Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Typhon began its slow ascent into the desert sky. It’s slightly larger sister, Echindna, followed and added its pink, orange light that turned bright yellow just as Cerberus, larger than both suns combined and brighter still, peaked above the horizon and outshone the two smaller suns. The light only seemed to grow brighter, already scorching the massive city below.

Zooasis. A vast metallic beast that sprawled across the desert canyons and held a reputation as the worst, crime-filled, backwoods colony in civilized space. It had started as a quaint enough little settlement surrounding a cool oasis on the canyon floor, shaded from the suns by the tall canyon walls. It soon grew outwards and upwards and a settlement of 300 mammals quickly became a megalopolis of half a billion souls, the original oasis site now an industrial level that produces the vital minerals necessary for interstellar civilization and found only on this world.

The surface looked inviting enough. Gleaming towers of chrome and steel stood tall above the desert floor and mesas, radiating outward from the rich commercial section in a perfectly planned, circular arrangement of clean highways and glittery homes and stores. This world was for the mammals who had money, who could afford air conditioning and growing their fur long. The bankers, the administrators, the politicians, the executives. The lower levels where it was cooler contained the rest of the population where poverty and despair grew thicker and heavier the deeper one went. Even below the polluted old canyon floor, mammals envied the ones living in the industrial levels.

Back on the homeworld, mammals dreamed of traveling to the stars for adventure and a new life. In Zooasis, mammals only dreamed of escaping this hot, barren world that they somehow found themselves on. If anything, the only ones who would willingly travel all those light-years to Zooasis out of all the other far more pleasant colonies now are mammals running from something or barbers who make a killing trimming the excess fur of the poorer mammals who feed the giant metal beast of the city with their labors.

Just like any other beast, Zooasis has its organs and veins; it’s districts and highways, and much like every highway in every other colony, they start to fill up with hovercars as soon as dawn breaks, feeding its districts with the life giving commuters it needs to live, to grow. However, much like a bloated and overfed beast, its veins are prone to clogging and the first traffic jams of the day start congealing in the arteries of the city which brings inbound traffic to a standstill.

Outbound traffic on the other hand...

Minutes ago, an old, grungy hovervan carrying a motley crew of four bank robbers fled the First Colonial Bank of Zooasis after seizing what holdings they could acquire. With a newbie beaver on his first job, an anxious antelope drove while an irritated black sheep lobbed grenades and a crazed raccoon poured laser fire out of their back windows at the hovercar giving chase.

It was a dark green luxury hovercar. Or it would have been 50 years ago during the Boom Years. Still it had strong repulsors and an 8 turbine engine that would put many sports utility hovertrucks to shame. It also had a body like a rock, made of good old fashioned steel and not like the newer, cheaper algae polymer crap. If only it had better fuel economy, but the driver didn’t care. Inspector Judy Hopps liked her hovercars built like battleships. It made car chases easier and quicker to resolve.

With a grunt, Judy rolled down her window, pausing only to swerve out of the way of a flying grenade or a stream of laser fire. Once the window was down, she reached into her coat, pulled out her laser pistol and began lobbing laser fire back at the fleeing hovervan.

To call it a pistol was an understatement. The way she welded it and its size compared to her rabbit stature made it look like a laser cannon if anything. It was more suited for medium sized mammals but she didn’t care. She had developed the muscles just to hold it with one hand and handled the recoil like a pro. Others tried talking her into a more reasonable sized weapon, weapons that had significantly less punch than her laser pistol. Besides, what other small weapon can provide the satisfying results of an exploding raccoons head from one direct laser pulse?

The beaver pulled his raccoon friend’s headless body back into the hovervan, “Shit, she got Jimmy!” he cried out. The body flopped onto the black sheep, making her let out a noise of frustration and disgust.

“Get that shit off me, asshole!” she screeched at the beaver, digging through the gym bag at her hooves for more grenades.

Judy only set down her gun momentarily to wipe the vaporized gore and blood off her face, “Fuck me, I just had this suit dry-cleaned!” she grumbled. A spray of the windshield wipers and she picked her laser pistol back up again, sending laser pulse after laser pulse out front.

A nervous voice crackled to life on her radio, “Dispatch to Inspector Hopps, dispatch to Judy, what’s your 10-20, over?”

With a grumble, Judy set her laser cannon back down on her lap and switched hands to grab the radio, “Hey there, Clawhauser. What’s up?” she replied as sweetly as she could.

Any semblance of professionalism from the voice vanished in an instant as he spoke in a hurried but hushed tone, “Judy! You’re supposed to be on vacation! The Chief’s orders!”

“But I am still on vacation, Clawhauser!”

“Judy, Chief Bogo is really mad right now and-”

A new, angry voice crackled on the radio, “Give me that… Hopps? HOPPS! Please tell me you’re not the one chasing a hover van down LR 520, are you!?”

A grin spread on Judy’s face, “You got my car bugged or something, buffalo butt?”

“Every fucking newsglider has a live feed! I can see you RIGHT NOW!”

Judy scanned the skies for a moment but it didn’t take her long to find a couple newsgliders making slow circles over her position. Momentarily setting the radio down, she waved cheerfully at them.

“HOPPS!” Bogo’s voice sounded almost impossibly angry now, “Stop your pursuit NOW! DO YOU HEAR M-”

She didn’t let him finish his sentence, instead opting to throw her radio out the window and cooly resume shooting. “Yeah, yeah, yeah…” she muttered, picking her pistol up again.

The antelope squinted through his rear view mirror at the pursuing hovercar, his eyes widening with horror when he saw who it was, “HOLY SHIT, it’s Judy on Duty!” he shrieked, “We’re completely fucked now!”

The black sheep slapped the antelope upside the head, “SHUT UP! Let me fucking think!” she shouted, poking her head between the front seats to look out the windshield and up at the highway signs. An idea clicked in her head.

“There! Turn off here! We’ll lose her in the mall!”

The antelope and beaver blinked at each other before looking at the clearly insane black sheep, “Did you say IN the mall?” the antelope asked, not sure whether he heard right.

The black sheep returned to her seat, “That’s what I said, predfucker! Now drive!” she shouted as she cocked her grenade launcher and leaned back out the window. With a jerk of the wheel, the antelope drove the hovervan through the polymer delineators and left the highway. Judy followed close. The exit fed directly into the mall parking garage and into the mall itself, the chase smashing through the glass doors of the mall. “Typical.” Judy thought to herself as she followed the hovervan in a shower of glass.

The glass soon turned into a shower of toys as the chase took a left through the little cubs section and then straight through the brick toys until they came out into the mall interior itself. The crash of drywall and glass sent the mall patrons into a panic, dropping their shopping as they scurried out of the way of the two vehicles veering around benches and planters. Judy almost had to take a moment to compliment the spaciousness of the mall as the chase smashed through a formal clothing store. Musical instrument stores, hovercar dealerships, it seemed no store was spared and as if saving the best for last, the hovervan plowed straight into a JCDonkeys.

Piles of clothes quickly piled on the hovervan’s windshield, “I can’t see!” the antelope shouted, struggling to pull the stack out of his vision. A few more attempts and the stack of clothing fell cleanly off but not before the hovervan slammed into a concrete support column at full speed.

Having pulled up to the scene, Judy put her hovercar in park and casually strutted to the smoking crash with weapon in one paw and spinning a pair of pawcuffs in the other. The antelope and beaver were killed instantly, two bloody spots where their heads smashed through the windshield and against the concrete column. The sheep however was still conscious and hanging out the passenger window, groaning from her clearly broken arms. Still disoriented, the sheep looked up at Judy with an expression that went from shock to fear.

“Please, Judy, just let me go, alright?” she pleaded.

Judy looked down at the sheep with annoyance. Slowly she raised her pistol, “No sale.” is all she said before bringing the pistol’s butt down straight on the sheep's forehead.

---

The door handle had dug quite a deep indentation into the wall of Chief Superintendents office. The building staff had done everything to stop the wall from being damaged but as long as Inspector Judy Hopps was still on the force, it was just an exercise in futility. Especially on a day like this.

Judy simply looked back at the Chief with the same smug look on her face. Chief Bogo, however, was seething as he walked to his desk with a larger than usual manila file under his arm.

“Judy, at any point of what I’m about to - GET YOUR FUCKING FEET OFF MY DESK - of what I’m about to say, let me know if any part is incorrect or wrong, alright?”

Bogo sat hard on his chair and began to unpack the manila file, “On the first day of your 2 week vacation, you chased a group of four bank robbers from the First Colonial Bank of Zooasis through rush hour traffic, ran two garbage robo-truck off a bridge that fell 50 levels onto a mineral refinery, drove over about 20 cars including the governor's motorcade, destroyed an entire row of toll booths - I don’t even know how you managed that! - ran another 31 cars off the road, SMASHED through one of the largest malls in Zooasis and in the end only one of the suspects survived and is in intensive care, ALL costing Zooasis taxpayers roughly 4.5 million credits as of one hour ago. Is that about correct?”

Judy sat quietly until she started to scratch her chin and hum to herself quietly as if in deep contemplation. It was a long silence before she answered with her trademark patronizing smile, “I don’t remember the garbage trucks but yeah, that about wraps it up.”

Bogo glared furiously at the rabbit in silence.

Rolling her eyes, Judy figured that she ought to at least attempt to defend herself, “Look, Chief, what’s the problem? I got the bad guy and recovered the money, so win for the good guys, right?”

“You wrecked 39 cars!” Bogo finally exploded, slamming his fists on the table, “And all for a paltry… 18,000 CREDITS?! The governor is right up my ass about this and he is NOT HAPPY!”

