-Chapter 12-

The police cruiser pulled over, backing into the alleyway, effectively concealing itself in the shadows of the buildings. Judy shifted the car into park, letting out a sigh.

"So...do we just wait now?" Etson asked her.

"Yes," she answered, "so you should probably get comfortable."

Etson, accepting the invitation, reclined his seat and wriggled himself into a more comfortable position, putting his paws behind his head as he leaned back. Judy reached for the car radio, pressing the knob to turn it on. One by one, she went through her presets. Advertisement, advertisement, crappy song...she paused.

"'Cause I can make your paws clap," the chorus came through the radio, saxophone blaring over the catchy beat. Judy winced. That was one of Nick's favorite songs. Quickly, she pushed the thought out of him out of her mind, pressing the next knob on the dashboard.

"Fasco appears to be up in the polls today after the two Alimandish attacks yesterday, his strict policy on -" Judy shook her head at the radio, moving onto the next latest single from Selena Goatmez started playing, satisfying Judy. She followed Etson's lead and leaned back in her chair, gazing across the street.

"That's the house we're looking after, right?" she inquired, pointing.

Etson nodded. "Zhat's it."

"Perfect," she exclaimed. If anyone started to try anything they were in the perfect position to stop it. She just hoped that they wouldn't look too closely for police cruiser. She had done her best to hide it in the darkness of the alley, but on such a busy street it was nearly impossible to completely conceal. Of course, this was assuming that the P.P.P. were going to strike at the location Etson had provided, which could very well turn out to not be the case. Still, Judy liked to remain optimistic that at the very least something would happen.

"So you're a Goatmez fan, eh?" Etson asked in reference to the radio, still comfortably reclined in the shotgun seat.

"I mean she's not my favorite, but she's not bad either," Judy replied, turning to look at the raccoon. "What do you think of her?"

"Meh. I'm not really into zhe music here," he admitted. "Not my zhing, really."

Judy raised an eyebrow at him. "What about the music 'here' don't you like?"

"I don't know, it's just different I guess," he replied, shrugging. "Music in Alimand... is a lot more electronic. Not many...how do you say it..." the raccoon paused, grasping for the word he needed.

"Vocals?" Judy suggested.

"Yes! Vocals. Zhere aren't very many vocals," Etson finished, somewhat embarrassed that he had forgotten the vocab.

"Hmm. I'll have to listen to it sometime, then," she chatted.

There was a brief moment of silence, the two animals staring out over the busy avenue together.

Judy turned her head to look at the raccoon. "Do you miss Alimand?"

He glanced back at her. "Yes and no," he replied. Seeing the perplexed look on the rabbit's face, he decided to elaborate. "We had to leave a lot of friends zhere. And zhe food. I really, really miss zhe food," he admitted, smiling.

Judy started to laugh, but the humor was quickly neutralized by her memories. Nick also loved Alimandish food. She remembered him stuffing his face at the food court on one of their patrol days, hardly taking time to breath. She shook the mental baggage off, reminding herself that she didn't need to be concerned with him any more.

"Aside from zhose zhings, zhough...Zhere's not much I miss," Etson concluded, letting out a sigh.

Judy bit her lip nervously. She didn't want to pry, but she was curious. "Why...don't you miss it?"

Etson inhaled heavily. That was a question that couldn't be answered easily. "Zhings are...different zhere. And not the good type of different, eizher," he told her.

"Thanks for that vivid picture," Judy teased, causing the raccoon to chuckle. "Care to explain some more?"

"Sure," he said as he cleared his throat, preparing his best narrator voice. "You see, it all started zhousands of years ago...on zhe ozher side of zhe world zhere was an island in zhe middle of zhe ocean, untouched by mammalkind. Legend has it zhat a terrible storm blew a ship of traders to zhe island, which zhey called Alimand. Zhey made a small village zhere, living off of the many fish on zhe coast and in zhe rivers," Etson explained, waving his paws around for dramatic effect. "Zhere were only twenty or so mammals on zhe ship. But zhere was somezhing zhey all had in common."

"What?" Judy eagerly asked.

"Zhey were all...predators," Etson revealed. "Zhese animals...zhey were zhe ancestors of everyone who would live on Alimand, according to zhe story. Zhe animals started to multiply, slowly spreading out over zhe rest of zhe island. New fishing mezhods led to more food and more population. Being isolated on an island in the ocean allowed for zhe Alimandish language to develop along wizh unique Alimandish culture. Zhey built magnificent structures working togezher. Everyone seemed content, living in harmony wizh one anozher for centuries."

