Zootopia Adventures

Doughnut Disaster IV

"Sure, anything to get this wardrobe off me!" Clawhauser exclaimed with a desperate pant. Nick worked his way up the tiger with ease, the paperclip held casually by his canine teeth like he was biting onto a romantic rose stalk in a ball dance. One thing which Nick knew about his pairing with Judy that differentiates from others was that they were the smallest of the ZPD; Therefore, they had to improvise on everything which required a bigger animal to accomplish. Standing on top of his overweight colleague's shoulder, he retrieved the paperclip from his muzzle. Bending the soft moldable metal, he gingerly shaped the paperclip with the help of his claws as pliers to suit the keyhole of the wardrobe.

"Wow, I did not expect you to be this light," Clawhauser mused. "I mean, I understand Judy being light as a feather, but I could barely feel your weight as well!"

"I will take that as a compliment," Nick answered humbly as he slid the makeshift key into the lock. Turning the paperclip clockwise, it turned a good ninety degrees before it's rotation became stuck again. He pulled the paperclip out and continued to tinker with the key pattern. Nick smiled; The last time he had to picklock something was when Finnick had forgetfully locked him inside their van whilst he was napping. He had honed his skills of picking all kinds of locks that most of the time he would hit the jackpot in his first try. It's been so long since he had ever made use of this talent that his finesse was starting to fade. But he was confident the second attempt would work like a charm. "This one would be the winner."

Fitting the prototype key into the lock once again, Nick wound it clockwise with confidence. A metallic click could be heard as it unlocked; The door flung open right after, releasing Clawhauser from its tight grip. Free from the weight of the massive wardrobe, the chubby tiger lost his sense of balance, tethering back and forth awkwardly; finally falling flat on his rear end, leaning against the solid bed frame. Nick barely managed to leap off the crashing cheetah, tumbling onto the ground. He sat up with an arm supporting his body like a tripod stand as he observed Clawhauser holding a paw onto his round chest, catching ragged breaths; fatigued from all that wardrobe carrying.

"Whew! Made it in the nick of time, would have been crushed flat otherwise.... " Nick commented as he remained seated. He propped his legs up, knees bent as he leaned forth, resting his elbows on top. "See what I did there?"

"Very funny Nick, I am so laughing to that," Judy replied scornfully as she returned from the washroom, drying her cleaned paw with a paper towel. "I see you managed to free Clawhauser while I was gone."

"You know you like my sense of humour, Whiskers," Nick exclaimed as he returned her with a sly smirk plastered on his face. "And yes, I did."

"Thank you guys soo much! I would have been done-zos in there without the help from you two!" Clawhauser praised gratefully as he wiped the sweat off of his brow. Judy passed the sweaty cheetah a spare piece of paper towel and sat beside Nick.

"Now that you are out of the wardrobe, could you fill us in the details of why you were absent from work?" Judy questioned curiously, flipping the front cover of her notepad with one paw and her trusty carrot pen held in her other. "Keep it short and summarized, if you can."

Glancing around like a shopping mall thief, Clawhauser held one paw shielding his mouth. "Please do not spread this to anyone once I share it with you guys; it was supposed to be a secret that only I know!" he whispered. Judy and Nick nodded slowly in sync.

"You know getting a ticket for the best seats in Gazelle's concert is a one in a lifetime opportunity right? Thing is, I have the tickets for it!" Clawhauser buzzed. Judy sat up straight the second she heard what he said.

"You do!?" Judy exclaimed in total shock, unable to resist the excitement which was building up inside herself. Nick let out a soft chuckle as he watched Judy's rather exaggerated reaction. Judy flushed red as her acute hearing picked up his laugh and landed a swift punch square in Nick's elbow.

"Really now, Carrots? I think I might resign as your partner if I am going to accumulate injuries not from tackling criminals but ironically from you," Nick complained wryly as he massaged his arm.

"Come on, that's not even a serious punch," Judy retorted cheekily. Placing herself back on topic, she locked eyes with Clawhauser once more. "Sorry, a fox diverted my attention; please continue." Nick eyed Judy with an apathetic expression, arms crossed.

"As I was saying, yes; I do have tickets for the seats... But I lost them along my way back home. You see, there was this promotion going on that a selected number of doughnut boxes would have a redeemable coupon hidden inside of it. And as you guys know me as the doughnut lover of ZPD, I had a good chance for one to fall in my paws. It was such a great offer! Killing two birds with one stone as a matter of fact. So, I went on a daily routine of eating at the nearby ducking doughnut outlet when I clock out from work. And thank the gods of doughnuts- if there is one, anyway; My prayers were answered today! I was having my breakfast there before heading to work and Blam! Four redeemable tickets at my personal disposal! I tucked the coupon into my pants back pocket before proceeding to work. It had to be the best morning ever!" Clawhauser whispered loudly in sheer excitement.

"Could you recall any event that took place which might be linked to your missing tickets?" Judy inquired, her pen still busy scribbling the details onto a fresh page of the notepad. "Like, did anyone bump into you, or did you leave the table for a short moment? Any plausible explanation would be ideal."

Clawhauser rapped his digits on his belly as he recollected his memories. "I never left the table, I always finish my meal and clean up by myself... as for bumping into anyone...I do not recall such an event."

"That's a bummer," Nick murmured. Judy's ears drooped from the depressing intel.

"Wait, no! I did feel something brush past my leg as I was skipping happily to work... does that count?" Clawhauser asked anxiously, his tail coiling upwards with hope.

"Yes! Yes! Now we have a lead!" Judy sprang up from joy. Clawhauser breathed heavily as he brought his paws up to his face in happiness. Nick chuckled once more at the sight of two over-excited animals - or Gazelle fans, dependant on which perspective you look at from. But his thoughts were cut off when Judy's paws attacked him on the shoulders. His eyes widened and pupils constricted as she shook him vigorously. "We've got a lead!" Judy announced cheerfully into his ear.

"Judy, I swear to god, you bruised my paw, punched me in the elbow and now you are- " he paused as he watched Judy celebrate the moment with Clawhauser. He smiled as he felt a warmth spreading inside himself. The same warmth as the time he was preparing to join the Junior Ranger Scouts when he was nine. It was a feeling which Nick had also felt when she presented her with his badge during the ZPD graduation day. A feeling which he wished would never fade. She was part of his family now. And he would never forget what she did to save him from his problems.

"Thank you, Judy, for everything," Nick muttered softly as he observed her.

"What did you say, Nick?" Judy asked as she was too excited that she did not catch the entirety of what Nick said.

"It's nothing, Carrots. Let's crack this case shall we?" Nick replied with a smirk on his face.