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Chapter Text

Time and date: 21:53 - Saturday, 20th June 1981

“Remember to be wary around predators. We have bears to fear, say nothing of lions, and wolves, weasels… You know what, pretty much all predators, and Bunnyburrow’s full of ‘em. And foxes are the worst.”

Stu was having a stern talk with Judy after she had given her parents an exciting update from school. The doe had always liked playing guitar, now she had finally found three other mammals to form a band with. There was a woodchuck, a squirrel… and a racoon.

The latter of which greatly worried Stu. He had sat down his fourteen year old daughter after dinner to inform her of such. “Dad, he’s so shy, Rhoy wouldn’t keep a fight going even if he got bullied,” Judy reasoned. “You only just met him, though. Right?” interjected the older buck. “You know what trouble Gideon keeps causing…” He sighed. “I just want you to be safe, okay dear?”

Judy took those words to heart. She wanted to be safe too. There were currently no predators in her life, so who was she to defend someone she knew nothing about? Sure, the racoon in question played bass guitar in her band but there wouldn’t be a need to hang out after practice. The doe would much rather spend time with her crush anyways. Everything considered, though, she still found it upsetting just how dismissive and disrespectful her father was when talking about predators. Gideon Grey was a jerk that just so happened to be a fox, but Judy also knew plenty of bunnies who were jerks.

Thinking back to what she liked to do in her free time, Skippy had asked Judy to come to Happytown later this night to hang out at a new spot the two of them hadn’t been to before. So nearly as soon as Stu had left the room to spend the rest of the evening preparing another basket of produce for a bully baker, the rebellious teenager decided to grab her skateboard and sneak out of her room to meet a handsome buck late at night.

Time and date: 22:27 - Saturday, 20th June 1981

Before Judy had even arrived at the planned spot Skippy had suggested, the bunny had to pause. A large and intimidating cape buffalo was talking to a buck.

“Sheriff Bogo, I didn’t drink anything!” he insisted. “Like I told you already, I was only asked by my friend’s parents to take the bottles to my parents as a gift.” The enormous bovine grunted disapprovingly. “Splendid. In that case, I’ll accompany you to them,” Bogo said, causing two grey bunny ears without black tips to droop down. This was bad, Judy had to help somehow.

“Hey, Skippy,” she greeted with a forced dose of happiness. The buck’s ears shot up, then they drooped down again. It seemed he didn’t want the doe to see him in such a compromising position. The buck’s nose didn’t stop twitching slowly. “Ju… Judy,” the nervous bunny stammered. “Hopps,” Bogo greeted bluntly. “Good evening, sheriff, what’s going on?” she asked daringly.

“Might you have any alcoholic substances on you?” The bovine asked. Judy’s ears had been alert before, now they shot up a little further. “Excuse me?” the doe asked in surprise. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

After another grunt of disapproval from the largest mammal in this conversation, it was Skippy who continued talking. “Sheriff, she has nothing to do with this,” he insisted. The two teen bunnies exchanged worried glances. “In any case,” the booming voice demanded everybunny’s full attention. “Whitaker, I will accompany you to your friend’s parents. If the two bottles in your backpack did not originate from them, you will have to have a stern conversation with your own parents. Slacker!” The buck looked positively terrified, Judy was now certain he had wanted to surprise her with some drinks to impress her. What a silly boy, the doe was already head over heels for him.

“Hopps,” Sheriff Bogo continued. “You better not keep loitering here either, this neighborhood might be unsafe and I don’t want to arrive at work tomorrow, just to find a report on my desk about one of my officers needing to rescue you out of a precarious situation.” The doe hadn’t been in this part of Bunnyburrow before. It had always been her assumption, however, that there were no traditionally dangerous areas in the whole Tri-Burrows. She tilted her head to express her confusion.

The sheriff sighed. “Let me give you some pocket change’s worth of free advice, young lady. Almost every citizen who lives here in Happytown is a predator. There are only a dozen foxes living in Bunnyburrow and they all reside in this jurisdiction.” This information was new to the lapine, she was curious about this uneven distribution.

“Just last week, I had to respond to a call in person. You see this dilapidated garage over there?” Two bunny heads turned and followed the hooved finger of a cape buffalo to look at an unsuspecting building. It was squeezed between a construction site and an empty plot of land. “This place of residence belongs to Doctor Nicholas Wilde, a dangerous lunatic. He claims to be a scientist and inventor, but let me tell you, this fox is a real nutcase, an untrustworthy lowlife.” This gave the bunny pause, she had just heard some certainly very harsh accusations from the sheriff. She wasn’t surprised, most of these colourfully expressive words would accurately describe Gideon Grey too.

There was plenty of doubt in the doe’s mind, however, that this Dr. Wilde would be similarly unpleasant. She was curious about him now. Should the doe perhaps investigate? If Skippy would be taken home without her, and with nothing better to do, perhaps it might be fun to actually get to know a real predator. “Dismissed,” Sheriff Bogo concluded. Then, without another word from either of the two men, the cape buffalo led an uneasy buck to his car and drove off.

Judy wasn’t a bully or a criminal. Only warily exploring that run down garage would be enough to satisfy her curiosity. She would leave before anyone would ever know about her presence. The mischievous and intrigued doe glanced around. Being only fourteen years old meant that she couldn’t go to prison yet, so she hesitated even less than she probably should have. Nobody was anywhere in sight to witness her first and only ever break-in.

The lapine approached the garage, it stood behind a fence. Luckily there wasn’t a lock on it, so instead of needing to climb over the thin metal wires while carrying a skateboard, Judy could simply open it like a gate. How would she proceed from here, though? Surely the actual building itself was better secured against intruders, right? A walk around the whole structure concluded with all windows found to be shut. The doe wouldn’t break any glass panes or cause any other damage, of course. She just wanted to have a look around. This naturally left the front door on the left side as her next immediate destination.

Slowly, Judy tried the door handle. She made sure to make as little noise as possible, so as to not alert any neighbours. The door was locked. The bunny’s ears stood up casually as she pondered her options. An idea crossed her mind, it was nearly too stupid to even try. With one foot, the doe lifted the corner of the doormat.

There was actually a key hidden beneath. Judy honestly did not expect this. She picked it up and tried it, quickly finding it to fit into the door’s lock. After returning the key to where the bunny had found it, she opened up the entrance.

Slipping into the room immediately confronted the teenager with the smell of a fox. It wasn’t as bad as Gideon’s usual smell, was it even bad at all? Perhaps the baker’s usual scent did not represent foxes in general but merely one that did not shower regularly. Judy closed the door behind her.

The bunny stopped and took in her surroundings. There were a lot of shelves and boxes. A television set, a radio, as well as a couple of clocks were some recognizable items present in this room, though a lot of other things were here too. There was a table with a lot of tools scattered around. Beside them laid a lot of papers, they looked like blueprints of sorts. Ice cream wrappers and pawpsicle boxes laid in a messy pile near but not inside a rubbish bin. Judy scrunched her nose at the sight. She left her skateboard at the door.

With alert ears and a wiggle or two of her nose, the adventurous bunny proceeded further into the room. She passed a mirror, not paying any attention to it, then the most unusual sight greeted her. There was a toddler! He was left entirely unattended! The bunny gasped.

The baby was dressed in a cute elephant costume and fiddled around with the fabric. Before the doe had the time to process what she was observing, the young predator scrunched his nose, turned, and froze. Judy stopped dead in her tracks too, her ears shot up and her nose started twitching. Both mammals had wide eyes.

The baby blinked once or twice, then he waddled closer to the bunny. He slowly stepped right past her to look at himself and his adorable costume in the mirror. His eyes looked rather odd but at least he appeared to be greatly fascinated.

“All right, Big Guy,” a voice called out from behind some shelves. “Let’s try the red ones this time. Your favourite flavour.” Judy’s ears felt like shooting up even further, she whipped her head around in time to see a slender red fox come into view. This one was an adult, nearing his elderly years already. He carried a box of store bought pawpsicles. His nose started to move very slightly, then his ears shot forwards. The second fox had likewise smelled the bunny!

The lapine’s nose was twitching, she had wide eyes. The larger predator too looked rather surprised, at least temporarily, as he looked for the intruder. After a brief moment of the most awkward and tense eye contact Judy could ever remember having, the adult predator continued on with his task, placing the box with frosted condensation on a table. Without addressing the doe, he opened it up and started moving its frozen sugary contents into another container, this one was shiny metal. The vulpine then took it and carried it to an odd machine. The fox inserted the metal container into an open slot, like it was a matching drawer.

As the adult pressed a few buttons and adjusted some dials, the baby in an elephant costume waddled over to him to look on in more speechless awe. It appeared like he had only recently learned how to walk upright. Did infant foxes learn how to crawl on all fours first, before learning to stick to their hind legs?

A lapine nose was only barely calming down again. For as long as she could remember, Stu had warned his daughter to be wary of all predators and especially foxes. Now Judy was standing in the same room with two of them! Granted, one of them was a helpless little baby, maybe he was even cute. The costume by itself certainly could be described as such. And the other of them didn’t look nearly as threatening as Gideon did. At first glance, this predator made the bunny wary but she tried telling herself not to make any poor assumptions just yet.

With alert ears, the doe kept looking around nervously. There were so many old boxes and scattered papers. The slender vulpine stood in front of the strange machine, one hand at his chin, the other hanging down leisurely. He looked almost nervous. “What…” the bunny stammered out. “What’s all this about? What’s going on here?” Judy felt rather out of place, because she was. Why would she think asking this fox about something like that would be a good idea when she was the intruder here?

“I want to sell these Jumbo Pops to Jumbeaux’s Cafe,” the predator explained smoothly, pointing out the now empty box of rather small treats. He sounded confident but at the same time sceptical. The doe tilted her head in confusion. “The wild prairie is my favourite time period and not just because of the name. Back then, Jumbeaux’s place was still run by the founder. I’ve read he was an elephant called Jerry. So why not try and get them into the business of selling elephant sized treats too?”

Confusion was at the forefront of the bunny’s attention, though she firmly remained wary too around the taller predator in front of her, even if she didn’t want to. Her father’s words just stuck too deep in her mind. The odd machine exuded noises of bubbling and hissing. “I’ve done the calculations. I figure if I’ll get these small pawpsicles and put them through this enlarger machine of my own construction, I can easily make two-hundred bucks a day. I’ll only need to sell them to the cafe at Carrot Square and call it a day.”

