted again. What else was she supposed to do? “Uncle Terry isn’t in prison!” she corrected angrily. “Whatever!” growled the big vulpine loudly. “He’s still behind bars! Same thing!”

Bonnie was totally and utterly defeated. “All right, Gideon…” she croaked out with a weak voice. “You win. I’ll stay.” An evil smirk formed on the fox’s face. “Damn right, yew’ll stay.” The lapine had very little energy left to argue, it seemed. Slowly, she walked back down the stairs towards her daughter. During this whole ordeal Duke and Travis had made themselves comfortable on the luxurious and excessively cushioned sofas. The little mustelids could sprawl out a significantly and still fit on the vulpine-sized couch. Flash just arrived at the part of the room where Judy had been clawed a few moments ago.

Gideon turned to the younger doe. “As fer yew,” he pointed at her aggressively. “Yew know what makes me feel a lil’ bit better? Ah’ll be back up ‘ere in an hour, so yew’d better not be…” With another threatening growl, he stormed out. His boys got up to leave too.

Bonnie approached Judy. She was unsteady on her feet, because of her very uncomfortable looking high heels, because of her earlier fall caused by Gideon, as well as because of her earlier consumption of alcohol. Judy stared at her mother in disbelief. Her eyes were full of unasked questions she wasn’t sure she even wanted to get answers to. “He was right and I was wrong…” admitted Bonnie in shame.

“Mom!” yelled Judy, outraged. “Mom, what are you saying?! You’re actually defending him?!” The older of the two bunnies sat down on the oversized couch, right next to a table full of more bottles of various alcoholic beverages. “I had it coming,” continued Bonnie with a weak voice. “He’s my husband and he takes care of all of us… And he deserves our respect.”

“Respect?! Your husband?!” yelled Judy. Nothing her mother said had any resemblance of logic or sense behind it, as far as the time travelling lapine was concerned. She looked back at the door where Gideon had exited. The sloth was just stepping through the door himself, leaving the two bunnies alone for once. “How can he be your husband?!” the younger doe had to know. “How could you leave dad for him?!”

“Leave dad? Judy, are you feeling all right?” replied Bonnie with further worry. “No!” yelled a very frustrated and overwhelmed bunny in response. “Carrotsticks, no! I’m not feeling all right! I don’t understand one rutting thing that’s going on around here and why nobody can give me a simple straight answer!” Swearing was not a common occurrence for this lapine, especially not in front of her parents, but this situation was so entirely outlandish, her exact choice of words was the least of Judy’s worries at the moment. She sat down next to her mother, who put a hand on her daughter’s uninjured cheek. “Oh… They must have used a yellow dart by accident this time…” mumbled Bonnie.

“Mom,” said Judy sternly. She took her hand. The older bunny meanwhile looked off into blank space, somewhere underneath the ground, Bonnie was very sad. “I just want to know one thing. Where’s my father?” This question made the elder doe turn to face her daughter. “Where is Stu Hopps?”

“Judy… Stu… Your father is in the same place he’s been for the past twelve years…” replied Bonnie evenly. The tone alone made the time traveller’s blood run cold, like something was very wrong. The younger doe already felt like passing out again. Bonnie continued her sentence after a brief pause.

“…Oak Park Cemetery.”

Time and date: 00:42 - Sunday, 27th October 1985…

Wind whipped through the twisted dead trees. The moon was nearly at full brightness, illuminating the cold and eerie mist and casting creepy shadows through the still vegetation, right onto rows and rows of tombstones and graves. Judy stumbled and ran wildly through the cemetery, reading name after name, looking for one she wouldn’t accept to find… Stu’s grave.

A bright flashlight illuminated the tombstone of Bonnie’s real husband. The doe’s heart dropped straight down to her stomach and she hesitated. Slowly, the lapine approached the overgrown memorial. “No…” she stammered in utter disbelief.

Judy dropped to her knees right on top of her father’s grave. She was staring at the tombstone, wishing she was imagining things. This had to be the wrong name! “No! This can’t be happening!” she wished out aloud. The doe grabbed a large stick that leaned up against the carved rock and used it to push other scrubs aside in an effort to uncover the inscribed text. The bunny was very upset and showed it through a lack of hesitation to use slightly excessive force to remove the plants from her father’s final resting place. Finally, she was able to read the full text.

‘In Loving Memory, Stuart Hopps, April 1st, 1938 - March 15th, 1973’

“March fifteenth nineteen seventy-three! No!” sobbed Judy. Realisation had finally hit her. This was real. “Please, Gods, no!” Eventually, her sobbed yelling turned into frantic mumbling. “This can’t be happening! This can’t be happening!”

A twig snapped behind Judy… Someone was stepping closer to her. She jerked around. The nearly full moon illuminated the graveyard sufficiently for at least silhouettes to be faintly visible to the lapine. It were Nick and Finnick, they were stepping closer to the devastated bunny with sad expressions of their own. Neither fox carried a flashlight, as they didn’t require one, thanks to their superior vulpine night vision. The Jokemobile was parked just outside the cemetery’s gates, its parking lights were still turned on. The doe must had missed it, she had entered the cemetery through another entrance.

“I’m afraid it is happening, Judy…” said the tod sullenly. “All of it.” The bunny stood up to greet her friends. “Nick!” she blurted out, before finding herself in a tight hug with a fox. The doe really needed one at this moment. “When I learned about your father, I figured you’d come here,” explained the red tod.

“Then you know what happened to him?” asked Judy. It sounded almost like she was pleading to get to the answers she desperately needed. “Do you know what happened…” the doe looked at the date on the gravestone again. “…on March fifteenth, nineteen seventy-three…?”

“Yes, Judy,” confirmed Nick. “I know.”

Time and date: 01:03 - Sunday, 27th October 1985…

‘STUART HOPPS (Bunny, 35) MURDERED! Author Shot Dead in Apparent Holdup Enroute to Receive Book Award. Police Baffled, Searching for Witnesses.’

This was the headline of an edition of the Bunnyburrow Beacon from the sixteenth of March, 1973. It was bound in a heavy book of archives. While Judy was reading what the newspaper reported, Nick was explaining the situation. They were in his garage lab and it was in pure shambles. Vandals had broken in and ruined the place, windows were boarded up, and electricity did not work anymore. For lighting, the vulpine had to rely on candles instead. The Jokemobile was parked between turned over furniture and boxes and provided a little bit of additional illumination.

“We went to the public library to try and make sense of all the madness,” said Nick. “The place was boarded up, shut down… So I broke in and borrowed some newspapers.” The red fox was embarrassed to admit to a crime like this. He cared about the reputation of his species and such an act did not help his cause. “I don’t get it, Nick…” mumbled Judy angrily. “I mean, how can all this be happening? It’s like we’re in hell or something.”

“No, it’s Bunnyburrow. Although, I can’t imagine hell being much worse,” mumbled the slender vulpine. “Maybe with hot furnaces and only raw fish to eat…” The fox shuddered at the thought. Finnick actually whined. The taller of the two tods took a candle and walked over to his friend. The fennec stood in front of an overturned piece of vaguely familiar furniture, it was too heavy for the little tod to lift by himself.

“Oh, Finnick… I’m sorry, Big Guy,” comforted Nick. “This lab is an awful, awful, awful mess…” The red fox removed a large and heavy box from the object the fennec stood in front of. Judy could now identify it as his own little armchair. Nick picked it up to put it back upright. The small vulpine hopped onto it and slouched down with a sad expression. “Thanks… Any beer left?” he asked. “I’m afraid not,” informed his buddy.

“Obviously, the time continuum has been disrupted, creating this new temporal event sequence, resulting in this alternate reality…” explained Nick with a hand on his forehead. He sure liked to use big words, especially when he was deep in thought. “Slick, I need a simplified version of whatever you just said,” requested Judy. The fox turned around, he was looking for something. “Here, here. Let me, uhm, let me illustrate.” This tod was unusually distracted. The doe couldn’t blame him, this was a crazy situation.