Judy felt a lump in her throat. This was going to be the part when things got ugly, she could tell.

"What happened?" she tentatively questioned.

Etson fidgeted awkwardly. "Ozher animals found zhe island," he answered as a grim look came upon his face. "At first it was just explorers. Zhey mapped out zhe island and left, bringing tales of a myzhical civilization home wizh zhem. And zhen, over time more animals came. And zhen...zhen zhings started to get worse."

"What do you mean? How did they make it worse?"

"Well...zhe animals zhat came..." Etson paused, reluctant to continue, "were prey." Judy's ears started to droop. Etson sighed. "Zhese animals...zhey didn't want to live zhe way zhe Alimandish natives did. Most of zhe time...zhere was no way for zhem to communicate wizh each ozher. Zhings gradually got more violent as more and more of zhese animals came...Until zhe whole island snapped," Etson lamented. His tone got significantly darker, his face now shifting into a frown. "A wolf named Jurwezy went out to his fishing nets zhat morning, only to catch some prey animals stealing from him. Zhis was not an uncommon sight. Prey often took from zhe predators...and Jurwezy decided that he'd had enough."

"What...what did he do?"

"He... attacked zhem," Etson started, his voice softer all of a sudden. "And killed zhem both."

Judy's face mimicked Etson's, a heavy frown overcoming her usually positive expression.

"Zhe prey were outraged. Zhey began calling for zhe muzzling of all of zhe native Alimandish citizens, claiming zhat zhey were all too dangerous to trust," Etson swallowed heavily. "Zhey attacked zhat night. One by one, zhey set fire to zhe homes. Everyone panicked. Zhey had no idea what was happening," he described to her. "By zhe end of zhe night...everyone in zhe village had been captured and muzzled, from the smallest child to zhe wisest elder. Zhe whole zhing is known to zhis day as Jurwezylao, or Jurwezy Night, after zhe wolf who attacked."

Judy looked over at the raccoon. "Did...things ever get better?"

The raccoon was silent for a moment. Letting out a sigh, he shook his head. "Zhe prey took over zhe island, village by village, night after night. Zhe mammals of Alimand tried to fight back, but zhey had no real weapons because...well...zhey had never needed to fight a war before," he told Judy somberly. "Eventually they reached the grand temple in zhe center of zhe island. Zhe Alimandish could do nothing but watch as zheir greatest work was pounded to rubble by zhe prey. It was zhe end of an era. From zhat day on...prey would rule Alimand. And zhe predators..." Etson paused, "were ruled over. For the next hundred years predators would have to wear muzzles in public. Zhe island was split into two, predator and prey, wizh zhe predator half being heavily policed and oppressed. To zhis day everyzhing is still separated. Everyzhing - zhe tap water, zhe schools, zhe homes, zhe jobs - it's all better if you live in zhe prey sector. And zhat... Zhat is why I don't miss Alimand."

Judy rested her head against the back of the driver's seat, taking the whole story in. It was history like this that made her reconsider her positive outlook on the world. How could she continue to see the best in animals when stories like Alimand's so clearly showed the worst of mammal nature? In a way, even though she knew it made no rational sense, she felt guilty that fellow prey could commit such atrocities. She knew that the world wasn't perfect...but it wasn't entirely imperfect either. At least that's what she chose to believe. Yet, as she became increasingly acquainted with the subject of history, she kept having that belief challenged. Her eyes sunk down, fixed on her seat, Judy feeling equal parts ashamed and unsettled.

"Look, I know it's not a very happy story," he admitted, hoping to make Judy feel better, "but we haven't seen how it ends yet."

She turned to look at him. What was he saying?

"Zhe predators are finally fighting back," he explained. "Zhe protests...zhe sit-ins...it's all a step in zhe right direction. If enough animals will listen, and realize zhe right zhing to do," Etson said, a glimmer of hope in his eyes, "zhen maybe Alimand will finally become a place worzh living."

Judy's frown slowly changed back into her usual determined expression.

It's all about trying to make the world a better place, she thought. In the end, that's all you can do.

She stared out the windshield as the radio switched songs, feeling a profound sense of confidence instilled in her. She glanced around, taking a moment to admire the city she was now much more proud to live in. There was something she had always loved about Zootopia, and juxtaposing the current situation there with the one in Alimand certainly made her more grateful. Her eyes hopped from animal to animal and building to building, her mind wondering about the stories of each animal looked at. The mother with a stroller...the frantic businessman...the hooded figure toying with the lock across the street...they all could have novels written about their lives.

