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It had been a few days since the news that the Enforcers were taking Bellwether away came to light.

During these few days, there were all kinds of reactions from mammals of Zootopia.

Many of them wanted the Enforcers to take her away for good and give her the worst punishment that a mage could get. There were also some who, surprisingly, were on Bellwether's side, but these were a considerable minority, and they seemed to be a bunch of prey supremacists that wanted the mages to allow her free, as she only was doing "what it needed to be done". You can guess how much actually gave any attention to what these guys said.

Of course, these were some of the ones who already had a formed opinion on Dawn Bellwether before finding out she was a mage, as there were new opinions forming over the revealing of her "magic powers". Some of them were using it as a speech to talk on how mages were dangerous, as they could use their magecraft against common mammals for their own personal gain and designs. These ones, of course, used the fact that Bellwether was a mage to justify it, as they talked on how she used her knowledge in alchemy to devise the Night Howler Serum, and how she used her skills in hypnosis to turn innocent mammals into her unaware minions. All the while they spoke of how her ambition and assertiveness as a mage was what made her act like this, aiming to acquire more power and not caring on how many innocent suffered for her to get what she wanted.

These were actually a bit worrisome, as they seemed to be trying to use it to incite some protests going on.

Yes. There had been some protests around the city, but none of it was like the anti-mage protests that had plagued Zootopia months ago. It was mostly peaceful walks that asked for Bellwether not to escape justice. There were others, with a considerable minority of mammals, that actually asked for Bellwether to be let out, but these were only formed by the most radical and bigoted prey supremacists, who totally got behind of what Bellwether did. The later were far more inclined to bad behavior than the former, and they often ended up with someone leaving there in cuffs, as they were far louder and they were more likely to disrespect the police when they met it, especially if the cops were predators.

The past days had been a little more agitated, as it was surprising how fast the protests and rallies started. Actually the first one was in the afternoon of the October 12th, the day following the publication of the first news of Bellwether being a mage and of the Enforcers coming to take her away. They went through the most afternoon, and during all the day of the following day.

Judy and Nick had a hard time during these two days, as they would run into these kinds of groups and see the aftermath of their passing. While they enjoyed seeing that most of the mammals actually asked for Bellwether to be punished by being send to the mage prison or by being buried under the ground forever, some of them asked her to be pardoned for her faults so she could continue "paying mammals services". The formers were troublemakers, as they would often end up causing vandalism to try to make their point stand, and they were quite aggressive, especially when they saw Nick.

The previous day had been spent mostly checking on these protests, and they finished it tired and wanting to have a good night sleep.

Judy had gotten up early in the following day, as she usually did. It was October 14th, a day that Judy knew would be meaningful, but that she, sincerely, did not looked forward to.

As she took her bath, ate her breakfast, and got dressed for the day, she only hoped to have something that would ease the worry that was building up for the day that was ahead of her.

She didn't expected this to be right outside when she opened the door.

"Aunt Judy!" Said a small rabbit, who should be around seven years old. Her fur was matted of light-brown and cream coloration, and her eyes were big and green. She was wearing a pink skirt and a blue top with a pink star in the center. This was surely her favored clothing, which she often wore. She had a smile in her face as Judy got down to hug her.

"Hey, Cotton." Said Judy as she put her arms around the little bunny who hugged her back. "How is my favorite niece doing?"

"I'm doing great!" Cotton said back to her. "We are learning the names of the planets in school, and I learned how to sum and subtract." The small bunny said, and Judy smiled back at her. It was really nice to see Cotton, as she was always so happy and so positive about everything, she usually made Judy feel better when she was in a bad mood. She looked up to the other ones who had come with her.

There should be twenty or so bunnies in there, male and female alike. Most of them were of the same age as Judy, maybe a few years younger or older, with Cotton surely being the youngest of them. The oldest ones surely were Stu and Bonnie, who smiled at their daughter.

"I'm so glad that you guys made it." Judy said as she hugged them, and the two smiled as they hugged her back.

"Hey, we said we would come for the inauguration of that mall." Stu said to her, "And we brought a couple of your brothers and sisters, and we even brought Cotton. She is in vacation at her school while they are panting it." The bunny said, and Judy looked at the many bunnies that had come there with her parents and stopped by the see her.

Among them, she could see the familiar face of another one of her brothers. He was taller than Judy, as he stood on 3'2'' feet tall, if you counted his ears. He was rather thin and slender. The fur on his body was of a dark-grey coloration, with a grayish-white color on his muzzle, down his neck, on the inside of his ears and on his fingers and on the toes of his feet. He had a pair of glasses in front of his blue eyes as he looked at Judy with a smile in his muzzle. He was wearing a black shirt with a twenty-sided dice printed in it, a blue jacket, and a pair of long brown pants. He was also carrying a bag over his shoulder.

"Harry." Judy said, as she left Cotton and hugged her brother, who hugged her back.

"Hey, sis. How is the big city treating you?"

"Oh, just fine." Judy said to him, "I love being a cop in the big city. And you, how is your work on the library going?"

Judy regretted asking this, because the smile vanished from Harry's muzzle.

"I quit it yesterday."

"Oh..." Judy said, looking at her brother.

"Yeah, it just became really boring. I guess that was not really my calling."

"Okay." Judy said. "Well, maybe your next job will be what you are looking for."

"Yeah, if I get another job." Harry said to her.