This sounded like a scam to the lapine. Judy was rather disappointed, she had expected better from a sly fox. The doe glanced around some more, finding unpaid bills and letters that looked very official and like the predator was in serious trouble with the law. It was something about finances or taxes, the bunny didn’t bother looking closer.

“So what are you doing here, Carrots?” the fox inquired. Had this chomper just had the shameless audacity to call a bunny ‘Carrots’? “I…” the doe stammered. Had she had confidence and been drastically more disrespectful in this situation, she might have called this fox ‘Bunnies’. Judy was a little disappointed in herself because she honestly couldn’t think of what foxes actually liked to eat. “I heard you’re a wacky scientist and got curious,” she explained. It technically wasn’t a lie, the doe was honest.

The odd machine finally stopped making bubbling sounds. Instead, a red lamp on the side started blinking rapidly and the machine beeped loudly. It was rather unpleasant to the lapine’s sensitive ears. “All right, here goes nothing,” the fox expressed with a hopeful tone as he flicked a lever to turn off the odd device. Judy lowered her ears casually, she was also immediately hopeful this strange machine had worked. Doctor Wilde pulled out the metal box, took a deep breath and then looked inside.

Two fox ears immediately lowered in apparent disappointment. A clawed predator hand reached into the container to retrieve what was inside. The Doc lifted a wooden pawpsicle stick out, the treat itself was goopy, it dripped off slowly. This thing did not look any larger than before. However this machine was supposed to work, it did not do the trick. “Sorry, Big Guy,” excused the adult. “Better luck next time.” The red fox let out a big sigh.

“C’mon, Nick, ya say that every time,” said the deepest voice Judy had ever heard. The doe’s ears shot up all over again, she glanced for the source of the voice. Only a baby fox in an elephant costume met her gaze. He looked amused, nearly smirking. “I don’t think this idea’s gonna work out. Why dontcha go back to that collar thing? That old thing looked more promising than this hunk of junk.”

Judy’s mouth hung wide open, her nose picked up the twitches again. She stared intently at this tiny little predator. He was talking, how was a baby talking? Why was his voice so deep? The doe glanced up to the other fox in the room, hoping for some sort of explanation. Huge infuriating disappointment greeted her in the form of the smuggest and most insufferable of all smirks. “Wha… How…?” the disoriented teenager stammered, she wasn’t following.

“Hey, Big Guy, looks like the costume works,” the tallest mammal in the room remarked. “Do you think Mr. Piggie is gonna fall for it too?” Judy looked between the two foxes, she found the shorter one of the two pulled off his mask, revealing rather gigantic ears. His fur was completely tan. “…He’s so small though…” Judy wondered out aloud. The tiny predator started growling threateningly, the bunny immediately felt her heartbeat pick up. She was suddenly on edge, why did this adorable little child frighten her so much?

“Listen, gal,” he said, addressing the nervous lapine. “I don’t know who ya think you are that you sneak in here. Just don’t call me small and we ain’t gonna have any problems, understand?” The bunny’s rapidly twitching nose did nothing to hide her current emotions. The little fox, perhaps this was an adult fennec, talked not aggressively, he rather appeared annoyed. “S… Sorry,” Judy stammered. “Don’t worry about him, Carrots,” claimed the taller fox while the shorter one left the room. “It’s a sensitive topic, especially coming from a cute bunny.”

“What? Hey!” Judy immediately retorted. “Don’t call me cute! Or Carrots!” The doe was miffed at this annoying fox. First he and his buddy had tricked and embarrassed her, now he insulted her! “See?” the smug predator replied calmly. 

He tipped over the big metal box to empty out the molten ice cream. “Am I to understand that it’s a sensitive topic?” he asked, playing clueless. Judy’s ears drooped down. ‘Cute’ was not really an insult, it was just not something anyone should call a bunny. She supposed the same was true for fennecs and pointing out their size.

Judy sighed, she wanted to change the topic. “All right, Slick Nick,” she started, daring to come up with a nickname of her own. “Do you have other machines here? Any that work?” 

“Do I have other machines here?” The vulpine repeated the doe’s words while stowing away the thing he was working on. “Well yes. Yes, I do. Let’s skip the other question for now.” The fox looked smug and casual but Judy’s ears lowered regardless. The implication was that nothing here was functional. The bunny wasn’t sure how long she should stay. She had come here initially to find out more about this particular fox, she might as well stick around for a little while. He certainly didn’t appear to mind.

“Did you build everything here?” the doe asked with mild but genuine interest. “Which is your favorite?” The predator looked up from the sink, where he was washing any ice cream off of his hands. A smile crossed Wilde’s face, he seemed to like this question.

“I once built an automatic blueberry picker,” the Doc announced. “I love blueberries so one could naturally assume this is my favourite of my inventions.” Judy had a suspicion something wasn’t quite right about it, though. She had her ears up casually and tilted her head in interest. “Unfortunately,” the vulpine continued after a brief pause. “The claws had a hard time differentiating between ripe and unripe berries. And they gripped the plants too roughly. In the end, it was less of a hustle to just pick the berries myself.”

The bunny smirked. “I come from a family of farmers,” she revealed. “Plants need to be treated with care by real mammal hands.” The fox nodded in agreement as he stepped closer to the doe again. “What do you guys grow? A bunch of carrots, I bet,” Doc asked smugly. Judy rolled her eyes. “Yes, the Hopps family, a family of bunny farmers, grows carrots,” she confirmed reluctantly. “They’re my favourite, believe it or not. But we also have fields of potatoes, pumpkins, some wheat, lettuce, anything really. Even blueberries grow on our farm.” This certainly caught the predator’s attention. It would seem Judy had gotten her answer. Foxes, or at the very least this particular individual, liked to eat blueberries.

This conversation was all right, as far as the lapine was concerned. She had not, however, come here to introduce herself. Judy had decided to visit Doc Wilde’s place because she wanted to find out more about him. “Are your inventions always supposed to make things or harvest stuff?” She inquired. “Not exactly” the vulpine informed. “I’ve also got some other things. Be it measuring devices or transportation or other practicalities for day to day life. Of course I don’t build all the ideas I have, it would both be too expensive and impractical.”

“What sort of ideas do you skip?” The doe asked. “Just the silly things?” The red fox gave the bunny a questioning look. “What?” she asked nervously, getting immediately a little defensive. There were several more seconds of silence. The little fennec from before returned with normal clothes for someone his age. He casually sipped on a fresh cup of coffee. Without the baby elephant costume, he looked to be around the same age as Doc Wilde. Judy guessed the two of them were in their late fifties perhaps.

“You know, for an intruder you ask a whole lot of questions,” the smug fox called Judy out on her actions. Two bunny ears flopped down, a smirk remained firmly on the fox’s face. “I…” the bunny looked for a reason. She figured that honesty wouldn’t be a bad option here. “I already told you, I was curious about you. When I saw all those crazy things here, I figured, why not stick around to find out more? You know?” It made Judy uneasy just how little of a reaction the vulpine showed. His tiny companion kept sipping his coffee.

“You know, last time I checked, the front door was locked,” he mentioned. “You, uhm, you forgot the key outside,” Judy reasoned. “It just laid there under the doormat.” The bunny’s nose twitched occasionally. “Finnick,” the taller vulpine started, indicating the fennec with a half empty cup of coffee in his hand. “…told me that any moron could find that key and break in but I think it’s actually quite secure. Anyone dumb enough to look for a key under the doormat wouldn’t be an efficient thief or be of much concern.” The doe’s ears moved up, she furrowed her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean, I’m not here to steal anything or cause trouble!”

“Ah? See? You proved my theory,” the fox teased. “Urgh, whatever,” Judy admitted in defeat, putting two fingers to her forehead in annoyance. “But rest assured, Fluff,” Wilde continued, now with a new nickname for the doe. “I don’t mind you being here. I’m actually glad someone’s finally interested in my inventions.” The smug smile turned into something that looked less fabricated. The fox almost appeared genuine in his appreciation. Judy smiled too.

“And to answer your question, one of the ideas I was dead focused on for a while, but never got around to constructing, was another sort of enlarger, if you will.” Doc Wilde indicated the molten pawpsicle remains in a normal sized bowl. “One for electromagnetic waves, though. I wanted to make something that can help me reach bigger amounts of electricity I might need for future projects.”

This idea sounded interesting to the bunny. There was just something about it that stuck with her. “Listen, Doc,” she started. “It’s getting a bit late and I should head home. Sorry about the surprise visit, next time I’ll ring the doorbell.” Judy moved closer to her exit when she noticed another smirk on the predator. “Good luck with that,” he wished smoothly. The bunny was confused by this, she tilted her head. “Wha? Uhm, thanks?” She replied with much uncertainty.

“Doorbell’s busted,” informed the little fox, Finnick, as he had been called earlier. “It ain’t working. Either ya keep knocking until someone opens the door or ya use the key.” Judy was still in awe of his impressively low voice. “Oh, all right,” she chuckled nervously, as she grabbed her skateboard and headed out.

Chapter Text

Time and date: 07:01 - Thursday, 25th June 1981

It had been a few days since Judy had paid Doctor Nick Wilde a visit. She couldn’t quite put her thoughts into words, but something about this fox intrigued her. Maybe it was the feeling of doing something forbidden, a bunny being on good terms with a fox. Maybe it was the kind and wholesome first impression he had left on the doe, or perhaps his inventions were to blame. Either way, he seemed like someone who the doe could easily get along and have a lot of fun with. The first impression the vulpine had left on the bunny was one of a funny uncle perhaps.

Judy did want to visit the fox again, she had an idea. Maybe amplifying electromagnetic waves wasn’t all that this thought concept could accomplish. “I’ll go out, practicing with the band today, okay?” the teenager called into the warren as she already had a foot out of the door. “Don’t come home too late, Jude,” her father instructed. He gave his daughter a hug and she kissed his cheeks. Then the skateboard fell to the ground and off it carried a young bunny.

Time and date: 07:23 - Thursday, 25th June 1981

Shuffling could be heard inside the laboratory of one Doc Wilde. There was a little bit of grunting and surprisingly heavy footsteps, considering they likely came from a red fox or perhaps even just from a little fennec. Judy raised her hand and knocked on the door. The soundscape of this building’s interior did not change. The teenager tried knocking another time. Still, there was no response. “Doc?” she called out, knocking for a third time.

Finally the footsteps became much lighter, they approached the entrance. There was a click of a key getting turned, then the door opened up. “Carrots, you came back,” greeted the slender red fox. Judy lowered her ears in annoyance. “Carrots? Really?” She asked with a smirk. “Why don’t you come in,” Wilde offered. A fennec was walking by, carrying a box somewhere else. “Hey, uhm, Mr.” the bunny greeted. “Finnick is fine,” the tiny vulpine with the lowest voice introduced himself. “Or just Fin if ya outta time.”