The red fox picked up some pieces of paper scattered about. Most were crumbled up or had something else written or printed on them. Nick rummaged around some more, until he found some clean and plain sheets to use as a canvas for his visualisation. The tod retrieved a carrot shaped pen, Judy’s gift from a few years ago, from one of his pockets and started scribbling.

“Imagine that this line represents time,” he suggested while drawing one long straight line across the whole sheet. “Here’s the present, nineteen eighty-five, the future, and the past.” The bunny only half listened. While Nick was preparing his explanation, she ripped out the newspaper page from the book and pocketed it. This was an important artefact to keep around. Her red-furred friend meanwhile labelled the left end of the line with ‘past’, then the middle with ‘1985’, and finally the right with ‘F’ for future. It seemed he got tired of writing out the whole word after labelling the first two.

“Prior to this point in time, somewhere in the past, the timeline skewed into this tangent, creating an alternate nineteen eighty-five,” he explained. The fox drew a branch starting at the past, and extended it below the first line, to just below the point labelled ‘1985’. He labelled this new present ‘1985A’.

Time and date: 01:08 - Sunday, 27th October 1985A

“…alternate to you, me, and Finnick but reality for everyone else,” finished Nick. He laid down the carrot pen and stepped over to the Jokemobile to briefly rummage around in it. A few seconds later, he retrieved an item and showed it to the bunny. It was a little silver bag…

“Recognise this?” asked the fox in a slightly disappointed tone. “It’s the bag the sports book came in. I know because the receipt was still inside.” Judy’s ears stood up in curiosity as the fox produced the receipt in question. It was printed on a blue futuristic material, similar but not quite the same as paper. “I found them in the time machine… along with this.” Nick held up a little ornament of some sort. It was a clenched canine fist…

Judy looked at it and wondered where she had seen it before. It looked so familiar but she couldn’t quite place it. Nick handed it to the doe to allow her to inspect the object more closely. Recognition hit the bunny and her ears dropped down behind her back. “This was the top part of Gid’s cane…” she explained. “I mean old Gid from the future.” The lapine could actually see ‘Gideon G. Grey’ engraved in tiny letters on the underside of the sculpted ornament.

“Bingo,” confirmed Nick. “It was in the time machine because Gideon was in the time machine… with the sports almanac. “Diced onions with buttered crackers…” said Judy. How in the world did that old fox manage to sneak into the time machine? Had he found it abandoned in front of the Burrow Penitentary…?

The sound of a little electric motor faintly hummed to life. Judy turned to see it was Finnick’s automatic beer pouring machine she had discovered for the first time a bit over a week ago. A car battery was attached to allow it to activate. While the device went through the motions of opening a can of beer, before pouring it into a glass below, it was completely empty. Not a single can was loaded into the mechanism, much to the fennec’s dismay.

“You see, while we were in the future, Gideon got the sports book, stole the time machine, went back in time and gave the book to himself at some point in the past!” Nick continued his explanation. He drew an arrow from the point with the label ‘F’ over 1985 and back to where the alternate timeline branched off.

“Look,” requested the red fox. He showed Judy another newspaper. ‘Bunnyburrow Fox Wins Big At Races’. There was a photo of Gideon receiving his price money at the pay window. This was the same newspaper article that was shown in the introduction video that played on TV at the Gideon Grey Museum.

“It says right here that Gideon made his first million betting on a horse race in nineteen fifty-seven,” Nick pointed out. He indicated the date near the top of the page. The fox turned to Judy with frustration and disappointment. “He wasn’t just lucky,” Nick announced in defeat. “He knew because he had all the race results in the almanac. That’s how he made his entire fortune!”

The vulpine pointed back at the image above the article. “Look at his pocket.” he said, handing Judy a magnifying glass. She searched for only a short while, before making the same shocking discovery Nick had revealed a few seconds prior: Sticking out of Gideon’s pocket was the top part of the very same book with sports results Judy had purchased in 2016!

“The almanac…” commented the doe, not knowing what else to say. Her ears were very droopy. Nick huffed, as the lapine connected the dots. She laid down the magnifying glass and hit the table in frustration. “That no-good, thieving bully stole my idea!” she exclaimed in anger and with her ears standing up tall. Subconsciously, the bunny knew Nick and that annoying old goat had both voiced similar concepts to her but the idea with this specific book was an original Hopps creation if Judy had ever seen one! The red fox paced back and forth.

“He must have been listening when I…” Judy’s ears drooped down, as another realisation hit her. “It’s my fault… This whole thing’s my fault… If I hadn’t bought that book, none of this would have happened…”

Nick nodded along. The bunny felt her emotions bubbling up, she felt absolutely terrible. “I’m the one who left the time vehicle unattended,” the red fox claimed partial responsibility. “Gideon could only steal it because I didn’t keep an eye on it… Maybe it’s best that I don’t keep this time machine around,” the fox reiterated. He was frustrated but at least he didn’t appear to be angry at his lapine friend, who was already close to tears at this point.

“I have to fix this,” she declared. “But I can’t do it without you or the time machine. I’m sorry, I was such a dumb bunny.” Seeing how the world had torn itself to shreds, all because of her own greedy idea, hurt the doe deeply and she had nobody but herself to blame… It was all Gideon’s doing, of course, and he was only able to go through with Judy’s plan because Nick had abandoned the time machine for just long enough for him to temporarily steal it, but the doe still felt primarily responsible. This was truly an emotionally painful situation all around. The moody bunny did not find any comfort in the fact that her vulpine friend had used her very own carrot pen to visualise this terrible new reality to her.

“Hey, it’s all in the past,” said the red fox, trying to comfort his friend. “You mean in the future,” grumbled Finnick. “Whatever! It demonstrates precisely how time travel can be misused and why the time machine must be destroyed…” Nick doubled down on the realisation he had first announced to Judy before leaving the twenty-first century. “After we straighten all of this mess out, that is,” the vulpine added, as he pointed out his time diagram of past, present, the future, and 1985A.

Judy collected herself but didn’t feel any less guilty or terrible about the entire situation. “Right, so we go back to the future… to stop Gideon from stealing the time machine,” the bunny voiced her thought process. “We can’t,” insisted Nick. “Because if we travel into the future from this point in time…” he indicated the alternate timeline, as he spoke. “…it would be the future of this reality.” The red fox underlined ‘1985A’. “…In which ol’ Gid’s cornered the market on sports betting and became corrupt and powerful… and is married to your mother!”

The slender tod turned and looked for another newspaper article. “…and in which this has happened to me!” He showed Judy another newspaper from 1983. ‘NICHOLAS WILDE (Fox, 61) COMMITTED. Crackpot Inventor Declared Legally Insane’ There was a picture of Nick in a straitjacket and with a collar around his neck. It looked nearly identical to the one Judy remembered he had been wearing when she had visited him in 1955. The fox had tried to use it to read the bunny’s thoughts but to no avail. Instead, all he had gotten then was an electric shock from his own invention.

Finnick stirred and growled. He had seen the headline about his lifelong companion and was by no means pleased about it. Judy took the newspaper to get a closer look at it. Her eyes wandered across the newspaper page and she read a few other headlines. ‘ZOOTOPIA’S MEADOWLANDS to be REPURPOSED as GreyCo INDUSTRY HEADQUARTERS’, ‘FOXAWAY RECORD PROFITS. Zootopia’s Department of Offence Secures Million Buck Deal’, ‘Z621 Food Additive to be Mandatory Addition to all Processed Foods’ The whole page was utterly horrifying!

Now, this personal gift that symbolised Judy’s close friendship with Nick stung even more because it was her own actions that had caused such a catastrophe to happen to the very same friend she had given the carrot pen to.

“No,” the tod continued his explanation. “Our only chance to repair the present is in the past…” The bunny looked at the slender red fox, as he spoke. She was deeply invested in fixing her biggest mess yet.

As terrible as this new reality was, Judy wasn’t convinced. She figured her idea would still work or, at the very least, it was still worth a try. “Wait, but then how could I travel to twenty-one sixteen and back? Twice? How could old Gid bring back the time machine to the real twenty sixteen?” Nick took this interjection serious but came up with a possible explanation soon enough. “I suppose, the ripple effect takes longer over such big time spans,” he theorised. “Remember, it took several days for your siblings to fade from the picture in nineteen fifty-five.” Judy remembered she herself had taken about a full week until she had nearly faded. “If Gideon travelled back in time far enough to give himself the book, the ripple effect might take even longer to catch up.”