“I don’t think anyone would be happy up your ass, Chief. Although, now that I think about it, I do know there’s a deviants club in the Purple District of New Rodentia that-”

“Shut your big fat mouth, Judy!” Bogo’s fist slammed the table again. Judy could have sworn she heard splintering wood, a first for her tireless crusade against what was left of Bogo’s calm demeanour. “You’re a loose cannon, Hopps! A renegade! And the governor is demanding that you be reeled back in!”

Judy scoffed in mock terror, “Oh no, paid suspension again?”

It was time for Bogo to smirk as he stood up with another manila file, walking ominously to the renegade rabbit, “Even worse.” he said lowly, dropping the manila file on her lap, “Here’s your new partner.”

A look of confusion grew on Judy’s face before Bogo’s words connected in her head, a hint of panic spreading on her face, “Woah, wait a minute, Chief, are you fucking with me here?” she asked, picking up the file with two digits as if Bogo literally threw used tissue paper on her lap, “I don’t need a new partner, I do good alone.”

“Judy, departmental rules state that-”

Judy lept up and slammed the file back onto Bogo’s desk, “No, fuck the rules, Chief! I don’t do partners!” her cool, smug appearance shattered under the revelation that she would have to suffer the indignation of being partnered up.

It was time for Bogo to bring the final hammer down on this one. He had given Hopps plenty of leeway but this incident was the last straw. “This is not a request, Hopps! This is an ultimatum! Either you take this partner or I’ll take your badge. Is that clear?”

The two stared each other down intensely. It always amazed, and maybe even scared a little, Bogo the power of Judy’s presence, especially for such a little rabbit. He’s seen her intimidate an elephant once during an interrogation and even take down a group of tigers and rhinos singlehandedly in another and all she got from the altercation was a claw scar on the side of her face that only added to her aura of intimidation.

Thankfully, Judy was the one that backed down and with a deep sigh of resignation, she reluctantly opened the manila file, “What’s his name…”

Bogo opened his copy and began to read down the file, “Inspector Nick P Wilde. Graduated top of his class, 5 purple shields, 12 various MPD’s, Medal of Valor, 3 Police Combat Crosses, and 2 Medal of Honors with the highest commendations from the past subsequent 3 Commissioners themselves and a 20 year veteran of the Neo Zootopia police division.”

Judy snapped her eyes back up at Bogo, “A fucking transfer, Chief, ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!” the officers outside could clearly hear Judy through the frosted glass of Bogo’s office now, stopping to eavesdrop just a little, “Why the fuck would someone from the homeworld even want to come out to this little shit show?!”

Bogo didn’t even bother hiding his self-satisfied grin. “I don’t know why but rest assured, he is a by-the-book officer who the governor and myself are very confident will be a lasting and positive influence to you.”

Hopps on the other hand was the picture of panic and already on the third stage of grief, “Wait, Chief, if this is about the damage, I can pay it down eventually or even go to jail or-”

“It’s too late, Hopps. The decision has been made. He’ll be arriving at the starport in 4 hours and he’ll need a ride after the long journey here. Panda Am arrivals, don’t forget.”

The indignations kept piling up on the rabbit’s poor little head, “And now I’m his fucking taxi bitch?!”

Bogo looked at his watch, a seemingly concerned look appearing on his face, “Best not be late. Rush hour starts in 2 hours.”

“Wait, there’s no photo in here, Chief. How the hell am I supposed to know what he looks like?”

“Oh, no need to worry about that. He has your dossier too. You’ll know him when you see him.”

Unable to find the words, Judy just scoffed and lept off her chair, making a beeline to the door. Before she closed the door, she peaked back in, giving the buffalo her heaviest look of utter betrayal, “Just so you know, Chief, this is a crock of shit. And after all I’ve done for you…” she whimpered with a tone of hurt in her voice before she slammed the door, cracking the frosted glass that bore his name.

Bogo grumbled, picking up the phone to call the building staff again, “I hate that rabbit, but damn it, she’s the best we’ve got…”

Chapter Text

Bullshit, rush hour starts in 2 hours.

Zooasis traffic is always a disaster during rush hour. Somehow a 108 lane highway grinds to a halt because one mammal miles ahead and hours ago decided to do a brake-check or leap across multiple lanes of traffic in seconds. These random events only start a chain reaction that turns the entire highway into a surprise loud parking lot, one which at least Judy was always prepared for, having brought a salad to munch on while she sat in traffic and listened to the game on the radio.

If the highways were clear, the starport would have just been half an hour away. During rush hour however, it took Judy the full 4 hours Bogo gave her. Is it even a rush ‘hour’ if it lasts for 6 hours? It was agonizing, being able to see the control tower and ships landing from the highway but only inching ever so slowly forward. She was almost tempted to raise her repulsor limiters and drive straight over the hovercars in front of her like this mornings chase, but she was fairly certain the Chief would waste her time in his office again so she held herself back.

Finally she was able to squeeze in behind the hovercar in front of her and zip down the exit to the airport and into the arrival zone, parking in front of the Panda Am gate. With great reluctance and a heavy sigh, she stepped out and leaned on the side of her hovercar, waiting with the other waiting mammals and shooing away any parking enforcement officers with her badge.

The starport was busier than Judy expected for Zooasis. The dull hum of the crowds were regularly drowned out by the frequent rocket engines that roared overhead. The last time she went through the Lionheart Memorial Starport was when she was ‘promoted’ to Inspector. It was hard for her to believe she was so naive back then where the ‘Big Plan’ was she was going to work hard and brown nose the Chief Superintendent. Then after several years, transfer back to the homeworld to take a Superintendent position in a cushy district in Neo Zootopia.

She even toyed around with the idea of finding a nice, handsome rabbit to settle down with and have a modest family of 34 kittens in a burrow that looked just like everybody else’s burrow in a suburb that looked just like everybody else’s suburb. Hell, maybe after she raised a family, she could retire to the elite Bunny Burrows, living in one of those fake condos and visiting the fake carrot juice shop below and walk around the fake town square to slowly die while buying useless crap in the fake Tree 1 Imports stores. The Bunny Dream.

What a load.

A large crowd pushed its way out through the sand tarnished doors of the starport and soon the cries of recognition and welcome started erupting from the strangers she was waiting with. A goat couple waved at a llama, two rams greeted each other very passionately, an anteater begrudgingly welcomed what Judy figured was his wife's tiger parents. Slowly the waiting crowd thinned out and soon it was just her in an empty part of the loading zone.

Maybe he missed his flight! She was hoping against all hope that she didn’t have to see his mug, that she could just drive back and tell the Chief with a shrug that he just didn’t show up. It was a nice thought she hadn’t finished until a very well-dressed but lost looking fox pushed his way through the arrivals door.

A terrible feeling started to grow in the pit of her stomach.

The fox, in a new navy blue Armadilli suit, black shirt, and bright pink tie, dragged his suitcase behind him with a manila file stuffed under his arm. It was clear he had never traveled offworld before, his face clearly exhibiting the dumbfounded awe that most newcomers have when they see the chrome towers that surround the starport and obscure the horizon. He eventually stopped in an empty part of the platform in front of her before he opened and read his manila file very carefully.

Oh no.

He looked back up and started to scan across the loading zone. At least he looked prepared for Zooasis though, his fur had clearly been recently trimmed, although you could just barely see some skin around his neck. Eventually, his eyes locked onto Judy and a smile grew on his face.

Oh no oh no oh no oh no.

Tucking the file back under his arm, the fox casually dragged his suitcase behind him towards Judy. Judy, on the other hand, was mentally cursing any and every deity that may have been responsible for her being partnered with a FOX cop. Her life was going to be a living hell and there wasn’t enough whiskey in civilized space that could make it easier.

FUUUUUU-

“Inspector Judy Hopps, I presume.” the fox said, the smugness on the fox's face was palatable. Then again, it seemed every fox Judy ever encountered carried that same look of smugness around with them. Or at least it looked like smugness to her, she could be mistaking it for sickening optimism. The kind of optimism you get from people who still live in their own little bubble.

With a deadpan look, Judy looked the fox up and down, “And you’re Inspector Nicholas Wilde...” the words tasted like ash in her mouth.

The fox extended his paw to the rabbit gently, “Please, call me Nick, partner!” Judy wasn’t sure how but those words sounded like ash in her ears too. It took all her effort to at least appear barely annoyed.

Ignoring the hand, Judy walked around the hovercar and opened the trunk, “Put your suitcase here.” she grunted, trudging and flopping into the driver seat. Nick stood there awkwardly with his paw still extended before he hustled and brought his suitcase over.

They had left arrivals at 5pm. Eventually it became 7pm and rush hour traffic turned into an angry and loud river of light under the pink and purple twilight of Zooasis. For the past three hours, Nick had been attempting small talk with Judy. It wasn’t so much a mutual discussion but more Nick talking Judy’s ear off. She remembered someone saying once that females talked too much. Clearly whoever said that never met Nick and for one brief moment, she wondered if she was actually living her own personal hell, maybe unknowingly gone there after having crashed and died in this mornings chase...

“...and I remember the year the Dammers beat the Longhorns 2-1, everyone in the department was so depressed! You probably would have loved it, although you’d think that it would affect the quality of policing but here’s the funny thing too, the criminals were depressed too, if you could believe! They even connected the loss of the Longhorns to a 15% drop in overall crime across the homeworld, which is just crazy to think, right? I mean to think that-”

“NICK!” Her voice was much louder than she intended. She took a deep breath and readjusted her volume to a much calmer but still irritated tone, “Nick, that's all very interesting, but right now I would really like to concentrate on getting through this traffic and back to the station.”

“Oh, well we could have made that exit over there but it’s too late now.” Nick said, pointing out the window helpfully, “See, that exit gets off on 4th and just goes straight up to the headquarters.”

