The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One: Fuel - 51

Disclaimer: Zootopia stories, characters, settings, and properties belong to the Walt Disney Co. This story is written under Fair Use Copyright laws.

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The Fire Triangle-A Zootopia Fanfiction

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Part One:

Fuel

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Chapter 6 - Nick's Story

(Pt. 1)

Nooo, Judy Hopps wasn't jealous; of course she wasn't jealous. Nick Wilde was her partner and her friend; that was all. And besides that, he was a fox and she was a bunny-AND he was at least ten years her senior. No, she wasn't jealous, her face was always this green, (or that was how it felt anyway.)

But what the fox said next purged away any such feelings that she might have been harboring, once and for all.

"Robyn's gone, Carrots; passed away more than ten years ago...cancer." He looked out the window for a second, watching the storm, "But that didn't happen until more than two years after she walked out on me."

Judy looked at the cell phone screen and sniffled, ashamed for having held such negative feelings towards...what was her name again? Robyn...McFerral, that was it.

Eventually, her eyes and his found each other once again.

"Oh Nick, I'm so sorry," she said, laying her paw on his arm. He flinched, but did not pull away-and Judy said nothing further; this was another instance where the best thing to do was just sit back and listen; the fox would either tell her what had happened or he wouldn't. Either way, the ball was in then his court.

He would; in fact, he started speaking in a rush.

"Carrots, to understand what happened-and how it happened-you need to hear the whole story, all the way from the beginning." He held up a finger, "but I warn you, at least part of what I have to say could get me kicked out of the ZPD. If Chief Bogo, or especially the Police Board ever finds out, I'm toast. Do you understand?

For several long seconds, Judy only looked at him, nose twitching and the rest of her face a closed book. Inwardly, she was stunned; she had always known that Nick had a checkered past; heck, he'd been no paragon when they'd first met. Look at the way he'd constantly mocked her, even going so far as to deliberately hold her up at the DMV because seeing her fail amused him..

All right, fine...but now Nick was telling her there was a breach of virtue in his history serious enough to get him fired from the ZPD? She never would have imagined he was capable of such a thing. On the other paw, the fox did have a penchant for the overdramatic, especially when he got himself worked up. Maybe his transgression wasn't as seriously as he thought. On the OTHER paw, what about the way she'd gotten Duke Weaselton to give up Doug? Was she such a saint? And what if the Police Board ever found out about that?

After a short a moment, Judy raised her right paw, not in a Ranger Scout salute, with the little finger tucked under her thumb, but with her pawlm wide open, the same as she'd done the day she was sworn into the ZPD. And then for good measure, she put her other paw over her heart.

"Nick, nothing you tell me will ever leave this railroad car, I promise."

The red fox nodded solemnly, and then settled back in his chair and began to speak.

Things did not, however, get off to what you would call a flying start.

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"Carrots I know it's not in my nature to brag but...all right, what's so funny? 'Like it's not in a seal's nature to swim'...har-har, really clever; do you want hear this this or...?"

"Okay...well you may not have known it from the first time we met, but back when I was just starting to work the streets, I was considered a real comer, the hottest young hustler in Zootopia. Remember when I told you, the second time we met, that I was making two hundred dollars a day? Wellll, that was true for right then, but back in the days when... Mmmm, no I guess you don't want to know, do you? Let's just say that two hundred bucks a day would have been chump-change to me back then. I was good...really good at what I did, even Finnick said so, and you know how hard it is to get a compliment out of that fennec-fox."

"Yes, Carrots...that was when Finnick and I first hooked up. Pretty soon we were doing so well that we even caught the attention of Mr. Big... Wait, no, not like that; I mean he was so impressed with the way we worked he started hiring us to run hustles for him. Sometimes he'd pay us a straight-up fee, and sometimes he wanted it done as a 'favor'...and I always obliged, a professional courtesy you might say, to open up more opportunities for making money."

"Anyway, one night he called me to his house. 'Just you, Wilde; leave the fennec home.' I had never been there, so I knew he must have had something really important in the works. We ate a really nice dinner; that was when I met his grandmother, really sweet old lady and she made the best cannoli I ever had, But all during the meal, Mr. Big refused to even hint at why he'd sent for me. The one time I tried to raise the subject, all I got was dirty look from Koslov."