Judy’s droopy ears lowered further. Nick kept talking “I think our only chance to fix this is at the point where the timeline skewed into this tangent. In order to put the universe back as we remember it… and get back to our reality, we have to find out the exact date and the specific circumstances of how, where, and when young Gideon got his hands on that sports almanac.”

Judy looked at the timeline diagram in front of her, then at all the newspaper pages. They all told a story of a terrible downfall of civilization as she knew it. The bunny filled with resolve. “I’ll ask him.”

Chapter Text

Time and date: 11:59 - Friday, 12th September 1873

Ramón cocked his shotgun once more. How many more times would he need to shoot this nameless jackrabbit before him? The wolf aimed for this henboy’s heart, that thumper should have been dead by now! Instead, the grey-furred lapine got up again and again. He appeared completely unphased. How was this possible…?

The predator fired another shot right at his opponent’s heart. The little animal tumbled backwards. Behind him were a number of barrels that stopped his fall before it even started. Just as before, the buck’s ears, which had two black stripes each, hung down weakly. They looked not too dissimilar to his cheeks, which likewise had black stripes. The wolf fired another shot. And a third one. This had to do the trick. Nervously, he cocked his weapon again, preparing for more.

The jackrabbit, however, didn’t budge. He remained still. A few tense seconds passed with absolute silence. Was this buck finally dead? With a shaky breath, the clever wolf kept his shotgun pointed at his opponent’s heart. His ears were pointed forward in alert curiosity, anticipating what may come next from this vastly outnumbered lapine. A trembling smile crossed Ramón’s lips, maybe he finally won this battle.

But then it happened: Two tall jackrabbit ears stood up tall once more and so did the little mammal himself. Without hesitation, the wolf cocked his gun once more but he was too awestruck to shoot. How was this rabbit not dead yet?

The lagomorph moved his long robe aside. This simple motion revealed all his secrets: This buck was wearing a metal plate as armour! The wolf was too stunned to keep his weapon raised. The jackrabbit unbound one of the ropes that held up his saving grace to drop it to the ground in a puff of dust. All the bullets the wolf had fired at his opponent in the past minute had landed mere centimeters from each other, all right where the metal plate had covered the buck’s still beating heart. No real damage was done…

Judy’s POV

Time and date: 01:45 - Sunday, 27th October 1985A

“Bulletproof vest!” exclaimed Gideon in excitement. “Heh! Great flick! Great ruttin’ flick!” He was joined in a jacuzzi by two petite arctic vixens while they watched ‘A Pawful of Bucks’ on one of the many large TV screens of his luxurious penthouse. The movie continued with the revolver hero unloading his own gun on the foe’s company to win this dispute. The hero would live another day to tell another tale. “This guy is brilliant!” complimented the heavy fox. The two little vixens were all over Gideon. One was massaging his shoulders and the other teasingly played with the wealthy vulpine’s tail.

Enough of this.

Suddenly, the screen turned black and the movie ended abruptly. “Hey, what th’ heck is goin’…?” stammered a surprised tod. He turned around to see if someone was there. Had he focused less on the movie and his rather distracting company, and instead paid a little more attention to any one of the six security monitors right next to the large TV on the wall, Gideon would have seen that it was Judy who intruded. The two ladies screamed and quickly covered themselves.

“What th’ scat are yew doing in ‘ere?!” yelled a very angry fox. Judy stared at the vulpine with a serious expression. She threw the TV remote into the jacuzzi. “Party’s over, Gid,” the bunny declared, as she slowly stepped around the water to get a little closer. “Sorry, ladies,” she apologised genuinely.

“How’d yew git past muh security downstairs?” asked a fox who was very mad at his adopted daughter. “I managed,” deadpanned the doe. “Well, yew git jest ten seconds t’ git yer meek little bunneh butt th’ heck outta ‘ere or yer gunnah have t’ be carried out,” threatened the heavy vulpine, as he moved to pick up a nearby phone. Judy stepped right in front of the foxes, she was cool as a cucumber. “There’s a little matter I need to talk to you about,” she announced calmly. “Yeah, money, right?” asked the largest of the vulpines in the jacuzzi. “Well forget it!” he barked.

“No, not money,” retorted Judy in an even tone. “Your sports almanac…” Gideon’s ears rose a little, they were pointing forward in surprised concentration. He glared at Judy very intently. “You know what I’m talking about…” continued the doe. “It’s a book… paperback… silver cover and jacket… I mean, I am just a stupid, money-wasting, dumb bunny but maybe a book could make me a little smarter, right?”

Gideon slowly put down the phone without having dialled a number. “Yew heard her, girls…” he growled menacingly. “Party’s over.”

Time and date: 02:12 - Sunday, 27th October 1985A

A door got thrown open by a surprisingly calm fox. The tip of his tail was flicking in agitation, though. He was now clad in a silk monogrammed robe. The dark blue fabric looked very fine with its golden decorations and a hint of glitter all over. Gideon also carried a glass of scotch he had poured himself. Judy walked behind him, as they headed up a short flight of stairs and into the tod’s office.

“Start talkin’ kid,” requested the fox with apparent but surely false indifference. “What else do yew know ‘bout that book?” The bunny looked around the room. This was Gideon’s office, it looked plushy and expensively furnished. There were a good number of modern art pieces, one looked more useless and visually unpleasing than the next. Many boxes were also stacked along the walls and plenty of shelves with drawers overflowed with messy piles of papers. It was evident the cleaning staff only took care of the penthouse and not Gideon’s office. “Yikes…” the doe murmured.

The walls were painted red, Judy wasn’t sure if there was supposed to be one accent colour but it probably would have been a light green or purple. The hues did not really match up too well in the bunny’s honest opinion.

There were weird paintings and sculptures of undefined objects throughout the room. A small number of flowerpots decorated other places inside the same set of walls. On one table close to the door was a mess of colourful wires that ran up to the ceiling. There was also a round mirror on the wall, as well as security cameras in each corner. This was hardly surprising with how many live security monitors there were all over the penthouse and inside this office.

“First, you tell me how you got it,” replied Judy confidently. “How… where… and when…” Gideon stared at the doe, then displayed a sly smirk. It looked a lot less friendly than Nick’s and instead told a story of an arrogant and spiteful fox. “All right… Take a seat,” he said. The tod stepped over to an oil portrait of himself. On each side was an array of three security monitors. The wall behind it had what appeared to be a yellow circle with a red outline. It was filled with countless little light bulbs. How fitting for an amusement park…

A huge marble plate served as a desk in this office. It was supported by stacked up wooden pallets and boxes. How they weren’t simply crushed under the heavy rock was beyond the bunny’s comprehension. Gideon turned to Judy. “Sit down!” he growled loudly, repeating his earlier invitation, which was clearly meant as a command.

The bunny did as she was told and sat down in an uncomfortable office chair which was a good meter away from the luxurious desk. It had a very basic fabric pattern on the backrest and a plastic frame. The seat did not roll around like most office chairs and instead had to be picked up in order to get relocated, no matter how short a distance. A lot of signs of wear and tear were displayed by the already fading colour of the fabric. Anyone who tried looking for armrests that belonged to this chair would end up empty handed.

The floor the desk itself stood on was elevated by a step from the rest of the room, including the location of the chair Judy found herself sitting on. “November twelfth, nineteen fifty-five, that was when,” announced Gideon. It was so sudden, as if he ripped off a bandage. He pushed his own chair aside to access the large oil painting of himself.

This chair was another office chair but it had wheels to roll around on. It had a fancy purple fabric-covered backrest with pretty yellow decals. The large piece of art on the wall behind it was hinged. The vulpine opened it up like a door, revealing the rest of the circle behind it. This wasn’t a circle, it was a mirrored image of the letter G… and it housed a heavily locked safe right in the middle of it!