Judy didn’t know how a fresh-off-the-ship fox knew his way around Zooasis but she didn’t like foxes, let alone listening to anything resembling an order from them. Yet it would have taken her an hour to get to the next exit. A hour of sitting and listening to more inane crap Judy didn’t care about. Without missing a beat, she drove over the polymer delineators and down into the city. Strangely enough, traffic was much smooth in the city. In fact, it was practically nonexistent.

This just opened a new line of ‘small talk’ from Nick, “Well isn’t that just odd? Traffic is really nice down here, it’s almost like back home in Neo Zootopia around the historic district but it’d be super clear on the streets, even around the Atomic Peace Memorial where the old city hall used to be-”

As Nick jabbered on, something caught Judy’s eye as she was driving by a medical clinic. Slowing the hovercar down, she could see some kind of commotion through the clinic windows but she didn’t think much of it until laser fire burst through the glass. Nick and Judy reacted with surprise while a group of masked mammals, a tiger, a bear, and a warthog, ran out through the shattered windows, carrying with them each full sacks and leaving a screaming polar bear nurse with a freshly dead horse doctor on the carpet.

Nick recollected himself and looked out at the scene, “And me without my Smith & Weaselton.”

Judy slammed the console with her fist and the glove compartment dropped down to reveal a surprisingly large assortment of weapons, “Pick one!” she shouted before shifting the engine.

The getaway vehicle wasn’t far off. It was an older hovercar, older than Judy’s own Buck Grand Colonial but it was clear from the massive engine and air intake standing proudly out of the hood that it was built to haul ass. In muscle hovercar communities, it was called a coprunner for good reason and the group of mammals were fleeing in one of the most powerful looking ones Judy had ever seen in a cloud of ionized air.

Nick marveled at the pile of weapons in Judy’s glove box, “I’m almost certain none of these are standard issue.” was all he managed to say before picking up a reasonably sized Bearetta.

“None of them are.” Judy had already pulled out her laser ‘pistol.’ Nick had to do a double take when he saw the size of Judy’s weapon. And just like that, both vehicles started to trade laser fire at high speed down the alleyways and two-way streets.

Judy’s hovercar was a beast but was no match for the coprunner it was chasing. Every corner, every intersection, Judy started falling back a little further behind. Naturally, she got very frustrated “Fuck me, we’re never going to catch them!” she slammed her fist on the steering wheel angrily.

Just then, the coprunner took a sharp turn onto a construction site. It was where they were building a new multilane highway that will certainly be just as jampacked as the highway it’s supposed to alleviate, that is if it ever finished construction. Without traffic or sharp corners, the coprunner was free to gun its engine at full speed onto an onramp and effortlessly flee its pursuer.

Judy was about to let loose another blast of explicit language when something suddenly clicked in Nick’s head, “Wait! I know this area!” Nick pointed over excitedly out the window. “Go through the construction site!”

“What?!” Judy thought she didn’t quite hear him correctly.

“If I remember right, the ramp they took swings around and exits over there! If we can drive through the construction area fast enough, we may be able to catch them!”

She didn’t know how he knew that either but Judy gunned the engine nevertheless and took the hard turn, crashing through the plastic construction cones that cordoned the site off from the road.

All around, construction workers were racing to jump out of the way. Judy’s hovercar was built like a battleship but she made it dance on that construction site, dodging and weaving away from holes and construction equipment while smashing through flimsier plastic barricades. All the while, they could see the coprunner swing around on the highway ramp and slowly come closer.

With her eyes still fixed on the obstacles ahead and screaming construction workers zipping by, Judy couldn’t help but ask in her most nonchalant tone, “By the way… how do you know all about Zooasis roads anyway?”

Nick was already assembling a long rifle he found in the glove box and making adjustments, “When you’re flying through empty space for a month, you have a lot of time on your hands. It just made sense to get a lay of the land I’d be working in before landing.”

Without a word of warning, Nick climbed out the window and sat on the sill, setting up the long rifle on Judy’s hovercar roof. “Keep me steady!” he shouted down to Judy over the wind.

Judy had to swerve to dodge a worker but for the most part she kept it as steady as she could. Glancing out the window, she saw the coprunner quickly approaching the offramp exit she was going to intersect, “Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast!” she shouted back.

With practiced routine and a deep breath, Nick aimed the long rifle carefully at the coprunner before he moved the reticle over the vehicle’s exposed engine block. A moment of clarity and the pull of the trigger…

A laser bolt flew from the muzzle at close the speed of light, traveling the distance in an instant and transferring 50GW of energy into the coprunner’s engine block. While only military-grade engines are capable of taking direct laser fire, even the coprunners high performance engine, with its ability to keep internal parts cool at high speeds, simply could not handle the stored energy from the laser bolt and erupted in an explosion of sparks that lit up the construction site. Yet despite the heavy damage that had flames shoot out of the engines new opening, the coprunner still carried on, albeit at a manageable pace for Judy’s hovercar.

Judy saw the whole thing with wide eyes. The rifle discharge from the roof, the laser bolt, the explosion. She couldn’t help having a newfound respect for Nick’s marksmanship. What he did, she hadn’t been able to do without a lot of misses and capacitor reloads. She only dwelled on the subject for a few moments before the smoldering coprunner sped off the ramp and turned back onto a main avenue.

Traffic was a little busier on the avenue. It wasn’t like the regular two way streets they were on but a six-lane thoroughfare with businesses and shopping centers flanking the road and sloped center dividers that were full of dead vegetation from when the Parks & Recreation Department’s budget got cut. There was more room to maneuver but more chances to crash. Despite the traffic, Judy was right on the coprunners tail.

Nick jumped back into his seat, picking up the Bearetta again, “Get next to them! I’ll try to shoot their repulsors!”

“Fuck that!” Judy shouted before pulling ahead just enough and then swerving to slam the front corner of the hovercar into the back corner of the coprunner. Nick had to drop his weapon to keep himself steady but before he could say anything, the struck corner of the coprunner emitted the familiar click-wirr of a failing repulsor that saw the coprunner list to its side and drag against the asphalt below in a shower of sparks.

The driver had lost control, the coprunner swerved violently and occasionally lifted up from the asphalt before slamming down in more sparks. Without warning, the coprunner hit a sloped avenue divider and launched itself into the air, spinning in brief silence before finally crashing full force into a soon-to-be-opened Bug-Burga shack that immediately collapsed in a cloud of dust and burst water main.

The rabbit whooped and hollered in victory, jumping the curb and parking the hovercar on the freshly laid astroturf in front of the Bug-Burga rubble. She still drew her pistol, ready for any trouble she might find as she approached the wreckage.

Judy edged closer, lowering her pistol only when she saw the passengers were unresponsive after a few pokes. Carefully, she reached over to check their pulses, “Get a medic over here, Nick! The tiger’s still breathing!”

When checking the pulse of the dead warthog, she noticed the sacks sitting next to him. With great effort, she yanked out the three sacks and opened one to find something very curious. Opening the other two sacks only added to the mystery.

“Medigel?” she whispered to herself, “What were they doing with medigel?”

The tiger groaned, stirring in a disoriented attempt to climb out of his seat. Judy quickly slammed the butt of her pistol on the tigers head, sending him back into his seat but not before a matchbook was knocked loose from inside his jacket and fell on his lap.

“What the…” Judy picked up the matchbook, noting the logo for a bar called the Stouts ‘n Stoats. Carefully, she opened the book to discover writing inside, “Who's Duke W...”

Nick had finally regained enough of his senses to stumble out of the car and set paw onto the astroturf, “What the heck did you do?!” was all he could shout, slack jawed and gawking at the devastation that Judy was gingerly prancing in.

Judy disregarded that line of questioning, hopping over to Nick to show him the matchbook, “Check this out. It’s a matchbook from a bar called the Stouts ‘n Stoats. And see inside? Someone wrote ‘Duke W’. I bet if we go there and find this Duke W., we can figure out why these guys robbed-.”

“Are you insane?!” Nick shouted, interrupting Judy and gesticulating wildly at the wreckage, “Look what you did!”

Without a word, Judy looked at Nick, then back at the wreckage, then back at Nick while waving a dismissive paw, “Oh don’t worry about that.” She casually picking up a surprisingly intact burger from the astroturf and offered it to Nick, “Here, have a Bug-Burga!”

“You wrecked the Bug-Burga! Not only that, you endangered civilians with that little stunt on the avenue! What if that car landed on someone?!”

Rolling her eyes, Judy took a bite of the burger, “Jeez you sound like the Chief. Look, just relax, fluff. We do things a little differently out here in Zooasis. Just wait until we get back to the station and Bogo will explain everything.”

---

Judy and Nick sat in awkward silence as Chief Superintendent Bogo buried his face in his arms on his desk freshly stacked with new damage estimates as well as the three recovered sacks of medigel.

“Hopps…” Bogo finally said, his face still buried, “I’m retiring in 5 days and just once before I go, I would like to just drive home to my family, eat a nice dinner then fall asleep in front of the tele. Instead, I’m here with another batch of damage estimates from your latest adventure all because someone took 20 canisters of medigel.”

“But, sir!” Judy protested.

“BUT NOTHING!” Bogo yelled, slamming his hooves on the desk and glaring furiously at the rabbit, “Your actions haven’t just garnered the attention of me and Governor Bellwether! Why do you think Commissioner Jumbeaux sent Inspector Wilde out here?!”

Nick blinked for a moment, then chuckled as if he misheard, “I’m sorry, Chief, there must be some sort of mistake. See, Commissioner Jumbeaux sent me here as part of a promotion.”

Bogo and Judy just looked at Nick before the realization dawned on Judy and she started to cackle wildly, softly and to herself at first but grew more raucous to the point where she had trouble staying in her seat.

A concerned and confused Bogo explained, “Inspector Wilde, I was lead to believe that you were sent out here to keep a close eye on Inspector Hopps here SHUT UP, HOPPS!”