The two taller mammals in the room approached a table with far less items scattered on top than the first time Judy had been here. “So, what brings you to my den?” asked a fox with a smirk. The bunny huffed in amusement. “Do you have any updates on that electromagnetic amplifier thing?” she asked. “Unfortunately no,” replied the fox quickly, as if he was ripping off a bandage. “Why are you asking?” The bunny felt a bit awkward to bring up her own thoughts to an inventor with more ideas than he could turn into reality. It had been bugging her, though. Maybe Doc Wilde might like the creativity.

“I’ve been thinking,” she started. “Do you reckon it would be possible to build a different version of that thing?” The fox tilted his head. One of his ears pointed upwards while the other one pointed off to the side. The young doe really wondered what her father might think about this sight. “The electromagnetic enlarger, you mean?” the vulpine asked for confirmation.

“Yeah, that,” Judy specified. “What input do you plan to use for it? Maybe it could be a microphone, or, say… an electric guitar?” The fox made wide eyes, he was surprised. Then a smirk returned to his muzzle. “First of all, I wasn’t planning on pursuing that particular idea,” Doc Wilde disappointed. “Secondly,” he continued. “Making a traditional sound amplifier out of this is a feasible idea. I like it.” Judy was surprised but very positively so, to hear a real scientist approve of her idea.

“And lastly,” the fox continued. “Are you meaning to imply, Fluff, that you aren’t just a bunny who likes carrots, who farms carrots, is called Hopps, but that you also fulfil yet another stereotype by being a mischievous teenager who likes to play guitar? Next thing you’re gonna tell me, you like rock and roll.”

“I…” the doe stammered. “Sure, I mean, who doesn’t like rock music?” she asked sheepishly. “What do you like to listen to, huh?” The foxy smirk that stared back at the bunny was nearly too much for the doe. “I think I’m a decade or three too old for that stuff,” Wilde said. “I’ve got nothing against it, but it’s also not my favourite by any means.”

The teenager smirked and rolled her eyes. Finnick approached another box to pick it up, it looked like he was really struggling. “Hey,” Judy called for the fennec’s attention. “Need some help?” the two foxes who couldn’t be more different in size exchanged curious glances, they both looked surprised. Judy figured her sudden offer came rather abruptly. Her line of thinking was that she wanted to make things even for breaking in the other day and upsetting the shorter vulpine.

“Thanks,” he replied. “I think I got this, though. If ya wanna help, ya can move the rest of that junk into that little box over there.” The smaller tod pointed out a whole lot of tools scattered about on the table, then he indicated a light blue and light green box. “Nick refuses to clean it up and I can’t be bothered.”

Before Judy had the chance to ask the red fox for any more information, he quickly moved over to the table and started sorting the tools himself. “Thanks for the offer, Fluff, but I think we got this,” he hastily exclaimed. “I like to sort my tools myself, they are supposed to have a very specific order.” The bunny’s smirk grew larger, the little fennec had just tricked his buddy into cleaning up, he had done it with such ease. “Heh, sly fox,” she commented to the smallest mammal in the room. “My dad had a toolbox like this when I was little.”

“Had? Why would he get rid of it?” The curious fox questioned as he was already half complete with his current task. “It, uhm…” the doe started awkwardly. “It broke,” she not quite lied. “What a shame,” Doc Wilde said sullenly. There was a brief moment of silence as all the tod’s tools were back in the box.

“So how come you have time to be here?” the vulpine inquired nonchalantly. “Isn’t it the final week of school? Shouldn’t you be studying for your last exams?” Judy’s ears shot up stiffly.

“Carrotsticks with spicy onions!” she swore. “No thanks, I’ll have my blueberries,” joked the larger predator. “What time is it? I gotta be there at eight!” The lapine was immediately very stressed, she didn’t want to be late for school. “It’s ‘bout the same time as yesterday around this time,” remarked the smallest mammal in the room. “Relax, Carrots, you still have thirty-one minutes,” calmed the red fox. This did little to ease the hectic bunny’s nerves, however. “I left my backpack at home!”the doe thought out aloud. “I told Skippy I’d meet him at Carrot Square before school, I gotta hurry!”

Just like that, the bunny’s limbs twitched sporadically to push the surprisingly jittery lapine towards the exit door. “After Fin and I are done cleaning up, I’ll take a look at what I can do about that amplifier idea of yours, okay?” The friendly fox offered. Judy was in a hurry but had to pause after this latest statement. “You… you’re really gonna build it?” she asked hesitantly.” The tod gave the doe a warm smile. “I’ve been meaning to, I simply didn’t have the space or the time.”

“Th… thanks!” The bunny said earnestly. “I gotta go.” Judy grabbed her skateboard and was off.

Time and date: 23:58 - Wednesday, 15th July 1981

“Doc? Wilde?” a bunny called out as she knocked on the door. “Hello?” There was absolute silence inside the scientist’s laboratory. It had been nearly a month since Judy had shared her idea for an amplifier with the vulpine, though he hadn’t mentioned anything about it since. It was the doe’s assumption that Doc Wilde had not actually worked on it at all. The two mammals had socialised a couple of times, though they had always kept any conversation topics rather shallow. Judy checked her digital wrist watch. It was just a minute before midnight, why was Doc Wilde absent? The bunny knocked for another time. “Cheese and crackers,” she murmured. Doc Wilde had left a letter in the mailbox of the Hopps warren, inviting Judy to his place, at this very time. Why would this fox invite the bunny and request she’d show up exactly on time, only to be late himself?

Two bunny ears twitched, they picked up approaching footsteps. Judy turned around. “Doc, You’re late!” she complained, greeting the red vulpine. His fennec companion wasn’t with him for once. “A fox is never late, Ms. Hopps,” he responded without missing a beat. “What do you mean?” The doe retorted with mild annoyance. “I was waiting here for…” the predator cut her off, however. “Nor is he early.” The lapine tilted her head in confusion. “He arrives precisely when he means to.”

“You said you wanted me to be here at midnight!” Judy reminded. Instead of replying with words, the vulpine looked at his wristwatch, then he turned it to allow the lapine to see the time. Judy looked at her own clock too, they both turned in unison.

Time and date: 00:00 - Thursday, 16th July 1981

“It is exactly midnight and we are both here,” the smug fox explained as he unlocked the door. “I fail to see why you’re so riled up.” Judy was annoyed, she hoped to make her face look accordingly. It was hard, though, to keep her lips from curling upwards at the silly nature of this situation.

The two mammals entered the room, though Doc Wilde immediately stepped in front of the doe, turned around and stopped. “Now, Carrots,” he started. “Don’t expect too much, I did not have time to calibrate it yet,” warned the fox. Judy was confused. “What do you mean?” the questioning teenager asked. “It means I can’t guarantee that this latest machine I’ve built functions exactly as intended,” the tod explained. “You’ve built the amplifier!” Judy interrupted with a lot of excitement and alert ears. “Bingo!” confirmed the vulpine. He stepped aside, revealing a huge speaker. The bunny’s mouth hung wide open. “Haha! Pretty Sneaky, Slick!” she celebrated, lightly punching the fox’s side in excitement.

There were a lot of buttons, dials, needles on indicator readouts, this was not merely a little amplifier box. No, this was a huge piece of furniture, it towered far over even the tall fox. “You actually built it!” the doe celebrated. “Of course I did,” assured the tod with a huge smirk, rubbing his arm in apparent pain where Judy had tapped it.

With a key, the vulpine unlocked an on-off switch on a terminal. A green light turned on next to it. He flipped more switches, illuminating various components of this device. Power indicator lights lit up on consoles. Doc Wilde twisted various knobs to dial in the machine just as he wanted it. Needles on gauges jumped to life.

“I gotta get my guitar from home!” Judy mentioned eagerly. “Wait right here, I’ll be right back!” The bunny nearly ran out the door when the fox stopped her. “Carrots, wait a second,” he called out after the doe. “I managed to borrow someone’s guitar temporarily, just to calibrate this amplifier.” The bunny’s smile was nearly larger than this fox could smirk, she was reasonably sure. “It’s right here,” he continued, picking up a blue guitar with no shortage of scratches on the dirty finish. This was an old instrument that did not receive nearly as much care and attention as Judy would have hoped it would. It would suffice for now.

The doc connected the instrument to the amplifier, causing a low but already quite loud background humming sound to fill the room. He handed the guitar to Judy, who took it with interest and anticipation. She plucked each string a few times, tuning them a little as she went on. Then she started a live demonstration of her skills.

Doc Wilde seemed genuinely surprised to find Judy could actually play guitar. He must had assumed that she would strum around without knowing how to produce a single chord, but the bunny was playing a whole song. The fox slowly swayed his tail from side to side as he stood there, listening to the music. The doe had great fun, she soon moved from chord progressions and instead moved on to melodies and solos. The entertained predator briefly moved elsewhere in the messy garage, though the lapine did not let this deter her. While he wasn’t looking, Judy turned up the volume a little. She could enjoy the music better that way.

The fox returned with a record player and a bunch of vinyls. Judy stopped playing to see what he was up to. Neither of the two mammals said a word as the Doc put on a record and started it. It was traditional wild prairiern music. “Try playing to this,” he requested. Judy was unsure. “This?” She asked with uncertainty. “I mean, sure, I guess.”

The fox kept his smile up as the bunny reluctantly started playing something that frankly would have sounded better on an acoustic guitar. Why the tod would suggest something so comparatively boring to test out his new gigantic amplifier box was beyond the doe. “I guess, it’s got a beat and you can dance to it,” she commented, wanting to find something positive to say about the music choice.

Lacking the knowledge of how this piece progressed, Judy struggled a little to play along. She kept having to adjust her chords to accommodate for changes in the old song. The scientist had a big smile on his face regardless. “You’re good,” he complimented. “You should dance,” dared Judy with a mischievous smile, trying to bring more exciting variety into the song. The tod shook his head sheepishly. “Am I a dancer?” he asked. “No, no I’m not.”

The lapine rolled her eyes. Without missing a beat, she hopped closer and bumped the fox’s side with her hip. Finally, the suddenly less stubborn predator started moving. To call this dancing would have been very generous, however. Doc Wilde merely spun his hands around while stepping from side to side. Judy burst out laughing but kept playing regardless.