The date the fox had mentioned rang a bell, however. Judy knew exactly what had transpired on the evening of this fateful day. “November twelfth, nineteen fifty-five, that was the date I went back…” The lapine stopped herself from thinking out loud. She looked for something else to say. Luckily, enough had happened on that date for her to come up with a believable excuse that did not include time travel. Her parents had fallen in love that day, Rock’n’Roll in its modern form had been born…

“That was the date of the famous Bunnyburrow lightning storm,” explained the doe. Gideon stared at her for a little while with slight confusion. He looked weirded out by the doe’s random knowledge. “Yew know yer history… Very good.” Judy couldn’t tell if he was genuinely impressed or if he only faked it to mock her. The vulpine turned to open the safe, standing right in front of it while he did to avoid the bunny seeing the lock’s number combination.

“Ah’ll nevah forget that Saturday,” remembered Gideon. It sounded like he was about to monologue. Unlike all the times Nick did it, Judy was more than happy to let this much heavier fox talk. “Ah jest picked muh van up from th’ shop ‘cause ah rolled ‘t in a drag race a few days earlier. Ah delivuh’d pies back then, kin yew believe it? Sometimes ah miss that bakery.”

Judy knew very well from personal experience that the excuse with the drag race was not the real reason Gideon’s van needed repairs. She crossed her arms, this opportunity was too good to pass. “I thought a manure truck crashed and ruined your van,” the bunny pointed out slyly. The taken aback fox turned around. He was upset that memories as embarrassing as this surfaced again. “How do yew know ‘bout that?” he asked in surprise. Judy needed a quick excuse.

“My dad told me about it,” she explained. “Yer pa?” asked Gideon with appalled disgust. The mention of Stu really got to Judy, she needed to remain calm. “…before he died,” she added, trying her best to keep a straight face. The two mammals stared each other down for a few seconds. “Yeah, right,” the fox eventually said with indifference. However, the doe thought she could see the hint of an evil smirk cross his lips.

“So there ah was, mindin’ muh own business…” the vulpine continued, as he opened up the heavy safe door. “This crazy ol’ codger fox with a cane shows up.” The vulpine retrieved a smaller, tightly sealed container from inside the otherwise spacious safe. It was a black box with a clean finish. “He says he’s muh distant relative,” mentioned Gideon with a shrug. “Ah don’t see any resemblance.”

He sat the black little box down on the big luxurious marble tabletop, positioning it so that the front pointed towards Judy. The vulpine’s clawed fingers carefully opened some latches one by one to uncover a lock. “So he says ‘How would yew like t’ be rich?’ Ah say ‘shore’…” As he recited this sequence of events, Gideon pulled a key out from a drawer underneath the heavy polished stone plate. He unlocked the box and, in a display of power, opened it for Judy to get an unobstructed view of… nothing.

The bunny could not see anything other than the underside of the black box’s lid from her vantage point. She sat too far down. Luckily, her anticipation lasted only a few more seconds, as Gideon soon revealed himself what was inside the box. He took out its contents and showed it to the bunny. Lo and behold, it was the exact same sports almanac Judy had purchased in 2016 with way too much of Nick’s borrowed money! This book was thirty years older, yellowed, stained, and worn. The dust jacket no longer accompanied it. Instead, it was wrapped in a clear protective plastic cover.

“…so he lays this book on me,” Gideon continued his explanation. Judy leaned forwards to look at the future artefact more closely. So it was true! He really did have this book! “He says this book will tell me th’ outcome of every sporting event ‘till th’ end of th’ century. All ah have t’ do is bet on th’ winner an’ ah’ll never lose.”

The bunny stood up on her chair. With a twitch or two from her nose, she reached out to the book in Gideon’s hands. He slowly pulled it away, keeping it just barely outside the lapine’s reach. “It even got muh name written on it. So ah say what’s th’ catch? An’ he says, naw catch. Jest keep ‘t a secret.” The doe retracted her hand again but remained standing at the side of the table. Gideon returned the book back into the box, shut it and locked it securely. Judy let out a defeated and nervous sigh. Her ears casually stood up alertly during this whole conversation.

“After that, he disappeared… Ah never saw him again,” recited the heavy fox. The bunny’s eyes wandered around the huge marble desk. There was an ugly designer lamp on one end, it was too far away from the middle, where Gideon would be writing or reading, so it was entirely useless. Closer to the middle of the table was a themed coffee mug, it was merchandise from the amusement park downstairs. Luxurious golden ballpoint pens were on proud display inside the porcelain dish.

Closer to the doe was a miniature model of the entire building. Judy recognised the courthouse with its clock tower but everything else was new. The bunny had to admit, it looked kind of fun there. Too bad she wouldn’t be sticking around to go on any of the rides. Next to the model were a bunch of magazines, they were held together by a stand with ‘Grey Times’ branding. Several stacks of papers were scattered about across the whole desk too.

Right in front of Judy was a display piece. It was a series of matchboxes, neatly arranged in a circular pattern. They were on a beautifully detailed and possibly hand-painted plate. In the middle of them was a decorative pinecone, of all things. Each of the matchboxes had a logo on it: Some cursive text that simply said ‘Grey Times’. Judy took one of the matchboxes to examine it.

“Hmm… ‘Grey times’… Very cute…” deadpanned the bunny in a slight mumble. “And totally not depressing or dystopian or anything…” Gideon ignored her insult and put the black box back into the safe. He threw the door shut, spun the number lock around for a bit, then he swung the oil painting of himself back towards the wall. The fox turned around, just in time to see Judy pocketing one of the matchboxes. He couldn’t care less about that if he tried.

The heavy vulpine took a deep breath and looked at the doe with an unreadable expression. He had such a mean look on his face, which always made it hard to figure out what he was thinking. Was he even thinking much? Judy knew this fox wasn’t the orangest of carrots. Decades of being rich and famous must have helped solidify his eternally grumpy look.

“Anyhow, he told me one more thing…” added the vulpine. He slowly sat down in his chair. “He said someday a crazy an’ tall, wild-eyed fox scientist or a young bunneh doe may show up, askin’ ‘bout this book…” Gideon gesticulated around a little as he spoke. His hand motions put an emphasis on the words ‘crazy and tall’ and ‘young’. “An’ if that ever happens…”

The middle aged tod pulled out a revolver from his desk drawer. He cocked the gun. Judy flinched and her ears fell back. The bunny gulped, as her nose accurately demonstrated her nervousness. The evil fox grinned, he even let out a short but quiet laugh. Judy’s eyes were wide in shock and fear, as she assumed a stance from which she could spring into a quick escape at a moment’s notice.

“Funny…” mentioned the vulpine. “Ah never thought ‘t would be yew…” Gideon aimed his firearm right at the doe on the other side of the table…

“Yeah, well, you’re forgetting one thing,” Judy blurted out. Her ears shot up in alarm and she started screaming her next words. “What the fluff is that?!”

The lapine pointed behind Gideon. There was nothing unusual there, at least not within the context of this strange room. The gullible fox fell for it and looked behind him. Judy grabbed the spiky pinecone from the display plate of matchboxes. She threw it like a baseball, at the predator with all her strength. The vulpine ducked out of the way, allowing the projectile to impact the backrest of his seat. The luxurious fabric remained undamaged, as the brown object bounced right off and onto the ground below.

Judy used this distraction to make a run for it, she bolted out of the room as quickly as her little form allowed. Her limbs twitched about sporadically to somehow propel the lapine away from danger. Gideon quickly regained his composure, aimed, and fired a shot! The bullet impacted the wooden handrailing of the indoor balcony. Splinters flew everywhere.

“Yer dead, yew little bitch!” yelled a fuming mad fox with a strong growl. “Didn’t you listen to Travis?” retorted Judy from the other room without slowing her escape. “I’m a doe!” The fox fired another few shots. Luckily, none of them hit their intended target. The bunny jumped over the couch and bolted for the exit door and the stairway. Behind her, she heard a thud and a click, then a faint siren went off. Gideon must have pushed an emergency button. Security had been alerted.

