The Fire Triangle -- Part II, Oxidizer

The Fire Triangle: Book II - Chapter 14

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 2—Finding Conor
(Concluded...Part 5)

"Hut-two-three-four! Hut-two-three-four!"

It's one of the more basic adjuncts of Murphy's Law; just as there never seems to be a cop around when you need one, there always seems to be a pack of smart-mouthed kids around when you don't need them.

"Abouuuut FACE! Hut-two-three-four!"

There were three of them in total, all of them middle schoolers, a gopher and two chipmunks, sipping from thimble-sized cans of energy drink and watching the doe-bunny pace the Number 2 platform in Savanna Central Station. Their wee, high-pitched voices only served to make their makeshift cadence-call that much more annoying.

"Hut-two-three-four! Hut-two-three-four!"

It wasn't as if Judy Hopps was a bunny without recourse; a quick show of her badge and these kids would scatter like cockroaches. At the moment, however, she had so much else on her mind she was barely conscious of the little, budding comedians.

Erin would be here shortly, arriving on the 8:00 train, in15...no, 14 minutes.

"Abouuuut FACE...!"

It wasn't the imminent appearance of her sister that had Judy so disconcerted; her parents were coming, too. And this would be her first face-to-face meeting with them since the issue of the 'Fox and bunny-cop, behaving badly' videos had reared its ugly head.

"Hut-two-three-four! Hut-two-three-four!"

And that wasn't all; if her Police Academy graduation had been anything to go by, they'd be bringing half the family with them. Would that include her eldest brother, Stu Jr.? Judy hadn't spoken with him directly since that whole mess had started, not even once —but she'd heard about him. According to Erin, no one in the family had been more outraged by her 'misbehavior' with Nick Wilde than Junior—and for the simplest of all reasons. "He's just plain nuts about Rock Hardesty Jude," the younger bunny had told her, "Got pictures all over the wall of his hutch. I swear, he's almost like a groupie or something."

"Abouuuut FACE! Hut-two-three-four!"

It had shaken Judy almost to the core when she'd heard. Before then, she'd have sworn under oath that her eldest brother didn't have a speciest bone in his body.

But then, that was what she would have said about herself—right up until her disastrous press conference.

Erin, bless that young, white-furred bunny, had been 100% sympathetic to her sister's predicament. "Hey Jude," She'd said, "You're talking to the girl that put one upside a fox's head for making jokes about kissing her...and before that, I'd have gone totally mental if anyone called ME speciest."