"Of course you will get another." Judy said to him, "You are one of the smartest bunnies in BunnyBurrow, you can get any job you want."

That much was truth. Harry had always been smarter than most bunnies of their hometown. As a matter of fact, he had graduated in high-school when he was fourteen, and he even made a specialization or two here and there. He even attended to a local community college, and in there, they all talked volumes of his intelligence, and how easy it was for him to learn things and to be able to grasp what was taught. Of course, some said that Harry lacked in certain areas, but everyone agreed that Harry was a surprisingly fast learner, and that he was a bunny who had a brilliant future in whatever he chose to do.

He was currently an eighteen-year-old who has had a few jobs, as he was trying to "find his true calling". He had been assistant mechanic, plumber, assistant teacher, accountant, secretary, part-time musician, bartender, assistant at the office of the mayor, assistant of a local law firm, caterer, electrical technician, carpenter and, more recently, assistant at the local library. All of his bosses spoke volumes of Harry, as they were all impressed at how quickly he could learn the professions, and how well he could perform them, even though he was not the best at some cases. All of them gave great recommendations for Harry when he left the jobs, and some of them even insisted for him to stay, as they saw how skilled the young bunny was. Still, Harry never truly stayed at any job, even though he was really good at some of them, as he was still "trying to find the right one".

"Yeah, I guess..." Harry said, "Anyway, I was hoping to go at the new library that will be opening at New Den Plaza, I really hope I can get my paws in one of the new books of my favorite series.

Yes, another thing about Harry, he truly loved to read. This could be counted as either a product of his intelligence, or a reason for him being so smart. He had a particular passion for anything that was somehow related to the supernatural, as he loved these books that spoke about magic, about witches and sorcerers, and about all of that. He knew these universes like the back of his paw, including the one of the books of Harry Trotter, what would often grant the others to make jokes in it regarding the fact that he and the main character had the same first name.

Judy still wondered what Harry actually thought on the revealing of the existence of the supernatural.

Judy talked a bit with all of her relatives who had come, as many of them were happy for seeing her again. The Hopps family was very united, and they deeply cared about each other. It was something that they learned from their parents, who both were sure to teach them how family was important.

Judy was happy for seeing them as well as she would love to talk to them more. However, she still had work. She needed to show up on work on time, especially during that day.

"It is nice to see you all, but I have to go." Judy said, and she looked at the bunnies, some of them looking at her with a little apprehension.

"Oh, yeah... today is the day..." One of the female bunnies said, and everyone seemed to grow quieter at this, and Judy could see the concern in some of their faces, especially in the faces of her parents.

"Don't worry." Judy said, smiling at them. "I'm pretty sure that I'll be fine. I mean, I took her down once, I know that I call take her down again if I need to."

Everyone looked at her, and some of them agreed with her. Her parents, however, were still worried as they had always been.

"Well, we are all sure that you can, Judy." Stu said, and he fished inside of his pocket, "But, in any case." He said as he pulled out something big and pink and handed it to Judy. The female bunny looked at the thing, recognizing it nearly immediately, and her eyes widened.

"Wha? Dad! Seriously!?" She said, looking at the same Taser that his father wanted to convince her to bring with her when she first moved into Zootopia, along with all the other Fox-Away items.

"Dad! What the heck!?" Judy said, looking at the Fox Taser. This surprised her father, who seemed to be at lost for a few moments. That is, until Bonnie whispered in his ear, and his eyes widened as well.

"Oh! No, darling, it is not a Fox Taser!" Stu said, and showed it better for Judy. "Here, take a look."

And look Judy did. She could see that it seemed to have something different about it. In the place where once there was the image of a cartoony fox dressed like a burglar, now there was a sticker that had a drawing made with crayon. The drawing showed a sheep with red eyes and devil horns.

Judy blinked, and looked up at her parents.

"Some of the younger ones modified it to you." Bonnie said to her, and Harry was the one who spoke:

"Now it is a Crazy Sheep Taser."

Judy looked at it, and she didn't truly know what to think of it. However, it was Cotton who convinced her when she said:

"I did the drawing, Aunt Judy."

How could she resist to that innocent smile and the kindness in the eyes of the young bunny? Judy smiled, as she took the thing from Stu's hand.

"Thanks a lot, guys." She spoke, and she looked at her family.

"D'aawwwww" The two voices said, calling everyone's attention. This caused everyone to turn their heads to look at the mammals who owned them. It were the Oryx-Antlersons. They both were standing on the hall, right on the door of their house, and both of them were dressed as if they were ready to leave.

For a long moment, the bunnies and the two antelopes looked at each other, and many of the bunnies had raised eyebrows, one or two even had twitching noses. It was Judy who broke the silence.

"Ahem... Bucky, Pronk, I'd like you two to meet my parents and some of my relatives." She said, presenting the two to the twenty or so bunnies that were there. "Guys, these are the Oryx-Antlersons, my neighbors."

"Oh, right." Someone in there said, and then added in a whisper to someone. "These are the ones who she said are crazy and yelling all the time."

"Hey! I heard that!" Pronk said, rather aggressively, prompting Bucky to elbow him in the ribs.

"Hey, be nice!"

"But he just said that we are crazy and yell all the time!"

"Well, he is not wrong; after all, we both know that we are loud!"

"Yeah, but we are not crazy!"

