Chapter Text
[Elizabeth]
Perhaps everyone else is right. Maybe I really am helpless. I'm not naive. I knew I was small before, but now... now it feels like I barely even qualify as existing. In a universe that's so much larger than anyone would have thought possible, what difference could a small speck like me ever hope to make? And yet, somehow I have to. If I'm going to accomplish anything at all in this infinitesimal life of mine, it has to be this. Oh Luke... I wish I shared your confidence in me. I've got to do this. For Luke. And for my son.
One week earlier...
[Nick]
It was hot. Really hot. No I mean like, really, really hot. So much so that I wondered if this was a sign of the end of the world, or something. This heatwave was unprecedented, and yet, here I was standing outside in the middle of it. I love my job.
I breathed heavily as I began to feel like I was standing in a sauna. I pulled an object out of my pocket and opened it with the flick of my wrist. It was a fan I had picked up at Scratch One Dollar earlier that morning after seeing the weather forecast for Savannah Central. Upwards of one-hundred degrees with humidity to boot, clear skies, and not so much as a light breeze.
I had had an idea of what I was in for and, naturally, had come prepared. In addition to the fan, I already had an umbrella out over my head to shield me from the sunlight and was wearing my usual tinted aviators as I stared at the huge masses of animals that had gathered before me.
This was both one of the largest and smallest protests I had ever seen, since the crowd comprised literally hundreds of thousands of individuals that were almost exclusively rodents. Mice, rats, shrews, gerbils, and just about any small fry you could think of were all there that day.
Several officers, including Judy and myself, stood in front of City Hall forming a blockade to guard the entrance to the building by cutting the crowd off below the main staircase.
Out from the crowd poked hundreds of little signs that read things like "When it comes to food, size DOES matter," "Stop upscaling prices for smaller animal goods!" and "Mice have to eat TWICE the amount elephants do for their body weight."
An angry shrew stood on a small stand near my feet speaking to the multitude through a megaphone. "Rodents have been the most marginalized and neglected demographic of Zootopia since its inception. Fewer and fewer dedicated homes to accommodate us smaller animals. Constant fear of being stepped on, squashed, or swallowed. Now, they have the gall to charge us the same price or higher than that of larger mammals for less food. For Pete's sake, a cracker with cheese on it is more expensive for a rodent than a three-footer sandwich is for a giraffe. No more! Today we take a stand by demanding that we be charged what our food is actually worth."
The crowd of rodents cheered, hollering and whistling in agreement as a mouse stepped up to the stand as well, also holding a megaphone.
"Fellow rodents, please, listen to what you're saying!" he cautioned them. "A cracker with cheese is like a large deep-dish pizza for a shrew or a mouse. They charge us the same amount as larger animals because it's the fairest way to do it, not to marginalize or oppress us. Think about it for just one moment. If prices fall significantly for rodent food, prices will inevitably rise significantly for larger-animal food. For every cause, there is an effect. A giraffe, rhino, or elephant shouldn't have to pay five-times the amount a mouse does for their sustenance."
"Let them sort that out for themselves!" a rat cried from the multitude.
"Yeah, that sounds like their problem, not ours!"
The mouse on the pedestal pointed at the ones who had spoken. "Then I suppose you'll be the first ones to volunteer for a pay cut at your respective workplaces since your food will be so much cheaper from now on, right? Think about your small businesses! All the ma-and-pa shops who make meals and pastries in Little Rodentia. The food they make might be smaller, but they put the same amount of work and love, if not more into what they do and that's worth just as much as any three-footer sandwich. If we allow a change as radical as this to happen to our economy, those businesses we know and love are as good as gone!"
"Hey, he's got a point..." a few said as they thought about the mouse's words.
"Are you crazy? Don't encourage him!" others rebuked as more contention arose from within the multitude.
I sighed in boredom. Rodent politics...
"Well you heard him! We would all be taking pay cuts. I don't wanna get paid less just for being small!"
"Yeah, but it'd fix a lot of the black market problems in Rodentia. How many rodents who've got their grimy paws in the right places regularly buy hippo-sized food for the price of a hamster's breakfast?"
As the discourse continued, the tension began to escalate among them until there was a physical struggle and tiny fists were exchanged, causing a group of the small critters to break out into fighting. Some of them grabbed, some bit, others punched and kicked.
"Oh, now it's getting good." I raised an eyebrow as I stood looking down at them. I glanced at Judy, whose attention had now been drawn to the conflict in front of me. "Hey Carrots, you wouldn't happen to have any popcorn on you...?"
The bunny gave me an unamused face. "We're not here for entertainment, Nick. Break it up."
I sighed. "Heaven forbid a guy have some fun, but if you insist..." I grudgingly grabbed the broom leaning against the wall next to me and began sweeping the fighting rodents away from each other. "Alright, knock it off, kiddos. Playtime's over."
One of the shrews stood up and brushed himself off after recovering from my attack. "This doesn't concern you, fox!"
I pulled my aviators down an inch so my eyes were visible. "Yeah but here's the problem, bub. I'm on duty right now, which means you're on my watch, which means that if you kill each other right now, it gets pinned on me, which means that I'm gonna have to fill out more paperwork, which means I'm gonna be one very unhappy fox, which means that at this particular moment, it is my concern. So go. Have your little arguments or whatever, whip out your best insults, spit in each other's faces for all I care. But if little mousy chooses violence, little mousy gets the broom. Got it?"
The shrew huffed in disapproval but turned and went his way, as did the rest of the assailants.
Don't worry!" I called after them. "Just find a ring, some boxing gloves, a referee, and you can fight each other to your little hearts' content."
"Yeah, yeah, shut up already," one of the rodents muttered as they walked away. "Cocky, sarcastic fleabag..."
