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 stares 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 Aerobic Fitness Center 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!”. The two 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 already got 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 girl 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. “Twelveth 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,” she 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-five. 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.