"We might look when we yell at each other, especially in front of mammals we are meeting for the first time! Just like we are doing right now!"

"Oh, shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

The bunnies all stood in there as they watched that strange interchange happen. Many of them were unsure of what to do now, as they only continued to stare at the two antelopes, and Judy decided that she needed to break that.

"So, are you two going to the mall?" She asked, and this caused the two to stop yelling at each other to "shut up" and look at her.

"Oh, yeah!" Bucky said, "We are going to check on the new store to buy a few things we are missing at home. A new radio, and also some new clothes, some of ours are a bit old."

"I still see no problem with our clothes." Pronk said, his arms crossed. "They are still perfect to wear."

"Oh, come on. We need to renew our wardrobe! We cannot go around looking like hobos!"

"Our clothes are not that bad! Stop being dramatic!"

Their voices were raising as they discussed, and Judy decided not to let this escalate.

"Look, my parents are going to the mall too! Why don't you all go together?"

Everyone looked at Judy as she had suggested that. The bunnies and antelopes then looked at each other, as it seemed that they were considering this. The bunnies (some of them, at least) seemed to be quite unsure to go to the mall with these two, considering how much they seemed to fight with each other.

Bucky and Pronk shared a look, and turned away from the bunnies and started to whisper at each other. Although even their whispering is quite loud, as the bunnies, with their big and sensitive ears, were able to pick up precisely what they were saying.

"So, do we go with them?"

"Of course! It would be rude to refuse! It might make them think we don't want to be with them."

"Yeah, but every time we go out with someone they leave us alone when we start arguing."

"It won't happen if we don't argue."

"But we always end up arguing!"

"We will try harder not to argue! This is Hopps' family! We need to be nice to them!"

Meanwhile, the bunnies all looked at them as they had this mini argument.

"They know we can hear them, right?" Harry asked to another one of his siblings, and the other bunny seemed not to know what to say back.

"So... are they always...?" Stu whispered to his daughter, an actual whisper, not the loud whispering that the two antelopes were making.

"Unfortunately... yes..." Judy said, sighing. There was no point lying to her family about this, since they already saw enough to know that this was just the way that these two were. "But, they are actually quite nice once you've actually met them. They are caring and they are nice to be around."

Soon, the two antelopes had turned back to the bunnies, and Bucky said:

"We sure want to go to the mall with you guys." He said, a smiled on his face, while Pronk stood by his side with his arms crossed. "It will be really fun, and we are surely going to get very well along. Without any kind of fight." He said the last part looking at Pronk, who rolled his eyes.

"Great!" Judy said, and then, her phone ringed. She gave it a look, and her ears perked. "Oh! Nick is just down there waiting for me! I gotta go now! See you all later! Enjoy the mall!"

"Huh, Judy! T-that fox partner of yours..."Stu tried to say, but his wife cut him.

"Bye, honey! Stay safe!" Bonnie said to the departing bunny.

"Bye, Aunt Judy!" cotton said, waving at her aunt as the bunny walked away and vanished in direction to the stairs.

The gaggle of bunnies was left behind, and they looked at the two antelopes, who looked back at them.

"So..." Someone said, and there was an awkward silence in the hallway of Grand Pangolin Arms.

"So, you guys gonna buy new clothes at the mall?"

"Yeah, and a new radio, and maybe a new laptop." Bucky said, and Pronk looked at him.

"I already told that there is nothing wrong with your laptop!"

"It is not opening the website anymore!" Bucky said to him. "It is just not working, and now that they said that I was about to advance to the next stage!"

"Maybe it went offline! This happens to websites all the time! Your laptop is fine!"

The bunnies looked at them, and someone decided to break this by asking:

"I'm sorry, what website?"

"Oh, some meditation website that he has been visiting for the last six years." Pronk said, and he sounded annoyed. "He was all excited to having reached a 'new level' on that, and now that he can't access the website anymore, he is convinced that there is some kind of problem with his laptop, although it still works perfectly fine when he tries to look at anything else online."

"It could be a problem with the computer." Bucky shot back. "Maybe the memory cannot handle the amount of information of the next phase of the website."

"There is a next phase on a meditation website?" Harry asked, and Bucky looked at him.

"Well, it is not really meditation, it is more like a form of mental exercises based on old exoteric traditions." Bucky spoke, and Pronk moved his lips, as if he was repeating the justification that he seemed to have given multiple times already. "And yes, it does have a next phase. Just a few days ago, they gave me a message saying that I had completed the first level of the exercises and teachings, and that I was ready for the next level of learning!"

He spoke that with a certain pride. Pronk only rolled his eyes at this, clearly annoyed.

"They congratulated me for following the website so thoroughly and for learning all that they could teach me. He told me that I was ready to start the next stage of the teachings, but when I tried to go into the website a few days ago, it only said that the website could not be found."

"They probably put it down." Pronk said, "Sometimes people just do it."

"After six years?" Bucky said, "I have been following the website, learning and practicing their exercises six times a week for the past six years and all of sudden the website just goes offline when I'm about to go into the next stage of teaching?"

"Maybe it is some form of online scam." Pronk offered. "They gave you free lessons for a while, and now that they told you that you are advancing to their next level, they will put it out of your reach. How much you wanna bet that you will receive another e-mail in a few days saying that you need to send them money to have your next classes?"