Time and date: 02:20 - Sunday, 27th October 1985A

Judy dashed through a hallway. It looked just as luxurious as the penthouse with detailed decorations along the walls, though there was no furniture. Only a few doors added any sort of variation to this place. The bunny considered taking the stairs but she was unsure how far up the penthouse was exactly. It was such a long way and her smaller legs would not win against arguably weaker but bigger fox legs. The narrow and predictable stairway brought another disadvantage too, as it prevented the doe from rapidly changing direction to dodge bullets or shake off her chaser. No, Judy needed a different escape route.

The elevator dinged. That was suspiciously convenient. The bunny had a few seconds to spare until Gideon would arrive in the hallway, so she decided to stop dead in her tracks and turned to the lift. She strolled up to the door just as it slowly slid open… Out stepped a weasel, a ferret and a sloth! Well, almost… The door closed before Flash could get out. Judy assumed one of the mustelids usually held it open for longer to allow his slower buddy to disembark the vertical transportation chamber.

This time, however, they both quickly gave chase as soon as they saw the lapine in front of them. Judy ran and headed for the first door she could find. The doe had no idea where it led, the building’s layout was unfamiliar to her. She opened the door and was about to keep running but then she stopped. The lapine had to or else she would have fallen off!

This was a maintenance access platform at the top of a roar-a-coaster looping! What the fluff?! This was the old courthouse building with the clock tower! Where was this roar-a-coaster now coming from?

Right… Gideon had turned it into a dystopian amusement park. It was hard to remember some new and odd details when one’s life was at risk. The platform Judy stood on started shaking violently. The doe’s ears shot up, as she gripped the railings and hoped for the best. What was that?!

Then she spotted it. It was the Roar-A-Coaster cart that just rushed close by. It shook the entire frame that supported the tracks. Judy saw the top of the looping shift back and forth several centimeters for a while. The door moved too, not because of the vibrations but because someone opened it up again. When had it closed?

Duke and Travis stood there menacingly, taunting Judy with their mere presence alone already. They had mean grins on their faces and were about to do who knew what to the bunny! Suddenly, the weasel flinched and yelped out in pain, dropping his toothpick to the ground and off the platform. The apparently heavy door behind him had squished his tail. He quickly opened it again to retrieve his hurting appendix.

Judy didn’t let this unexpected interruption distract her. She looked down. The cart was about to go through a rolling section and a few tight curves, then up a quick ramp and straight to the looping. An idea formed in the bunny’s head. Travis and Duke stepped closer, the weasel had recovered, it seemed. Judy leaned over the edge. “What is it, flopsy?” mocked the more jittery and unkempt of the two mustelids. “Wanna go for a ride?”

“Do I wanna go for a ride?” repeated the doe. She was rather nervous about what she was about to do but her tone showed none of this. Instead, she spoke as condescendingly as she could. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

And with that, she jumped!

Her fall took the lapine down through a gap in the wooden rails that made up the highest point in the looping. Just at the right time too because not a moment later, the Roar-A-Coaster cart was speeding through the very same section of track. Judy had timed it so that she would land right in one of the empty seats.

Now, though, she needed to hold on for dear life. This ride had only just begun for her. And while she had no time for it, she wished she could have seen Duke’s and Travis’s faces after this stunt. They sure had to be priceless just about now.

To the bunny’s slight disappointment and simultaneous relief, the remainder of the Roar-A-Coaster ride was rather uneventful. The looping sure was the highlight and main selling point, such was the case with any ride like this. Nothing would beat the adrenaline of getting chased by a maniac with a gun and his cronies. Getting run over… or run under…? by a roar-a-coaster cart mid-loop was also not for the faint of heart, Judy figured. At least she had no difficulties holding on and remaining seated. The ride operator would be shedding a lot of fur once he saw a passenger without a safety harness on. The lapine inwardly giggled at the thought.

A few seconds passed and the ride gradually slowed down at the station. Judy got up and thanked the operator, who was surprisingly nonchalant about it all. He likely didn’t even keep track of who had entered a few minutes prior. There was no time to contemplate this now, the bunny needed to escape. Where should she run next…?

Judy found herself right in the middle of an amusement park. As expected as this should have been, the doe was oblivious to this fact until now. She mentally chastised herself. Did she think this roar-a-coaster stood in the middle of endless fields and meadows? Unlikely…

If this was any other place or time, Judy found she would surely have liked to stay longer. She and Skippy would have a great time. Maybe they would invite Nick and Finnick, not that the smaller of the two vulpines would be allowed on most of the rides with minimum height requirements. Perhaps, once the doe escaped, she could convince her friends to come back a few weeks earlier and have some fun. With Mr. Fursion, they could make all the time jumps they wanted, as long as they found common household rubbish. No plutonium was needed anymore.

Judy took in all the sights. Nobody around her batted an eye at this random little bunny. Being slightly out of breath, maybe shaking, was not unexpected after getting off of any of the more tense attractions. Then, right behind her, the lapine could hear the voice of Travis. “There she is! Get her!” Another voice responded. “If only ya was a cat, ya would still have seven more lives! But now ya ran all out of ‘em.”

The bunny whipped her head around. It was Travis and Duke… and Gideon was with them too! She had to escape right this instance! “Duke, I’m pretty sure cats are said to have nine lives in total, not just eight,” informed the ferret. “Who?” came the weasel’s quick response. “Uhm, cats…” answered Travis in confusion. “Felines, to be more specific.” His apparently factual correction got interrupted by his annoyed mustelid buddy. “No! Who asked?” This weasel was really mean. Judy figured this made him the perfect candidate to be one of Gideon’s cronies.

Now that she thought about it, the bunny didn’t actually know the weasel’s full name. What sort of first name was ‘Duke’ even? Was this his real name? His buddies wouldn’t call him by any other name, which was reasonable, at least. The lapine didn’t call Nick by his last name either. The longer Judy thought about it, the more the conclusion solidified that he sounded really silly, as he tried to mock her or Travis or anyone else.

“Shut up, yew two, an’ git the bunneh!” barked out Gideon with a growl. Judy somehow needed to lose the three predators. What should she do? Where should she go? She made a run for it without knowing her destination just yet. The escape plan was thought up on the fly. Hopefully, this wouldn’t come back to bite her in the tail sooner or later…

The bunny spotted an indoor pond, it was not fenced off, thank gods. The sign next to it read ‘Go Fish’ and there were floating logs scattered about. This could make for some nice distraction for her chasers. The doe jumped right onto the first piece of wood with ease. It started to rotate and tilt under her. Luckily, she managed to stay mostly dry. This would surely be a hindrance to Gideon, Travis, and Duke. The lapine skilfully hopped from log to log, slowly but surely gaining ground. The two smaller predators surprisingly had relatively little trouble following Judy. This part of her plan didn’t work as well as she had hoped.

Gideon meanwhile simply walked around the pond to wait for the little mammal on the other side. “Carrotsticks,” cussed Judy to herself. She looked up and spotted a laser tag area. Maybe, this theme park attraction could be distracting enough to slip under and disappear. From the last log of the pond, the bunny made a big leap right over an air hockey table. She had just enough altitude to avoid a dangerous swipe from Gideon’s claws.

Judy ran, not breaking a sweat just yet. It wasn’t like bunnies could sweat or anything. “Oh! Oh, sorry, coming through,” she blurted out quickly, as she entered the laser tag area. “Excuse me. ‘Scuse me. Pardon.” The players of this attraction quickly rushed out of the way of the oncoming bunny, though they didn’t let the interruption deter them from continuing their game. The lapine made sure to dodge all the red rays of light as if they were actually hurtful to come in contact with. They were only visible because a fog machine provided a suitable three-dimensional canvas for them. Judy felt like she was in a typical spy movie, dodging all the deadly lasers while getting chased. Her ears were the hardest to keep from getting in the way of the little red lines suspended in mid air.

The doe allowed herself to lose a little bit of time, as she stole a glance back to her chasers. She had to stifle her laughter, when she saw Duke trying and failing to dodge the lasers too. Travis rolled his eyes and ran right through them like they didn’t exist. The weasel shook his head and snapped out of it. He appeared helplessly confused. Now, though, he continued chasing normally too. Judy turned around again and kept fleeing.