The realization was all too delicious for the rabbit, finally calming down enough to speak coherently, “I bet Jumbeaux told you could transfer back to the homeworld for a Superintendent position in a few years too!” she managed to say between breaths.

Panic started to set in Nick’s eyes, “No, Chief, I’m here for a promotion! I was told I was going to be Chief Inspector!” This statement only elicited another blast of cackling from Judy and the sight of Bogo speechless only exacerbated the situation.

“You’re my kittensitter, bitch!” she managed to say.

Nick was in full panic mode now. “Kittensitter?!”

“Not now, Hopps!” Bogo tried futilely to shush the rabbit.

Judy’s cackling fit started to subside, massaging her sore face and groaning tiredly, “Yes, that’s right! You get one pawpcicle from the freezer and only the cherry flavored ones! And I have to be in bed by 8!”

“Hopps!”

Nick lept out of his chair and slammed his paws angrily on the table, “I want to speak with the Commissioner right now, Chief!”

---

Judy had sat slouched outside the Chief Superintendent’s office for almost an hour. The glass panels and metal walls were well designed to insulate everyday sounds but there was no soundproofing in the galaxy that could quieten Bogo’s angry shouts. Surprisingly, Nick’s shouts carried quite well too. Half way through, there was shouting from the Commissioner through the interplanetary vidscreen followed by more shouting between Bogo and Nick.

Then all of a sudden there was silence. Then the click of Bogo’s office door creaking open and before Judy knew it, out trudged the disheveled and disheartened visage of one of Neo Zootopia’s finest fox officers, his smile and optimism gone.

It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. The little fox's blissful bubble was popped.

Judy casually hopped out of her seat and casually strolled over to the slumping fox. She didn’t bother to hide her grin, “So I guess you’re stuck here?”

Nick let out the deepest sigh a fox could sigh, closing his eyes and nodding reluctantly.

“And we’re stuck with each other?”

A pause, then another deep sigh and reluctant nod.

Judy was already full from the fox’s sweet despair. Her demeanor change to a snarky fake hospitality as she grabbed the fox’s paw and shook it wildly, “In that case, let me extend to you a hearty Zooasis welcome! Inspector Judy Hopps, at your service!”

Nick didn’t resist the handshake, letting his hand be shaken much like his life now, “Inspector Nick Wilde…” he begrudgingly muttered.

A wide, smug smile grew on Judy’s evermore punchable face, “Charmed. Now come on, let’s get you some food and get you to your motel for the night! We got a big day ahead of us tomorrow so I want you well rested and raring to go!”

Chapter Text

Judy pushed a sliced mushroom to the side with her fork before glancing over at Nick’s food. Chopsticks were a pipe dream at this point in her life, but in secret she envied anyone who could use them with the skill Nick displayed. Still unable to tell whether Nick liked the food, she finally asked. “What do you think?”

Nick and Judy had a late dinner at one of the many typical and illegal food stalls that were set up in the lower levels next to a wet market. Plastic stools of varying sizes were stacked next to a long folding table that looked like it came from the dumpster of an office supply store. Many of the neighboring food stalls in the poor districts were set up like this, all with various outdoor umbrellas branded with defunct beer companies and knock off cartoon characters. They were tacky but they served the purpose of shielding patrons from the occasional light rain that condensed from the humid air of millions of mammals’ breaths inside the massive borehole.

The Carlsbear umbrella Nick sat under pattered briefly with a few errant raindrops while he separated a clump of sauced noodles from his plate and crunched on it with pleasure. “I gotta paw it to you, Judy. I didn’t think anyone in Zooasis could make Bamboo Bay styled chow mein as well as they could in Bamboo Bay.” he said, muttering approvals while he chewed.

“You traveled around the homeworld, then?” Judy asked, bending down to shovel another clump of noodles into her mouth messily.

Nick didn't say anything about Judy's terrible table manners but like a good guest, he ignored it. "I've visited every continent on the homeworld. I could give you a brief synopsis of the various places I’ve been."

With a nod of approval from Judy, Nick set his chopsticks down and tented his paws in contemplation. “Let’s see… I drank a few babushkas under the table in the 23rd Okrug of Taigayusk. Gorged myself on shrimp at the steps of the Kookaburra City Opera House for Outback Independence Day… Dined just as well on the regional cuisine in the fast-paced and luxurious ivory coast, very voluptuous lady elephants… Went to the Black Forest and let me tell you, that whole Black Forest Efficiency thing is a myth. The only efficient thing there were the beer gardens. I even visited a few seal settlements at the south pole.”

“So you have been everywhere.” Judy smirked, spearing a cicada meatball before popping it in her mouth, “Lucky. Apart from Zooasis, I’ve never been anywhere outside of Neo Zootopia. My entire world was the Berry Lane neighborhood and to escape, I joined the police force. It was hard, grunt work but it was better than rotting in tenements.”

Judy's mood changed suddenly. It was a subtle change but Nick saw it. "After several years, when the then Chief Superintendent Jumbeaux offered to reassign me to a job outside Neo Zootopia, I jumped on it like a stupid bumpkin. I thought I’d get to see the world but instead I'm stuck here on this dust ball without any chance of even getting back to that tenement."

An awkward silence settled between the two. Nick didn't know what to say and the turn in the conversation took him a little by surprise. He was now starting to wonder if this apparently unstable rabbit was some form of punishment. He pushed those thoughts aside however and attempted to lighten the mood. "Well, I've always been partial to the desert myself. Jammal Madina is beautiful at night but I always liked to drive out into the sands and enjoy the solitude. Zooasis just seemed like a bigger desert for me to explore."

His attempt worked. Either that or Judy was more emotionally unbalanced than he feared. She let out a cackle, "Wait a minute, you came to Zooasis because you liked the desert?" she said, almost not believing the words herself. "No one comes here for the scenery. The only mammals who choose to come to Zooasis are mammals running away from something or morons."

Nick glanced at Judy, giving a nervous chuckle before he fell silent and grinned. He then looked up through the borehole at the night sky, illuminated with the characteristic purple color from the moons. "Yeah, that's me. A moron."

---

It rained later that night on Zooasis. A heavy desert rain that fell rarely and in quick bursts. Whatever rains fell that night dried out in the morning suns. Despite the harsh heat, entire fields of desert flowers bloomed and covered the desert in a floral pink carpet. Many wealthier Zooasis residents flew out to take pictures. Those that couldn't afford hovercars took the shuttles instead. Those who couldn't afford the shuttles stayed deep in the dark lower levels.

It was these lower levels that Judy and Nick were going to. After the morning departmental meeting, they drove to one of the ascender boreholes that dotted the colony. Relics of the mining boom, these ascender boreholes connected all the levels in Zooasis with a massive corkscrew highway that reached all the way to the bottom. Nick thought it strange to call them ascenders but perhaps 'descenders' would have sounded too depressing.

It didn't take long for the sunny term of 'ascender' to be seen as a joke. At level 5, the light started to fade from the air pollution below and the walls started to look grimier and dirty. Street lighting became necessary at Level 16. Shanty shacks started to spring up on the side of the highway at level 21. The humidity started to become unbearable outside. One long and unbroken shanty city began at Level 27, spiraling down into parts unseen.

It wasn't until Level 30 where dehumidifier vents stuck out of the walls, not that they did anything. The governor had them installed to quell a potential riot in the lower levels until she could pass stricter security laws. After that, the dehumidifiers broke down all the time until they finally ground to a halt. Street lights started breaking down as well from the humidity at Level 34 before the odd working orange street light passed by at Level 40. Finally, darkness surrounded Judy's hovercar with only hovercar headlights to show the way and several blurry and faint yellow disks in an otherwise black sky.

Nick had read stories about the lower levels of Zooasis but to see it first hand stunned him. They had gone from a world of brilliant and clean chrome into a swampy underworld. Streets that otherwise would have been pristine on the surface were caked in trash and soggy newspapers. The punishing humidity overwhelmed air conditioners with ease, venting cold humid air into the cabin. Just when it seemed like things couldn't get any more uncomfortable, Judy made the Level 43 exit onto a main thoroughfare.

Despite the neon pink and blue lit buildings that flanked the roadside, Nick could still see the grimy buildings behind the lights. He thought he had seen poverty on the homeworld but nothing prepared him for this. Animals living in crumbling buildings, whole families living on the streets. At least on the homeworld, sunlight and fresh air were a guarantee, even taken for granted. Yet those were luxuries the lower levels couldn't even afford.

It wasn't difficult to notice other differences. Being a predator from a wealthy family, he was insulated from many of the prejudices that affected other predators. He heard stories here and there, but they were always so distant and never directly affected his family’s circle of friends. On the surface, there was but a speckle of predators in a sea of prey. In the lower levels, it may have been a predator majority but both predator and prey struggled to survive.

Judy jerked the gear stick into first and sided the hovercar into an empty parking space that wasn't occupied by an overflowing dumpster or a vehicle shell. "We're here." she said. They both looked out at the building next to them. It was built for elephant sized tenants but was repurposed and subdivided for smaller mammals. There was a glass door that was cracked in places but served as the buildings main window. One could see the 3 floors that pulsed with flashing lights and dulled rock music. Mammals danced inside in a drug fueled frenzy to a rumbling bass that penetrated even into Judy's hovercar. To top it all off, above the glass door was a large neon sign that lit up the air with 'Stouts 'n Stoats.'

"Funny." Nick said, peering up at the sign, "You'd think just by the name alone, it'd be a more mellow establishment. Like a pub or something.