Soon enough the song came to an end, though the bunny made sure to stretch out the end in a quick progression of notes. It sounded like a spectacular ending to a song, on par with how Lion May would end most numbers during his live performances.

“Do you have anything more exciting?” Judy asked. “Something closer to rock or maybe pop?” The fox rolled his eyes. “You sure live up to some stereotypes,” he teased. The bunny huffed. She went to strum around some more. “Let me see if I can find it…” the Doc mumbled. He looked through his collection of record discs. The doe’s ears were hanging down casually. “This is the only rock music I have,” he announced. “It’s Jailhouse Rock by Elkis Presley.” The bunny’s ears moved up in interest.

“I know who wrote that song,” mentioned the doe with a roll of her eyes. She liked this tune. The predator put it on and stepped back. The first 2 notes, Judy didn’t play along. They started off the song, so the bunny didn’t yet have the right beat or speed. The second pair of notes were already dominated by the guitar-playing teenager.

The first verse didn’t last very long. Once the chorus started, however, Judy really got into a groove. She hopped along, playing not just what was on the record but expanding on it with her own improvised melodies. It wasn’t anything too fancy but at least it sounded better than nothing. There was a brief guitar solo where the bunny felt like a real rock star, though she did have to admit one thing. This original version of this number was a lot slower than she would have expected, having heard only more modern interpretations by younger rock bands.

Far too soon, the song came to an end. Without asking and before the fox could put on the next record, the lapine picked up the stylus and carefully moved it back to the start of the song. For a second time, Judy gave a private concert to a lucky predator. She had a lot of fun and from the look of things, Doc Wilde was enjoying himself too.

The bunny turned up the volume again. The scientist did nothing to stop her, she hadn’t put it all the way to the maximum output anyways. One day she would, it became a new goal of Judy’s at this very moment. For now, however, she kept playing and playing. The record disk had run out for a second time but the lapine barely noticed.

She kept the other instruments going in her head. Her playing turned into a faster and louder solo. There were plenty of mistakes, be it a finger on an incorrect fret or going out of beat for a few bars that turned out to be quicker than the doe was capable of playing. The Doc kept looking at the bunny and her skillful but at the same time very amateur-like performance. He didn’t hear what Judy had also missed initially. The front door opened up and very heavy footsteps entered.

“Wilde! And is that Hopps?”

Judy immediately stopped playing at the dominant sound of a certain cape buffalo’s booming voice. She lowered her ears nervously. “Hey there, if it isn’t Sheriff Bogo,” the fox greeted with apparent indifference. The doe assumed he was annoyed by the interruption to the party.

“Shove it, Wilde,” the bovine commanded. “Hopps, what are you doing here? I have ordered you to stay clear.” The bunny was annoyed by the sheriff’s insistence on dictating her personal life. Before she could voice her opinion, though, the largest mammal kept talking. “And why are you making such loud noises? Did it not cross your mind to look at the time?”

“I always check the time,” Doc Wilde remarked. “Then how come you allow a minor to cause a noise complaint?” This confused Judy. She thought there were no buildings on either side of this laboratory. Perhaps she had turned up the volume a little too much after all. “Sheriff, I’m…” The bovine cut off the bunny again. “Why are you here, Hopps? Did you decide to come here?” This question confused the bunny. The fox had invited her. “Doc Wilde has asked me to…”

“Doc Wilde?” Sheriff Bogo repeated. “Y… Yes,” the uncertain lapine confirmed. “He asked me to meet him here tonight, and…” “And you actually followed his request?” The bovine asked in stern exasperation that contained more lecturing than Judy had ever heard from Stu her whole life. “Sir,” the teenager tried to get heard. “Yes, I came here because Doc Wilde asked me to. He said he had something he wanted to show me. Why do you act like that’s a problem?” The doe was honestly a bit fed up with this cow.

“Have you not listened to me at all?” the sheriff asked. “He is a dangerous lowlife! If you stick around him, you will end up in big trouble, young woman.”

“Listen, Sheriff Buffalo Butt,” the Doc tried to chime in. Judy had to suppress her giggles upon hearing that nickname. “Shut your chomper mouth now, fox!” Bogo demanded. This was outrageous to Judy. “As I understand, you have invited a minor at a late hour at night, talked her into making noise, and who knows what else you have planned.” The cape buffalo must had been misunderstanding something, it had been Judy who wanted to play louder, not Doc Wilde.

The front door opened up again and two more police officers walked inside. There was a big rhino with a far less intimidating but certainly not harmless aura around him, as well as a hippo. “Sure, come on in,” the fox greeted passive-aggressively. “It’s not like I have a doorbell you could use.” This comment prompted a deeply intimidating glare from Bogo. Judy knew the doorbell wasn’t functional as of a month ago. The bovine turned and addressed the bunny.

“Go home, Hopps. Do not impede our investigation by loitering here.” Judy didn’t want to leave yet. This was just a noise complaint, why would they need to stop outright? They could continue at a lower volume.

“Wilde, you are hereby under arrest for causing a disturbance and for undetermined suspicious activities with a minor.” The two officers who had arrived later surrounded the fox and put him in handcuffs. His ears were down and he looked disappointed. This was absolutely outrageous! Why would these officers arrest Doc Wilde if he hadn’t done anything illegal?

“Wait!” Judy interrupted, as the two officers already approached the exit with a restrained vulpine. “Sir, the noise complaint is my fault. Don’t arrest the Doc, please.” The sheriff sighed. “Let me explain it plainly, Hopps. You, a fourteen year old minor, were invited here by a middle aged to elderly predator. A fox. There will be a thorough investigation into just exactly what intentions this so-called doctor had.”

Judy’s nose was twitching. She glanced at Doc Wilde and back at the buffalo. “Sheriff, he built…” she got cut off again “Hopps.” The bunny received a firm stare-down from the intimidating bovine. The doe turned to face the suddenly guilty looking fox. He shook his head slowly. “Sir,” she started, before turning back to the sheriff. “Confiscate this amplifier or something, I don’t know. But there is no need to arrest him… I think.”

“Carrots,” the predator whispered to the bunny. “Stop talking, it’s gonna be fine.” The rhino officer put a large hooved hand on the scientist’s shoulder. “What was that, fox?” he asked. “No, Doc,” Judy insisted. “They can’t just arrest you!”

“Hopps! Do you know how many times I have had to respond to a call or send my officers out here to deal with this slacker?” Sheriff Bogo asked. “Foxes are deceiving. We have found nothing of criminal relevance yet but it’s only a matter of time until we do. He claims to be a scientist and inventor but let me ask you, what has he ever accomplished?”

“Nothing, I guess,” Judy replied to the best of her knowledge. Inventions didn’t need to function all the time to be successful, though. They could be fun while they failed too. Besides, the amplifier speaker seemed to function exactly as intended. “Even if his other machines don’t work, that doesn’t mean he has bad motives, right?” the bunny reasoned. “I mean, Doc Wilde isn’t that bad for a fox. I would know, my dad keeps getting visits from one of them.”

“Your father?” Sheriff Bogo responded dismissively. “That slacker? And even after all the trouble and hardship your family has faced at the hands of foxes, you still come here and defend this one?” Judy was outraged at this point. How would she get it into this bovine’s thick skull that Doc Wilde was not like other foxes?

“Okay, so what if I come here by my own will? I’m willing to take that risk of becoming another victim of a shifty lowlife. And if he shows his true colours, I’ll just not show up again. I know to be wary around predators and especially foxes, but so far, Doc Wilde seems to be okay. I mean, maybe it’s an act, but I can deal with that when I have to.”

“No!” the sheriff barked. “ I will have to deal with that when I send officers out here and give your parents bad news. Now. Go home.” Judy eyed the cape buffalo for at least five or six seconds. Her eyes were furrowed. Finally she lost the staring contest. “Fine,” she practically spat out as she grabbed her skateboard and stomped off.

Time and date: 13:16 - Friday, 24th July 1981

It had been a few days. Harvesting the fields turned out to be as boring as every year. Judy did not like helping out. Thankfully, she wasn’t asked to as much as her siblings were. Finally, on a cloudy Friday afternoon, Judy found the time to check up on Doc Wilde again. She hadn’t visited him since Sheriff Bogo had interrupted a fun night of music. There hadn’t been any interactions or even just communication between the fox and the bunny, besides those couple of previous visits. She missed hanging out at his place, it was fun. With a skateboard below her feet, the teenager had made her way to Happytown.

The scientist’s laboratory was locked. Judy had found it like this every time she had been here so far, it was quite the opposite of unexpected. What was less usual, however, was the absence of any sounds inside. The lapine knocked on the door. There was no answer. She tried again with the same non-existence of luck.

Perhaps neither Doc Wilde, nor Mr. Finnick were currently home. Judy sighed, she decided to try again the next day. Thankfully, there were no other plans that would cause any scheduling conflicts.

Time and date: 11:43 - Saturday, 25th July 1981

Another day, another attempt to re-establish contact with the red fox scientist and his little fennec sidekick. Judy actually tried the doorbell for once. Perhaps the fox had repaired it. It would seem he hadn’t, no sound could be heard upon pressing the button. As per usual, the doe reverted to knocking manually. There was no answer initially. After trying for a second time without a reply, Judy figured she didn’t want to leave again just like that. With one foot, the bunny lifted the doormat.

No key was hidden beneath.

“Carrotsticks, what’s going on?” Judy mumbled. Immediately after ending this sentence, she quieted quickly. There was a sound inside the lab, someone was home. The bunny put an ear against the door to try to hear into the room more easily. She could make out a faint sound of a sigh, then some slurping. “Doc? Hello?” Judy called into the lab. There was still no answer. “Wilde?” came another call, it was accompanied by knocking. A sensitive lapine ear kept listening, hearing more sounds of drinking. “Hey, I can hear there’s someone inside. What’s going on?” the teenager tried again.

After another second or three of silence, finally there were footsteps approaching the entrance. A key turned and the door opened up. Anticipating a red fox, Judy looked up and saw nobody. She turned her gaze downwards to find a highly annoyed fennec with a mug of coffee in one hand. “What do ya want, rabbit?” he asked with his deep voice and an unusually angry expression.

“What’s going on?” the bunny asked nervously. “Where’s Doc Wilde?” The doe tried to glance into the room, finding it unusually empty. “Why would you care?” the fennec asked with a hint of a growl. “You have some nerve showing up here.”