"Who would waste six years of their lives sending free meditation classes to someone?" Bucky shot back and Pronk shrugged. This caused Bucky to let out an exasperated sound, and mumble something about him being incorrigible. The bunnies all were in silence, as they looked the interaction of these two. Some of them were already starting to have doubts about going to the mall with these two.

"Think we can still lose them?" Someone whispered to another bunny. In this moment, the antelopes both turned back to the bunnies.

"So, I guess we all should get going, right?" Bucky asked, trying to use his best sympathetic smile. This seemed to put the bunnies a little at ease, although some were still unsure if they should go anywhere with these two individuals.

"Nice!" Stu said to them, trying his best to sound positive with his daughter's neighbors, and he even said to them. "You know, maybe one of you could carry the luggage."

"What? Luggage?" Pronk looked at him, and he gestured at something that they had not noticed before. It was a big luggage that needed two sturdy of the Hopps' children to carry.

"Yeah, it is some luggage that Bonnie insisted to bring." Stu explained, and his wife looked away. "The boys had been taking turns on carrying it around, but it is hard because it is quite heavy. So, I was thinking, since you guys are coming with us, would you mind?"

"What, are we your butlers or something? Ouch!" Pronk said as he was elbowed in the ribs again by Bucky.

"What? They want us to carry their things around as if they were our bosses or something!"

"They are just asking for a favor!" Bucky shot back, "Can't you do anything nice for someone else?" He spoke, and soon, he was reaching for the luggage and carrying it. There was a significant size difference between himself and the bunnies, so carrying that luggage, that was big and heavy by bunny standards, was actually not much of a problem for him.

"Thanks, dude."

"You're welcome." Bucky said, and he felt the weight of the luggage. "This is kind of heavy. What there is in here, clothes?"

"Things that I needed to bring." Bonnie said, and the assertiveness in her voice caught Bucky off guard.

"Sorry about that, is just something that Bonnie insisted to bring but don't tell anyone what it is." Stu explained to the surprised antelopes. "She won't even tell me what is inside."

"Is that... is a personal thing." Bonnie said, still looking away.

"So, we are being made carry it and we aren't even told what it is." Pronk said, and this granted him another elbow on the ribs. "You are going to send me to the hospital like this!"

"So, let's get going!" Bucky said, wanting to go soon so they could avoid scaring them away with a bickering if there was the chance. Soon, the group formed by two antelopes and many bunnies was going down the stairs.

As they did, they could hear two voices coming from the first floor.

"So, you just came to deliver the package?" The armadillo landlady asked, and the other mammal, who was a cheetah in a mail-mammal uniform, said back:

"Yeah, it is for a guy who lives here." He spoke, and he looked at the address of the box that he was bringing. "Some... Bucky Oryx-Antlerson. He lives here, right?"

Some could call it coincidence, others fate, but the fact that Bucky was going down the stairs right on time to hear his own name being said was quite fortunate.

"Excuse me." The antelope spoke, as he reached the end of the stairs, along with Pronk and the group of bunnies. "I am Bucky Oryx-Antlerson"

The cheetah turned to him.

"Oh, good!" The cheetah said, "I have a package in here for you." He said, walking to the kudu and presenting the thing that he brought. It looked like a gift box, made with a cardboard of blue color and decorated with golden trimming, it looked to be quite fancy and Bucky looked at it as he received it in his free hand.

"What is it? Who sent it?"

"I don't know." The cheetah said, "There is no return address. Anyway, could you sign this?" He said, showing the document that needed to be signed, as confirmation that the package had been delivered, and offering a pen. Bucky put down the luggage that he was carrying to be able to sign it.

"Thank you. Have a nice day." The cheetah said, and soon he was on his way, leaving the mammals in there to look at the box that Bucky just received.

"Oh, it is a gift!" Cotton said, as she looked at the decorated box in the hooves of the much bigger mammal. "Is it your birthday?"

"No, it's not." Bucky said, looking over the box, seeing if there was anything in it, like a card or a dedicatory.

"It is not our anniversary either." Pronk said, also looking at the box that Bucky received, his eyebrow raised as he wondered just who sent it.

"Who sent it?" One of the bunnies asked.

"I don't know, there is no card." Bucky said.

"Maybe there is one inside." Pronk offered, and Bucky agreed with him. Soon, the kudu was opening the box, removing the lid and looking at what was inside of it. He stopped for a moment, as he looked at the contents of that box. Soon he reached out and picked up what was inside, removing it from the box for the others to see.

"Gloves?" Pronk asked as he looked at the pair of gloves that had come with the package. They obviously were made for someone with hooved hands, as they seemed like they would fit either his own or Bucky's hooves. "Who would send you gloves?"

"I don't know..." Bucky said, looking over the gloves as he felt them on his hoof. "I think they are made of some kind of leather. But they don't match." It was truth, the gloves seemed to be identical in what it came for the material and the style that they were made, but they greatly differed in color. One of the gloves was of a red and crimson coloration, while the other was of pale and icy-blue shades. The red one had a symbol of a triangle in it, while the blue one had an upside down triangle.

"It is just the gloves?" One of the bunnies asked, "There is no card inside?"

Bucky looked inside of the box again, and he saw no card inside of it, but there was something else.

"Well, there is no card, but there is this." Bucky said as he pulled out something else. It looked like some kind of cylinder with a dark brown central part and golden edges, which were decorate with curious designs in them, most of it looked like some fancy triangles.