The bass didn't get any better inside. The music penetrated into Judy and Nick's guts. Regardless, they squeezed their way through the pulsing crowd. Nick soon realized the club wasn't just for stoats. It wasn't hard to notice that there were also weasels, ferrets, martens, polecats, and even some otters and badgers in the mix. It wasn't much harder to notice they were all writhing, undulating against one another, practically mating on the dance floor. The suggestive lyrics only seemed to make matters worse.

Despite the unwelcome body contact, the two finally pushed their way to the bar. Behind was a well-groomed and effeminate white stoat in a colorful tank top and streaks of colorful dyed fur running down his neck. He was already hard at work making drinks for two male otters, winking at them with suggestive intentions from behind his shutter shades.

Nick leaned next to Judy, shouting over the music. "Great! We're in an interspecies bar! And here we are, overdressed!"

Judy ignored Nick's comment. She reached over to grab the stoats’ attention, "You know where Duke is?" she asked.

The stoat pulled down his shades and looked at the pair. Both Nick and Judy were indeed overdressed but he seemed to make an exception for Nick. "Depends on who's asking, honey."

Judy was already irritated. She reached to turn the stoats face away from a flustered Nick and into the police badge she held up. "Can the games, asshole. Official police business."

The stoat smirked. "I know my rights, bitch, and unless you have a warrant-"

The word 'Warrant' was naturally on Judy's shit-list. In a flash, her pistol was drawn and pressed into the stoats smug face. Apparently the two male otters weren’t just patrons and drew their weapons, pressing two very large shotguns to either side of Judy’s head.

As much as the sudden appearance of weapons startled Nick, Judy seemed as indifferent as the dancing crowd. In fact, she became even more belligerent to the stoat. "Tell me what I want to know, egg sucker!"

The stoat just grinned. Having a weapon pressed against his face was one thing but seeing two shotguns sandwiching the rabbit’s head made him bold. "I know my rights, prey. No warrant? No talkie!"

"YOU BETTER TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW NOW, MOTHERF-"

"JUDY! Nick shouted. He finally gathered enough nerves to react and move to Judy's side, his head accidentally tapping one of the shotguns pressed against Judy's head. "Sorry... Judy, why don't you let me talk to this fine gentlemammal? I'm sure we can resolve things without unnecessary violence."

"Shut up, Nick.” Judy muttered, pressing her pistol a little harder into the smirking stoats forehead. “Violence is all these preds know."

With extreme care, Nick started to pry Judy's pad's open one by one from around the stoat's neck. "Judy, he seems pretty adamant. Why don't you let me handle this one?"

Judy just glared at Nick’s paws touching hers. No one touches her. She would sooner break her best friend’s face in before letting them touch her, that is if she even had friends. Yet here was Nick, a predator and a fox to boot, trying to pry her paws away. Strangely she didn’t want to kill him. In fact, she felt… calmer?

"Fine." she finally said, holstering her pistol before jabbing a pad into the fox's chest and getting into his face. "If trouble starts, though, I'm coming in. Guns blazing." Feeling her point was made, she moved to an empty table in the middle of the club. The situation eased and the guards put away their weapons, keeping a cautious eye on her.

The table looked recently vacated. There were still half-empty drinks and some errant crumbs from whatever was eaten there. At least the table still had a view of Nick through the crowd, as much of a view as she could get at least. Brief glimpses were the best she got. She shrugged regardless, finishing off one of the half-empty drinks.

She peered at Nick through the crowd like she was watching a slide show. She caught a glimpse of the stoat still looking full of himself while Nick was talking and smiling. Crowds briefly blocked her view between scenes and with each scene, the stoat started to loosen up. Then smile at Nick. Then laugh with Nick! Judy wasn't sure, but she could have sworn the stoat was even hitting on Nick. That sly, charming fox… When the crowd blocked her view again, Nick had already moved away from the bar and pushed his way through the crowd to Judy's table, a wide smile of accomplishment spread on his face while he carried a notebook and a fish shaped pen.

Nick started reading from his notebook. "Our mammal's name is Duke Weaselton. Brown weasel, about your height, buggy eyes, quick on his feet. We can't miss him. Stanley said he was wearing a red biker suit. Jacket, pants, paw covers. Giant drawing of a blue and white pill on his back.

Judy just stared at Nick. "What the fuck was that back there?"

Nick just stared back at Judy. "What? We got our weasel!"

"No, I mean that whole thing where you talked with that pred and laughing and he was even flirting with you! Do you know him from somewhere?"

A smirk began to spread on Nick's face as he readjusted his tie. "Contrary to stereotypes, not all predators know each other. You just gotta know how to talk with other predators, Jude! Not every situation needs to be solved with lasers."

Just as Judy started to get bored of Nick's little life lesson, she noticed from the corner of her eye a weasel by the emergency door. Squinting, she realized he matched Nick's description, biker suit and all, save for the sublaser slung under his arm.

In a flash, Judy reached up and turned Nick's head towards the weasel. This only alerted the already anxious weasel, his eyes locking on the pair as he slowly reached down for his weapon. "This one might." Judy said.

In one slow and cumbersome movement, the weasel pulled out his weapon and fired into the air. Shattered glass fell onto the terrified patrons whom were now panicked and scattering towards the exits.

"FUCK ME!" Judy hollered, pulling out her pistol and punching through the crowd with a surprised Nick following close. With some quick weaving, Nick and Judy avoided the the crowds until they slammed their way through the emergency door. It opened into a much quieter alleyway that exited out onto the main street. The pair ran full speed, leaving the alleyway to where they parked and managed to just catch a glimpse of the weasel escaping on a red hoversport.

"DOUBLE FUCK ME!" Judy screamed as she stomped in frustration. Nick was pretty sure she was making up swear words at this point. He didn't dwell long on the thought before Judy raced to the hovercar and shouted at Nick to get in.

Nick jumped in through the open window, seeing Judy's pads already dancing over her dash as the 8 turbine engine whined to life. Just as he buckled his safety belt, Judy sided out of their parking spot and rocketed after the weasel.

The chase smashed through flimsy plastic barriers and into a long abandoned industrial area. It was a massive, carved out cavern that the first predator immigrants labored in, mining the minerals that made Zooasis rich, at least for the prey overseers that sent the minerals back to the homeworld for a staggering profit. A profit that none of the predator workers saw before dying of silicosis or cave-ins.

When a mineral vein was completely depleted, the mining company just moved on to the next one. The hollowed out caverns still claimed lives. They were popular places for slums but also popular for dumping abandoned vehicles and industrial waste. These would explode or poison anyone long after the mining company left and for now served as a dangerous obstacle course for the chase.

The weasel sped under rusted haul trucks and over waste pools. Trying to get a bead on the weasel was impossible in a space where he could move in any direction. Instead Judy put all her concentration on just keep up on him. He'd have to make a mistake soon...

She didn't have to wait long. The weasel burst through another entry way that exited onto a high bridge that spanned a canyon. The transition from dark to light was harsh but the afternoon suns had descended low enough to shade most of the canyon from the immediate glare.

Judy grinned. The bridge was exactly what she needed and the weasel had nowhere to go but forward. With the tug of a knob, her hovercar rocketed forwards and inched closer.

The weasel knew he fucked up. His hoversport was fast but he didn't think Judy's tank of a hovercar was equipped with a nitros system. He started to panic, glancing back at Judy when he should have been keeping an eye out for that pile of tires. A sideswipe was all it took to disable one of the repulsors that send his hoversport and himself crashing onto the punishing asphalt. The hoversport spun over the edge of the bridge but the weasel received a terrible case of road rash once he stopped and tumbled into a bloodied heap. He lay still, groaning in pain and bleeding from freshly bald spots in areas his suit didn't cover. When he regained his senses and remembered he was still being chased, an irritated rabbit kneed him in the face.

"Duke Wesselton, I presume!" Judy said, offering an annoyed grin to the weasel who was trying to stem his gushing nose.

His nose may have been broken but his attitude sure wasn't. "That's Duke Weaselton to you, you fucking prey cunt."

Judy delivered another knee to the face. "Charmed. Inspector Judy Hopps. ZPD."

The weasel laughed, giving up on his nose and letting the blood flow down his face, "A copper, ey? I got friends in high places so ain't tellin' you nothin', flat foot."

Nick rushed to Judy's side before she could deliver another knee to the face. "Mr Weaselton, Inspector Nicholas Wilde. ZPD. We apprehended three suspects with several bags of standard medigel capsules. We also found a matchbook in the drivers jacket with your name written inside the cover. Now we could charge you for fleeing, resisting arrest, and trespassing but if you cooperate with us, I’m sure we can work something out."

At first, Duke just blinked between Nick and Judy before bursting into laughter, spitting blood at their feet. "A rabbit and fox cop?! Now I've seen everything! Tell you what, fox. Why don't you go suck your prey master’s cock, Uncle Gabu!"

Judy delivered another knee to Duke's face. "Nick, why don't you wait in the hovercar for me? I'll see if this weasel pops."

Nick didn't say anything. He didn't want to say anything. The slur stung more than Nick wanted to admit so instead, he turned and walked back to the car.

This only emboldened the weasel. "That's right, lettuce wrap! Be a little house pred for master! Don't get too comfortable though! You wouldn't do well out in the fields!" Judy's knee struck Duke's face again.

"Quiet." Judy muttered as she reached down to pull Duke up by his collar. "Now start talking! What were you going to do with the medigel?"

"Suck my dick!" Duke shouted into Judy's face before receiving a firm headbutt to his robust snout.

Judy just grinned, her face bloodied with the weasels blood. "I gave up chewing pencils in school. Now let's try this again!"

Duke spat a gob of blood straight into Judy's already red face. "Something the matter with your ears, bitch? I said FUCK YOU! Phone call! NOW!"

