Nick followed Judy down into a large bedroom. He entered through a tiny hole that he could barely fit through, and came out into the large room. He took in the sight. Judy had picture after picture hung up on the wall. From the ceiling hung little bunny rabbit faces made from paper, a long forgotten childhood project. A dusty bed sat in the corner, not having been used in what looked like awhile. Little stuffed animals lined the side of the bed, including a little bunny with a police uniform on.
"Is this your..old room?" asked Nick, who was trying not to step on all the scattered papers on the floor. Judy stood at the wall, staring up at all the pictures. She had red strings connecting different ones.
"Yeah," she began "This is the room I had when I was a child. One of the biggest rooms in the burrow, to be honest. I shared it with two other siblings, but they moved out and took all of their belongings with them. I, I traveled lightly. I left the things that have little importance here."
Nick strolled over and picked up the little stuffed bunny in a police outfit. He turned it over in his paws, seeing a little star sticker on it that said "Junior ZPD Officer"
"This is cute..." he whispered. Judy saw a small smile on his face. She watched him for a few more seconds before turning her attention back to the wall. Nick noticed she was staring at the pictures, and walked over next to her.
"What's this?" he asked curiously.
"This.. This is all my practice when I was working to join the force. I made up fake cases for myself sometimes..." she giggled a little. "Oh it was fun. But I was working on how to figure out who did what, and what animal was the true criminal."
Nick nodded, getting lost in all the photos.
"I took random photos, mostly of my family, to practice with." she finished.
"How is this going to help?" he asked, gesturing to the wall. Judy smiled.
"Ah. Well, we're going to put all the clues and facts that we know about the case, and then attempt to put them together."
"Do we know enough information?" asked Nick, " I mean, we only know about the wolf and then Manchas.."
"Exactly. See, we'll put a random picture over here..." She grabbed a picture of a bunny and stuck it on the wall. "This is the wolf".
"It's a bunny..."
"Well we're going to pretend it's the wolf".
"Kay..."
"Anyway, and we know that the wolf has some sort of connection with Koslov, the polar bear. So I am going to stick another picture over here. And pretend that that's Koslov. Now, we know Koslov has connections with Manchas, since he's his limo driver. And Manchas has been driving the wolf to Koslov's for awhile now. And Manchas told us that He picked him up at the Palm Tree Hotel, which is located in Sahara Square."
"Yes.. I already know all that, Carrots..." sighed Nick. Judy stomped her foot on the ground.
"The point is, the wolf that you claimed framed you... was seen by Koslov after you went savage. Because you were arrested over a month ago. And Manchas said that the last time he drove the wolf to Koslov's was about two weeks ago."
"Carrots, what's your point?"
"My point is is that the wolf is most likely still in the Palm Tree Hotel. And we can travel there and find him."
"Why did you have to go through that long speech? Why couldn't you just have said that in the first place?" asked Nick.
"It makes things more interesting, Wilde.." finished the rabbit.
"Hello...." came a voice.
The two turned to see a small black bunny in the doorway. She bounced inside and ran straight up to Nick.
"Wow a fox! Never met a fox before! It's mostly prey animals in these parts! But wow a fox! You know my family says that foxes treated us badly in the past and can't be trusted. But I don't believe them..." She whispered. She leaned in closer to Nick.
"I think foxes are really cool..The red fur is pretty... I want red fur..."
Judy sighed.
"Emma get out of here. Leave me and Nick alone so we can continue with the case." she said, annoyed.
"Oh! But I want to talk to the fox! Woah! I mean, I wanna talk to Nick.." she giggled.
Nick laughed a little.
"Ah kid.. Busy right now. But I'm glad that you um.. Think my fur is pretty.." he said, trying to not feel awkward.
"Emma, leave.." Judy growled.
The little black bunny ignored her, smiling at Nick. Nick noticed this little bunny only seemed to be about five years old. If she was a predator, she would be getting her collar right about now. But this little kid didn't ever have to worry about that.
"That collar..." whispered the bunny. Nick was pulled back to reality and looked at her.