I looked at Judy with a smile. "I'd call that a job well-done."
She rolled her eyes. "You got it done alright, but we'll leave it at that. Your de-escalation tactics are still... questionable."
"Well, I do have a way with people."
She finally smiled back. "On that, we're agreed," then her smile disappeared. "For better or for worse."
I opened my mouth to make another snarky remark but was interrupted by a loud noise and a shockwave that rippled through the entire city.
A few seconds later came a massive blast of wind strong enough to make me stumble backward, losing my umbrella and grabbing my glasses. Can't let these babies go anywhere...
Rodents were thrown by the force and I felt a few of them hit my uniform and hang on for dear life.
The streets rang with a loud "boom" sound as the wind died and everyone was able to recover.
No one said a word, and the streets of Zootopia were completely silent, save for the echo of several distant car alarms that had been set off.
"What was that?" Judy finally asked.
"Power surge maybe?" I suggested.
She shook her head. "Definitely not a power surge. I've never seen anything like that before..."
I could hear chatter among the crowd as they also began trying to piece together what had just happened.
"Well, whatever it was," I fixed my aviators. "I'm sure we'll be hearing about it on the news soon enough."
"Yeah..." Judy trailed off.
I suddenly noticed that I was feeling somewhat strange, as though something big had just changed, but I couldn't put my finger on what exactly that "thing" was. Almost like there was something important that I had forgotten, now resting irritatingly in the back of my mind.
Did I forget to pick my clothes up from the laundromat? No, that wasn't it. Did I leave the oven on? Nope, not that either.
Failing to pinpoint the problem, I shrugged it off and turned my attention to the little hitchhikers who had attached themselves to me.
A few rodents who had been thrown in my direction and caught hold of my uniform scurried back down my legs to reunite themselves with friends and loved ones. One of them, a small field mouse, sat on my shoulder shaking uncontrollably and looking around as though he didn't know what to do.
"You alright there little fella?" I offered a paw for him to stand on.
Clearly scared, he shook his head and stepped over so I could hold him out in front of me. He was a young one, not more than twelve years old.
I raised my sunglasses to rest on my head and looked around. "Where are your parents, kid?"
"She disappeared..." he stammered with a shaky voice, staring downward.
"Disappeared? Who disappeared?" I didn't understand.
"My mom... she's gone."
"You lost your mom?" I concluded. "Not to worry, kiddo. I'll help you find her."
"No," he said with some panic in his voice. "She's gone, she disappeared!"
"Alright, alright, just take it easy," I tried to calm him down. "We'll figure this out. What's her name?"
It didn't seem like my words had comforted him, but he cooperated.
"Elizabeth... Elizabeth Small."
"Elizabeth Small, huh?" Boy, she sure won the lottery with that one, I thought. "Don't worry, kid. We'll find her."
"But-"
I had already turned to Judy before he could object. "Carrots, I've got a little kid here who lost his mom. Name's Elizabeth Small, field mouse, probably in her mid-thirties. Mind helping me find her?"
Judy nodded and turned to the crowd calling out for an Elizabeth, and I began doing the same before the little mouse in my paw stopped me.
"Officer, you don't understand," he insisted. "My mother disappeared. Vanished. Into thin air. I'm telling you, she's gone!"
My ears perked and I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'vanished?'"
"I mean exactly what I said," he said impatiently. "It was right before the explosion. I was looking right at her when it happened. One moment she was there and the next, she wasn't. She didn't walk away or get lost. She disappeared, just like I told you."
I stood there for a moment, thinking.
"You don't believe me, do you?" he asked.
"I believe that you believe that you saw what you say you saw. Let's put it that way."
"But I did!" he exclaimed as tears began to well up in his eyes.
"People don't just vanish, kid," I assured him in a sympathetic tone.
"Well I'm telling you, she did."
In a momentary stupor of thought, I had failed to notice that Judy was back with a worried look on her face.
"Any luck?" I asked.
She shook her head. "I made sure the entire crowd heard my calls for an 'Elizabeth Small.' Either she ignored them, or she's not out there anymore."
I cursed under my breath, trying to come up with ideas on what to do next.
Finally, I turned back to the young mouse in my paw. "Tell you what. How does a little field trip to the police station sound?"
He didn't seem so thrilled.
Understanding his hesitation, I dropped the pretenses. "Look, I get that you're scared, but we're gonna take care of you till we get this whole thing sorted out."
"You promise?" he asked, seeming to brighten up just a little.
"Cross my heart. Besides," I tittered. "you get to hang out with the one and only Nick Wilde for an evening. What's not to like?"
His face became confused. "'Nick Wilde?' Who's that?"
"...that's me," I pointed to my face. "I'm Nick Wilde. Don't you watch the news, kid?"
He shook his head. "Our antenna broke a while ago. We don't get any TV."
"Okay forget it," I backpedaled. "The point is, it'll be fun. I'll show you the ropes and what exactly it is we do at the station. Just till we find your mom. What do you say, kid?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess."
"Then it's official," I pulled down my aviators and pretended like I was on one of those old-timey cop shows. "Dead or alive, you're comin' with me."
He gave the slightest smile, indicating that I had managed to lift his spirits, even if only just a little.
"And you, my lady?" I turned to Judy while offering a paw. "Care to 'ditch this joint' with me and this young mouse?"
She folded her arms in disapproval. "This isn't by chance some elaborate scheme of yours to get out of having to stand out here in the sun, is it?"
"No, but you could call it 'luck of the draw,'" I smirked.
"Well good because I'll take it," she gave a weary sigh. "This heat is killing me."
"So that's a yes?"
"It's a maybe. Give me a minute to run it by the chief," she said while pulling out her walkie-talkie.
