Chapter Text
It’s been years, literal years of services for the ZPD… but I can’t anymore.
Years of services to ingrate burocats, all down the drain in a single day.
Me and Judy had a child, it may not have been ours specifically since our genes do not align, but it was still ours.
It’s been airdropped in front of our door one morning, a cute bunny girl with red fur, she had Judy’s eyes…
We had been living together for a while, splurging our savings on a single household for both of us, that was the third best day in my life.
Being promoted to chief investigator was unfortunately the worst day in my life, in retrospect. How could I have known every damn trouble that would follow this decision?
But really, this was just the beginning, because it would get so much worse…
Out of nowhere, the climate changed, a thick, mysterious fog rained down on Zootopia and destroyed our lives.
The beautiful city, utopia of our lifetime, degraded.
The streets were no longer safe, the police was overwhelmed and anarchy reigned for a while.
This put a strain on our relationship, me and Judy. It also impaired the development of our child, she was growing fast and would grow up in this miserable city we used to call home.
I wanted to quit, leave while it was still time, just to protect them both, but Judy had other ideas.
Why did I listen to her? Why couldn’t I put my foot down for once? If I did, they would still be alive today.
My job as investigator was gruesome, especially in such a noir place.
Maiming, mauling, stampedes and much more happened across the city, and it was my job to elucidate the mysteries, the police, Judy was way too overwhelmed simply keeping the peace among the citizens of Zootopia.
Had it stopped there, it would have been fine… I…
Murders stacked on top of each other, this mysterious fog was affecting us in unpredictable ways, it was destroying the peace among the city, and I was tired.
One day, after a particularly gruesome string of murder resulting in the capture of a loose tiger, I fell to my knees, unable to take another step.
My legs had no strength left, what had become of Zootopia, the place where dreams lived? It was but a shadow of its former self.
Would you believe me if I told you it could get worse? Because I couldn’t.
My anchor, the only thing keeping me from drifting in this world, the only thing keeping me afloat, was Judy.
I could never imagine a world without her, serves me right, because I still can’t.
That’s why, when they busted through the door to our house, I panicked.
Panic is a weak emotion, it’s weakness incarnate, the admission that things are getting out of paws, out of control.
That’s the first thing I felt when I saw these tall creatures obscured by the fog.
They stole our child right off her feet, couldn’t even walk straight, but they dragged her nonetheless.
This wasn’t our child, this was just a kit we adopted and raised our own, we could have gotten another one, we could have made another one, we could have even found her if that was necessary, as long as Judy stood by my side.
But Judy had other ideas.
She lunged at them, head first ready to kick them into the sky, that’s why she never saw the knives flying her way and stabbing her through the chest.
Her body fell flat on the ground, dead, not even a second to say goodbye.
Paramedics took 5 minutes and 23 seconds to come, that’s 6 minutes too late… they were gone, Judy was gone, and here I am, at this bar, telling you this for the last time, because I’m never coming back here ever again.
I’ve kept it all to myself, this whole time, I mean, what else could I have done? I was the only suspect in this double murder, they never found my child’s body. Domestic assault resulting in accidental manslaughter, caused by increased stress from constant investigations and overtime works, I had no chance of ever proving my innocence.
Especially not with these tools, they look like ordinary throwing knives, but they have something that others don’t, feathers.
The real culprits left these on the scene, but there’s no way I’m ever finding out who they are, there’s no way I’m ever finding my daughter again, there’s no way I can live with myself, not anymore.
As Nick Wilde caressed the sharpened metallic feather, he wonders how it’d feel on his neck, or in his heart.
He was talking alone in the bar, to no one in particular, he was a regular here and they stopped caring about his ramblings.
Nick kept looking at the blade, more intently, scrutinizing it so much it almost cut his eye.
This time, for real, he’ll do it, he couldn’t flee from his responsibility no more, he had to do it to honor their lives lost.
He stood up and began to walk towards the door, before he got stopped by a large cloaked figure sitting, sipping on a beer.
“Your story, is it real? You’re really the infamous Nick Wilde?”
Nick’s eyes widened a bit, but they quickly faded back into obscurity, for his name only evoked contempt from everyone. “Yes, that is, unfortunately, my name.”
Nick brushed it off and kept walking, truly determined this time, to take his own life, no more dilly dallying around, there was nothing left down here, no one left to care about, not even himself.
Before he could cross the door, he heard again, this large figure ask him something.
“Would you like to find her again? Your daughter I mean?”