"What about it..?" he asked.
"It doesn't fit you. You're not a monster." she said. Nick was taken back by this. This little bunny didn't think he was a monster?
"You have been very polite to my family and me, and Carlos said he was sorry for calling you a chomper. And you haven't eaten my cousin Judy yet. That's good enough for me that you're not a monster."
Just then, the unexpected happened. The little rabbit ran to Nick and hugged him. Or well, hugged his legs, since that's the only part of him she could reach.
"You're fur is soft." she giggled. Nick didn't know what to do. Judy just watched, then looked back to see about ten bunnies looking in from the doorway, watching little Emma hug a predator.
The little bunny let go, laughed, then ran for the doorway, pushing past the others. Judy got an angry look on her face.
"Can we get some privacy!!?? My goodness!!" She stomped to the door and pulled down a curtain over the hole. Sure, it didn't block sound, but she didn't have to see their faces.
She walked back over to Nick, who was still standing in shock. He was feeling different. A little bunny, a soft little bunny, hugged him and told him that he wasn't a monster.. A baby bunny. All his life all he's heard was how bad and evil predators are. How they tortured preys thousands of years ago, and now still had to be controlled. But now, this little rabbit trusted him and even hugged him. Just then, a beep sounded, and Nick stopped. His collar light turned yellow from the emotion he was feeling.
He tried to calm down, but the light turned red and gave him a shock.
"Ah!.. Oh.." Nick sighed, rubbing his neck.
"What did you get shocked for?" asked Judy.
"I was.. I was just thinking about how that little rabbit..Emma..She trusted me. She hugged me. She wasn't afraid of me. I was just so happy and surprised that a little animal like her could like me..And then I guess I got excited and my collar reacted.."
Nick slowly rubbed his neck, and then sighed.
"Why are you helping me, Judy?" asked Nick. She hesitated, then spoke.
"Because, with everything that's gone on, I see that there really is a story behind this case. And every animal deserves fair trial. You weren't given that Nick. You were taken in a truck and thrown in jail. And when we went to the polar bears, they seemed to know something about the wolf. When we went to Manchas, he seemed to know something about the wolf. And you said it was a wolf that framed you..."
"He shot me with a dart. It had something in it...Don't know what it was.." said Nick.
"Well, this wolf has been seen by you and others, and I'm starting to think there is actually something going on here." she finished.
"Okay..But..Why are you helping me? A predator? A fox? Aren't you afraid of me? Do you trust me?"
Judy smiled.
"At first?No."
Nick turned his head away.
"But for the past day you saved me from being attacked by a polar bear. You never ate me. Never clawed me. Never showed any aggression towards me. You let my cousin come in here and hug you. You were injured but you never got angry and tried to hurt anyone. You let my mother get near you and didn't hurt her when she bandaged you up. You were afraid of Manchas, yet still didn't attack me or him. On the train ride when we were alone, you didn't attack me. In the alley in Sahara Sqaure, you didn't attack me. Heck, we're here, right now, in this home filled with over a hundred bunnies, and you haven't attacked any of them. The only times you've been shocked is when you are stressed, afraid, or happy. And that's not what those collars are meant to stop. They're meant to stop anger from taking over. But they stop any emotions from taking over. And that's turned you into what you are." she finished. Nick was nervous. He didn't know what to say.
"A freaky old fox?" he laughed, trying to add humor to lighten up the room.
"No." she said, with a serious tone.
" A fox who has been shocked for just being alive. Punished for being happy someone hugged him and didn't treat him like a monster... punished because he was running and afraid and that causes heart rates to rise. Punished because you fell into the water and the water reacted to the collar, shocking you. Punished..punished because you felt emotions just like the rest of us."
Nick was shocked. Was she actually saying all this?
"And just how much do you think you trust me?" he asked.
Judy stood there, thinking. Then, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a little black thing that looked like a scanner. Nick gasped. He had seen one of these only one other time.
"This, is how much I think that I trust you." Judy pointed the device at the green light of Nick's collar, and the collar beeped, unhooked, and fell off of his neck.