I nodded and looked out at the crowd. Most of their attention had been drawn away from the protest itself and more to the mysterious and strange explosion that had occurred a few minutes earlier. The protest had been going on for nearly 24 hours by this point and it seemed like people were hot, tired, aggravated, and generally ready to go home.
"I take it your mom brought you here?" I asked the young mouse who was still standing in my paw.
He looked down and hid his paws behind his back. "Actually... she told me not to come. Only reason she was here at all was to take me back home."
"What?" I locked my eyes on him. "You're telling me you came to a protest by yourself? Why?"
"It's just..." he fidgeted. "My mom worries a lot. Ever since my dad died."
"Oh," My eyes widened beneath my aviators. "I'm sorry to hear that, kid."
"It's okay. I was really little and didn't know him very well," he explained. "But my mom never really got over it. She tries so hard to keep me safe. Too hard. I just wanted to go do something by myself. Just one time."
"I understand," I sympathized.
"But now it's my fault she's gone," he tried to fight back tears.
"Whoa!" I brought him up to my eye level. "Come on now, don't talk like that. We may not know much right now, but whatever happened, it is not your fault. Got it?"
Still sniffling, he nodded.
"Good."
"Nick," it seemed Judy had finished talking to Chief Bogo. "We're good to go."
I nodded and turned back to the mouse. "Alright, that's our queue. Say kid, I never did get your name..."
"Lewis," he wiped a tear away and broadened his chest. "My name's Lewis."
"Okay, Lewis. Ready to get out of here?"
He nodded fervently. "Ready."
I looked at Judy. "Then off we go."
Orange light blanketed the entirety of Zootopia as we approached the gates of Little Rodentia. The sun had touched the horizon and was now slowly disappearing. We had made a stop by the station and made a few calls, but to no avail. Our next plan of action was to see if Mrs. Small had come home somehow. Lewis stood atop my shoulder while Judy walked beside me. As we got closer to the gate, I noticed that next to it was a small window revealing a booth with a guinea pig inside. The rodent wore a security uniform and cap, looking tired and generally contemplative on why he had decided to take his job in the first place.
"Are you visiting a friend?" he asked monotonously.
"You could say that," I pointed to my badge. "Police business. We'll just be a few minutes."
"Are you carrying any heavy items on your person?" he asked another question, eyes glazed over as though he were barely awake. "Anything that you could drop and inadvertently squash a rodent with?"
"Uhm..." I looked myself over. "No, I don't believe-"
"Do you agree to stay within the oversized mammal lane while walking the streets of Little Rodentia?"
"Excuse me, did you say 'Oversized mammal lane?'"
"Yes or no?"
"...yes."
"Do you agree to avoid moving, manipulating, or damaging any pre-existing objects or architecture in Rodentia including -but not limited to- automobiles, buildings, and/or giant donuts in any conceivable way, shape, or form?"
I looked back at Judy, who gave a nervous and ashamed nod, after which I turned back to the guard. "We do."
"Alright, you're clear," said the guinea pig as the gate buzzed and opened wide enough for two fox and rabbit-sized mammals to pass through.
"Much obliged," I acknowledged, giving a slight bow before entering. "Alright kid, where to from here?"
"Just keep walking straight until you reach Baker Street. Then you'll take a left," Lewis directed.
"Seems like you know your way around," I remarked.
"Well," he began. "I do want to be a world traveler when I grow up. If that's gonna happen, I ought to know where I'm going, right?"
"Is that right?" I asked, to which he nodded.
I gave a half-smile. "Yeah, definitely doesn't hurt. That part of the reason you snuck away to the protest too?"
He looked down as though he were ashamed. "Yeah, I guess so. I've never liked staying at home. There's not much to look at. I wanna see what's out there besides a tiny city made for rodents. My mom was always the complete opposite. Never likes trying new things. Afraid to do anything even a little risky or dangerous. It's not much fun."
"I know your pain," I said. "My mom was very much the same way."
"Really?" Lewis asked, bewildered.
I nodded. "Oh yeah."
"So what did she think of you becoming a police officer then?"
"She... probably doesn't know," I replied with some hesitation. "We haven't spoken for many years."
"Why not?"
I sighed. "It's a long story, kid. I don't wanna bog you down with it."
"Well, I think we've got some time," he sat down patiently on my shoulder.
I chuckled. "You're really that curious?"
He nodded in anticipation.
"If you insist..." I smiled. "When I was about your age, I tried to join the Junior Ranger Scouts, even begged my mom to buy me a uniform. We never had much money and my dad left when I was young. A part-time job at a local convenience store was the best my mom could do after that. You know how it goes. Eventually though, she did manage to scrape together enough cash to buy that uniform for me, even if she had to skip a few meals along the way to do it. I couldn't have been more excited."
I remained silent for a moment, lost in my own thoughts.
"What happened?" Lewis asked with wide eyes.
"I was bullied out of the organization by the other scouts," I replied.
"Yikes..." he looked down. "But you're a predator, aren't you?" he suddenly stood up, broadened his chest and punched the air. "I bet you totally could've handed it to those guys!"
I laughed. "I don't know about that, but even if I could've, it wasn't a fight worth fighting. I had been rejected, plain and simple."
"So what did you do?"
"Well, naturally I was angry," I explained with a sigh. "So I burned my uniform. My mom was heartbroken when she found out."
"And that's why you two stopped talking?"
I tittered. "No, if only. That was just the beginning. Having watched my mother struggle to bring food to the table for so many years. I started coming up with my own ways to 'help out.'"
"Like what?"