"Koslov...Mr. Big's bodyguard...you met him, Carrots; the REALLY big polar bear; the one who never smiles."

"Yes, that's right, the one who brought him into the office, that night when you first met him."

"But getting back to the story; after dinner, Mr. Big took me into his office and explained why he wanted to see me; he had a problem I could help him with. (That was exactly how he put it, Carrots; he never asked me for anything.) I didn't even think about saying no, the minute we sat down, I could see that he was fuming, and you never refused one of Mr. Big's offers when he was in that kind of mood, not if you liked walking without crutches."

'I got this guy, this Grey Squirrel, Lanny Braunwald.' He told me, "He's head of the Woodworkers Local 27 in Old Growth City. You know him, Nicky?'"

"'I know everybody, Mr. Big', I told him. And it was true, I did, even then. 'But didn't he get himself elected to the city council?' I asked, and it was no great intelligence on my part; Lanny Braunwald had been going out of his way to make a name for himself ever since he'd taken the oath of office. Public appearances, dedications; he never missed a camera op, never proposed a measure or an ordnance without calling the press first. A LOT of animals knew who he was. Fursonally I thought he was just another windbag politician, out for what he could get, but Mr. Big didn't see it that way...and for an obvious reason."

"'That's correct,' He told me, raising a finger, 'But what you don't know is that Mr. Braunwald never would have made it to the top of that Union Local, much less onto the Zootopia City Council without my help...and now he has decided that he doesn't want to repay my generosity."'

"Mr. Big went on to fill me in on the details, but I had already guessed most of it. Lanny Braunwald figured that because he was a union official, AND a member of the City Council, AND because he was so high profile, even Mr. Big couldn't do anything to him. He was right, but not just for any of those reasons; The Big Shrew also considered him too valuable to touch."

"'I don't want him hurt, I want him co-operating,' he told me, 'If you can help me out with this Nicky, I will be fursonally very grateful. Mr. Braunwald is my best shot at finally getting that license.'"

"What license? Well, as you know Carrots, there's only one legal gambling casino in the City of Zootopia, in the Palm Hotel, down Sahara Square. Mr. Big's dream was always to open up his own casino in Tundratown, but... What's that? Oh, he owned several Carrots, but they were all ILLEGAL gambling clubs. What he wanted was a legitimate casino, but for that he needed a green light from the Zootopia City Counsel, and for THAT he needed Lanny Braunwald. Normally, he would have had Kevin and Raymond, his two top enforcer-bears go pay him visit...but that wouldn't work, not this time. Braunwald might go running to the press, maybe even the attorney general's office if that happened. Mr. Big said he could almost see the headlines, 'Heroic City Counsel Squirrel Stands Up To the Mob.' Braunwald's offer to him was very simple, you lay off me, and I'll lay off you. Mr. Big didn't like that offer very much."

That was where I came in, Braunwald had forgotten one thing. Maybe Mr. Big wouldn't go near him, but I would. I had no direct ties to the Tundratown Syndicate; even if I got busted, the police would never be able trace me back to the Big Shrew. And besides, I planned to deal with that squirrel using brains, not muscle."

"Hrm? No. you're right Carrots, Mr. Big never did get to open up that casino of his. But that's a story for another time. No, no need to apologize. Well, to make a long story short, I did some research and found out that Mr. Braunwald was a little bit of wheeler-dealer himself, always looking to make an investment that would turn a quick profit. And so, long story shorter, I hustled him into investing in car repair shop I knew of that needed a quick infusion of cash. Braunwald put up the money and pretty soon he was making it back paw over fist...but what he DIDN'T know was that the shop where he'd invested his cash was actually a chop-shop. Not only that, they were trying to operate in Tundratown without Mr. Big's permission. Nobody who pulled that stunt stayed in business for very long, I can tell you. After Braunwald was in with them, good and tight, 'someone' dropped a dime and the ZPD raided the place. He lost every penny he'd invested. Worse than that, the shop owners knew who he was and were trying to put the screws to him. 'Get the charges dropped, Councilmammal...or you KNOW what will happen.' And Braunwald knew all right; if the word got out that he had secretly partnered up with a car-theft ring, his career with the City and the Woodworrker's Union would both be finished. And that's not even mentioning what the press would have done. He had no choice but to go crawling back to Mr. Big...literally."