"Wow... this actually looks expensive." Pronk said, looking at it. "Is that actual gold or something?"

"I don't know." Bucky said, "A pair of gloves that don't match and this... who would send it to me?"

"Why are you asking us?" Pronk asked him.

"I wasn't asking you guys in particular, I was just thinking aloud." Bucky said, and Pronk was about to say something in return, when Harry said:

"Well, I think that they look pretty cool." The bunny said, and the antelope looked down at him, before looking back at the gloves and the cylinder. He had to admit that they looked rather cool. They were both stylish, although they certainly looked a bit too fancy for his taste. Still, the fact that he doesn't know who was the one who sent it to him was something that troubled him a tad bit...

"So, I guess that we should be going, right?" Bonnie said, "As to arrive before there is a huge crowd. After all, everyone in Zootopia wants to go to the new mall, right?"

"She is right." Pronk said, "We look into this later on, now let's go." He said, and soon he was leaving. Bucky looked at the gloves and cylinder for a while more, and placed both of them on his pocket, before picking up the luggage he offered to carry and go on after the bunnies and his partner.

---

"No, Honey, I haven't received special anti-magecraft equipment from the Enforcers." Nick said on his phone, "And I don't think that the mages will want to give me any as a reward for capturing Bellwether."

Judy sat on his side on the bench as they rode the subway to their job. She had been in silence as she heard the fox talk to the one called "Honey" on the other end.

"And no, I don't know if Bellwether has ties to 'The Flock', the mages were not specific about any of that." Nick said, "Now, look, I'd love to talk more, but I'm at the subway on my way to work, and I'd hate to lose my stop, so I'll have to call you back lather. No, no, no, I will call you." Nick said, and he hang up his phone, letting out a sigh.

"Man, she is one of my best friends, but sometimes talking to her gets taxing." Nick said, and Judy looked at him, before she asked:

"So, this 'Honey' is one those friends of yours that you still have not introduced me to?"

Nick looked at her. "Yeah, she is one of my oldest friends. She is kind of cool, actually, when she is not in her paranoid mood."

"Is she a scammer, like you used to be?" Judy asked, and it was a genuine question, once most of the friends of Nick's past were either scammers or hustlers. But Nick shook his head.

"Nah, she is specialist in military training and gun safety. She works in a place that gives this kind of training to civilians near the suburb." The fox spoke, "But she is a fan of conspiracy theories, and she spends a whole lot of her time trying to pursue and prove any of these theories that is currently occupying her agitated mind. One of her favorite subjects are conspiracy theories involving sheep."

"Like Bellwether?" Judy asked, and Nick nodded.

"Yeah, like Bellwether." Nick said, "She is actually convinced that there is a huge conspiracy involving sheep, and that Bellwether and her plot was actually the first wave of their 'plot to become the shepherds of this world', as she usually says."

"She sounds like some figure." Judy said to the fox, and Nick nodded.

"Yeah, she has been adapting her theories during the past days, since the newspapers announced that Bellwether was a mage, and that she came from a mage family. Still, her main subject are still sheep." Nick said, and looked at the bunny, "But don't you think she is just another cuckoo. She can be quite resourceful and smart when she wants, and she is actually very good at getting information. I have been working my magic on her for a while, trying to convince her to become an unofficial informant for the ZPD, but it has been hard. She always mistrusted cops a little bit, and it got worse after it was confirm that Bellwether had goons on the ZPD. I'd introduce you to her, but she is really not found of strangers... and it takes most mammals a little preparation before they are ready to meet her, she can be quite intense."

Judy nodded at this. It really sounded that she would need preparation before meeting this "Honey".

Soon, they were arriving at their station, and they soon were on their way to the ZPD. Once arriving, the first thing that they noticed was that Clawhauser was not on the first desk, as he usually was. Instead, the y found his place taken by a big red deer stag named "Deermond". Nick and Judy had talked to him a few times already, but neither of them was actually very close to him.

"Looks like our dear Spots has already gone to his day off to visit the mall." Nick mentioned to Judy as they both walked past the front desk and walked into the bullpen.

The place was as usual, with cops sitting together, talking, making a few games here and there. Soon, the two cops were on their usual seat, and they waited, along with everyone else.

Once the common ritual carried on, Chief Bogo stood ln his podium, looking at everyone.

"Okay, okay. Everyone settle down." He spoke, as he placed the files that he was bringing with himself on the podium, right in fort of himself.

"Okay, before we go into business, I want to remind you that we are in October, and that soon it will be Halloween." He spoke, and all of the officers were silent as he said that. "Well, I don't want to tell you what to do with your free time, but I want to remind you that this is a workplace, and that we are all adults in here. So, I'd really appreciate if you kept any trick-or-threat jokes outside of this building."

"Oh, so no more pumpkin pie filling on your drawers like last year?" Nick asked, everyone laughed at this while Bogo only stared daggers at the fox.

"I know that was you, Wilde." The buffalo said, pointing a hooved finger at the fox. "I still was not able to find evidence, but if one day I do you will be on parking duty for the rest of your career."

