The Fire Triangle -- Part II, Oxidizer

The Fire Triangle: Book II - Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Zootopia stories, characters, settings, and properties belong to the Walt Disney Co. This story is written under Fair Use Copyright laws.

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The Fire Triangle

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Part Two:

Oxidizer

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Chapter 1—A Rock and a Hard Place
(Continued...Part 2)

If Fru-Fru's revelations so far had been only surprising, the one she had waiting around the corner was a nuclear bombshell...but Judy wouldn't find that out for another minute or two. Leaning forward in her chair, she peered at the little arctic shrew as though she might—or might not—have actually been there.

"Hang on; you got your engagement ring at Rafaj Brothers Jewelers?"

Fru's snout turned upwards like a miniature elephant's trunk, a sign of irritation in a shrew.

"Not ME...Tad bought it." Tad was Tad Dennison, her husband. But forget about that; now it was Judy's turn to be annoyed.

"Oh get off it, Fru. You know that's not what I mean; why on earth would anyone even close to your family go shopping for a diamond in Sahara Square?"

What she meant was this: Fru's fiancé had taken an incredible risk, showing his face in the Red Pig's territory. Had he been a made member of the Tundratown syndicate, he'd have been safe enough; the rules of La Cosa Nostra strictly forbade the kidnapping of 'a friend of ours'. And that also applied to a made member's immediate family—including relatives by marriage. Tad, however, had been neither of those things, at least not then. A water-shrew, originally from the Canal District, he worked as a design engineer for Lukkrasiv Aviation, an aircraft company based in Savanna Central. He was 'strictly legit' as they say in the mob.

That, in fact, had been the one condition Mr. Big had placed on his daughter's choice of husband. "You may marry whoever you wish, dearest one," He had said to her, "as long as they're not in 'the life.' That's the one thing I will not allow."

"As IF I'd marry a wiseguy," Fru-Fru had laughed, after repeating the story to Judy over coffee and sfogliatelle. In the end, it had become a moot point anyway; she had ended up falling for a shrew who wasn't even a mob associate, much less a made mammal. All well and good...except when it came to going shopping for an engagement-ring in Sahara Square. Because Tad was a civilian—and not yet engaged to Mr. Big's daughter—the minute he'd set foot in Zootopia's desert enclave, he'd been fair game for a ransom-grab. That had been the reason for the doe-bunny's question—but Fru apparently thought she'd meant something else.

"Hey, he didn't know the Red Pig owned a piece of that place." She was folding her arms defensively.

Judy felt her arms gripping the side of her chair—as if it were an ejection seat about to catapult her straight through the ceiling. Wait...WHAT? Rocco Peccari had been a partner in that jewelry store? Sweet cheez' n crackers, no wonder those jackals had been so reluctant to cooperate... "Heyyy, hang on a second. If that's true, then....?"