"What did...? Oh, Mr. Big was absolutely delighted, Carrots. I'd killed two birds with one stone. I not only straightened out Lanny Braunwald, I got rid of a gang of car thieves who thought they could operate in Tundratown without his okay. Two days later, I got a phone call, 'Wilde? The Big Shrew wants to see you, come to The Club.'"

"I went...and it was the night that changed my life."

"'The Club' was The Thaw, a dancing and dining establishment in the Tundratown foothills. Mr. Big was the owner, off the books of course, and he absolutely loved the place. The fact that he wanted to see me there told me right away that he was in a good mood. I tried to talk Finnick into coming with me, but he said thanks but no thanks. I guess I wasn't too surprised; being a desert fox and all, Tundratown was never his favorite place to spend quality time-and anyway if Mr. Big hadn't asked me to come alone this time, he hadn't told me Finnick's presence was required either."

"Ahhh before I get into that Carrots, let me tell you a little bit about The Thaw. It was something you had to see to believe; not much to look at on the outside, you could easily have mistaken it for a warehouse, but when you walked in the door, all of that changed. Your first impression was of the color blue, everything was done up in pastel bluish white. It was an amazing place, built like a Renaissance Ice Palace; in fact a lot of it was ice...and also crystal quartz and even some marble, all of it mixed together so cleverly you couldn't tell one from the other without touching. It was a huge inside too, big and cavernous, with ceilings that seemed to stretch upwards for two whole stories; that's why it was the favorite hangout in for the city's larger species back then. And they had that most incredible dance floor you ever saw Carrots, a mosaic, built out of inlaid quartz and marble, showing scenes from arctic mythology, smooth as polished glass, but not slippery at all. There was also stage, nearly as big as the one we had for Carrot Days. And it wasn't just for show; The Thaw featured live music every night. There were meeting rooms, there were booths with private tables, and the longest bar-top in Zootopia, made entirely out of pink quartz. They even had something called a 'plunge pool', an artificial lake of near-freezing water for the locals to 'get back to their roots' as Mr. Big liked to say. "

"Yes, yes...sorry, I got a little sidetracked there, Carrots. Anyway, when I got there I was moved right to the head of the line-there was always a long line to get into The Thaw. I remember one animal, a moose, getting all upset, 'You're letting a FOX in ahead of me?'"

"What? No worries, Judy. It was a long time ago and besides...Mr. Moose got moved all the way to the back of the line for that remark."

"Anyway Mr. Big had a private booth overlooking the dance floor. It was one of a kind; there were no other tables within 20 feet of it. When I got there I had to shut my ears and hang back for a minute while he did business with some other animals, a pair of tough-looking sea mink; I later learned they were Gerry and Denis McCrodon, the older and younger brother of The Mister, boss of an up-and-coming Zoo York gang called The Company. For these two, even I had to wait. Lucky for me they were just about done by the time I got there. After maybe five more minutes, they said their good-byes and Koslov finally beckoned me over."

"Well as soon as he saw me, Mr. Big was all smiles. I remember him jumping up, right out of his chair and raising his arms to me.

"'There he is, there's my miracle-worker; San Niccolò de Città Felice, the patron saint of all good hustlers!'"

"And then he had Koslov lift him up so he could kiss me on both cheeks. 'Come and sit with me Nick.' He said, after Koz put him down on the table-top again."

"Yes, I know, Carrots; he's mellowed out in the last few years, but that night he was like a little bundle of lighting."

"'Raymond, where's Raymond?' he said, calling for another one of his bears, 'Raymond, give the fox here the envelope.'"

"Okay, that was a surprise, Judy. I had agreed to take the job strictly as a favor; I never expected to get a payoff for the effort."

"'That's for also getting rid of those indie car thieves Nick," he told me,' such ingenuity deserves a bonus.'"

"'I thank you for your generosity, Don Grandi.' I told him, while I put the money away; I didn't count it, not yet. That would have been an insul..."

"Don...what? Oh that's Mr. Big's real name Carrots, Antonino Grandi. It's how he got his street name, in fact. Grandi actually means 'Great' not 'Big' but the first time he got pinched, the arresting officer mistranslated it and he's been Mr. Big ever since."

"And he STILL wasn't done with me; next he called Louie Carpentieri, The Thaw's manager, to his table. Heh, I almost felt sorry for him Carrots, Lou was a walrus and they're not exactly light on their flippers, at least not on dry land. But when he heard Mr. Big wanted to see him, Carpentieri was practically a one-mammal Loris and Haredy, nearly tripping all over himself trying to get to that table now."