"Well, good luck for you then, boss." Nick said with a salute, and this caused another wave of chuckles coming from everyone around him. Yeah, Nick was still a trickster at heart, and everyone knew it. Many actually appreciated the way that the fox made things brighter in there, as his jokes were never truly mean to anyone. However, some did not liked the fox playing the clown, like McChill, who would always make a frown whenever he heard of the fox's pranks and jokes. In part because he had, many times, been target to some of them, like the time when there was fur dye in his shampoo and it caused him to turn blue for a week.

Judy also looked at her partner, but it was not as aggressive as the glare that the polar bear usually gave the fox. Also, it was most due to the fact that she knew that if Nick got parking duty, than she, as his partner, would also get parking duty. Nick seemed to remember that most of the time, and yet, he insisted in doing these things. Judy could not bring herself to be truly mad at her fox for that, but she had to admit that it could get really annoying sometimes.

"Well, I'm kind of glad that Halloween is coming." Eliot Fanghanel said, positive and happy as usual. "I love all holidays. Actually, I already have a lot of ideas for this year's Halloween..."

"Which brings me to a second topic I'd like to address." Bogo said, drawing everyone's attention. "Now, I might not enjoy holidays like most other mammals, but I don't dislike them. I have nothing against a little decoration here and there, like a small pumpkin in someone's desk, maybe a little crow ornament here, maybe even something hanging from the walls. But I want it to have a limit, for this is a respectable workplace. I don't want to arrive in the morning of October 31st and find out that Precinct one turned into Halloweentown. Just like last December 24th, when I arrived in the morning for work and found myself in Santa's Village."

Everyone noticed that Bogo had his eyes straight on Eliot as he spoke that, and the wolf only remained in silence as he heard that, one of his ears cocked to the side.

"Oh... So, should I cancel the order on that giant pumpkin lantern?"

A round of laughter and chuckling followed this. Yeah, this was the Eliot Fanghanel that everyone loved. He was a goofy nutcase in the best possible sense, and he never failed to make the things lighter there in the ZPD. The same could be said about Wilde, although he and Fanghanel both did it in slightly different ways.

"Okay, okay!" Bogo said, causing the laughter to stop and mammals to focus their attention on him once more.

"Now, let's talk business." He said, "As many of you are probably aware, today is the grand opening of the New Den Plaza." He spoke, and it was clear that many truly knew it. After all, it was the biggest mall ever build in Zootopia, and it even had its own internal climate system. The thing was big news, and it housed some very important businesses in it, including some subsidiaries of important stores and franchises.

"Yeah, good." Bogo said, "Now, the ZPD was contacted by the ones responsible for the mall, and they requested some help as to give extra security to the place. Apparently, the whole place is so big and they think that it will be so packed with mammals that their own team will not be enough. So, they asked the help of a few officers to do added security, but only for today, as they find more mammals to add to their own security."

"Now, normally I would flat out refuse such a request." Bogo said, "But apparently the ones responsible for the mall have some friends within the City Hall, and I was forced to suck it up. So, some of you will today be designed to be at the new mall, where you will work in conjunction with the security team and keep watch over the crowd, to be sure that everything goes smoothly, and that no one starts to steal things or otherwise cause problems and ruin their inauguration."

Now, some officers did talked among themselves at this. Some of them, the oldest and most serious ones, hoped that they would not be given such an assignment. For some, the idea of working as security of a mall when they were actually police officers was a little demeaning, and they preferred some other activity that would be more befitting of their time.

Some, however, were hoping to be picked for such a job. They really wanted something like that, for they would have the chance to see the mall still in their work hours, although they would have no time to stop by to buy anything in there. Also, some of them hoped to get an assignment working in that nice place, for it could help them forget about the other thing that was also happening on the same day...

"Also." Bogo said, once more getting everyone's attention in direction to his podium. "I want to remind you all that today is the day when Dawn Bellwether will be moved out of Boarwood and given into the hooves of the enforcers."

Now, that definitely ended the good mood that had been sow by Wilde and Fanghanel, as all of the present police officers had a serious expression in their faces in face of that specific subject. It was possible to notice the sour look in the faces of many predators, as it was usual when the ewe was mentioned.

"Now, I want to make one thing clear to all of you." Bogo said, speaking to the predators in particular. "It doesn't matter how you feel towards Bellwether, or how your lives were affected by her actions over two years ago. You are to behave like you would with any other inmate plucked out of that prison and will do nothing that can be classified as police misconduct. No harm is to come to that sheep unless she literally has a knife to your throat."

"Or is about to cast a curse on you." Nick said rather loudly, mostly wanting to make a joke on the situation, despite the seriousness. However, many in the room actually seemed to agree with the fox, as they already knew that the ewe was capable of really cursing others if she tried.

"As part of the procedure, the enforcers put some special equipment on her." Bogo said to his officers, "It is a collar that will prevent her from activating her Magic Circuits and using magecraft, as long as she wears it."

"Well, that is good to know." McChill said; speaking for the first time since the meeting began. "Talking about the Enforcers, where are they? I haven't seen the foxes or their secretary around here."

Bogo looked at the polar bear, before he answered:

"Mieczyslaw and his niece are both getting ready to receive Bellwether." Bogo spoke. "They will be waiting in Zootopia's Superior Court, waiting for Wilde and myself to bring her to them."

This caused a wave of surprised expressions, as well as murmurs at this revelation.

