Zootopia Adventures

Doughnut Disaster IX

"I see..." Judy said, slightly surprised that the city she had adored as a kit had such a corrupted past. She was glad that it had changed for the better before she arrived, even when she finally did there were still hints of unfair prejudice and corruption happening around. She glanced at Nick, who was maintaining a smile from recollecting his past time, one that was of sourness. "Sorry to ask, but what got you into hustling?"

Nick turned and looked into her eyes. "You really want to know?"

Judy was at first hesitant to pry deeper into Nick's past but gave a slight nod after the fox reassured her that he was fine to share his story.

"Its quite a walk there, so I guess this would keep us entertained for the time being," Nick noted and continued forth, kicking a cougar cola branded drink can as he walked. "I had told you of the time I was bullied and muzzled when I was nine right? I made a mess of myself crying outside the school for god knew how long before I simmered down and trudged back home. In the long timespan of three years after the day I was mortified by prejudice, many bad things happened. It was a year after the incident; I had recovered from the fears of bullying and was living quite peacefully with my mother when we realized that Dad went missing. Sure, he had always been known for returning home late, but we were pretty sure that something was awfully wrong when a whole three days had passed and he never made an appearance. Worried, we set out searching throughout the entire city but to no avail. That was when my mother gave up on seeking for him and spent the next few weeks tearing up and excessively praying for his sake. If the two of us could not find Dad, no one could. The ZPD did not exist back then. Ask for help? No one in the world would help a bunch of foxes. Other predators had their own life problems to settle that all they could offer was a prayer."

"Sorry to make you remember that Nick," Judy apologized, starting to regret her decision as she had made him repicture his sad, sorrowful moments in life.

"All is well, you don't have to be sorry. Besides, I could barely remember how he was like or looked like anyway. Accepting that Dad was gone from existence, someone had to take on the job as the family's sole breadwinner. My mother set out to look for a job; it took many days of applying across multiple odd jobs which were all denied almost immediately but finally, one was approved. She took the opportunity out of sheer desperation. It required heavy labor; She always came home with blisters on her paws and straining backaches, not to mention severe exhaustion. But she did not care about that, she was determined to put me through my education. It pained me to see my mother suffer for the sake of my living for the next two gritty years. That was when she finally collapsed. I came home from school that one fateful day to find her unconscious on the floor and burning from a high fever, which I then decided to quit schooling. No way was I going to lose both my father and my mother at this rate. Besides, I had to get medication for her. My first attempt at crime was stealing medicine from the doctors'. Blacklisted as a thief, I knew that there was no going back then. One petty crime led to another, most of the time stealing medication to aid my mother's recovery and food from the grocery. I was desperate, and this was the only plausible method which I could obtain what I needed. I spent the rest of the years learning the ways of crime.

Eight years later, Zootopia changed for the better. Many were arrested and many quitted their  wrongful jobs, but I remained. I could never trust the city and would never will. Playing smart, I decided to be a con artist. I perform my signature hustles on a daily basis but made sure that every single one of them which I carried out was "legal" in a sense such that the newly enforced police would have nothing on me. I met Finnick along the way and we were partners for roughly ten years till now and still going strong. But my life was turned around after I met you," Nick smiled as he concluded his story, now a smile of gratitude. "I had formerly despised you as you reminded me of my former self; oblivious to the cruel side of the city and it's despicable prejudice against predators, but you proved to be my ever first trustable stranger and a close friend. Not to mention that ironically bunnies had the most hatred against us foxes. And I could not thank you enough for helping me get back on the right track, Carrots. Without your appearance in my disastrous life, I doubt I would have ever changed my perspective of this world and begin rebuilding my trust for the city."

"It's nothing, I would not be that great of a bunny cop without your aid as well. I was mentally driven into thinking that it was a perfect city, but boy was I wrong when you opened my eyes to see reality," Judy replied, returning the smile. Back inside of her mind she wondered if she would ever do the same as Nick if faced with the exact same situations. Judy felt that she would most likely simply break down and gave up on hope. Her thoughts cleared up when she started noticing small silhouettes of many animals appearing one by one in the distance as they walked. "Is that the heart of the market you mentioned about?"

Nick shifted his gaze back in front. "Yep, that's the market alright. Sure does bring back memories, countless and countless of them."