An uneasy calm settled over Judy, even throwing Duke off. With subdued annoyance, she scraped the blood from her face before dragging Duke towards the side of the bridge. "Listen, Weaselton. I know you're all about breaking the law. But I do know there's one law you cannot break and that's the law of gravity!" She said with a twisted grin on her face as she hauled Duke over the side.

Before Duke could react, he was already dangling hundreds of feet in the air. "Woah hey hey HEY WAIT WAIT!" he cried out, hanging only by the biker jacket Judy gripped. "Wait, Officer Judy! You can't kill me! You need me to find out what I'm doing about the medigel!"

Judy took great pleasure from jostling the helpless weasel from the bridge, cackling at each cry and shout before she got down to business. "Here's the deal. You tell me about the medigel, and I won't drop you to your death!"

Duke looked up at Judy with hesitation before she jostled him roughly again. "OKAY! OKAY! I'm just the middle weasel! I take the medigel and bring it to some office downtown! 1500 Savannah Parkway on Floor 120! I bring it to some guy called Manchas! Please don't drop me!"

Judy listened to everything until the weasel finished. She smiled and looked down at the distant ground below before looking back at Duke. "Thanks, Duke! Say... do you remember when I said I wouldn't drop you to your death?"

"That's right!” Duke nodded frantically up at the rabbit. "You did!

With a sharp jerk, Judy yanked Duke up until they were face to face. "I lied." That quick sentence was all she said before shoving Duke off into the air. A protest barely escaped Duke's mouth before he just screamed to his doom. The rabbit stayed to watch his figure shrink from view until it disappeared somewhere above a series of industrial waste ponds. Satisfied with a job well done, she skipped happily back to the hovercar. When she slid into the driver seat, Nick looked around, then at Judy with concern. "Where's Duke?" His voice was calm but that hid his growing anxiety.

"What's that?" Judy casually pulled a cigarette out of a fresh box with her lips. It took her a moment to process Nick's question before it connected just as she fumbled through her jacket for a lighter. "Oh yeah! I let him go."

Nick blinked then looked around the car again as if he would find Duke hiding in an ashtray or the pile of empty bottles in the back seat. He looked at Judy again before he bolted out of his seat and to the side of the bridge where the rabbit was talking with Duke. Judy could see him through her side mirror, all the while lighting her cigarette. Nick's form was silhouetted against the side of a sun drenched mesa on the other side of the canyon but his gestures gave him away. He looked over the edge as if looking for something. When he did find something, he started to flail his arms and shout something unintelligible into the air. Judy couldn't quite tell but from what little she could hear, it wasn't civil. After Nick had his little tantrum, he stormed back to the hovercar and reappeared in Judy's open driver side window.

At first he stuttered and stammered for the words at a pace that increased before he finally blurted. “Are you out of your mind?! We don’t throw suspects off bridges! There’s a thing called due process, even out here in Zooasis!”

Judy just rolled her eyes, her cigarette punctuating her big, shit-eating grin. “Relax, blueberries! Due process is looser out here on the frontier.”

Nick grabbed Judy’s cigarette and flung it off the bridge before turning his frustrations back at the rabbit, “I don’t care how loose the regulations are out here on the frontier! I’m technically your superior and from now on, we do things by the book!”

Narrowing eyes focused on the fox’s face, Judy’s paw finding the door release handle with great purpose, “You’re really starting to annoy me, sweetheart…”

Nick wasn’t intimidated at the least. He just folded his arms authoritatively and glared back at Judy, “You can be annoyed all you want, CARROTS. But you will fall in line or else.”

That uppity fox. She was fucking Judy fucking Laverne fucking Hopps. She was the only clean cop that got her paws dirty in this whole fucking city and here was some fresh faced pred telling her how to do her job. The fury in her belly erupted into a plume of rage that kicked her door open and flung her face-to-face with Nick.

"OR ELSE WHAT?!" she shouted furiously at the calm but fuming fox. It was the classic unstoppable force meets the immovable object dilemma.

A low rumble in the ground stopped their altercation and around the corner came a set of blinding lights. They shielded their eyes and by the time their eyes adjusted, a motorcade of two large mammal hovervans flanking a regular sized hoverlimo came to a stop several yards away.

Judy blinked at the light, “Shit, this bitch again.” she muttered.

A blast of laser fire struck the asphalt at their feet just as Nick started to reach for his weapon. “PAWS UP! DON’T REACH FOR YOUR WEAPONS AGAIN!” an irritated tiger roared through a loudspeaker.

Both Nick and Judy’s paws went up, Judy raising them with significantly less urgency than Nick. A barely visible group of large and heavily armed mammals jumped out of their hovervans and surrounded the pair, holding weapons that would easily turn any regular sized mammal into red mist.

After a moment of silence, Nick glanced down at Judy, “Wait, you know who has us surrounded?”

Judy sighed, “Yeah, I know. All too well.” she replied, appearing unimpressed by the show of force.

The motorcade headlights switched off and the extent of their position became obvious. They were certainly surrounded by large and formally-dressed mammals but in the center was a well dressed ewe, smiling in a way that made you wonder, not if, but when she would stab you in the back.

“I know who you are Judy, but I don’t believe I’ve been properly introduced to your new partner!” the ewe said, approaching the pair and looking to Nick. “You must be Nicholas Wilde from the homeworld. Welcome to Zooasis! My name is Governor Bellwether.”

Nick couldn’t help but grin. He had never met a governor, much less a planetary governor. “It’s an honor, Madam Governor!” he ended up blurting out, much to Judy’s irritation.

Bellwether smiled widely and chuckled, “Such a well spoken fox! I already know Judy, and in more ways than one...” she said quietly, suggestively stroking a hoof against Judy’s cheek.

Judy jerked her head away and spat at Bellwether’s hooves. The guards audibly tightened their grip on their weapons. “Save the foreplay, bitch. The fuck you want?”

The outburst made Bellwether frown a bit before she smiled again, “Straight to business! That’s what I’ve always loved about you, Judy!”

One of the things that irritated Judy was that Bellwether liked to walk while she talked. The ewe strolled up to Nick and readjusted his tie, his paws still raised high, “I was just in the neighborhood when I saw your hovercar fly-by, chasing a weasel obviously high on drugs and driving erratically. Seeing as you and your partner are parked on here on the bridge, sans weasel, I trust that he may have said some obviously delusional things in his psychotic state.”

Judy just shrugged, scratching the tip of her ear with her still raised paws, “Yes, he blurted some mumbo jumbo about giant aliens and UFO’s.” she grinned.

Bellwether suddenly snapped her head to the rabbit, her smiling face gone. The ewe stormed up to Judy and jabbed a hoof into her chest much to Nick’s surprise, “Don’t toy with me, bitch! For the sake of you and your partner, you’re to ignore anything and everything that drugged up thug said and forget about it. Unless you’d like to take a road trip into the desert…”

Judy just looked at Bellwether before she smiled gently, “No worries, sweetheart.”

The ewe didn’t say anything. She continued to stare daggers at Judy before walking back to the hoverlimo. She stood at the door and shouted at Judy, “Heed my warning, Judy! For you and your partner’s sake!”

“Is that a threat?” Judy shouted back, Bellwether’s goons piled back into their hovervans.

Bellwether glared for a moment. “That’s a promise!” she shouted back. The ewe duck into her hoverlimo and lead the motorcade away, leaving Nick and Judy in the silent canyon evening with their paws still raised. The instant the last vehicle’s brake lights disappeared in the distance, Judy stormed off to her hovercar, “Take a cab home, Wilde.” she grumbled.

She hadn’t finished buckling up when Nick jumped into the passenger seat next to her. “The fuck are you doing?” Judy finally blurted out after glaring at the fox for an extended period.

Nick had already buckled himself in. “Judy, it would be a dereliction of duty for you to drive off without your partner and superior officer.”

Judy punched her steering wheel. “Motherfucker, I don’t have time to argue this again! I’ve stumbled upon something big and I don’t need some greenhorn tagging along!”

“No, WE’VE stumbled upon something big and technically I have more experience than you do.”

The rabbit could have shouted at the top of her lungs at Nick but instead she covered her face in her paws and quietly hyperventilated to herself. Nick blinked at the sudden change in his partner’s mood. He expected an escalation in their arguing but here was Judy suddenly having what appeared to be a panic attack. Maybe he misjudged his partner.

Finally Judy lifted her head and took a deep breath, “Nick-” she whispered.

“JUDY.” Nick interjected, cutting short Judy’s response. “That little exchange a few moments ago only shows that this goes all the way up to the Governor. If there’s evidence of corruption, we have a responsibility to bring it to light and everyone involved to justice.”

Judy leaned back in her seat, staring into space before she spoke softly, “Nick, going after the governor is going to be dangerous. You saw that little show of force just then. You could get hurt or killed and I don’t want a dead partner ag-” she cut herself short, eyes wide at what she nearly said. Nick’s ears perked and adjusted himself so his body faced the rabbit. Eventually Judy turned to look at Nick, her tough-girl appearance shaking a little.

“I don’t want a dead partner.”

They sat quietly, just staring at each other before Nick spoke softly. “I’m touched, but I’ll take my chances. You said it yourself, going after the governor is going to be dangerous and you’re going to need all the help you can get. Who better to have by your side than someone who can shoot a moving target at high speed from 200 yards away?”

Judy turned back to her steering wheel, thinking before she fired up the engine. “Fine. Fine! We’re stopping for tacos first, however.”

Chapter Text

Night fell on Zooasis, buildings silhouetted against the pink twilight on the horizon. This was the most comfortable time of day before the chilling desert night. Many mammals on the surface would open their windows for this brief moment to let some fresh air in and Judy’s hovercar was no exception. Instead of rolling the windows down, she folded the roof down and her old world classic became a convertible.