"Yes, this is a change that happened in the last minute, as I was only told about this when I arrived in the morning, by my phone." Bogo said, looking at them. "Officer Wilde and I will be the ones who will transport Bellwether to the Superior Court and escort her through the gates to give her directly to the Enforcers, who will be waiting on the inside. Their agent, Krystin Mieczyslaw, will be coming with us along the way, as to add some extra security, in case Bellwether actually wants to try something."

Everyone looked at Bogo, and some whispered among themselves as they took in everything that was being said.

"Now, as some of you might know, a lot of mammals have been protesting over Bellwether case. Most are against her, but some are actually on her favor, but all of them want to make some noise about this." Bogo said to them, "And now, there is a lot of them that are starting to gather in front of the Superior Court to make their protest be heard, and they will surely want to do something when they see Bellwether walking to the gates. Hence, it is why we will need the support of you to be sure that they won't be able to reach her or us to do anything. Of course, I just wished that New Den Plaza was not just across street from the Superior Court..." Bogo added the last part in a mumble, but some heard, and they couldn't help but agree.

New Den Plaza was a place that had a privileged position for inaugurating, as it not only took an entire block, but also was located in a privileged place in Downtown, along with many of the important constructions. Constructions like the City Hall, Central Station (who actually was just one block away from the mall, so it would be one of the first thing that mammals would find once they came into the city), and Zootopia's Superior Court, which was just across street from the main entrance of the mall. Now, it meant that the place was very well positioned, but it worked against the ZPD in this case, for the opening of the mall was just across street from the place to where Bellwether would be taken to face her destiny as a criminal mage, and this meant that there would be a gigantic crowd in there, both from mammals that will want to be at the inauguration of the mall, and protesters who would be there for Bellwether.

Crowds were hard to deal with, as many officers had already knew from past experiences. Judy for instance, had been in crowd control during some of the rallies during the Night Howler Conspiracy, and she really hoped that the crowd in the Superior Court was not going to be as bad as that, for many different reasons.

"Now, since all of you already heard what I need to say, it is time for the assignments." Bogo said, and placed his glasses on his face, and he started to read the assignments."

"Officers Wolford, Fangmeyer, Trunkaby, Penniggton and Fanghanel. You will be offering added security to New Den Plaza..."

"Oh! Pumpkin went in there!" Fanghanel said, suddenly standing up on his seat. Some looked at the wolf and took a second to realize that he was probably referring to his wife. "How lucky me! Maybe I'll get the chance to see her while I'm patrolling the mall! Maybe help her choose the decoration for our living room!"

Many looked at the wolf, whose tail was wagging madly behind himself, and some couldn't help but wonder how he could be so positive nearly all the time.

"Fanghanel, you will be on duty." Bogo said, looking at him. "You are not to stop what you are doing to take a stroll with your wife, you will focus on keeping the place safe. Understood?"

"Of course! But maybe I'll still have a chance to see my beautiful Pumpkin! All of this will make going to the mall worth it!" He said, and many could not help but think that the wolf really was in love with his wife.

"Moving on." Bogo said, once more turning to his files. "Officers McChill, McHorn, Delgato, Higgings, Anderson, Rhinowitz, Meerkovitz, Jackson, Snarlov, Krumpanski, Trumpet and Hopps. You all will be offering crowd control for the Superior Court." He said, and all of the Officers stood up on their seats (quite literally, in Meerkovitz and Judy's case), and the buffalo looked up, removing his glasses.

"And, as I already spoke, me and Wilde will be the ones making the transportation of Bellwether." He concluded, and everyone stood there in silence. However, there was someone who wanted to say something.

"Excuse me, sir?" Nick said, raising a paw, and this caused Bogo to look at him. "I know that it is probably already decided, but I think I need to ask what is in everyone's minds right now. The police chief and a relatively new officer transporting a high-profile criminal? Taking her to a very public place in the center of the city to have her be changed jurisdiction? To take her through the front of the place instead of taking her by the back as it is common for criminals in these cases? I'm sorry, but I can't help but think on how uncommon all of that is." Nick concluded, and many looked at Bogo, as if they agreed with the fox and waited for an answer.

The buffalo sighed as he looked at the fox.

"You think I don't know that, Wilde?" The chief said to the vulpine, "The original plan was to have the Enforcers just go there and take her out of the prison while the ZPD surveilled and kept their mouths shut. Then, it changed to have her being transported by two experienced officers to somewhere far where she would be handed to the Enforcers and then take her away. And yesterday, somehow it changed to Bellwether being taken through the main entrance of Zootopia's most important justice court in what I can only describe as a great circus."

Bogo looked at his officers, as he knew that they all deserved explanations on this.

"Now, there are multiple explanations on why this would have been changed like that, but the simplest one is that the City Hall wants it to be a spectacle."

"But, this kind of behavior is not procedural." Judy said to the Chief. "It is not the kind of thing that should happen in a standard situation. They are basically doing the same thing that Shere Khan is suspect of having done days ago."

"I know that Hopps." Bogo said to the bunny, "Now, I won't just say that the tiger had anything to do with this, although I have certain suspicions." The chief said, "The truth is that Khan was not the only one who had it bad because of that ewe. There are over a dozen predators high up in the City Hall and in other influent positions who nearly lost everything because of Bellwether, and now they want her to be made an example off. They want everyone to see her being taken to her fate in the hands of her mage peers." Bogo spoke that to all of his officers, especially the next part:

"Our job, is to make it sure that it doesn't blows up right on their faces. Now, all of you get ready, because we have a long day ahead of us." Bogo said, and with this all of the officers got up from their seats (or jumped out of it, in the case of the smaller officers) and started going on with their days. Meanwhile, Nick and Judy both stood in their chair.