To her right, the bunny saw a small exit sign. It was hard to spot initially, it seemed the amusement park wanted visitors to rather stay a little longer. This was, however, not a good escape for the lapine, as several wolf guards with tranquiliser guns blocked the exit! Judy had no other choice but to keep running past the door to find another way out of this building and to safety. Her strong bunny legs carried her past an array of slot machines.

“Go git her!” yelled Gideon at the guards. “Don’t let her escape!” Judy bolted past a karaoke arcade game. There was a big TV screen displaying the lyrics of some popular song the lapine had never heard of before. While running past, she spared it another look and found the text on screen simply spelled out ‘woooo’ over and over again at the moment. Judy took her chances and howled as loud as she could. The wolf security guards stopped dead in their tracks and started howling as well!

The bunny couldn’t believe it. This silly tactic actually worked. Finally, she found the sign for the karaoke game and was delighted to find it was actually named ‘Howl Along’. “Yew idiots!” growled Gideon in a furious yell. “Yew naw-good, useless, scruffy-looking night-howlers!”

The bunny spotted another sign. This one was not next to or above a traditional game, however, but on the side of a dark and plain wall next to an open doorway with dark curtains blocking the view. ‘Nocturnal Maze’

Maybe, Judy could sneak around in there and lose her chasers in the process. The doe made a run for it and headed inside… only to find complete and utter darkness awaited her past the curtains. This maze was pitch black through and through.

Chapter Text

Time and date: 02:28 - Sunday, 27th October 1985A

This was great to hide from three predators, they would be unable to see Judy. There was only one slight problem with this logic. One slight, big problem. The bunny couldn’t see anything at all herself either. She now had to rely entirely on her hearing. Considering the site of this maze was right within the bounds of a loud and busy amusement park, her auditory senses were pretty much useless to help guide the lapine and prevent collisions with walls, other mammals, or whatever else there might be hidden.

With outstretched hands Judy aimlessly wandered around the maze. After a few seconds, she ran into something fluffy. What was this? It felt like a heavenly soft rug. Was this maze designed to demonstrate and elevate tactile experiences by removing sight from the equation? Were there other surfaces too? Maybe a rockface or wood or glass. The bunny was glad she encountered this soft cotton or wool or whatever that was.

“Hey!” the fluffy object barked out. “Got yew, dumb bunneh!”

Oh no! This was no tactile experience of the best possible sort, this was Gideon’s tail! Judy had no visuals on him but she recognised the infuriating voice immediately. Anticipating a clawed swipe or possibly worse, she ducked down instinctively. “Ya almost got the gal, Gid!” called out the weasel. “Don’t let her escape!”

“Don’t give away your positions, she can’t see us!” instructed Travis, giving away his own location in the process. He had not thought this through adequately. Judy was done wandering around. She headed straight towards their voices now. With a fast leap and a powerful kick, two strong bunny legs smashed into somebody’s snout. The doe hoped it didn’t belong to some innocent bystander who was caught up in the action. Were they really innocent, though, if they left their money here at Gideon’s amusement park?

“Ah! Outff!” squeaked out the hurting victim of Judy’s attack. “Ftupid bunneh!” By the sound of things, the lapine’s feet had relocated a ferret’s nose back slightly. This forceful boop on the snout should have done the trick. Now, a tiny slither of light caught the doe’s attention. It was the same doorway Judy had entered the maze from. At least she hadn’t wander far enough inside to get lost in it. The bunny ran towards the light, apparently pretending to be a moth. As she passed the dark curtains to leave this attraction, the doe turned around, hoping to get a sense of how far away her pursuers were. All she could see, however, was endless darkness.

Suddenly, Judy’s shirt got caught on something and jerked her to a hard stop. The time traveller looked for the source of her obstruction. Her jaw dropped to the floor and right through to the basement. The bunny didn’t get caught up on something… She got caught by somebody!

“Ha…”

No…

“…ha…”

How had this happened?!

“Got…”

This was without a doubt the most humiliating moment of Judy’s life.

“…you…!”

The restless bunny struggled to get out of one long but luckily dull claw of Flash, as he held the back of her shirt’s collar. The sloth held the doe a little too high up for her feet to be on the ground comfortably. She could only stand on her toes to even make contact with the floor.

Another glance back revealed the group of predators struggled out of the maze. Travis was holding his nose. Yeah, that was going to hurt for a little while longer. Duke handed his buddy a tissue to wipe off any blood there might have been. Maybe, the weasel wasn’t as mean as Judy had initially suspected. There wasn’t any time to ponder on potential soft spots of this mustelid. She needed to get away from Flash with all the haste he lacked.

Judy panicked slightly and fiddled around with the back of her shirt that had gotten caught on the sloth’s slow claw. She almost had it, the bunny just needed to reach a little further up… “Wow, way to go, Hundred Yard Dash,” complimented the weasel with genuine astonishment. “Priscilla is gonna be so proud.”

The bunny squirmed and shook and moved about sporadically, all in an attempt to free herself. With a twitching nose, she jumped as high as she could from her disadvantaged position and let herself drop back down to the ground. Her weight was not much but it was sufficient to bring down Flash’s claw just barely enough to allow Judy to pull her shirt away from his very loose grip.

This didn’t come a moment too soon, as Gideon swiped his dangerous claws in Judy’s general direction. The bunny barely managed to dodge them. The chase was not over yet! “You almost got me, there,” the lapine commented. “But ferret not, you can’t catch me! Bon voyage, chompers!” The delivery of this pun was emphasised by indicating Travis. Judy ran off again. She hadn’t forgotten about the sloth but intentionally left him out of her choice of words. He would not catch her again, this time, she would make sure of it.

Judy headed for a trampoline. If the exit at ground level was blocked off for her, she might as well try to gain some altitude. The bunny used her powerful lapine legs to leap up on the hopping aid. She bounced once, twice, and a third time. Each jump was higher than the last one, thanks to her strong thigh muscles. Off to the side, there was a target, it was part of the same attraction as the trampoline. From the look of things, animals with claws were supposed to take a run up on an elevated platform, jump onto the trampoline, and then hold on to the target. The red and white circular object itself was labelled with the branding ‘Jump N’ Stick’ near the outside. Closer to the center were rings with corresponding score numbers, ranging from ten all the way to one hundred. The bottom was labelled with ‘Sticky Fun’.

The last of the three jumps propelled the lapine through the air, straight towards the Jump N’ Stick target. Various visitors hung on the suspended fabric wall with their claws. The small and relatively light rabbit landed on a cougar head and bounced right off again. Another jump from a tiger a little higher up and Judy managed to leap onto the gallery balcony above. It was a little sloped. Maybe this used to be the upper level for a theater audience once?

Then, there were footsteps. Very fast and heavy footsteps. They were rapidly approaching. Judy looked up and spotted a group of four big cheetahs barreling down the balcony! No… This hadn’t been a theater’s upper level seating once, this was purpose-built as a race track! It was sloped down sideways here because this was right beside a tight curve in the race! Judy turned and tried her best to outrun those cheetahs. Predictably, she did not make it very far at all, though for different reasons she had feared initially.

A cardboard cutout of a giraffe’s long neck folded down right in front of the fleeing bunny! Judy ran straight into the unexpected obstacle to find it was unfortunately a little more sturdy than thick paper. For structural support, it was glued to a wooden beam. It appeared, the doe got a taste of her own medicine now and got smacked in her own nose too. If the ferret’s experience was in any way comparable, he hadn’t been having a good time a few minutes ago.

Some of the faster cheetahs ducked right under the spontaneous surprise obstacle while others opted to jump over it. Those couple of contestants who were on the same lane as Judy lost some valuable time in the race when they dodged her. The bunny was temporarily very dazed, she took a moment to regain her senses. Just as she got up, an access hatch opened up and Travis and Duke came rushing towards her!

“Fhe’f right there! Let’f get her fhif time!” exclaimed the ferret. “Travis, I can barely understand ya!” replied a frustrated weasel. “And look, there she is! We can’t let her get away this time!” Judy bolted in the opposite direction of where the cheetahs had come from. She spotted a narrow suspension bridge up above. It was made up of just a few ropes strung up between artificial palms, with wooden planks to walk on. Judy ran past it and leapt upwards with all her strength.