This gave Judy pause. She lowered her ears and tilted her head in confusion. Her nose probably twitched once or twice too. “I…” she stammered. “Is everything all right?” she asked with genuine worry. “Please, I’ve not seen him in a week.” The little fox with tan fur furrowed his eyes in suspicion, or perhaps it was confusion. “What’s yo deal, bunny?” he asked cryptically. “What… what do you mean?” was the response the vulpine received. “Last week when he showed me the new amplifier, Police came and caused trouble. There was a noise complaint because of me. I just wanna know that he’s not in jail or anything.”

Finnick eased his tense expression. He looked just as confused as Judy herself now. He let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know what you’re all about,” he started more quietly and without any hostility left in his voice. “It’s probably best if ya don’t show up again.” The bunny’s ears shot up. “What?! Why?” she blurted out. “Is Doc Wilde in prison? That can’t be right!”

“He ain’t in jail,” the fennec revealed. “But all his stuff basically is.” The longer this conversation went on, the further Judy’s confusion grew. “Nick said they took it all as evidence or whatever. He told me it was your idea or somethin’. I ain’t got a clue what happened exactly.” The bunny’s nose was twitching for sure now. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I… Well I didn’t want him to get arrested!” she reasoned. “Will the Doc ever get his stuff back?” Judy was getting very worked up.

There was another sigh, it sounded tired and annoyed more than anything. “Leave,” the fennec commanded. “Now’s not the time for emotional bunnies. I’m sorry, but Nick ain’t in the mood to see ya again.”

The fennec closed the door quietly, leaving a dumbfounded bunny outside. Judy was battling her tears. She had far from a full picture of what had happened. To her, it almost sounded like Doc Wilde lost all his stuff because of her! How could that be? This couldn’t be right!

Chapter Text

Time and date: 16:01 - Saturday, 25th July 1981

“Are you serious?” a confused buck asked. “They can’t do that! And you didn’t do anything wrong!”

Judy was meeting Skippy, the two teenagers were strolling across the open fields of Bunnyburrow. “That’s what the little guy told me,” the doe confirmed she had reported her latest interaction with a predator accurately. “I can’t believe they would do something like this… The Doc didn’t break any laws.”

This conversation went nowhere. Judy merely wanted to vent her frustration in hopes of finding answers. Skippy wasn’t prepared to respond to such a complex situation, he was unable to add much himself. “So what are you gonna do about it?” he asked with anticipation. Judy sighed. “Ugh… Probably something stupid,” she admitted. “It sounds like you’ve already done that, though,” observed the buck.

“What? Do you want me to do something crazy instead? I can’t just stroll into the police station and steal Doc Wilde’ stuff back for him.” Skippy chuckled. “I’d pay all my pocket money to see that,” he teased. “Oh, har har,” Judy retorted with a bittersweet smile. She appreciated the attempt to lighten the mood. “I can’t go to the police. They’ll only tell my parents, and I don’t want either of them to find out I hung out with a fox.”

“What about that racoon in your band?” Skippy asked. “You told them about him, right?” The doe sighed. “Yes, I defended Rhoy but it didn’t end well,” remembered Judy. “My dad wouldn’t listen and my mom would guilt trip me into worrying about predators.” The doe was very annoyed by these conversations. Talking about the issue now with a very close friend was helping, if only inside of Judy’s head. The doe let out a sigh. “I guess all I can do is stop by Wilde’s place and see if I can talk to him,” murmured the bunny in defeat.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Judy had repeatedly passed Doc Wilde’s laboratory, hoping to see the red fox himself. The little fennec didn’t appear to be of much help, the last time the two of them had talked, he had not revealed much information.

Almost every time the doe had rode her skateboard past this place, there was nothing unusual immediately obvious to her. The building looked like any other. The construction site next to it slowly progressed and eventually concluded entirely. It turned out they had been building a BugBurga branch there. No signs of foxes were anywhere in sight usually.

Only on two occasions did Judy find a familiar face outside. One time it was the small fennec, who was just coming home. He could smell the nervous bunny’s presence and merely shook his head at her, before heading inside.

The other time it was Doc Wilde, though! He barely glanced out of the door to see if the postmammal had delivered any mail. He had seen the doe and sighed. Before Judy even had the chance to call out to him, he was back inside his laboratory again. Judy tried knocking once more but remained unanswered. Without any further signs of life from Doc Wilde, the bunny had no choice but to go back home.

Time and date: 06:54 - Wednesday, 19th August 1981

Judy hadn’t slept well. The summer was coming to an end soon, the next school year would start in the near future. The bunny didn’t mind learning new things, though her grades had never been the best. Her morning routine was the same as always. The teenager brushed her teeth, combed her fur, got dressed and headed for the living room to have breakfast. “Good morning, sweetie,” her mother greeted warmly. “Morning, Jude,” added her father. Mollie and Timmy likewise greeted their sister. “Hey guys,” the youngest member of the family responded with a yawn.

“Judy, dear,” Bonnie started while her daughter began eating breakfast. “There was something in the mail for you.” The teenager perked her ears at the news. “A letter or something?” she asked before swallowing the food in her mouth. “Or something,” murmured her older sister who apparently knew more than Judy herself. “A little box that is addressed just to you,” revealed Bonnie. “Do you know who could have sent it?”

The doe was uncertain what to think. Was it a big box like a birthday present? Was it only small like a book or a puzzle? “I’m not sure, mom,” she responded. “Maybe it’s from someone from the band.” The young and hungry bunny could only theorise for now. Breakfast had priority. “Here it is, sweetie,” said Bonnie, placing a rather small box on the table. It was surprisingly narrow but made up for it in relative length. Judy had no idea what would hide inside. There was no name other than her own written on it either. Whoever had made the package must had delivered it themselves.

Timmy and Mollie soon headed out to go about their own plans Judy didn’t know about. Their parents too headed out to plant a new patch of carrots. This left the curious teenager to open the mysterious box all by herself.

The little cardboard object was sealed shut with sticky tape. The bunny used a pair of scissors to cut it open. She folded out the short side and tipped the whole box over. What came out was really surprising.

It was a plastic carrot.

There was a small sheet of paper accompanying it, Judy took it out to inspect it. She found it was a handwritten letter and promptly started reading.

‘Carrot for Carrots. Our last interaction did not go smoothly, I’m sure you know that. Finnick informed me you came back and wanted to know what the police did after you left. This carrot is actually a pen, as you can probably already tell. (The message you are reading has been written with it.) But it is more than that. On the side, there is a button. Press it once to record something. Press it again to end the recording. Hold it down for a few seconds to wind back and listen to a previous recording. I left a verbal message on it and hope you will learn more from it. Dr. Nicholas Wilde’

The bunny was confused. Why would Doc Wilde avoid all contact with her for weeks but then send her a cute gift like that? Judy finished her breakfast. She could have listened to whatever recording was saved on the carrot pen right here in the living room. The doe felt a bit uneasy about this, however. Instead, the teenager felt the need to head elsewhere for additional privacy. She moved her dirty dishes and cutlery into the sink, then the bunny retreated to her own room.

Taking a seat at her desk, the uncertain doe skipped through the letter another time, finding no new information. There was nothing else in the little box it had come in either, so Judy moved on to looking the carrot-shaped object over. Unsurprisingly, it was mostly orange plastic. One end had three green little imitations of leaves, the other end had a silver tip. There was a clip to allow the writing utensil to get attached to papers. On the opposite side were little gaps in the plastic, they looked like little a speaker. Ninety degrees away from it, and just as advertised, there was a button.

Judy didn’t want to delete any recordings accidentally. The explanation letter mentioned nothing of erasing. Therefore, the doe readied herself, then she pressed the button and held it down. It sounded like a tape was getting wound back very quickly, then it stopped abruptly. The bunny took a deep breath, she was nervous, her alert ears were prepared to listen. She released the button and Doc Wilde’s grainy voice started playing through the tiny speaker.

“Dear Fluff, I am sorry to say that this is my final goodbye. I didn’t catch your name so far and I would prefer it to stay that way. I will need to find it out to deliver this message just to you and not your whole family, though. Oh well… I understand and appreciate your attempt to protect me from legal trouble. However, this wasn’t the first time something like this happened. As a fox, I have gotten used to it by now. They would have kept me for the night and sent me home the next day. It’s only a little inconvenience. I don’t blame you for being oblivious to this reality of being a predator.

“Now thanks to your ill-guided attempt to defend me, police have confiscated most of my stuff as evidence. I was told if they find nothing of suspicion, they will hand it back in approximately a hundred-twenty to hundred-eighty days. That’s four to six months. Until then, I am without my inventions or blueprints. Thankfully, they let me keep my tools and most raw material. Anyways, I’m rambling a little. Finnick tells me I tend to do that sometimes. I’m not too worried about my stuff, it’s locked up and probably won’t even get looked at. A friendly mouse at the police station told me as such when I asked for more information.

“The main reason for this final message from me is something different. You see, when you showed up one day, completely out of the blue, you showed what I assumed to be genuine curiosity, I was intrigued. Nobody ever expressed such strong levels of interest in me or my inventions before. You came back, we joked around and got along, I even built that speaker for you. It’s not like I have access to it right now, but I have no use for it anyways. I still decided to build it, because it was a fun project for someone who I was hesitantly even allowing myself to think of as a friend.

“However, even if it might not have been your intention, during your conversation with Sheriff Buffalo Butt, you have made it very clear that your mentality and beliefs are not compatible with the idea of befriending a predator such as myself. I guess you wanted to defend me but what you really did was attack all other foxes instead.

“But I don’t want to make accusations, just give you some insight into my thought process and decision-making. I will admit, at first I was only angry. At you a bit, but mostly at myself for opening up to a stranger so quickly. Even if I look past that unusual and worrying age gap, that is. Finnick told me you looked surprised and sad when he last spoke to you, so now I am just disappointed by the entire situation. Let me tell you that I have moved on, hopefully you will do the same.

“Please keep this pen, it reminds me of you and I don’t want that. Don’t return it and don’t come back. Thank you.”

With a sudden click, the recording stopped playing. Judy had tears in her eyes, she felt terrible. The bunny was speechless, not that she was expected to give a reply or say anything at all. The doe wished Skippy was here to comfort her. This wasn’t right, what should she do? What had she said to Sheriff Bogo that had upset the fox scientist so much? Whatever it was, Judy had to apologise to Doc Wilde! Would it be sincere though?

Judy had supposedly verbally attacked all foxes. She had never said anything about anyone other than Doc Wilde himself, though, right?

Right…?