"Mr. Big gave him a minute to catch his breath and then pointed at me again."

"'Louie, do you see this fox right here? Well from now on, whenever he comes to The Club, he gets right in, no waiting on line, no cover charge, and anything he wants is on the house. Do you think you can take care of that Louie?' (It wasn't a question.)"

"What? No, Louie actually looked relieved, Carrots. He knew I only had one other associate-so I wouldn't be coming in with a whole pack of animals and expecting a free ride for all of them-and he also knew my reputation for not causing trouble, at least not in public, (a necessary evil if you hustle for a living.)"

"'Absolutely Mr. Big; no problem, sir,' he said. 'Any time Mr....Wilde, is that right? Anytime Mr. Wilde comes in here, he'll be welcomed with open flippers."

"You realize Carrots, it was all for show. Mr. Big just wanted to let the world know that when another animal did right by him, they'd be treated well in return. He never did anything strictly out of the goodness of his heart. No mobster does. 'Business is business', that's their motto."

"Yes he did, but we can deal with the Duke issue some other time, okay?"

"All right, well after Louie went away, Mr. Big and I talked for a while, not business just small talk; I don't remember any of it. And then Koslov grunted, leaned over the table and pointed at his watch. Mr. Big looked at it, looked his own watch and then motioned for the bear to pick him up."

"'Sorry, if I must rush off, Nicky...but it's late and Gram-mamma, she worries.'"

"Yes, well it's not so amusing if you know the story Carrots; Mr. Big's Grandmother raised him all by herself, working three different jobs to keep a roof over their heads."

"But after he left...well, nobody was allowed to use Mr. Big's table when he wasn't there, so I went and found a waiter, and the next thing I knew I had a table all to myself, right on the edge of the dance-floor; Lou Carpentieri hadn't wasted any time in getting the word out about my VIA status. I sat down just as the announcer, an Elk if I remember right, was getting ready to introduce the opening act for their last set of the evening. They always had three acts at The Thaw on Saturdays, an opening band, a comedian, and then the main attraction also a musical act."

"'Ladies and Gentlemammals,' he said, 'please welcome once again, Robyn McFerral and the Hotwires.'"

"Everyone around me stood up and applauded-and I was seriously impressed. The Hotwires hadn't even walked out on stage yet and they were already getting a big ovation; a real surprise to me, since they were only the opener. I remember thinking that their first set must have gone over really well. Then the lights dimmed and I saw them take their places, just shadows, I couldn't make out any one of them individually, and I couldn't get any of their scent either."

"After a couple more seconds, the music started; the synthesizer opening from Dreams by Van Howlen. They let it fade out for a second, and then the lights came up and they hit it head on."

"And that was when I saw her..."

"I remember rubbing my eyes, I couldn't believe it; how could any vixen be so lovely? That picture I showed you of Robyn doesn't even come close to doing her justice Carrots...and not to take anything away from your sister Erin, but whoa, could she sing; the voice of an angel crossed with the voice of a fire goddess. Well-l-l-ll that was how it sounded to me."

"'World turns black and white

Pictures in an empty room...!'"

"I never thought it could ever happen to me, but one look at Robyn and I was head over heels. I liked everything about her, her eyes, her face, the color of her fur..."

"Okay, yes, I thought she was a hottie, happy now? But that wasn't all of it, not by a long shot I even liked the way she dressed. The outfit you saw her wearing in the picture? That was her casua kit. When she was playing a serious gig, she wore a two-piece silk suit in the reverse pattern of her own fur color. You had to see her to appreciate it; sexy without revealing anything, this vixen knew how to kill it with understatement."

"And she couldn't just sing, she could play too, Judy. Their next number was ...C-Cancer by Joe Jack...Joe Jackal...s-sorry didn't mean to get choked up. But Robyn just killed it...uhm, owned it on piano for that song. All the rest of that set, I couldn't take my eyes off her."

"I know how I must have looked Carrots, elbows on the table, chin in my paws, gazing up at the stage all mushy-eyed...like a kit with his first crush."

"I didn't care."

"I kept imagining what Finnick would say, if he saw me like that; probably razz me from here to Foxburrow."

"I didn't care."