"Oh you know... crime and... stuff," I scratched my head. "I was a troubled kid for obvious reasons. Felt like my mom and I hadn't been treated fairly. I mean, the Junior Ranger Scouts were supposed to be for everyone, their mottos toting things like love, respect, acceptance. My experience had been the exact opposite. I felt robbed. I let that day cloud my vision until it was all that I could see. If the world wasn't going to play by the rules, why should I, right? So I stole things. Became a good pickpocket. I would sell watches, rings, necklaces, you name it. Anything I could get my grubby little paws on, coming up with every dirty trick in the book. When I eventually started bringing in money, I told my mom I had gotten a job 'mowing lawns.'"
"You lied?" Lewis asked, bewildered.
"Through my teeth," I replied. "I did that for years. Unbeknownst to me one day, she followed me to work. Boy, did she give me an earful when I got home that night, as any good mom does, I think. But I wasn't having any of it. Everything I had been keeping bottled up inside of me over the years came out. I said some things that have stung my soul everyday since then. Then, I left. The last memory I have of my mother is her sitting on our little quilted couch, crying as I walk out the front door."
I looked over at Lewis, who was now sitting again, shoulders slumped and eyes on the ground.
"Told you it would just bog you down," I remarked.
He lifted his chin. "But things got better, right? I mean, how did you go from that to being a cop?
"Well," I looked at Judy who gave a warm smile. "that's a long story too."
"So why don't you just go see your mom again?" he asked.
I sighed. "It's not that simple."
"Yes it is," he argued. "I mean, you're a police officer now! Don't you think she'd be proud of you?"
"You don't understand, kid. I hurt her really bad, and I've waited too long to make amends."
"Well, waiting longer won't solve the problem, right?" he said matter-of-factly. "You should make amends while you still have time."
"Maybe." I conceded.
The little guy made a good point. And more than that, my mother had been on my mind lately. There was no doubt about it- I missed her. But would she even want to talk to me? Fear of coming home and facing rejection kept me from following through.
Someday soon. I promised myself.
Lewis stood up once again. "This is it," he pointed toward a little wooden house on the corner of the street. The thing looked like it would topple over with a light sneeze, looked to have two- maybe three rooms on bottom and a single room on top with a window peering out over the roof.
"This is where you live?" Judy asked.
"I know. It's not much to look at," said Lewis. "But it's home."
"Nothing to be ashamed of," I let Lewis onto my paw and set him on the house's tiny roof near the second floor window. "It's not too different from my childhood home. Aside from the size, of course."
"Thanks, I guess," Lewis sighed. "Well, here goes nothing."
He opened the window and stepped through, disappearing into the dark, rickety structure.
Judy appeared beside me. "You never told me those things about your mother."
"Yeah well, now you know," I muttered. "Not least of all, how poorly I treated her."
"Time passes. People change," she nudged me. "I know you're not the same fox I met back in that ice cream shop once upon a time."
"Oh yeah?" I huffed. "And how do you know that's a good thing?"
She smiled. "Well for starters, the Nick I knew back then wasn't quite as pleasurable, if I remember correctly."
I rolled my eyes. "Don't remind me."
"Nor was he as kind," she went on. "or as charming, brave, reliable, and... loving, as the Nick I know now."
I looked at her to see that she was staring at the ground. A moment of silence passed between us before she returned my gaze.
"Your mother would be proud of you," she said with affection in her voice, taking my paw with hers. "And... she wouldn't be the only one."
We locked eyes. She didn't say another word, and for once, I didn't either. Nothing to say was coming to my mind, and even if it had, my chest wouldn't let me. I could feel my heart gradually begin to pick up speed as I stared into the hypnotizing violet-colored irises in front of me.
Judy leaned closer by the second, just ever so slightly until her shoulder was nearly touching mine.
My chest felt like it might cave in on itself. My armpits were sweating. Why were my armpits sweating? My armpits never sweat. This was weird. But... even more strangely, I liked it.
Judy's body was now pressing up against my own, her warmth like a welcoming fire in a blizzard.
What is happening right now? I thought incredulously, but out of pure instinct, I mirrored her movements.
Our faces grew closer and closer until we could feel one another's breath. I couldn't believe what I was about to do.
Before anything happened, however, I heard the front door to the little wooden house below us thrust open.
I quickly turned away and released Judy's paw, which I had been squeezing rather tightly until that moment.
"It's like I said," Lewis threw his arms in the air, frustrated. "She's not here."
I looked back at Judy, who seemed like she was also still trying to process what had just happened- or... almost happened, between the two of us. "...right," she finally said. "Not a problem. We'll head back to the station and continue from there."
The young mouse sat down on the front doorstep of the little house with his head hung low. "What's the point? She's gone and she's never coming back. You might as well just send me off to the orphanage."
"Hey, don't say things like that," I walked forward and sat down on the miniature lawn in front of him, taking care not to crush anything on the way down. "Your mom is not gone forever. She's out there. Right now. And we're going to find her."
He continued to look down. "How can you possibly know that?"
"Gut feeling," I gave a half-smile. "Things are gonna be alright, Luke."
He looked up at me with a puzzled expression. "Who's Luke?"
My eyes went wide as I realized my mistake. "Sorry, just... somebody you remind me of. Come on, we should probably get going."
I reached out my paw once more, which Lewis hesitantly stepped onto.
As the three of us made our way back to the police cruiser, Judy and Lewis made small talk with each other- most likely one of Judy's ways of keeping his mind off of the situation at hand. I didn't hear much of it and caught myself looking down at the asphalt below me for a lot of the walk. As much as I wished I could say I wasn't, I was thinking about Luke. Luke was a being from a neighboring universe who called himself a "human." He had been one of the most peculiar mammals I had met in my lifetime, and not in appearance alone. He was brash, hot-headed, displaying extreme swings of optimism and pessimism, sometimes back-to-back, no less, and he was a good friend. It had been six months since he had disappeared from our lives, and since then, I had almost managed to forget about him, but like a cancer he was back in my mind. This situation we were now in was strange, almost as strange as the ordeal from half a year earlier. Spontaneous combustions, strange disappearances, it seemed all too familiar, and I couldn't help but feel like all of it had something to do with him, even if I had no idea how. Then those old questions began to creep back in. I wonder how Luke is doing. Did he truly make it back to his family? Not being able to know for sure had tortured me from time to time.