Her height did not quite reach the walkway above but it wasn’t the bunny’s goal just yet. She had flung herself up against the inside of the outer perimeter wall of this indoor amusement park. The doe kicked herself off of it to spring right back with additional elevation. Towards the middle of the large entertainment establishment she flew and landed right on the suspended bridge! It shook a little but Judy was only a small bunny. Her weight could easily be supported by this bridge that was big and sturdy enough to support a sizable horse. It only looked narrow from down below.

The bunny glanced down and saw that Travis and Duke stood there, dumbfounded. Judy threw them a smug grin and waved in a teasing fashion. More footsteps approached underneath the doe. Another group of very fast cheetahs ran on the race track… right into the little mustelids. Those two were certainly having a very bad day for sure, Judy nearly remembered to consider feeling bad for them.

The bunny giggled at their misfortune and headed towards one of the artificial palms that supported the suspension bridge. The mock-up plants were gigantic and almost reached up to the underside of the roof. Judy had an idea. Approaching one of the palms, the lapine noticed it had numerous sticks extruding out from its side. They were, however, not growing naturally but instead, all had nearly perfect ninety degree angles. This was a climbing game. Judy participated and headed upwards.

She made it all the way onto the canopy layer of the fake palm and spotted an open window in the roof. If anyone ever closed it, the bunny was unsure as to how. Was it shielded from the rain on the outside? Judy had two options now. Either, she had to make a long and precarious climb back down, or…

The doe nervously glanced down. It was a long way to the ground below. A very long way, in fact. She must not miss her next jump.

Judy took a deep breath and took a run up. Then she leapt. Her hands just about managed to get a grip on the window frame. With a twitching nose, she pulled herself up and out onto the roof of the amusement park.

The bunny took a deep breath of relief. The air inside Grey Times was warm and stale. What Judy had forgotten were the unfortunate circumstances that nearby dirty smokestacks provided. Outside, the doe could suck in colder air but it was by no means cleaner or fresher at all.

The time traveller looked around. She was on the side of a sloped and curved roof, like the top of an old warehouse. Luckily, it was only slightly tilted, not enough to be tricky to stay on top of. Sliding off was not a serious concern. The lapine raced to the edge, it was an eerie environment with coloured lights from the hotel sign far below. Smokey pollution wafting through the sky.

Judy looked down, she had no way to escape from the roof on this side. The bunny banged her hand on the railing in frustration. She looked around, hoping that maybe a fire escape ladder would hug the building elsewhere.

Now, a maintenance door opened up and Gideon came out onto the roof to join Judy. He still carried his gun and smiled grimly. “Go ahead, kid!” he barked. “Jump! A suicide’ll be nice an’ neat.” The doe looked down again. It was an understatement to say she was simply scared. She was terrified, as demonstrated by her nose.

The bunny had nowhere to run and would soon look right into the end of a gun’s barrel. “What if I don’t?” she asked a little hopelessly. The fox raised his weapon. “Lead poisoning,” growled Gideon with an evil smirk.

Judy took a step back, onto an air conditioning unit. Another step and she would be standing on top of the railing. “What about the police, Gid?” the lapine asked. “They will match up the bullet with your gun!” Confidence was not something she had much of at this point in time but it still reduced in quantity, when the vulpine’s bravado didn’t drop a bit. “Kid, ah own th’ police!” he mocked. “Besides, they couldn’t match up th’ bullet what’s killed Stupid Stuart.”

The bunny’s heart dropped to her stomach at this revelation. Her ears likewise lowered in height as far as they could without falling off the building entirely. “You son of a…” started Judy. She was cut off when the angry fox cocked his revolver. The lapine furrowed her eyes. If she didn’t have much longer to live, she might as well antagonise her murderer as much as she could. It felt a little immature but Judy was still a rebellious teenager.

“Did you not listen to Travis at all?” she asked, soliciting the heavy tod to tilt his head the same way Nick sometimes did. This time, Judy found it anything but adorable, however. “Unlike me, and by definition, your mother actually is a bitch!” If she couldn’t finish the common phrase, she had used only a few times before when things really got to her, she would at least insult the fox elsewise.

“A vixen!” yelled the fuming mad vulpine. “Ah’m not a useless wolf like those guards downstairs! Ah’m a fox!” Judy shut up. She had apparently hit a nerve. Once again, the doe glanced down. A fall would end rather abruptly and without much pain. At least that’s what the bunny assumed. Maybe her size and weight were not enough to accomplish that. It still sounded less unappealing than getting shot.

“Ah suppose it’s potato juice…” growled Gideon with bared teeth and a smile. Now it was Judy’s turn to tilt her head in confusion. “What?” she deadpanned. “Potato… jus… justice,” the fox tried to correct himself with less aggression and instead with a fair deal of awkwardness. “Do you mean poetic justice?” the bunny asked. “Whatever!” barked the upset vulpine. He closed his eyes with a sigh to calm down for a second. “Two Hopps with th’ same gun.”

Judy stepped onto the railing and let herself fall backwards.

Gideon’s POV

Time and date: 02:40 - Sunday, 27th October 1985

Gideon was simply too amazed to react much. He started chuckling evilly with a lot of surprise mixed in. “Idiot…” the fox mumbled. Slowly, he stepped closer to the ledge himself to look down. The amusement park was very tall but it also had plenty of edges to hold on to. Maybe this buckhead would try to wait there and climb back up once the fox had left.

First, there were two black tipped bunny ears, then the smirking face of Judy, and finally her torso and most of her legs. She was floating, rising upwards next to the building! “What th’ hell?!” growled Gideon in shock. In his very distracted state of mind, he had forgotten all about his firearm and instead stepped closer to the edge to see how the lapine defied gravity. How was she not falling down?!

Right below the bunny’s feet was a flying shopping cart for kids or whatever the rut this nonsense was!

Judy’s POV

Time and date: 02:?? - Sunday, 27th October 1985A

Before Gideon could react, the driver door swung open with a lot of force and cracked the heavy fox right into the face! He spun around from the sideways impact and fell down onto the roof, away from the ledge. The tod was out cold.

“Nice job, Nick!” complimented Judy. She was convinced her vulpine friend would come to her rescue one way or another but this was a very unexpected turn of events for sure. The doe opted not to entertain the thought that she had passed away in another timeline and Nick had travelled back to this point to save her life. This was too dark a thought to ponder for the bunny.

The fox piloted the Jokemobile further away from the ledge and over the roof of the expanded courthouse building, in order to allow the bunny to climb down from the vehicle’s top without risking falling down to the ground of Carrot Square. The doe climbed into the time machine to find Finnick in the middle seat. “Hi Fin,” she greeted. “You guys won’t believe this, we gotta go back to nineteen fifty-five.”

“I don’t believe it!” replied Nick in a sarcastic teasing tone, though his genuine surprise was not hidden entirely either. The bunny closed the door and they flew off. Judy stole another glance back out the window to find Gideon still lying on the roof, unconscious. “That’s right, Slick,” she continued. “November twelfth, nineteen fifty-five.” The fox typed the numbers into the time circuits and they lit up correspondingly.

Time and date: 02:42 - Sunday, 27th October 1985A

“Unbelievable that old Gideon could’ve chosen that particular date,” the red fox monologued. “It could mean that that point in time inherently contains some sort of cosmic significance… Almost as if it were the temporal junction point of the entire space-time continuum…” Judy sighed at her friend’s antics. Nick would get worked up over the oddest of things sometimes. “Or it’s one helluva coincidence,” grumbled the fennec, putting the bunny’s thoughts into words.

There were unexpected beeps from the time circuits Judy hadn’t heard before. Had Nick made new additions to the time machine? He planned to take it apart for good, why would there be new things? The doe turned her head to see the ‘Destination Time’ readout glitched out and briefly flashed ‘Jan-01-1885, 12:00 a.m.’. Nick hit it lightly with the palm of his hand. “What a bummer…” he murmured, before hitting the display again. It switched back to ‘Nov-12-1955, 06:00 a.m.’ like nothing ever happened. “Got to fix that thing…” he mumbled.