"Once or twice I thought I saw Robyn look my way-okay, that I cared about-but if she took any notice of me, she didn't show it; I might as well have been the invisible fox for all she cared."

"The crowd made them come back for not one but two encores; that's really rare for an opening act, or that's what Robyn told me later. When they left the stage for the third time, I was out my seat and headed for the stage door like a shot, only to find out, 'whoopsie'...just because I was fully comped didn't mean I had an all-access pass. The Kodiak bear minding the door wouldn't budge, and wouldn't call the manager no matter how hard I begged. But then, after a minute...hallelujah, the door opened and Robyn came out, followed by the rest of the band. That was the first time I caught her scent, Carrots-and it's imprinted on my mind to this day."

"The table they took was right next to mine, hallelujah number twosie, and guess who was sitting in the seat closest to mine? Hallejuah number threesie."

"For the first few minutes I just sat there like an idiot, pretending not to look at her, trying to get up the courage to say something. Finally I just told myself, 'Look at you Nick, always ready to jump right into a hustle even when the mark is an apex predator, and now you're afraid to talk to some girl?"

"That did it, Carrots. I got right up out of my chair, and said, "Excuse me Ms. McFerral, but I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your performance. Would you care to dance?"

"I-I-I think it might have gone over a little better if I hadn't interrupted her right in the middle of talking to someone else-or if I hadn't sounded like I'd taken a hit of helium after downing five cups of espresso. Anyway, she just kind of looked me up and down for a second, and then she got up, put her paw on her hip and started counting off on her fingers. And this is what she said:"

"'Shave my tail with a weed-whacker; eat live hornets; run naked through a cocklebur patch.'"

"I just kind of stared at her with my ears working. 'Wha...what do you mean by...?'

"And she looked at me as if she'd found me by turning over a rock."

"'Three things I'd rather do than dance with any street-hustler, Mr. Goggle Eyes!' She said. Oh foxtrot, she had seen me!"

"And then the coatimundi sitting next to her, he was the guitar player, started laughing his tail off."

"And how you gonna dance with her anyway, pendejo fox, da comedian's on stage right now."

"Now they ALL started laughing and I just wanted to slink out of The Thaw with my tail between my legs."

"Except..."

"Robyn had seen the way I was looking at her, and told me she didn't appreciate it...and yet she had chosen to take the table right next to mine and was sitting in the chair nearest me."

"I don't know how it happened, but that thought made me see how I must have looked through her eyes right then...how silly, and how insulting. I started laughing too, but very uneasily. Then I straightened up and nodded. 'Yeah, Okay, I guess I blew that one right out of saddle. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Ms. McFerral...and I really do think your performance was fantastic."

"And I got up and walked away. No, I didn't leave the club; I still had some pride left. I asked Louie to get me a different table. But I still couldn't stop thinking about that cross-fox vixen."

"What I didn't know at the time Carrots was that my move had knocked Robyn for a loop. She'd been expecting some kind of clever comeback, followed by a lame attempt at being witty and then perhaps a come on. That was why she'd chosen to sit right next to me; she'd decided to have some fun with the moron who'd been gawking at her, (or that was what she kept telling herself, she said to me later.) The last thing she'd expected was for me to turn into a gentle-fox, even show her some respect...but then that was hardly surprising considering her previous experiences with guy-foxes. That's another thing I found out later, I was perhaps the first fox ever to treat her with a little dignity."

"I planned to leave right after the Hoofers, the headline act started to play. Yes, that name should sound a little familiar to you Carrots; you'll find out why in a minute. First, decided I might as well have some dinner. But when I turned to signal for a waiter, something familiar caught my nose, and when I looked, there she was again."

"This time Robyn wasn't with her band, she was sharing a table, one-on-one, with an arctic fox. When I saw him, I felt my ears lay back, and my fangs trying to un-sheath themselves."

"Nooo, it wasn't jealousy Carrots, and for once I can say that with complete honesty, it was because I knew that other fox...and I also knew what kind of lowlife he was. Shifty and untrustworthy didn't even begin to describe Tommy Baldorsson. To give you some idea, he claimed to be from Iceland but he always spoke with a Russian accent, whenever he got angry or excited. I'd never actually met him, but I'd seen him around and I knew his history; he'd been involved in any number of different scams. One of them involved his supposedly having access to a trove of lost Bob Margay tapes-which I can't release because Margay's wife's family is fighting it. However if I can raise enough money to mount a legal challenge...I think you get the picture, Judy."