Kid, if you're out there... I thought. Just give me a sign that you're alright.
We had just barely made it out of Little Rodentia when Judy's transmitter crackled to life.
"Hopps and Wilde, this is Chief Bogo. Do you read me?"
Judy clicked the button on her shoulder transmitter. "Hopps here, we read you, Chief."
"Report to the Zootopia County Detention Center immediately, both of you."
I pushed the button on my own transmitter. "Sir, we have a child with us. We're trying to find his missing mother."
"It can wait, Wilde," Bogo growled over the radio. "Your priority is to get to the prison in Sahara Square, ASAP. Over and out."
"He sounds like he's in a good mood," My sarcasm showed itself once again.
"Better not keep him waiting then," Judy suggested. "Let's get going."
We trotted the rest of the way to the cruiser which was waiting for us in a nearby parking lot, dimly lit by a small patch of street lights.
As I climbed into the passenger seat, I opened my left breast pocket. "In you go, buddy."
Lewis reluctantly slid down from my shoulder into the pocket below. "I'm not a baby, you know."
"Well, it's either my pocket or the backseat, kiddo," I said. "You never know what can happen on the road."
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
Judy ignited the cruiser's engine and gassed it onto the street that would take us to the freeway.
She looked like she was deep in thought. "Detention Center..." she trailed. "Why would Bogo need us at a prison in Sahara Square?"
"No idea," I replied. "but whatever it is, Mr. Buffalo Butt made it sound pretty urgent."
She shook her head. "It's just been one thing after another today."
"Think it's safe to say we've had worse. Much worse," I begged to differ.
She smiled. "Can't disagree with that."
"Like what?" Lewis asked curiously.
"I'm not answering any more questions from you, pal," I gave him the evil eye. "You've already heard more about me and Judy than anybody should."
"Well, can you blame me?" he shrugged. "You two are an interesting couple."
Judy and I exchanged glances.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked.
Lewis looked confused. "Aren't you two dating?"
Both Judy and I nearly choked.
"Wh- what?" Judy stammered. "What gave you that idea?"
"Yeah, seriously," I chimed in. "What are you smoking and where can I get some?"
Judy laughed nervously. "Right? Imagine us. Together. Pfft."
Lewis raised an eyebrow. "Are you both being sarcastic or something?"
"No," I replied hesitantly. "...are you?"
"You've gotta be kidding, right?" Lewis seemed flabbergasted. "Have you even seen the way you two keep looking at each other?"
"What way?" Judy asked.
"Yeah, what way?" I joined. "We're not looking at each other in any sort of 'way.'"
Lewis turned away with a frustrated sigh. "Nevermind."
The rest of the drive was made in awkward silence, and as the bright lights of Sahara Square rushed by in the night, I was lost in my own thoughts, a common theme of the day. I was out of my element. It horrified me that anything I was feeling on the inside might be visible to someone from the outside. Lewis's observations set me on edge. How many others have deduced the same thing just by looking at us? Fear of what other people might think or say about us forced me to retreat inside myself, coupled with shame at the fact that I was guilty as charged. What kind of cop develops feelings for their partner, anyway?
Judy and I had gone on a "date" several months earlier, if you could even call it that. We ordered pizza and watched a movie one night. Nothing happened. We just laughed and talked. I had liked it, but I never did manage to muster up the will or the courage to ask her out again. There were too many things working against us. I was a fox. She was a bunny. Natural born enemies. How could I ever expect something like that to work? Not to mention the attention it would draw. But then again, did it really matter what others thought? Why was I allowing outside forces to determine how happy I could be? If Judy felt the same, what was there to stop me?
No. I told myself. It's not meant to be, so just drop it.
"Here we are," Judy announced, wrenching me out of my stupor. "Zootopia County Detention Center."
Before us was a large structure with ground lights illuminating it from below to make the building look all the more imposing. It was a bleak looking edifice with towering walls on either side and looming watch towers. This was the highest security prison in the city, so naturally, it was now the habitat of every major criminal who had been arrested by the ZPD.
Lewis," I said looking down at him as we came to a stop in one of the officer parking spaces out front. "You're gonna have to stay in the car for this one. Can I trust you to do that?"
He nodded timidly before I set him down on the laptop mounted above the center console.
"If you need anything, press the button on this transmitter," I unhooked the walkie talkie from the dash and set it next to him. "We'll be back outside before you can blink."
"Got it," he nodded again.
I winked. "Wish us luck."
I closed the cruiser door and joined Judy who was already standing in front of the cruiser, staring at the prison.
The air was hot, even in the dead of night, as was characteristic of Sahara Square. I was glad we hadn't been there during the day to experience sunlight. Summer weather in Savannah Central had been bad enough.
"I've got a bad feeling about this, Nick," Judy remarked as we began walking toward the building together.
I shrugged. "Eh, what else is new?"
"I'm serious," she bumped me. "Bogo calls us here, says it's urgent, but won't tell us what it's all about. Smells like trouble."
"You're probably overthinking it."
She glared at me as we came to the front entrance. "Fine. I guess we'll just have to wait and see then."
"I guess we will," I smirked, pressing the buzzer next to the door.
"State your business," a familiar voice came through on the speaker.
"Just open the door, Delgato," I muttered.
"Not today, Wilde," the voice growled. "State your business."
