The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One

The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One: Fuel - 53

So, what had gone wrong with Robyn; how had he failed to go straight that first time? Judy had no idea, but suspected she was about to find out.

"When I told Finnick what had happened with Robyn, he cooled down almost immediately."

"'Awwww, that's rough Nick; I'm sorry, fox.' He knew how I felt about Robyn, and of course I'd want to talk about what had happened with her right away, no matter how late it was. Mind you, he wasn't quite as understanding when I told him about the promised I'd made."

"'Give up hustling an' go STRAIGHT? Whoa, you really outta your mind with that cross-fox vixen, Nick. You...gone legit? Gimme a break; you been workin' the streets since you was in middle school, you ain't never held a real job in your life. What you think you gonna do, post a resume on , 'Hustling FOX Seeks Honest Work?' Yeah, like that'll fly. Not happening, my mammal; not...happening.'"

"I just let him go on like that for a few minutes-when Finnick gets wound up like that, the only thing to do is let him wind down-and then I said, 'I'm not going to go looking for any job, little buddy. I'm planning to go into business for myself...and I could really use your help.' (Yeah, right...as if there was anyone else I could ask.)"

"Finnick just kind of looked at me for a while, the way he sometimes does; he was touched that I'd thought of him, but I still hadn't delivered the punch-line. 'What...KIND of business.' He finally asked me."

"'Remember that idea we talked about?' I said, and then laid the plan out for him. Instead of answering me, he picked up his cell phone and pretended to dial a number."

"'Hello Cliffside Insane Asylum? Better send over some guys in the white coats, ASAP! There's a crazy fox loose in my apartment...'"

"'Give me that!' I grabbed the phone out of his..."

"What, Carrots? Okay, okayyyy, I'll cut to the chase. What I had in mind was-and I'm perfectly serious-my idea was for an amusement park, but not just ANY amusement park, an amusement park especially for predator species. I even had a name picked out, 'Wild Times - Where A Pred Can Be A Pred.' I..."

"Wh-what are you doing with that phone? Hey, don't YOU start. Aggggh, grrr, at least hear me out before you start making judgement calls, huh?"

"All right; well, it all began about two months before I met Robyn. Finnick and I had just cashed in on our latest score and we were hanging out at the Sweetgum Café, in Savanna Central Park just opposite the entrance to the Natural History Museum. "

"Yeah, I know; it's gone now. Anyway, we were kicking back and watching a bunch of predator kids playing Bush Chase. Yes, I know you never heard of it, Carrots; Bush Chase is strictly a predator's game. It goes like this: One kid gets chosen to be 'it', usually by drawing straws, and then the others all turn their backs while he gets into position. When he's ready, he gives the signal and then turns and runs. The object of the game is for the 'it' kid to try to reach a designated safety zone without getting caught by any of the others. Oh, and, it's almost always played by predator kids of more or less the same size; larger species with larger species and smaller with smaller. In the case of the kids Finnick and I were watching, they were all grade schoolers and big cat species, two young lions, a boy and a girl, a leopard, two jaguars, a snow leopardess and a tigress; the 'it' animal was one of the jaguars. I watched him move around for a minute, looking for the best place from which to make a run for it. He finally found a spot, near one of the Acacia trees over by the pond. Then he gave the signal, "Tiagera Falls!'"

"Why Ti...oh you just pick any word at random Carrots, but when the Jaguar kid gave the signal, it was as if someone flipped a switch, the other kids were all instantly alert, I could see their whiskers nearly twitching with excitement. Then they all shouted out the signal word together."