Nick scratched his chin with a paw in contemplation, folding his ears down to avoid having them flap in the rushing wind and holding a large cup of fruit juice. “Don’t you think it’s odd that the governor would personally come to warn you to stop your investigation?” he said in between large sips of his drink.

Judy stared ahead into traffic, offering only single word responses. “Nope.”

“I mean you clearly have a reputation with the governor, who claims to already know you. She then must know you’re not going to stop your investigation.”

“Nope.”

“With the governor's own personal warning and your own stubbornness, I can only conclude that whatever involvement she has with the medigel will coming to a head very soon. If that’s true, we may not have a lot of time left.”

“Nope.”

“Whatever she’s planning, we may only have a few days to stop it, maybe even just hours!” Nick said, setting his drink down in a cup holder. “We need to move fast.”

“Yup.”

Nick and Judy parked in the dark alley next to a tower they stared up at. This was where the weasel directed them. It was a pretty bland tower, almost suspiciously bland in comparison to the twisting and lively towers surrounding it. This tower was a brick. A giant, glass brick with windows and nothing else. Not even a post number above the lobby door they stood in front of.

“This is the place.” Judy said.

Nick whistled to himself, “Imposing little place, ain’t it?”

“It should be.” Judy said as she pulled out a device from her pocket that she started fidgeting with. “This was one of Bellwethers many failed real estate ventures before she became governor.”

Nick smirked, “Compensating much?” He looked back down to see Judy’s device. “What are you doing now?”

“Never seen a bypasser before?” Judy’s bypasser was like a regular police issue bypasser. It had a small LCD screen with a series of various buttons below. Her’s was different though, part of the casing was open and an oversized component stuck out of the gap and into the circuitry inside.

Nick’s eyes went wide. “Judy, we need to have a warrant before we-”

There was that word again. Judy shot a murderous glare at Nick that sent a chill down his spine and through his tail. Without too much hesitation, Nick corrected himself. “We need a ‘w-word’ before we go searching around private property, especially the governor’s property.”

Judy grinned, making some final adjustments. “Relax, blueberries! Like I said, due process rules are a little looser out here. Besides, I disabled the ID transponder so no one knows it’s my bypasser.”

Nick’s eyes went even wider. “You have a ghost bypasser?!” he exclaimed before Judy shushed him.

She would look between the lobby door and her bypasser, muttering to herself codes and procedures to try and open the locks. “I got the alarms down… but the door…” The mutterings grew more frustrated every time her bypasser beeped angrily at her. Her last resort of shaking and punching the door open failed too.

“No luck?” Nick finally said, hiding a sly grin.

Judy grumbled. “Wait here.” she said before storming off back to the dark alleyway. Nick could hear the faint rumble of Judy’s hovercar coming to life. The rumble grew louder until Judy’s hovercar turned the corner out to the main street to where the lobby entrance was.

“Get in.” she ordered. The fox complied, hopping into the open cabin.

“So much for that.” Nick said, buckling himself in. “What’s the next step?”

Judy jerked the shifter and rocketed forward, spinning around the hovercar to aim at the lobby doors.

Breathless, Nick looked between the lobby doors and Judy. “W-wait, Judy.” he said, growing ever more concerned. “What are you going to do?”

The rabbit turned her head to Nick, her face twisting into a grin. “Just a little breaking and entering.”

Before Nick could protest, Judy slammed the accelerator and pinned the fox into his seat. The lobby door became suddenly very large before the hovercar smashed through and sent safety glass flying everywhere. Momentum carried the hovercar into the lobby and through the grand reception desk, coming to a stop by the elevators. Almost as quickly as the cacophony of destruction ended, Judy stepped out into the lobby, leaving the engine still running.

Before Nick could move, he was jolted back into reality by Judy sticking her head next to his.“We should investigate Manchas’ office once you’re done prying your paws out of my dashboard. Watch out for glass! It’s everywhere!”

“That was easier than I thought!” Judy finally chimed in, pulling out her flashlight and handing Nick a walkie talkie.

Nick was still picking out the safety glass from his fur while they ascended the elevator. He side-eyed the rabbit during their whole elevator ride up who either seemed oblivious to Nick’s displeasure or didn’t give the slightest of damns.

“Are you sure there aren’t any silent alarms?” Nick said, inspecting the walkie talkie Judy gave him.

“Pretty sure about that, blueberries. I even got some legally questionable mods on this baby.” Judy patted the coat pocket she kept her bypasser in.

The elevator came to a halt. The doors slid open into a dimly lit and empty office, lines of large mammal cubicles filling the otherwise open space. At first glance, it could be taken for any other cubicle farm but the lack of any type of personalized touches on any of the cubicles raised a red flag. Cubicles always had a stuffed animal or a pointless toy or a mug with a snarky comment, but these cubicles were exactly the same as the other. One computer, a set of random folders, a chair, and various papers pinned to the walls.

The office was too big for Nick and Judy to search together. “I’ll take this side.” Nick said, stepping towards a cubicle canyon and pointing towards the other end. “You take that.”

Judy was about to make a comment to Nick about who was running the show but Nick had already walked out of whispering range. She grumbled and turned on her flashlight, exploring the other end of this cubicle canyon.

The cubicles were imposing, tower over Nick like dark monoliths. They almost reminded him of brutalist architecture in the Taiguskan Union. Designed to intimidate rather than inspire with its harsh edges and blank surfaces.

“Nick, over here.” Judy whispered through the crackling walkie-talkie. “Follow my flashlight.”

Nick looked up to see a flashing light on the ceiling. Dutifully, he followed it to its source until they saw each other and Judy aimed her flashlight to a name plate by a closed office door.

Manchas. This was the place. The two officers looked at each other before looking at the door handle. Slowly Judy reached out for it and just before she touched the handle, she pulled back and pushed Nick forwards. “You know, after you. You're my senior here anyway." she said with a grin. Nick rolled his eyes and opened the door.

It was a typical office, almost too typical. There was a palm in the corner and outdated office art hanging from a wall. The desk was their main interest. A few office toys occupied one side while a computer in sleep-mode sat in the other.

Nick and Judy climbed into the medium sized mammal chair. Judy tapped the keyboard to wake the computer up and smirked when the password screen popped up.

“Almost too easy.” Judy said, pulling her bypasser out and plugging it into Manchas’ computer. The bypasser flickered to life, displaying long sequences of numbers before Manchas’ computer displayed the greeting WELCOME, MANCHAS’, followed by a plain computer desktop.

They both scoured the computer for files and emails until an email caught Nick’s attention. “Judy, look at this.” he said, opening an email that was a long list of incomprehensible procedures and protocols. He skimmed through the list before he came across an interesting bullet point. “The medigel is being rerouted to an abandoned storage room in the basement.”

The elevator ride down was uneventful. When they reached their floor, the doors opened to dark and dusty corridors that they walked into. The fluorescent lights were outdated and many weren’t even functioning. Nick used his inherent night vision for the rest of the way but Judy had to use her flashlight.

Judy finally spoke up after walking through the hundredth spider web. “Nick, are you sure the medigel is down here?” she grumbled, trying to peel a matting of webs off her ears. “This place looks like it hasn’t been dusted in years.”

As they rounded a corner, they came across a large, thick metal door with receptionist desks flanking either side. “This is it.” Nick said. Judy was already bypassing the metal door’s keypad and swinging the doors open.

“That’s… strange.” Judy said, following Nick into a dimly lit but cleaner corridor. “Steel doors like that should swing outwards to protect what’s inside. This one swung inwards.”

Nick glanced back at Judy, “Maybe they were protecting themselves from whatever’s in here.”

One room after another they passed through, each containing advanced medical equipment. Some were recognizable but others Nick and Judy had to stop and try to figure out what it even did before giving up. Eventually they came upon a darkened room at the end.

Something didn’t sit right with Judy and she stopped at the entrance while Nick went in himself. “Nick, wait, this doesn’t make any sense.” she called out. “It looked like an abandoned basement out there but all this equipment is brand new. The paint even looks freshly painted.”

Nick’s paw falls stopped, a silence permeated the area before he spoke with a little quiver in his voice. “J-Judy. You may want to take a look at this.”

Judy pulled out her flashlight and found Nick standing in front of a large transparent pedestal, filled with sickly orange fluid. At first she didn’t know what he was looking at but as she stepped closer, she found something horrific suspended inside.

“Sweet cheese and crackers…”

Judy had never seen such a creature before but from inside the preservation tank, she could tell that it was hideously deformed. She could barely make out an eyeball and what looked to be protruding organs. Stepping back, it could almost seem to be taller than a fox. Judy pointed her flashlight over to what turned out to be even more preservation tanks, each containing a cadaver that seemed more deformed than the last.

“What are these things…” Nick whispered, covering his mouth in disgust.

Judy walked along the line of preservation tanks, shining her flashlight on each one. “Whatever they are, they’re long dead. If they were even alive.” she said before she saw something that caught her attention. “Look at that. The backs of their necks. It’s some sort of radio collar.”

A computer screen lit up behind Judy followed by intensive keyboard clacking, Nick’s silhouette covering most of the computer’s light. “Looks like they were researching bioweapons.” he said. “These things are some sort of genetic super soldier of some kind.”

Judy joined Nick and while he snooped through the computer, Judy rummaged through a pile of papers, all which were stamped by the colonial office and signed by someone she knew all too well.

“Governor Bellwether.” Judy grumbled to herself, throwing the papers back on the desk. “Signed and approved.”

“Why would the governor want an army of supersoldiers?” Nick asked, paws still flying over the keyboard.

“What power-hungry maniac wouldn’t?”

A video popped up on the computer screen. It was a sheep doctor talking through the screen about some type of experiment. Whatever he said, it was well over Nick and Judy’s head.