Judy gave a worried look, which I shrugged off. "Officer Wilde and Hopps, reporting to this prison on orders of Chief Bogo. Didn't he tell you?"
There was a brief pause before the door buzzed, indicating that the door had unlocked.
I swung it open and gestured for Judy to take point. She obliged and I followed her inside, closing the door behind me and hearing the loud click of the entrance locking itself again.
"You know the drill," Delgato said over the speaker. "Put your weapons and devices on the belt."
Judy and I both took off our holsters, utility belts, and radios, placing them on the conveyor belt on the left side of the room.
I watched as they were slowly carried out of view by the rollers.
"Step into the metal detectors and put your paws up."
We did as we were told.
"Alright, come on through," Delgato gave the go-ahead.
The sliding glass door in front of us opened, allowing us passage to the inside of the facility.
Waiting for us on the other side were Officers Delgato and Wolfard inside of a control booth encased in safety glass, supposedly strong enough to stop an elephant from breaking through. Delgato was a lion, and one of the ZPD's most hot-headed officers, probably one of the reasons Bogo saw fit to send him in for prison duty for a while. It seemed like Bogo's way of trying to humble him. Wolfard, on the other hand, was a timberwolf -as denoted by his subtle family name-, and was far more by-the-books. He'd probably been assigned to Delgato to keep him in check for the time being. Whether it would work or not was anyone's guess.
A loud beep sound was heard and Wolfard came out through a side door with our equipment in his paws.
"Hey there, fellas," I greeted. "How's correctional duty treating you?"
Wolfard rolled his eyes. "Don't ask. Mr. Macho Mammal over here thinks he runs the place."
"Hey, I heard that," Delgato said over the intercom. "And you're right. I do run the place. Things run a lot smoother now that I'm here."
Seemed like Bogo's efforts to humble Delgato were working wonders.
Wolfard shook his head as he handed us our gear. "Then how do you explain this security breach, huh?"
"Security breach?" Judy asked as she put her belt and holster back on. "What security breach?"
"Talk to Chief Bogo about it. He'll fill you in," Wolfard said as he started back toward the booth. "He's waiting for you in cell block B."
She nodded. "Got it. Who else is here?"
Wolfard raised an eyebrow. "You mean as far as the ZPD goes? Just Fangmeyer and Krumpanski. Last I saw, they were patrolling cell blocks C and D."
"Thanks," Judy said as she began walking toward the holding cells. "See you on the way out."
"Roger that," Wolfard saluted with one finger before entering the control booth again.
"Security breach, huh? Sounds fun," I remarked as we passed through the next door, opened for us by Delgato.
"This isn't good," Judy said, clearly worried.
"It might not be so bad," I suggested. "Maybe they finally discovered that the cafeteria food comes to life at night and sneaks off to the local bar."
Judy shook her head. "That's it. You've truly thought of everything."
"As all great minds do," I tapped my temple.
"I just don't get it," she tried to think through it. "A security breach is no laughing matter for sure, but why call us in? There are plenty of capable officers who could handle this, right?"
"Well, we should probably find out what the breach is before we make that assumption," I said. "You never know."
Judy stroked her chin. "Could this be about one of the prisoners we brought in?"
"The likelihood of that seems pretty high to me."
She pinched the bridge of her nose, probably thinking of all the crazy mammals we had arrested during our careers. "Oh sweet cheese and crackers."
"Well if it isn't the little duo that could," we heard a jaguar prisoner bellow from one of the holding cells as we passed. He was looking at us through the small window on the cell door. "You two oughta know better than to show your faces here."
"Yeah! This ain't no place for a fox, much less a cute little bunny," another prisoner, a hippopotamus chimed in.
Judy glared.
"Ignore them," I urged. "They're just a bunch of lowlifes trying to get a reaction out of us."
She breathed out slowly. "You're right. Keeping it together."
"Go home to your carrot farm, little girl!" a wolf prisoner called from behind us. "You're out of your league here."
Judy stopped.
Oh no. Don't-
"I read about you. Bob Bushtail, right?" Judy turned around and approached the holding cell.
"It's Robert, and what's it to ya?" the wolf scoffed.
"If I remember right, you were arrested on multiple accounts of petty thievery, most recently for trying to steal a purse from an old goat lady before subsequently getting stuck in a wet patch of cement."
Bob suddenly looked embarrassed. "So what?"
So, you're in here because you got caught on the same small-time crime spree so many times, they just had to put you away and forget about you for good. Most of the others in here were arrested for much, much worse. I'd watch out if I were you, because from what it sounds like, you're the one who's out of their league here, buddy."
The prison block erupted in laughter, causing Mr. "Bushtail" to shrink back into his cell in shame.
Judy rejoined my side, this time with a smirk on her face.
"Not bad," I remarked as we continued walking.
She shrugged. "Meh, he was easy prey."
I thought about the irony at play and couldn't help but cackle.
However, the lighthearted mood evaporated as we turned the corner and saw Bogo standing down the next block with his arms folded and forehead creased in frustration. Next to him was a correctional officer, a panther who looked somewhat nervous.
"Oh boy," I said. "He doesn't look happy."
"Just stay on his good side this time and you might get out alive," Judy whispered.
Bogo huffed, nostrils flared.
"Who am I kidding? That's too much to ask of you," Judy backpedaled. "You're pretty much done for."
I thought about it for a moment, then nodded, concluding that she was probably right. No sense delaying the inevitable.
"What's the haps, Chief?" I pointed my finger guns at Bogo.
He face-palmed with an audible slap. "Not now, Wilde. I don't have the patience to deal with your shenanigans tonight."
"Fair enough," I holstered my finger guns.
"What's the situation?" Judy asked.
Bogo sighed, nodding toward the empty cell next to him. "We have a missing prisoner. One that I'm confident you two are familiar with."