The lapine felt as if she was exhausted after a long and boring day on the fields. She had only just finished eating breakfast but felt like sleeping some more. The doe needed the comfort of her numerous bunny plushies. It would give her time to think and reflect on her words. Had they really been hurtful? Judy didn’t mean to be disrespectful, she wanted to help! And even at that task she had apparently failed. Rotten radish with spoiled vinegar, why couldn’t the emotional bunny go back in time and do things differently?

Time and date: 16:34 - Wednesday, 19th August 1981

It had been nearly ten hours since Judy had last left her room. Nobody had checked up on her, her parents and siblings were occupied with different tasks and likely didn’t even know anything was wrong. The young doe didn’t mind, she wanted to spend time alone. The lapine had had more than enough time to think. She had thought about Gideon Grey and her low opinion of the baker. She had remembered the conversation with her father, in which Judy had made it a point to defend Rhoy, a racoon who she knew next to nothing about.

Judy had always been opposed to the idea to assume the worst of all predators by default. She would often make an effort to remind herself of such. Often wasn’t always, however. As her latest conversation with Sheriff Bogo had demonstrated, if the teenager got too distracted, perhaps by the threat of a friend getting wrongfully arrested, maybe then something else would come through. Something like the words that Bonnie and Stu had kept telling Judy and her siblings for their entire lives.

The bunny trusted her parents, she loved them dearly and would never assume any ill intentions from them. Their continuous attempt to keep their youngest daughter safe was appreciated, but Judy now knew that it was wrong. Incorrect assumptions had led to conflict, anger, and sadness.

Without much motivation to do anything, the fourteen year old teenager got up from bed and left the Hopps warren. She had more time to kill until the holidays were over.

Time and date: 13:19 - Sunday, 23rd August 1981

The past week had been boring. It felt like it had dragged on for months but at the same time Judy felt as if she still hadn’t fully processed Doc Wilde’s final message. At least the bunny had realised her enormous errors and tried even harder than before to correct them in her day-to-day life. This did not, however, fix the issue with the red fox who had to get emotionally hurt very badly to allow the doe to make these corrections to her behaviour. She wanted to go back to him, to explain herself, to make up with him, to continue their friendship, or at least say her own goodbyes too.

The Doc had explicitly instructed her to stay away, however. Judy didn’t want to upset him further by disrespecting his wish. At the same time, though, feelings of guilt had been bugging her every hour of every day, ever since she had listened to Doc Wilde’s final message. Judy hadn’t had the willpower to play the recording for another time.

Eating lunch a bit later than usual, the Hopps family was having spinach. Judy had barely touched her food so far, however. Her parents sure had noticed and exchanged worried glances. “Judy,” the oldest doe in the house started. “Hmm?” was the only response she got. Her daughter finally put another bite sized portion of food into her mouth and started chewing. “What’s on your mind, dear?” The caring mother gave her daughter time to respond. The teenager swallowed the food, then she let out a sigh. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she murmured quietly.

“Hey, Jude,” Stu chimed in with forced happiness. The nervousness in his voice was still impossible to miss. “I don’t… uhm, know what you are dealing with, but maybe you should…” he stuttered. “Mom, Dad,” his daughter interrupted. “It’s fine, I can deal with it.”

“Judy, if you had an argument with someone, maybe you should go talk to them,” Bonnie offered. “We didn’t have an argument,” the fourteen year old bunny insisted adamantly. “Don’t snap at me, young lady,” scolded the elder out of the blue. Had Judy been more aggressive in the delivery of her words than she had intended? She sighed heavily and took another bite.

“I can’t talk to him,” she revealed after a brief silence. “Oh, too bad,” Stu said with disappointment. “Maybe you can,” his wife disagreed. “Your ears have been droopy all week, dear. Maybe enough time has passed where he will listen… Whoever he is.”

“He is nobody. Don’t worry about it,” Judy shut down the idea. She wanted nothing more than to go back to Doc Wilde and talk to him. Should the bunny really be more persistent and keep trying to re-establish contact? “Judy, your mother and I…” her dad started slowly. “We want only what’s best for you. You’re old enough to make smart decisions, right?” The younger doe’s ears raised in curiosity. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked with annoyance. “Of course I’m mature and smart!”

“Well then you can figure out yourself what you should do, right?” Bonnie suggested. Judy furrowed her eyes. She took a big forkful of spinach and stuffed it into her mouth, then she emptied out her glass of water with loud gulps. With resolve, the doe stood up from the table and headed out. Judy had only one destination in mind.

Time and date: 13:48 - Sunday, 23rd August 1981

“Doc Wilde?” Judy called out at a closed door. She kept knocking furiously, hoping to get a response. Predictably, there was none but the determined bunny did not let this discourage her in the slightest. She kept knocking undeterred. “Please! We need to talk!”

“Go away!” a low and grumbly voice could be heard. It belonged to the fennec, the doe could remember it. “No!” The bunny insisted. “I got the Doc’s message. Please let me speak to him!”

“He told ya to stay away,” reminded the fennec. “If ya wanna make Nick feel better, ya wouldn’t be showin’ up.” Judy’s ears drooped down. “I… He needs to know that I’m not like that, I promise!” the doe tried to reason. “Please give me one more chance, or at least let me explain myself! If Doc Wilde still wants me to stay away, I’ll respect that.” The bunny would be highly dissatisfied with this outcome, but it was the best option she could hope for. 

There was a deafening silence that lasted for ages. It felt like hours but probably only lasted a couple of minutes. The sad lapine raised her hand again to knock on the front door of Doc Wilde’s laboratory, when her ears twitched and a key could be heard turning in the lock. The door opened up. Judy was too ashamed to look up, though in the corner of her eye, she could already see it was Finnick who had opened the door for her.

“Ya got one minute. Nick’s willing to listen,” came Finnick’s brief and precise instructions. Judy nodded, she was very nervous. “Thank you,” she said with a very weak and quiet voice, as she stepped inside with her skateboard in hand. The bunny left it at the door before venturing further into the fox’s den.

Nick Wilde himself sat in an armchair with a blank expression. “Doc, I…” the doe stammered. “Last time we talked, I messed up. I just don’t want you to think I hate all predators or all foxes.” Judy let out a heavy sigh. “Wow,” was the Doc’s dry response. “Isn’t that interesting.” The scientist and inventor stood up and strolled to another part of the room. His back was turned to the bunny. This reaction immediately concerned Judy further, she could feel tears welling up.

“Wait,” she blurted out. “Wait, please… I know you’ll never forgive me. And I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t forgive me either. I was ignorant, and disrespectful, and small-minded…” The bunny let out a heavy sigh full of conflicted emotions. “You probably pieced together where I got this mentality from, but I don’t want to make excuses. I just want you to understand my point of view. I promise, I keep trying to do better, there is a racoon in my band, we’re friends. Our neighbour is a weasel, I don’t mind him. I keep trying to do better, but I messed up big time.” Doc Wilde moved his head only barely but showed no further reaction whatsoever. Judy felt maybe she should elaborate.

“The only reason I snuck into your lab in the first place is because Sheriff Bogo said some mean things about you,” the teenager continued. “I was sure he’s wrong and wanted confirmation. You are one of the friendliest mammals I know. We didn’t spend much time together but I still enjoyed all of it.” Previously, Judy had mostly succeeded in battling her tears, but now she couldn’t hold them in any longer. “But you can hate me, and that’ll be fine, because I was a horrible friend and I hurt you… and you can avoid me, thinking I’m stuck in the past or something. I’m just a dumb bunny.”

The lapine had to pause to catch her breath, she was crying already. Judy pulled out the carrot shaped pen and held it out for Doc Wilde to take. “Here,” she said between sniffles. “Please take it back. I don’t deserve a cute gift from someone who has every right to hate me.” There was no response. The red fox merely stood there in silence, still facing away from the teenager. “If… if you don’t want it, at least let me pay for it, so that it’s not a gift anymore.”

An absence of sounds kept greeting the doe. “S… say something, for fluff’s sake. Please!” Judy pressed out between tears. Her sensitive ears picked up the quietest footsteps ever. Judy didn’t turn to see where the fennec had walked to exactly, her head still faced towards the tallest mammal in the room. She did look at the ground, though.

Doc Wilde sighed. The bunny lifted her gaze up in nervous anticipation. “You sure are full of surprises,” he admitted with a voice that hid any and all emotions perfectly. “You know, Finnick gave you sixty seconds, but you kept talking for approximately one-hundred seconds” he accused.

Finally, Doc Wilde turned around. To Judy’s immense surprise and simultaneous relief, he smiled warmly. “And I’m glad you did.”

The fox reached out to accept the carrot pen back from the bunny. Judy sniffled, she wiped away the tears from her cheek. “All right, get in here,” Doc Wilde said, opening his arms to invite the doe into a hug. She stepped closer but instead of squeezing the vulpine, the doe simply drooped her head forwards, leaning against her new friend. “Okay,” the fox commented warmly. “Oh, you bunnies… You’re so emotional.”

The young lapine was too overwhelmed by the entire situation to express her annoyance at the verbal jab. She only barely got her crying under control. “There we go. Deep breath,” the scientist instructed. “Are you just trying to steal the pen back again? Is that what this is?”

Judy was in fact playing with the idea to take the orange object back. She wanted to erase the disappointing message the fox had left for her. A grey-furred hand reached out for the plastic vegetable but failed to reach it. “You are standing on my tail, though,” added a suddenly more tense inventor. “Off, off, off.”

The bunny quickly stepped off of the very soft and fluffy appendix. “Oh, sorry!” she quickly apologised. “And thank you.” The two mammals separated again and looked at each other. “Thank you, Doc, for giving me another chance. “Nick is fine,” the scientist offered. “Ni… oh, right,” the bunny chuckled lightly. “I’m Judy, by the way.” The red fox seemed to ponder on this for a moment. “I… I mean, you already know that. The pen was addressed to my name,” Judy rambled briefly.

“Mm. No, you’re Carrots,” the scientist insisted. The doe gasped and rolled her eyes. “All right, Slick Nick,” she retorted. “I have another confession. Very big and important.” The vulpine raised an eyebrow but none of the smug disappeared from his face. “I was gonna take the pen again to erase that recording you left there for me.”

Two triangular fox ears lowered slightly and briefly, before moving upwards with new motivation. “Tell you what,” he started with a smile that was difficult to read. “How about an agreement of some sort?” Judy tilted her head. “Agreement? On what? That we are friends? That your lit… uhm, loyal fennec buddy was too convincing when he played bad cop?” The taller of the two foxes barked out a short laugh while the other one let out a playful growl of pretend-annoyance. “‘cause I can settle on those things,” the doe concluded.