Judy had to agree with that, even to just secure her way home before the fox would destroy the time machine for good. The vulpine in the driver seat switched on the time circuits and activated everything to ready the vehicle for a time jump. “All right. Time circuits on,” he commented. The bunny’s ears shot up and she looked at him incredulously.

“What do you mean, ‘time circuits on’?” she asked in surprise. “Nick! We’re not going back now!” This was completely out of the question, as far as the doe was concerned. “Yep!” confirmed the slender tod. “What about Skippy? We can’t just leave him here.” This terrible place was so unpleasant to be in, Judy wouldn’t willingly keep her boyfriend trapped there for any longer than what was absolutely necessary.

“Don’t worry, Fluff,” calmed Nick. “Assuming we succeed on our mission, this alternate nineteen eighty-five will be changed into the real nineteen eighty-five…” He nodded at that. “…instantaneously transforming around Skippy.” Judy’s nose twitched once to display her scepticism. “Skippy will be fine and will have absolutely no memory of this horrible place,” the red fox promised. “Nick… What if we don’t succeed?” asked the bunny nervously. The tod’s gaze turned serious and dedicated. “We must succeed.”

Time and date: 06:00 - Saturday, 12th November 1955

A bright flash of light indicated a successful time jump. Nick hit the brakes and the flying time machine tilted back to aid the deceleration process. The vulpine piloted the Jokemobile downwards and flicked a switch to fold the wheels out. Then, he carefully threaded the needle between some greenery and the back of a billboard. Judy looked out the window to see a colourful pennant chain. This was the site of the future entrance of Rabbyt Estates!

Doors opened up and Nick and Judy got out of a frost-covered Jokemobile. “Oh, this is spicy, Slick,” murmured the doe, as she stepped onto the road. “I mean, it’s like I was just here yesterday.” She glanced up at the billboard to see it still displayed the same words she remembered. ‘Live in the home of tomorrow… today! Rabbyt Estates! Ground-breaking this winter.’

“You were here yesterday, Carrots,” informed the red fox. “Amazing, isn’t it?” He checked his watch and corrected the time. It was no longer the middle of the night in 1985, now it was early morning in 1955. “All right. Sunrise should be in about twenty-two minutes,” estimated the vulpine. He appeared deep in thought, as he formulated a course of action for Judy. “Some time today, old Gideon will show up to give young Gideon the almanac,” the tod kept explaining. “Above all, you must not interfere with that event. You must let old Gideon believe he succeeded, so he’ll leave nineteen fifty-five and bring the Jokemobile back to the future.”

The bunny nodded along, as the fox talked. “Right,” she verbally confirmed she was still listening. “Once old Gideon is gone, grab the sports book any way that you can,” said Nick seriously. Both of our futures depend on this.” The fox appeared very on edge about what would happen to him in this alternate timeline. “Did that paper say anything about me?” inquired Finnick curiously.

“You don’t have to remind me of that,” Judy retorted, ignoring the poor little fennec. She didn’t know the answer to his question anyways. During this conversation, Nick started rummaging around in the Jokemobile’s storage area. It was just a little compartment underneath the driver seat and not a real trunk but it was spacious enough for the items Nick was after. He retrieved a handful of objects and handed some of them to the bunny. “Here’s a pair of binoculars and a walkie-stalkie to keep in contact.”

The ‘walkie-stalkie’, as Nick called it, was brand new and still sealed in its original packaging. Judy inspected the label more carefully to find it was a model from well after her own time in 1985. Nick would have gotten it some time in the future. The binoculars were likewise copyrighted to a later year, 1989.

“I will stay here and try to repair the short in the time circuit,” continued Nick, as he pulled a briefcase from the Jokemobile’s storage area. “That way, we don’t risk anyone else stealing the time machine and I won’t risk accidentally running into my other self.” Judy’s ears dropped down and she put on an unamused expression. She made a mental note of the fact that Nick wasn’t shying away from making an effort to not repeat his earlier mistakes. It was a harsh but subtle reminder of their current misfortune. Something else seemed noteworthy to the bunny too. “Other self?”

Nick stepped onto the road with Judy close behind. He looked around like he sometimes did. Finnick meanwhile leaned up against the advertisement billboard of Rabbyt Estates. “Yes, there are now two of me, two of you and two of Finnick here,” elaborated the taller vulpine. He didn’t see anyone else and no headlights of approaching cars. Nobody would discover them here, at least not any time soon. “The other me is the Doctor Nicholas P. Wilde from nineteen fifty-five.” The bunny’s ears shot up and she interrupted. “And the other me is here to catch the lightning!” the doe remembered in excitement, pointing at her fox friend, as she gestured around.

Time and date: 06:03 - Saturday, 12th November 1955

15 hours and 59 minutes until lightning strikes

Nick nodded and walked around to scout out the place some more. He really wasn’t taking any chances now. The bunny remembered how a crazy honey badger had stumbled upon the time machine a bit over a week ago and had to get chased off by an evil alien. At least, this conspiracy theorist had been taken to Cliffside Asylum, as far as the doe remembered.

“The other Big Guy, of course, also is helping to get you back home to nineteen eighty-five,” added Nick. “So in the future, we can’t see ourselves because we’d be in a timeline where we disappeared, but in the past we gotta hold back to avoid changing things for ourselves right now?” asked a curious fennec. While he often sounded grumpy and rather indifferent, now he spoke with genuine interest. “Yes, Fluff version two won’t go back to the future until tonight so we gotta be very careful not to interrupt anything our past selves are involved in,” confirmed the cautious fox, as he stepped around one of the nearby trees with the mysterious briefcase still in hand.

“Oh, I’m so gonna sneak off and visit myself,” retorted the little vulpine. “I wasn’t too important for the plan with the lightning anyways. All I did was take pictures every now and then.” Nick’s face turned more serious. He returned from scouting out the area and finally put down the briefcase onto the middle of the road. The tall vulpine spoke more quietly now but no less serious.

“Finnick, I highly advise against that,” he warned. “You go with Judy to take the book from Gideon. If anything happens to one of you, the other one can contact me. “Oh, so you want me to do ya dirty work, Nick?” teased the tan-furred tod. Why not pretend I’m your son and ask me to hold the flashlight while you fix the car? Maybe you could yell at me for holding it wrong.” The red fox let out an amused huff at that and so did the bunny.

Judy had been listening to the conversation with interest but she was also curious about what the contents of the briefcase would be. Finally, Nick opened it up, allowing the lapine to get a good look, not just inside but also at the label outside: ‘Emergency Cash’.

“Carrots, let me give you some money,” requested Nick. The interior of this briefcase was not very large in volume. The lids were both covered with arrays of neatly sorted bills from various years, some even originated from the nineteenth century. “Ya gonna impress the rabbit with money? Weird flex, but okay,” remarked the fennec. “I never took her as a gold digger. Nick, are you sure this is how you get her to like you?” The bunny ignored the little fox completely and whistled at the impressive sight of all the cash. “Or maybe I was wrong,” deadpanned Finnick, sarcastically answering his own question.

“Got to be prepared for all monetary possibilities. This right here will last a full month, assuming a consumption rate of 200 bucks a day, Fluff,” Nick explained. “Granted, in this year, that wouldn’t be realistic but in the future, it isn’t so outlandish. He looked for the right time period, landing on bank notes from 1949. The vulpine pulled them out and handed them to the doe. After Judy collected her pocket money, the slender vulpine documented the exchange to keep track of the amount of money he still had remaining and from what years. The lapine was very glad to see he did this using the one and only carrot pen. This lifted her mood a lot, not that it was particularly bad before anyways.

“You and Fin get yourselves some fifties clothes,” instructed Nick, sending his smaller friends on their way. “Check, Slick,” replied the doe. The red fox shut the briefcase and carried it back to the Jokemobile. Judy and Finnick headed off into town. “Something inconspicuous!” the scientist tod called out after them. The bunny already had something in mind, she was certain this wouldn’t be her worst idea. Perhaps, it would be time again for some more fur dye on her ears as well.