"I figured," Judy winced. "Who is it?"
"His name is Terrance Lambert."
My eyes went wide. Memories of the events from six months earlier flashed in my mind. Possibilities I had nearly ruled out earlier on in the day now appeared all the more likely. I didn't know what the connections were, but they couldn't be a coincidence.
Bogo put on his reading glasses as he referred to a clipboard of documents he was holding. "Prisoner was arrested approximately six months ago for conducting unlawful experiments. Ring any bells?"
"Unfortunately yeah," I answered. "Why wasn't the alarm raised?"
"I did raise the alarm," the correctional officer spoke up. "As soon as I noticed the cell was empty, that is. The facility was completely locked down and swept. Twice."
"How long do you estimate the cell was empty before you noticed?" Judy asked.
"Only a few minutes, at most," he replied. "I check every cell one-by-one going back and forth. I was making my fifth round or so when I noticed, and I know for a fact he was there on the previous pass."
"So how do we think the guy got out?" I asked.
"That's the kicker," the officer began. "There's no evidence that he ever left his cell. Apart from him not being there anymore, of course."
Judy raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that the front control booth is alerted whenever any cell door is opened, and that alert never went off," he explained. "The door was verifiably never opened, and there are no other openings in the cell. No pipes, vents, windows, nothing."
"Did you check behind the poster of his crush on the wall?" I asked.
"What?" the officer didn't pick up on my joke.
"Ignore him," Bogo shook his head. "You two know more about this prisoner than anyone else at the ZPD. Are there any contacts of his that might have had a reason to break him out somehow?"
Judy thought for a moment before looking at me. "Ivan maybe?"
I shook my head. "Doubt it. Those two aren't necessarily on the best of terms."
She shrugged. "He's been known to change alliances if the price is right."
I stroked my chin. "Perhaps, but it just doesn't smell right to me."
"Well, that pretty much eliminates my list of suspects. What have you got?" she asked.
I had already thought about it and came up blank. "I don't know."
"Wow, seriously?" a small, high-pitched feminine voice I hadn't heard in a long time spoke from the other cell next to us. "This is the best the ZPD has to offer? I'm honestly disappointed in you two."
I looked back at Judy. "No... is that-?"
She walked toward the cell from which the voice had come and looked through the window. I followed to find a small sheep in an orange jumpsuit sitting on a small bed in the corner of the room.
"Well if isn't Assistant Mayor Smellwether," I remarked in awe. "What a pleasant surprise."
Bellwether scoffed. "Wish I could say the same. And you seem to forget that I was Mayor of Zootopia once."
"You slinked your way into that position through treachery and fraud," Judy growled. "You didn't do anything to earn it."
"I did everything to earn it," Bellwether spat. "I had a vision, and executed it perfectly to the letter. The city would be a much better place for prey if it weren't for you. Bravo, Judy. Bravo."
"I've heard enough of this," Judy turned away.
"But wait," Bellwether came to the window, pretending to beg. "don't you want to know what I saw?"
Judy stopped. "Spit it out."
"It was one of your own who let him out," said Bellwether who casually picked at her hooves, obviously relishing the moment. "The big tiger-striped fellow, if I recall correctly."
"Fangmeyer?" I asked Judy.
"That's the one."
"The cell door was never opened," Judy said. "He couldn't have gotten him out."
"He didn't open the cell door, dummy," Bellwether tittered, adjusting her glasses. "He slipped something in through the food slot. A device of some kind. Shortly after, the old goat simply disappeared."
Judy grimaced. "Now you're just making things up."
Bellwether pretended to cry. "But please, Judy, you've gotta believe me!" she turned around and casually shrugged her shoulders. "Or don't. Makes no difference to me."
I turned toward the correctional officer again. "Was anyone else in the cell block with you?"
He thought about it. "Come to think of it, Officer Fangmeyer did pass me once. I assumed he was heading to block C."
Bogo grabbed his radio. "Delgato, Wolfard, what is Officer Fangmeyer's current location?"
Silence was all that came back to us.
"Delgato! Wolfard! Do you read?" he barked.
Still nothing.
"Uh-oh," Bellwether said. "Sounds like they're sleeping on the job."
"Something's wrong. I'm heading up there," Judy took off running.
"Wait!" Bogo tried to stop her, but she was already gone.
I shrugged as I began running after her. "Wouldn't want the lady to go alone, right?"
I kept a steady pace but my speed was nothing compared to Judy's. She turned each corner seconds before me and soon, the control booth where Delgato and Wolfard had been was in sight, but they were nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was Fangmeyer, whom we had caught mid-stride toward the front entrance.
"Officer Fangmeyer, stop right where you are!" Judy barked, pulling out her taser.
Fangmeyer stopped and slowly turned around to reveal that he was not Fangmeyer at all, but rather another Bengal tiger wearing his uniform.
"You arrived a bit sooner than expected," he remarked. "That's unfortunate."
Before Judy or I could ask any questions, a lumbering white rhinoceros wearing Officer Krumpanski's uniform ducked out of the control booth and locked eyes with me.
"Jeff," said Fangmeyer's imposter, earning the attention of the huge rhino who had just appeared on the scene. "We're running a bit short on time. Eliminate these two and join me outside. Be quick about it, if you would?"
"'Jeff?'" I asked incredulously.
The rhinoceros nodded and turned his attention back to us.
I gulped. "Oh boy."
The towering fellow stepped out completely, exposing the sheer size of his body. He was much bigger than Krumpanski was, and the uniform was a tight fit on him, showing the insane musculature underneath.
I put my paws up diplomatically. "Listen, Jeff. We can work this out."
He slowly approached us, shaking the ground with each step.