“All right, let’s make it official then,” Nick announced happily as he held up the carrot pen. “You’re really recording this now?” Judy giggled. She hadn’t expected to replace the old audio recording. “It’s already taping,” the friendly fox pointed out. “What’s the agreement, Carrots?” Judy put a finger to her chin to think for a moment. “I say we are friends,” she asserted. “And that I made a mistake but you are kind and merciful enough to look past that and give me another chance. Just like I look past my misguided ways and happily embrace our friendship instead. Would you sign this legally binding document?”

Nick had the biggest smirk on his face. “Those are some big words for a thirteen year old,” mentioned the fox. “Fourteen!” the doe corrected. “All right,” replied the vulpine. “Would I sign this legally binding document and proof of our friendship?” he asked before pausing. Judy was sure he would say yes, though this gap in words immediately made her slightly anxious. “Yes,” Nick said. “Yes, I would. And Big Guy is the eyewitness.” Judy glanced at the fennec for the first time since entering the laboratory and home of Nick and Finnick. “Hold on, I didn’t have no glasses on. I ain’t seen nothin’.”

With a click, the fox ended the recording. The bunny was very happy about the latest turn of events in her social life. If this shorter vulpine was already teasing not just the red fox but also her, she should probably start returning the favour. “Nick,” the doe started. “Do you want a better lab assistant?” The fox tilted his head curiously while the fennec furrowed his eyes. “What’s your proposal, Carrots?” the red tod asked.

“You see,” the bunny explained. “Once you get your stuff back, you can put Big Guy in that enlarger machine to make a full sized fox out of him.” Nick started howling with laughter. Finnick meanwhile merely shook his head while trying to suppress a grin.

Chapter Text

Brie’s POV

Today, the Carrot Days were in full swing. This meant that most of Bunnyburrow’s police force was occupied just at Bunnyburrow Farmer’s Market to ensure a safe and peaceful atmosphere for all visitors of all species and sizes, as well as age groups. Children were having fun in the hay maze, they tried to throw little balls at stacked cups to win useless prizes, teenagers and younger adults were competing in who could throw heavy pumpkins the furthest. Throughout the day, there were stage plays and music, all performances at Woodlands Elementary School.

Officer Brie wished she could be there. It wouldn’t be, however. Instead, she was stuck at work, patrolling other parts of Bunnyburrow. The day had brought the rodent to Potato Peak, where she handed out tickets for incorrectly parked cars. The officer’s shift had started fairly late, so when she took her lunch break, it was already well into the afternoon. The mouse found a nice appropriately sized park bench that overlooked a highway down below. It wasn’t the best view but at least the lawful officer could observe traffic and report any incidents right away, even if she probably wouldn’t tend to the scene herself.

Later in the day, her patrolling had brought Officer Brie towards the historic town center of Bunnyburrow. The mouse remembered a train station used to be somewhere nearby, she was too young when it had been torn down. With less than an hour left before the rodent would get off of work, she decided to check out Carrot Square. Hopefully, nobody would be around. It would mean that the cheeky rodent could get a little snack at Jumbeaux’s Cafe.

As predicted, nobody was anywhere in sight, Carrot Square was completely and entirely abandoned at this late hour. It made sense, most who would be out and about on a Saturday evening gathered at the Carrot Days Festival. A glance up the old courthouse building towards the pretty clock tower revealed the current time.

Time and date: 20:21 - Saturday, 12th November 1955

Officer Brie knocked on Jumbeaux’s Cafe with all her strength. There was no entrance accessible to little mice like her. Neither was there a doorbell that someone her size could reach. There was no answer. The mouse tried again. She stepped back to look if the lights were turned on inside. The interior of this establishment was illuminated, perhaps the countermammal had fallen asleep or he had failed to turn off the light before closing shop for the night. The officer sighed, she wouldn’t get a refreshment right then.

There was no reason to feel dejected, the rodent knew. She would only have to wait a little longer before she could get snacks at Bunnyburrow Farmer’s Market, though they would cost a little bit more. With mild anticipation, Officer Brie made her way back to the police station. By the time she arrived, it was already nearly nine p.m.

Other officers would already head to their lockers to change out of their uniforms, some might even head home already. The dutiful mouse, however, wasn’t exactly very popular with Sheriff Bogo. She stayed in the break room exactly until her shift would end. Occasionally, she was unlucky enough to get a call moments before, sometimes even right after she was no longer on the clock. Today was luckily not one such day. The mouse was free to go, which was exactly what she did. No locker had been assigned to her, the rodent would dress in civilian clothing upon arriving at home.

Most attractions one could find at the Carrot Days Festival had closed down already. Officer Brie had known about this detail beforehand. She also knew that some stands would stay open very late. There would be opportunities to get snacks at a different time. Right now, there was a special new attraction, the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance. The mouse wouldn’t be dumb enough to venture onto the dance floor, she would firmly remain on the sidelines to avoid getting stepped on by larger inattentive mammals. Some of them might be drunk, even. Alcohol was strictly forbidden on the premises of the elementary school, but drinking outside and then attending the dance was perfectly within the limitations of the education establishment’s house rules.

There was a clock near the school, the rodent was surprised how leisurely and slowly she had strolled from the police station across the parking lot towards the school. It had taken her over five minutes.

Time and date: 21:07 - Saturday, 12th November 1955

The entrance was already well attended by young visitors stepping outside for some fresh air or to have calmer conversations where talking over loud music was not a requirement. The police officer noticed most attendees of the dance were couples, or at the very least in pairs of two. The mouse was a little out of place, not only because of her far reduced comparative and absolute size, but also because she was completely alone here. She had met a handsome young gentlemammal not too long ago, but given her often unpredictable work hours, Officer Brie had decided not to invite him to the dance now. For all she had known, she might have gotten a last minute call and miss her date. That would have been exceptionally unfortunate.

The mouse wanted to enter the school building through the side entrance. She was unable to open the door herself but luckily one of the band members, an unbelievably friendly and big cheetah, came by only a few minutes later. He was going to enter the school himself, the feline helpfully held the door open and even offered to lift the rodent up the short flight of stairs that followed immediately after. Officer Brie respectfully declined the offer, she could jump up the steps herself without much exhaustion. The rodent assumed a spot beside the stage, very close to some boxes. Nobody would accidentally step on her there, she could simply enjoy the music without much worry.

The other musicians also returned from a short break, they stepped past the rodent and started tuning their instruments. To Officer Brie’s untrained ear, it honestly sounded like they had all been in tune before already. Not a minute later, a cougar with a guitar strap around his shoulders stepped up to the microphone. He wore identical clothes to the ones the friendly cheetah was wearing. In fact, the whole band was dressed similarly and very nicely.

“Meowdy, folks! Thank you all for waiting patiently,” the singer said. Immediately afterwards, the jaguar behind his drums started off a slow and calming beat. The band started playing lovely music. “This is for all you lovers out there, meow or fur-ever,” the cougar continued with a teasing smile. The rodent on the side of the stage didn’t know if it was for show or genuine, though she didn’t care. The guitar sounded very wholesome and honestly rather romantic.

“Earth angel, earth angel, will you be mine”

The little rodent was almost surprised to find such a large predator would sound so sweet. Not just the singing, but the whole soundscape of the music appeared really inviting. The mouse glanced around, the gymnasium was well filled with an audience. A lot of them predictably were bunnies, though other species were there too. The smallest attendees the police officer had spotted were a pair of squirrels, they were still significantly bigger than any mouse.

“My darling dear, love you all the time”

One familiar face stood out to the officer on the side of the stage. It was Stu Hopps, and he was dancing with a pretty doe! The rodent was familiar with the buck, she would routinely visit his family’s market stand to purchase nuts. Just a few days ago, he was joined by this same lady, it had come to a huge surprise to Officer Brie. She didn’t want to think poorly of others, always trying to see the best in everyone, but the mouse was honestly not expecting Stu of all mammals to ever get a date with anyone. The buck looked very happy, though his nervous uncertainty was likewise plainly visible.

“Aren’t you gonna kiss me?” the pretty lady in a gorgeous dress asked. The trained member of law enforcement couldn’t hear her, but she possessed the knowledge on how to read lips.

“I’m just a fool, a fool in love with you”

Stu’s jaw moved slightly, though the rodent was unable to see his lips, resulting in his words remaining a mystery to the silent observer. The doe’s ears subconsciously lowered slightly, it appeared she wasn’t happy with the response. Another rabbit approached the new couple with an uncertain future. It was a tall arctic hare called Frosty. Officer Brie had to have the occasional stern talk with him in the past.

“Scram, Hopps. Cuttin’ in,” he said obnoxiously, before pushing Stu aside! This bigger buck started dancing with the doe as if she was his date, it was outrageous! The mouse huffed in angry exasperation, what she was observing upset her. She couldn’t confront the bully, though. The risk of getting squished by a dancing mammal was too great.

What was this lady doing now anyways? She just accepted a different date? Her gaze was still fixated on the young Hopps buck, at the very least. Stu appeared dejected and shyly turned away. That was unfortunate.

“Earth angel, earth angel, the one I adore”

The mouse still wanted to enjoy the music, though she also hoped to be able to talk to the disappointed looking bunny. As luck would have it, he stepped to the side of the room. Could the rodent perhaps take a risk and approach the larger mammal after all?

“Love you forever, and ever more”

With one precise leap, the little rodent jumped off of the stage and hastily walked very close to the wall. “Stu!” she called out. She could faintly hear another lady do the same. The buck didn’t appear to react to either. Officer Brie poked the lapine’s feet and quickly jumped back. As predicted, the bunny jumped slightly, then he looked down. “Oh, uhm,” he started. “Hello, officer. It’s nice to see you here.” The rodent wasn’t fooled so easily, she knew the buck was attempting to be cheerful and pretend everything was fine as always.

“I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you”

“Stu!” the mouse nearly disciplined. “What did I tell you the other day? Don’t let these bigger guys push you around!” Had the buck’s ears stood up, they would have drooped very low right about now. “But Frosty’s bigger and stronger than me,” he complained. Officer Brie stood her ground. “Look at me! I’m by far the smallest mammal in the room, now look at my badge!” The mouse proudly pointed out her shiny golden icon of law enforcement. “If I can become a cop, then you can stand up to a bully!”

“I fell for you, and I knew”

The music, as romantic as it was, now served as a bit of a distraction from this conversation. Stu sighed. “Oh… You make it sound so easy, officer,” he complained. “I just wish… I wasn’t so scared.” The mouse smiled reassuringly at the unsure buck. “It will be fine,” she promised. “Just tap him on the shoulder and insist that you were dancing with the lady first. If she has any decency, she’ll back you up too.”