“... specimens inside the construction were long dead. Regardless, various autopsies were able to gather enough viable DNA to reconstruct the creature in its final form. It bears a striking resemblance to an extinct animal order of primates, which were mammalian in nature but possessed no thick body fur…”

The doctor continued to talk until he finished his statement. An antelope doctor then appeared on screen and started to speak even more technical jargon.

“... for what they lack in any natural defenses such as claws or fangs, they certainly possess exceptional upper body strength. Not to mention that the neuron density of their brains are abnormally high for a…”

The screen then cut to an animal that neither Judy or Nick had ever seen. It stood next to a ruler that showed it to be about 1 meter and 77 centimeters, making it much taller than a wolf. It appeared completely furless and boney with a wide upper body and forepaws that held long digits. What it had for a snout, was a small nub against its face that held two, forward looking hunter eyes that sent a shudder through Nick and Judy. It took a moment for them to realize the animal they were seeing was a normally bred version of the creatures they saw in those preservation tanks.

The scientist continued to talk as the screen cut again to a room. The creature was cornered by several wolf guards, each more uncomfortable and nervous than the last. Without warning, the creature lunged out at one of the wolf guards and tore his throat out. The other guards panicked, firing tasers at the creature that had a scream almost like a pigs. Without hesitation, the creature spun around and leapt at an observing otter scientist whom was torn in half by what could be called its paws. Chaos filled the room, live weapons firing at the creature but seemingly not affecting it. The screen then cut to a series of charts and formulas.

“Gods Almighty…” Nick finally whispered.

Judy turned her flashlight to the preservation tanks, coming to a grim realization. “If… what we saw was what you could call a normal monster… then these must be the rejects.”

“If these are the rejects, then there must be a place where they’re storing all the fully formed creatures.” Nick said. He quickly dug through his pockets and pulled out a thumb drive that he jammed into the computer.

Judy wandered around the room before discovering an array of deactivated security monitors. Flicking the power button, she cursed under her breath at what she saw on every screen. “Better make it fast, slick. We got company.”

Nick walked over to join Judy at the security monitors. “TUSK soldiers!” he exclaimed, turning to Judy angrily. “You said you disabled the alarms!”

“I DID disable the alarms!” Judy cried out, yanking her laser pistol from her holster and waggling it accusingly at Nick as a finger extension. “Maybe YOU tripped something when you decided to just poke around random computers!”

Nick grumbled, racing back to retrieve his thumb drive. With great haste, they both rushed back towards the heavy doors. Nick suddenly stopped before turning the corner on the heavy door, grabbing the back of Judy’s jacket to stop her too. She saw Nick was sniffing the air and before she could say anything, she smelled it.

“Soldiers.” Nick said.

A stream of laser fire poured in through the open steel door, sending the pair scurrying back and against the wall. Once the laser fire subsided, Nick pulled out his badge and held it out in view.

“It’s okay! We’re friendlies!” he shouted out to the soldiers. “I’m Inspector Nicholas Wilde of the Zooasis Police Dep-”

Another stream of laser fire stopped in mid-sentence, forcing him to pull back his paw. Judy poked out to fire a few laser shots at the soldiers before she ducked back from a second spray of laser fire.

“SHIT!” she yelled, making adjustments to her laser pistol. “They got reflective armor! There’s no way we can get at them!”

It looked hopeless and Nick looked around for anyway out. His eyes kept going over his surroundings until he found something that could give him an edge.

“Does reflective armor cover everything?”

For a moment, Judy looked at Nick with confusion. “What?”

“Does it cover absolutely everything?” Nick continued. “Are there any uncovered spots on the armor at all?”

“Well, it’s not a full suit of armor, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s just regular combat armor with a reflective coating; openings around the joints and less coverage at the back.”

“So if you could get close enough, we could get them in those spots?”

Judy let out a big, exasperated sigh, “I guess we could but that’s precluded by the fact that they’d fry us the moment they see us!”

Nick looked at the large fire extinguisher hanging from the wall that he grabbed and barely could lift. “If we can get this extinguisher to explode, it’ll fill the room with a fog of carbon dioxide, giving us enough cover to get close.”

Judy just shook her head dismissively. “That is a ridiculous, insane… Worth a try. On three?”

They positioned themselves, both getting a good grip on the extinguisher before heaving it out into the reception area. As expected, the soldiers fired at the extinguisher which exploded in a giant fog of carbon dioxide that filled the room and stopped all further laser fire.

Judy stepped out into the foggy area with gentle paws. She tried not to gag at the smell but her nose was the only way that she could detect anyone through the fog. She picked up a whiff, quickly approaching a scent that revealed the back of a warthog in the haze. Carefully, Judy aimed her laser pistol into an unarmored part of the soldier's neck and fired. She had to fall to the ground as quickly as the body to avoid the blast of reactive laser fire.

Nick’s gunshot reverberated throughout the fogged area and another volley of laser fire went off. The soldier’s shouted to each other, panic was already setting in. A long silence fell on the area until Nick’s gun fired again, this time more rapidly. The soldier’s were now in full panic, spraying laser fire into the fog cover that had to have taken down a few TUSK soldiers in the cross fire.

A silence settled in the room and Judy could already start to see the fog clear up. She tried squinting through the fog but she could only see as far as the corner of the reception desk.

“Wilde?” Judy called out. No retaliatory laser fire, which was good. What concerned her though was that she didn’t get any answer back.

“Nick?” she called out again, getting a little more concerned. “Blueberries?!”

The fog finally cleared enough to reveal bodies scattered all over the floor. In the center, Nick stood with a smug grin, almost striking a pose for the stunned rabbit.

Judy could only stand and look around at Nick’s handy work. “Nick…” she began. “Nick, I’m impressed.”

Without saying anything, Nick dashed to one of the reception desks to view a security screen. “We’re not out of the woods yet.” he said. “Take a look.”

Judy raced over to look at the security screen with Nick. Several armed soldiers were positioned around her car. One was even resting his big wolf ass on the hood, scratching up what little paint work was left with his utility belt.

It was Judy’s turn for some creative thinking. “Nick, we entered on the north side of the building, right?”

“Well I wouldn’t call it entering, but yeah, we ‘entered’ from the north.”

In a flash, Judy leapt away and started to rummage through the equipment belts of the recently deceased until she pulled out a radio and put on her gruffest voice.

“This is-” Judy quickly looked at one of the dead body’s nametags “-Forager! I repeat! This is Forager! We have them pinned down in the south lobby but they’re doing a number on us! Requesting all units, repeat, ALL UNITS!”

At first Judy wasn’t sure if her plan would work when she came back to watch the security screen with Nick. The soldiers remained around her hovercar until a soldier came running in, said something to them and ran out. The soldier’s reactions were delayed but soon they all rushed out, leaving the lobby empty.

The lobby stayed empty when they raced up the elevator and jumped into the hovercar.

“You.” Nick began, buckling himself up while smiling at Judy. “Are one clever rabbit. Now how do we get past the soldiers?”

“Oh, I have an idea.” Judy grinned. She stomped on the accelerator and smashing through another glass lobby entrance, driving past the confused soldiers in plain, high-octane sight.

“That’s them!” they could hear a soldier shout, laser fire starting to zip overhead.

Nick looked back and gulped. “I hope you have another plan to avoid those hovertanks!”

Ever sure of herself, Judy side-grinned at Nick. “Relax, fluff, I got it handled.”

Highways were an indispensable part of Zooasis’ infrastructure. On top of the city being built over a canyon system, many kilometer wide boreholes dotted the area which made non-highway travel a hassle at best. It was under one of these empty highways that Nick and Judy hid from any patrols that may thunder past overhead.

“It’s been an hour now.” Judy said while she leaned back, looking at the sky through her sunglasses.

Nick was standing upright in the car, the roof still folded down behind the backseat. He glared at Judy, leaning on the windshield. “I can’t believe you just smashed through another glass entrance, right in front of those soldiers.”

Judy looked over her sunglasses at Nick. “We got away, didn’t we?” She grinned at the fox who was about to protest but gave in.

The pair sat silently, wondering what to say next. Judy actually didn’t mind the quiet too much from her parking spot. The highway overhead made things feel cozy and she liked to peer into the massive borehole below. The combined body heat of hundreds of thousands of animals and machines rising up made the lights on the walls quiver and twinkle.

“You were pretty good.” Nick finally said in a low tone and trying to hide a grin. “The getting away part at least. Particularly dodging the laser cannon’s on those hovertanks.”

Judy turned her head to Nick, taking her sunglasses off. “Well, that thing where you shot all the soldiers point blank in the fog was pretty impressive too.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” Judy said, shying away a little. “I… I guess I misjudged you for some clever bureaucratic cop.”

Nick smiled, pressing a closed paw into Judy’s shoulder in a mock punch. “I suppose I misjudged you for some dumb, reckless renegade.”

Judy scoffed and shrugged. “Well you’re not too far off there.”

Something boomed off in the distance. A series of booms echoed off in another direction. It was a boom that seemed to come in from the borehole below that got Nick and Judy’s attention. Soon they could hear the chatter of weapons fire and screaming. They weren’t sure about what they were seeing until a few portions of the borehole wall exploded.

Before Judy could say anything, her phone vibrated. Police Headquarters were lit up on the screen. “Hello?”

“Judy!” an exasperated Clawhauser cried out over the phone, weapons fire chattering in the background. “Thank Gods I got to you!”

“Clawhauser? What’s going on?! We just saw some explosions!”

“It’s the whole city, Judy! Aliens are invading!”

“What are you talking about, Clawhauser? Hello?!” Clawhauser didn’t respond. She could only hear him shout, a laser rifle firing, and the familiar squeal of some creature on the other end of the line before it went dead.

Judy slowly stood up in the hovercar next to Nick who looked at her with concern and worry.

“Shit just got real.” Judy said, lowering her phone and looking back at Nick.