Wait, she realized, someone's breaking into that house!

Judy suddenly leaned forward in her seat. She squinted and then quickly rubbed her eyes, not trusting what her senses were telling her. Her mouth gradually began to hang open.

"Etson..." she started, "You...you see that too, right?" she pointed across the street to the target building.

He looked in the area she had pointed out for him. "I don't see anything..."

"Look harder," Judy told him.

Etson's eyes widened. "Is zhat...?"

"It has to be," Judy quickly responded, the driver's side door flying open as she leapt into action. "Quick! We have to move!"

Etson quickly fumbled to unbuckle his seatbelt before jumping out the passenger side door. Judy sprinted across the street, narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic. Etson followed behind her, running through the crosswalk to catch up. The hooded figure turned around and, after noticing the two animals who were barreling towards them, jumped off the steps that led to the door and began running down the street.

"Stop that mammal!" Judy yelled, pursuing as fast as she could, Etson not far behind. "You're under arrest!"

The hooded figure kept running, disregarding the rabbit's orders. They ducked into a nearby alleyway, trying to lose their new friends. Judy and Etson followed after them. The alleyway was dark and small, but the hooded figure could still be easily seen. They sprinted after the criminal side by side, their surroundings fading into a blur, when Etson thought he noticed something on the ground.

He looked over his shoulder to examine the object. Those could work, he thought. He came to an abrupt halt, scurrying over to the side of the alley.

"Etson! What are you doing?" Judy screamed, still running.

"I'll catch up!" he yelled back. "Just keep going!"

Judy looked back over her shoulder, wondering what crazy plan he had concocted. She looked forwards again and kept chasing the figure, who was still ahead of her by a few strides. The alleyway ended, sending the chase back into another main avenue. The hooded figure's footsteps matched Judy's, the rabbit matching them stride for stride a few meters behind. They ran against a crowd of pedestrians, Judy carefully maneuvering to avoid being stepped on by the larger animals around her. She watched as the culprit climbed up a series of fruit crates which were stacked atop of each other outside of a fruit market. Hastily, they pulled themselves up onto the top crate. The stack of crates teetered and plummeted as they pushed off, landing in the back of a pickup truck that happened to by driving by. Judy dived out of the way as the boxes hit the ground around her, spilling fruit all over the sidewalk. Somersaulting back into a run, her eyes darted through the traffic, singling out the truck that was carrying the suspect. The hood they had been wearing had fallen off their head, revealing their true identity.

The vandalizer...is a deer foal? Judy thought. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud voice behind her.

"Coming zhrough!" Etson yelled. Judy glanced quickly over her shoulder to see the raccoon on roller skates catching up with her.

"Etson!" she yelled in between gasps of air, still in a sprint, "We have to catch that deer! On the truck!"

"That deer?" he asked, surprised that they were chasing someone who appeared to be so young.

"Yes! The one on the red pickup truck!"

Etson stared into the traffic, spotting the vehicle she was describing. "I'll chase it. You stay on the sidewalk!" he exclaimed. She nodded in agreement. He slid gracefully past her, seamlessly slipping into the flow of traffic. To her surprise, he was able to maneuver between cars with incredible ease and speed. He weaved between the lanes, staying close behind the pickup truck. He kept his eyes locked on the deer, determined to keep the criminal in his sights. The deer smirked, having outsmarted the police, only to be sheerly alarmed at the sight of Etson close behind her. The raccoon pushed into the ground with his skates, glancing upwards. Red light. The truck began to brake, apparently oblivious to the fact that anything was happening. The deer, eyes wide, quickly leaped out of the truck and started running to the sidewalk, nearly getting hit by an oncoming car as she ran through the crosswalk. Etson skated after her, trying to get them her run into Judy, who was still quite a ways behind. He jumped from the street onto the sidewalk, trying not to lose momentum.

The deer kept running, now back on the sidewalk, but Etson was gaining on her. She sprinted harde. She wasn't going to outpace the raccoon. Frantically, she reached into her backpack, pulling out a can of spraypaint. She turned around, throwing it at Etson as hard as she could. Etson ducked, the can flying over his head. The deer turned right to run down another alleyway, trying desperately to ditch the racoon. Etson leaned to the right, his center of gravity shifting and right paw skimming the ground as he turned into the alleyway after the deer. The animal being chased grew more and more panicked. She tossed her backpack backwards, hoping that it would slow the pursuer down. Etson simply dodged to the right, maintaining his velocity. A smirk slowly swept across his face as he got within arm's length of the deer.