"You seem like a stand-up guy. Really you do," I continued. "We can talk this over like civilized mammals, right? Buddy?"
Jeff maintained his course.
"Alright, this isn't working," I gave up diplomacy. "Hit 'em where it hurts!"
Judy and I both fired our tasers, delivering a combined 100,000 volts into the target's body.
Jeff roared, presumably because the shock didn't feel very good but alas, he did not go down. Instead, he picked up a nearby vending machine, ripping its bolts straight out of the floor.
"Well crud," I muttered as Jeff threw the machine straight toward our heads.
The vending machine plowed straight through a pillar in front of us, sending concrete and rubble our way. The machine flew over our heads as we both dropped to the floor and crashed into the wall behind us.
I looked back to see that there was now an eight foot-wide hole where the wall had once been.
I laughed nervously. "Well, Jeff sure can pitch. I'll give him that."
We looked back toward the entrance to find that our assailants were both gone.
Meanwhile a timberwolf with a torn uniform limped his way out of the control booth.
"Wolfard!" Judy called, running toward him. "Are you alright?"
He nodded. "Broken arm but I'll live. Delgato's unconscious. Thought for sure that was Krumpanski at first. Shouldn't have opened the door for him. Should've been watching."
"It's not your fault," Judy tried to comfort him.
My transmitter beeped as I brushed rubble off of my uniform. "Officer Wilde? Acting Officer Small here. A big white van just pulled up out front. There's two police guys jumping in. They seem to be in a pretty big hurry. Is that supposed to happen?"
Judy and I exchanged glances, trying to decide what to do.
"Well?" Wolfard asked expectantly. "What are you two waiting for? Go get 'em!"
We both nodded and started running for the front entrance.
Judy grabbed her radio. "Chief, we've got two suspects impersonating Officer Fangmeyer and Krumpanski. Both are extremely dangerous. Assailants are attempting to flee the scene in a large white van. Officer Wilde and I are in pursuit."
"Acknowledged," Bogo responded. "Don't take any unnecessary risks, Hopps."
When we finally made it outside, I could see the van burning its way out of the area onto the street.
"You're not getting away that easily..." Judy said as we both ran to the cruiser and jumped in.
"Oh, finally you guys are back," Lewis sighed in relief.
"Into the pocket, kid," I ordered. "It's gonna be a bumpy ride."
Without objection, he climbed up my chest and into my breast pocket with only his head poking out while Judy revved the cruiser's engine and switched on the sirens and pursuit lights.
Our heads were thrown back against our seats as the cruiser accelerated, screaming its way out of the prison parking lot and onto the road.
We followed the tire marks the van had left at first, since they had burned some rubber on the way out, but pretty soon their tail lights appeared a ways in front of us.
This wasn't surprising, as the cruiser was built to be one of the fastest vehicles in the city. Nevertheless, they showed no signs of slowing down.
I grabbed the microphone from the dash and turned it on. "Pull over! I repeat, pull over immediately or we will use force!"
The van suddenly made a sharp right turn, obviously heading for the more populated areas of Sahara Square.
"They're gonna try to lose us in the city," I spoke to Judy as she swerved past a slow moving car.
"Not if I have anything to say about it," she said through gritted teeth, staying firmly on their tail.
I grabbed my radio. "16 County to dispatch, we're in pursuit of a white van, model unknown, carrying at least three suspects, two of which are a tiger and rhino known to be impersonating Officers Fangmeyer and Krumpanski. Vehicle is heading west on the Sahara Strip at approximately 75 miles per hour in moderate to heavy traffic. Assailants are unresponsive. Backup would be appreciated."
"Copy, 16, backup is on the way," a voice that clearly belonged to Officer Clawhauser from the station replied. "County, all patrols, proceed to Sahara Strip. Suspects are driving a white van."
Judy seemed like she was in the zone, weaving her way through heavy traffic as she followed the speeding vehicle. The lights around us, both from buildings and cars were whooshing past us fast enough to appear as a mere blur.
"Jeez, these guys are gonna kill somebody," I remarked.
"Let's make sure that doesn't happen," Judy said back. "I'm gonna get in close."
We were slowly gaining on the van. I had an idea of what she was planning but I wasn't sure how wise it was to do alone. The situation was growing more delicate by the minute.
Then, as if to dispel my fears, more red and blue lights could be seen up ahead. The other officers in the area had set up a barricade. The van in front of us was going too fast to make a turn without crashing, and we wouldn't allow them to slow down, being only a few feet away from their rear.
"That's the good stuff," I celebrated. "We've got them properly boxed in. They've got nowhere to go."
To my dismay, however, the tiger in police uniform stuck his upper torso out of one of the rear windows of the vehicle, looking straight back at us.
Not sure what he was about to do, we watched as he gave a carefree smile and a gentle salute our way.
Just after that, there was a ripple in the air. Light seemed to bend around the van in front of us, enveloping it completely until the vehicle was no longer visible. Then, the ripple disappeared and reality snapped back together with a loud "bang" and gust of air that shook the entire police cruiser. The van was gone.
Realizing that we no longer had a target to pursue, Judy slammed on the brakes, causing us to skid to a stop just before hitting the police barricade.
For a moment we sat in silence. I was finding it hard to process what exactly I had just seen, and from the looks of it, Judy was too.
"Where did they go?" Judy asked in disbelief.
"If I had to guess," Lewis, whom I had almost forgotten was still sitting in my pocket, spoke. "probably the same place my mom went."
Could that really be the case? I thought.
The officers who stood next to the barricade in front of us with weapons still at the ready, scanned the area in awe. They had seen everything play out just like we had.
"I have a question," Judy said casually.
I threw my paws up. "Shoot away."
"The license plate on that van was registered to a place called 'New York,'" she recalled. "You have any idea where that is?"