"Why did I...? Well you have to understand that even street-hustlers have a code of conduct to live by, Judy. Yes it's true. And one of the biggest rules is that you should never, never try to scam someone that's barely scraping by already. Tommy Baldorsson didn't seem to think that rule applied to him, and what he'd been up to lately proved it. His latest gig was to style himself as a music impresario; he'd take on a band as their manager and then take them up one side and down the other. When he'd gotten all he could out of them, he'd set up one of the band members to get busted, thus making their contract null and void, and then fire the others. That was another thing a good hustler never did Judy, it was okay to call the cops on your mark, but you never tried to frame him. And also...it's fine to run that kind of scam on someone without any real talent, but from what I'd heard, Tommy had ruined at least one group that'd had some serious potential. The thought him doing that to Robyn made me want to go over there and bite his face off, and not just because I had a crush on her. Foxes also have rules to live by Carrots, and the big numero uno is that a fox never sticks it to another member of their own species. We get enough scrap from the rest of the animal kingdom without doing it to each other."

"Hrm? Because I could hear what he and Robyn were saying to each other, and she seemed to be holding her own and then some. Here's how it went:"

"'Robyn this is not right. I am the one who handles the money, it is our contract.'"

"'Yeah Tommy, and it's also in our contract that you get 20%, not EVERYTHING.'"

"'How many times must I say it? I needed that money to set up this gig.'"

"'Really? Mr. Carpentieri just told me that he contacted you.'"

"What? Where does that walrus get off talking about me behind my..."

"'Quit trying to change the subject, Whitey.'"

"'Don't call me that!"

She ignored him and patted her pocket, 'This time I'M cashing the check; after everyone else gets their cut, then you get your share.'"

"Tommy almost went right through the ceiling, (and The Thaw had a ceiling like a cathedral, if you recall.")

No, maybe I just void our contract and put the word around about Robyn McFerral is no good, then best you'll find is playing free gigs in Lionheart Park."

"Ohhhh, I could have laughed my tail off, Judy. This time Tommy wasn't acting; he really was that close to losing control. I could tell by the way he was barely holding that Russki accent in check. Robyn either didn't notice it or else she didn't care; she just kind of shrugged at him."

"'Then what happens, happens Tommy... and if you ever threaten me like that again, you won't need to quit, I'll fire ya, an' I won't care WHAT you say about me. Got that?'"

"Now I could hear that Robyn had a little bit of an accent herself, down east with an urban twist. And I also knew what was coming next from Tommy; he'd try to lay a guilt trip on her. But I also knew by now that there was no way she was going to fall for it."

"Sure enough, Tommy let his fall ears back, and put on the 'hurt-little-fox-cub' face. You know the look, Carrots; it's the same one I pulled on Jerry Jumbeaux when he refused to sell me that Jumbo Pop."

"'After all I've done for you; ungrateful little cross-fox vixen, you wouldn't even have a band, much less have gotten any gigs if it weren't for me.'"

"'Yes, and I am grateful Tommy,' she told him, cool as a glass of iced tea, 'But the way I look at it, you're already been repaid, what with all the money you held back from us. That's why I'm letting you have your full share from tonight's gig, even Steven, ya might say...but don't push your luck, arctic fox. There's at least one band member who thinks you aughta get nothing from tonight."

"'I need that money!' Now Tommy was practically begging. For a minute there, I thought he was going to get down on his knees. It got me to thinking that perhaps what I'd heard was true, that the bookies were into him for something like five figures. If that was the case, The Thaw was not the best place for him to be right then, Carrots; Mr. Big never cared much for deadbeat gamblers-even if it wasn't HIM that they owed."

"'And you'll get it, but only your 20%, and that's it.' Robyn told him.

"Tommy threw up his paws. 'All right, but this argument isn't over yet.'"

"That made my ears prick up. That arctic fox had given up just a little too suddenly for my taste; he had something else up his sleeve, I could feel it in my bones."

"Why am I looking like...? Because little did I know how right I was, Judy. Tommy Baldorsson LITERALLY had something up his sleeve."

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Author's note:

The Thaw Nightclub actually exists in the Zootopia Universe; though it never appeared in the film, it's mentioned in The Zoopoia Handbook