Etson bent his knees, pushing his feet into the ground with tremendous force as his legs extended, causing him to spring towards the wall of the alleyway. The moment seemed to slow down as Etson's body flew threw the air. He felt his skates make contact with the side of the building, his knees bending once again as he pushed himself off the wall. He flew forward as he spun his body around, his skates making a solid klank as they hit the ground.

The deer stared at him in both awe and terror as Etson wall jumped past her, landing in front of her escape path. In a frenzy, her progress grinded to a halt, scrambling to run the direction she had just come from. Her eyes practically jumped out of his sockets. The bunny was right there, waiting for her. She looked back and forth between the two exits, both of which were now blocked, and let out a defeated sigh. She was trapped.

"Well, well, well," Judy remarked, dusting off her paws, "I didn't expect the P.P.P. vandalizer to be so young."

"And I didn't expect top police officer Judy Hopps to be so slow," the deer retorted, grinning. "If it weren't for your skater friend's sick moves," she nodded towards Etson, who sheepishly smiled, "you would have been out of luck."

Judy snorted, shaking her head. "That's some awfully bold talk considering your situation, miss."

The deer shrugged. "I never was the quiet type."

"Well, in that case," Judy started, pulling out her notebook and carrot pen, "I don't suppose you'll have any problems telling us about the vandalizations you've been committing."

"You don't know that it was me," the deer retorted.

"Do you really want to test our evidence, sweetheart?" Judy rebutted.

The deer paused, thinking over her options. She let out a conceded sigh. "What do you need to know, Bucktooth?"

"That's Officer Hopps to you," Judy jeered, slightly ticked off, causing the deer to roll her eyes. "Why don't you start by telling us your name?"

"I'm Rory," she answered. "Rory Nelson."

"How old are you?" Etson wondered.

"Eight."

"Okay, Miss Nelson," Judy said scornfully, "why exactly were you doing breaking the lock on that building?"

"I was gonna vandalize the place," Rory responded without skipping a beat, causing Judy to raise an eyebrow. "Anything else you need to know?"

"Um...yes," Judy replied, caught off guard by the bluntness of the deer's answer. "Are you responsible for the three other P.P.P. vandalizations?"

"Yep."

There was a moment of silence. Etson clenched his fists in anger. So this was the person who took the scrapbook away from him.

"Care to...elaborate on that?" Judy asked, clearly annoyed by the deer's terse response.

"Nope."

Judy let out a sigh. "Listen here, Rory," she scoffed, "I know you think you're all that for evading us for so long, but I'm the one in charge here. So, you're either going to listen to me, or things are going to get much worse for you. Do you understand?"

"Whatever you say, Hopps," Rory answered nonchalantly. She didn't like being told what to do, but at the moment she didn't really have any leverage to act how she wanted, meaning her best option was to listen to Judy.

"Now, let me ask you again," Judy started. "Care to elaborate on that?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'm the one who did it. I burned down all three of the buildings," she admitted. Etson started to twitch with rage. Noticing this, Rory added, "But it's not as bad as it seems."

"'Not as bad as it seems?' You just admitted to burning down my cafe!" Etson yelled.

"Look, pal, I didn't want to do it," she told him. "I didn't have a choice."

Judy raised an eyebrow. Etson's fists unclenched.

"I was blackmailed," Rory explained.

A lightbulb went off in the rabbit's head. "Fasco..." she muttered under her breath.

The deer's eyes widened. "Wait, how did you-?"

"That's not important," Judy replied, shaking her head. "Why didn't you tell your parents about this?"

Rory's expression sank. "The thing is...I...uh," she muttered. An awkward silence filled the air. "I don't have any parents."

Etson immediately turned to stare at the young doe. She...she was like him?

"Oh," Judy mumbled, swallowing awkwardly. There was a brief moment of recognition, before the silence was broken. "Tell us more about Fasco."

The deer, eager to change the subject, happily obliged. "Jeez...where do I begin?" she joked, sighing slightly. "I...ran into Fasco...to put it one way, when he caught me pickpocketing his wife's purse," Rory admitted. "He sent his bodyguards after me - a pair of cheetahs. Needless to say, I had no chance. They caught me easily and brought me back to an empty parking lot, where they made me empty my pockets. After seeing how much I had pickpocketed that day...they told me that they were going to have me arrested. "

"So...what happened?" Judy wondered.

"Fasco gave me another option," Rory answered. "He told me that he'd let me keep all of the money and keep going about my life as usual...If I did him a favor. I should have realized that doing these 'favors' were going to get me caught anyways, but hindsight is 20-20."