“The vision of your love's loveliness”

The bunny looked towards his former dance partner, a faint smile crossed his lips. He stood there for a moment without doing anything. “Stu,” the rodent called out, demanding attention from the buck again. “If you go and take back your dance partner, I’ll buy double the portion of nuts next time I see you at the market.”

“I hope and I pray, that some day”

The mouse hoped this humorous encouragement would suffice. The buck nodded and headed off into the crowd. Officer Brie couldn’t follow, physically or visually, so she headed back to the side of the stage.

“I'll be the vision of your hap, happiness”

Officer Brie needed to leave the room briefly, the gymnasium was connected to the side entrance’s stairs through a door. The same steps lead further upwards to the stage, the rodent had climbed them a few minutes prior already.

“Earth angel, Earth angel, please be mine

“My darling dear, love you all the time

“I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you”

“I fell for you, and I knew

“The vision of your love's loveliness”

By the time Officer Brie had climbed back up to take her spot next to some boxes again, the arctic hare was nowhere in sight anymore. The mouse was proud of Stu, and it appeared the doe beside him felt the same and much more strongly so.

“I hope and I pray, that some day”

The bunny couple smiled at each other lovingly, then they leaned in close and kissed!

“I'll be the vision, the vision of your happiness. Oh, oh, oh”

The rodent blushed a little and looked elsewhere. She was happy for the two of them, though. This song really was very romantic, the mouse thought back to that handsome young gentlemammal she had very nearly invited to this very dance.

“Earth angel, earth angel, please be mine”

Officer Brie was probably on the older side of all the dance’s attendees present currently. She didn’t care, the music was too enjoyable to worry about such silly details. The rodent tapped her tiny little feet to the music, she was having a blast.

“My darling dear, love you for all time”

Another glance around the room revealed the latest bunny couple were far from the only ones who enjoyed each other. Plenty other pairs of dancers interrupted briefly to sneak in some kisses. The rodent looked for Stu again, she could see he and his date were dancing very close to one another. From the looks on their faces there could be no doubt, they were in love. The officer wondered how long it would last, she hoped that lady would take after her and try to encourage Stu wherever she could. The buck needed to learn to be more confident. The male lapine looked up at the stage, he was clearly enjoying the music but the watching rodent was sure she could see his nose twitch at the sight of all those larger predators.

“I’m just a fool, a fool in love with you”

The band finished the romantic song. Sounds of applauding and foot thumping filled the entire gymnasium together with loud cheers and some roars from the few predators present. Officer Brie knew her miniature form wouldn’t add much to the noise, but she was still applauding with passion. The lead singer who was also the guitarist smiled and bowed down to the enthusiastic audience.

“Thank you,” he started. “I hope you all had a claw-some time with this song.” There was a second but far less dominant round of applause and cheering. After a moment, the cougar continued talking. “Don’t you worry about nothing, we’ll do another one and it’s only a cat’s jump away.” The feline hopped once, causing some attendees of the dance to laugh briefly. “This next song’s really cat-tastic,” insisted the lead singer. He stepped away from the microphone and started playing a more upbeat song. It appeared this one had no lyrics. The romance was not forgotten by this number, it simply took the back seat. This music now was intended for a louder and faster party.

Considering the nature of this song, Officer Brie could dance along too with less awkwardness than during the previous piece. She enjoyed the music and herself and the atmosphere provided by the rest of the audience, this really was a grand finale to the Carrot Days Festival.

The side entrance opened up and very heavy footsteps ascended the short flight of stairs. The little mouse turned around to find none other than Sheriff Bogo had just entered Woodlands Elementary School.

The two mammals who couldn’t be more different in size established eye contact, the rodent stopped dancing right away and straightened out her uniform. The cape buffalo grunted and rolled his eyes. “You are off duty, is that correct, Brie?” he asked with his loud tone. The mouse admired how the bovine tried to keep his voice down in order to avoid interrupting the music. “I… I am, yes, sheriff,” the tiny officer stammered nervously. Her superior grunted another time, then he turned and entered the gymnasium without saying another word.

The rodent felt highly awkward after this unexpected encounter. She still enjoyed the music greatly, though the tiny mammal remained mostly motionless as she listened. No more dance moves could be observed from the uniformed officer. Perhaps the mouse should finally get something to eat and drink, she was growing very quite hungry and exhausted after a long day. What time was it anyways? her lunch break had been a good few hours ago.

Time and date: 21:21 - Saturday, 12th November 1955

Another glance around the room revealed motion everywhere, nobody was standing still, except for Officer Brie. Even Sheriff Bogo was swaying to the music slightly. This was too awkward of a thought for the mouse, she hopped down step after step to exit the room. Thankfully, unusually strong wind had prevented it from closing all the way after Bogo had come in. Not a moment after the little mouse had stepped outside, right past an array of phone booths of varying sizes, there was a click as the school’s side door fell shut again. Officer Brie was very glad she wasn’t squished, she would need to be more careful in the future.

The weather was rather turbulent in general. Clouds covered the sky, preventing any stars from being visible. They moved across the landscape at an alarming speed too, it looked like a storm was approaching. Even the occasional flash of lightning was visible in the distance.

The mouse wandered around the remaining open parts of the Carrot Days Festival. Most booths, stands, and shops were already closed for the year. There were a few places that still sold drinks, though the mouse was looking for something more nutritious. After a few more minutes of aimless wandering across the dimly lit gravel paths, Officer Brie found a place with the name ‘Juice Bar’. Thankfully, the menu included a couple of snacks. The rodent bought a few nuts, as well as a slice of cheese. She sat down right at the base of the temporarily erected tent and enjoyed the food. The officer repeatedly had to huddle closer and closer to the larger structure, the wind was gradually picking up in intensity.

With a full stomach, the mouse departed the Juice Bar again. The beaver running the stand was glad about that, he probably wanted to close down shop soon and call it a night. The rodent currently planned to get back to Woodlands Elementary School to see if the music was still ongoing. However, a lot of people exited the building already. It looked like the dance was over. Mild disappointment overcame the mouse, she had still had the chance to enjoy some of the songs at least. That was more than nothing, she told herself.

Suddenly, a very strong gust of wind blew the mouse off of her feet!

It carried her across nearly half the market! The initial shock and surprise hadn’t even subsided yet, when the next one interrupted the rodent’s abruptly chaotic life. It was a large and soft paw! “Are you all right, cute little mouse?” came a concerned question. Winded, Officer Brie needed a moment to get her bearings back. She noticed dark paw pads, they were surrounded by light beige fur. There were a couple of spots too. This was a cheetah, and he wore an exceptionally fine suit. It was the pianist of the band.

“Woah…” the rodent stammered. “Yeah, I… I think I’m okay…” The large cheetah did not set the mouse down. Usually this would have been socially unacceptable. Given Officer Brie’s profession, she might have considered giving the bigger mammal a warning or even arresting him outright, at least under normal circumstances.

These were not normal circumstances. A comparatively gigantic hand kept a secure but outstandingly gentle grip on the mouse. It was the only thing that kept the rodent from getting blown away violently by the strong wind. The storm had nearly arrived. Soon there would be pouring rain by the look of things.

“Let’s get you into that school, how about that?” the compassionate cheetah suggested. “Y… Yes please, that would be splendid,” the thankful mouse replied. It was so strange to get carried around, it had happened before, the police academy even had a whole class dedicated to strategic uses of such things, or how to free oneself from strong hands. Officer Brie realised that she didn’t mind getting held like this. Perhaps it was the kind and gentle nature of this particular feline. Of course he was still a stranger to the rodent. Hopefully this interaction wouldn’t be too awkward.

A door opened up and the strong wind stopped abruptly. It got replaced by the stale air of a school’s gymnasium that had just been the site of a party. “Thank you very much, sir,” said Officer Brie earnestly. “Oh, it’s no problem at all,” the chubby cheetah insisted. “Are you hurt? Do you need anything?” he asked with worry. “Yeah, I think everything’s good,” the mouse said as she looked herself over. Nothing was missing from her duty belt, her badge was still firmly pinned to her chest, nothing was broken or cracked, there was no pain. “I’m uninjured,” the rodent insisted. “Should I bring you home, officer?” the cheetah asked. “The storm looks like it will last more than just a few minutes.”

The mouse was deep in thought. “Thank you for the generous offer,” she started. “But I couldn’t possibly ask so much of you, I’m sure you have other plans. I think I’ll just wait out the storm right here.” The feline gave the rodent a friendly smile, then he furrowed his eyes. “Tomorrow’s Sunday, nobody would be here at the school to let you out again,” he thought out aloud. “I can bring you to the police station,” he suggested. It was probably the best option for the mouse without inconveniencing the cheetah too terribly much.

“Oh, my place of work, I’m not sure,” the officer complained with a chuckle. She was only joking, of course, though her dismay had truth behind it. “Oh, haha!” the big cat laughed loudly. “That bad? Maybe the receptionist will pay you company,” he returned the lighthearted conversation.

The sizable cat bent down to hold out his hand again. Hesitantly, Officer Brie climbed back up into the large paw and the cheetah carried her outside. The two of them were headed for the police station.

Officer Brie was jolted wide awake when the blinds in the break room were opened up, allowing natural sunlight to shine into this part of the building. It wasn’t very bright in the grand scheme of things, it was still raining outside, after all, though in contrast to previous lighting conditions, it was nearly unbearable to the groggy rodent. She was still sleepy, having had found no proper bed her own size and instead having slept on an uncomfortable cherry stone pillow. The individual who had just allowed light to enter the room hadn’t even noticed the mouse and already moved on to the next room. The waking mammal hadn’t even seen who it was.

The previous night, after the friendly cheetah had helped the mouse into the police building, the two of them had had a brief conversation. Proper introductions had been made, the feline’s name was Benjamin Clawhauser. His uncle was a local farmer, it was an unusual profession for a large predator like him. After more information of little significance had been exchanged, the two mammals of entirely different sizes had said their farewells. Officer Brie now sat up. A clock on the wall revealed the current time.

Time and date: 07:30 - Sunday, 13th November 1955

Her next shift would start in only an hour. The weather outside was still unpleasant to traverse. The mouse sighed, she wouldn’t get to go home just yet. Today would be another long day, the rodent suspected she’d get asked to help others who were less fortunate than her, in order to free them from tricky spots. Or maybe Sheriff Bogo would assign her to meter maid duty again. The mouse didn’t look forward to it, she tried to get a little more sleep for now.