Judy hastily scribbled everything down into her notebook. "So he told you which houses to target?"

"Yeah. He gave me the location and the time, as well as a lockpicking tool."

"What about the spray paint?" Etson asked. "Did he tell you what P.P.P. meant?"

"Actually," Rory replied, "Fasco had nothing to do with the spray paint."

Judy and Etson looked at each other confusedly.

"You see..." Rory started, "every time Fasco would call me in to give me the next target...his wife would be there with him. After Fasco finished telling me what to do, she would pull me aside and give me additional directions along with...a little extra cash for my troubles," she confessed, smirking. "And I wasn't just going to turn down free money."

"So she was the one who told you to do the P.P.P. spraypaint?" Judy asked.

"Yep. The sticky notes were her idea too," Rory told them.

"Interesting..." Judy remarked, tapping her chin again with the carrot pen. She snapped her notebook shut. "Alright, let's go back to HQ with Rory here. We can ask her about some more things on the ride back."

"You mean I don't get to go free? But I told you everything you asked!" Rory argued.

Judy laughed. "Sweetie, you just admitted to pickpocketing several animals and accepting bribes to do criminal activity. You're gonna have to come with us."

Rory hesitated for a moment, staring at the ground. "I'm not going to...you know... spend the night in jail or anything, right?"

Judy nervously scratched behind her head. "About that..." Judy started, causing the doe's ears to droop. "I'm sorry. It's just...we don't have anywhere else secure that you can stay."

"Yeah, whatever," the doe sputtered, clearly distraught. It was foolish to believe anyone would trust her.

Etson glanced down at the doe, staring into her depressed eyes. He had never been convicted of anything before, but he still knew what it was like to live on the streets alone at such a young age. And he still had all of that prize money...

"Ah, what zhe heck. She can stay with me," Etson gave in.

"R-really?" Rory looked up at him. "You mean it?"

Etson nodded. Judy looked back at him quizzically. "You have a place to stay? Since when?"

"I have zhe money now," he replied, trying to convince her of the idea. "I can book a hotel and post bail if needed."

"I don't know about this, Etson," Judy admitted, looking back and forth between him and Rory.

"I know what you're thinking, Officer Hopps," Rory said as respectfully as she could. "I promise you, if you let me stay in a hotel for the night I will do whatever you need me to for as long as you want."

Judy's eyes narrowed, unsure about whether or not she could trust the doe. If she was lying...then that meant their only solid evidence on Fasco was gone.

"Please, Judy," Etson begged on Rory's behalf. He saw too much of himself in the doe to let her spend a night in a cold concrete cell. "I'll look after her. Zhings will be fine."

The carrot pen tapped against her chin a few more times. "...Fine," Judy conceded, sighing. Etson and Rory grinned at one another. "Now can we please go back to HQ?"

"I think," Rory said, gesturing towards Etson's feet, "that you might want to return those skates first."

Etson looked down at the skates, quickly unlacing them.

"I meant to ask you Etson," Judy commented, "where did you learn to skate like that?"

"Zhat's somezhing about Alimand I forgot to tell you," he replied, pulling the first skate off his foot. "Everyone zhere knows how to skate." He yanked the last skate off his other foot, pulling himself back up into a standing position. "Alright," he said, "let's go."

The sun slowly faded behind a series of clouds, its light obstructed by the gaseous clusters. A slight breeze blew through the overcast streets as the afternoon waned on. Animals could be seen everywhere going about their business as they usually did. There was one animal, however, who was noticeably from the rest.

Nick, in his police uniform, stuck out like a sore thumb among the crowd. He walked down the street, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses in spite of the gloomy weather. The dark aviators kept people from knowing how he was feeling, which made him feel more comfortable about the attention he was drawing to himself. Although, if anyone could see past the lenses, they would see a gleaming determination in his eyes, a determination to make amends.

He held in his paws a bouquet and a small, white box, which garnered some strange looks from passerby. What was this police officer doing holding an arrangement of flowers? Or maybe it was just the fact that he was a fox in uniform? Either way, it wasn't as if these strange looks bothered Nick. He'd gotten used to them over the course of his life on the streets, and now he shrugged them off as if they were nothing.

He abruptly stopped walking, having reached his destination. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and stepped into the ZPD headquarters.

Chapter 12 is out! Without spoiling too much, this chapter is very much the calm before the storm. I hope you all enjoy reading, and as always, please write a review telling me what you think of the story!