"Well, I guess that today we won't be working together." Nick said to his partner. "Boomer, I was thinking that today I could show you the new dart gun that they got me. They chose me to be one to test the new model."

Judy barely heard what Nick said, as she was too focused on all that was just said. She was reflecting on the fact that the tod would be going to face Bellwether, and she couldn't help but be worried on this. She for a moment even wondered if she should give the Taser her family gave her to him.

"What, not in the mood for jokes right now?" Nick asked, and Judy looked up at him, and he could see it clear in her eyes. "Worried about this whole thing, huh?" He asked, and Judy couldn't help but nod at him.

"Well, don't be." Nick said to the bunny, his usual smug smile on his face. "You helped me train to be a good officer, and that included learning how to handle myself." He spoke to her, "Besides, I'll be carrying my dart gun, and she will be wearing the thing that prevents her from casting curses at us. So, unless she grew up a pair of horns since I last saw her, and that would put her gender in serious doubt if she did, I don't have anything to worry."

Judy looked at him, in silence for a while, and she spoke:

"What if she has some kind of trick?" She offered him, "What if she can actually try something?"

Nick continued to smile as he looked at her.

"Then I'll put her down in a way that would make you really proud of me, coach." Nick said, remembering the many exercises that Judy did to help him, including teaching him how to wrestle. These memories always made his ears heat for some reason, as he remembered the closeness that they had on these days...

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Nick reassured her, Judy saw how confident her fox looked, and she somehow felt that it would be okay. Still...

"Just... remember not to hear anything that she says." Judy said to him, "Don't listen to a single word of what she says, because it is all wrong."

"Now that is something you don't even have to tell me, Fluff." Nick said, and Judy was actually able to smile back at him.

"Wilde." Bogo said, causing the fox and bunny both to turn to look at him. The buffalo was looking right at the fox, and his expression was serious. "We have to go."

Nick sighed, and straightened his tie and his uniform. "Well, wish me luck, Carrots." The fox said to his partner, picking up his shades and fixing them on his face. "I'm off to face our nemesis."

With this, Nick jumped out of the chair, and soon he was walking out with Bogo. All the while, Judy looked at the fox as he went, wondering how he managed to always sound so confident and so sure of himself, but without really being arrogant. Years on the streets? Personal experience? Strength of character? Anyway, Judy really admired how he could look so sure and so secure all the time. It was one of the things that she loved on him.

Loved...

"Hey, Hopps." Someone said, causing Judy to break out of her reflection and look, and she saw McChill looking at her. "You are coming? I mean, you are in crowd control as well."

The bear was not sympathetic to Judy, in part because he didn't quite appreciated her so much. It was not only because she as very good friends with Nick, as the big polar bear was one of the officers who still treated her more like someone to tolerate than a fellow officer.

Still, Judy knew that he had a point. So, she wordlessly got down from the chair and started to go her way, without even looking at the bear.

No time to delve on such things now. It was time to do her job.

---

Far from the ZPD, and the area of Zootopia where the Precinct 1 was based, stood Boarwood Correction Center. It was one of Zootopia's most famous prisons, for it had the fame of receiving violent and dangerous criminals that the other prisons didn't wanted or couldn't deal with.

The place was also famous for most, if not all, of the ones who worked in there being porcine, like pigs, board and warthogs. Some considered it strange, but there was some story going around that the porcine kind were more inclined to deal with the filth without being bothered, and this made them perfect to deal with the criminal scum of Zootopia.

Now, many considered this very speciest, almost to an outrageous extreme. However, what is known is that the fact that the place is run by porcine somehow worked. Also, most of the guards in this place, both for the masculine and feminine areas of the prison, were very satisfied to work in there.

The whole place worked like clockwork, and was a very clean prison, despite the occasional investigation regarding some rumors about mistreatment of the inmates and improper behavior of the guards.

In the feminine ward of the place, a lot of female inmates, predator and prey alike, stood in their cells, reflecting on their lives. Some of them were regretful of the actions that put them in there, and were planning on going straight once they were out. However, others were only counting the days until they were out of there so they could resume the very same activities that got them in prison, this time planning to be more careful, as not to be caught again.

Either way, all of them were rather agitated in there. Most of them were on their own cells, calm and collected, while others were more on the edge, as they shouted things and rattled the bars on the door of their own cells. That was because all of them knew perfectly what was going to happen there, and some of them had an opinion on it.

Among them, there was the one female mammal who was what this whole situation was all about.

Dawn Bellwether was on her cell, sitting in her bed as she looked at the window. There was a stream of sunlight coming through her window as she looked outside. She was still wearing her orange prison jumpsuit. He lime-green eyes were focused on the window as she sat in there obediently. Waiting.

She looked like she was in deep thought as she looked at the window. She was so distracted by whatever was on her mind that she looked like she was barely even moving. The most of the movement that she did in the past hour was a twitching of her ear, as she could hear footfalls approaching her cell.

However, she continued to look at the window, even when she heard the sound of the door to her cell being opened.

"Dawn?" Came a gentle voice, and this seemed to be what finally made Bellwether break out of her reverie and look at the newcomers. Two burly female pigs, both of them with shock batons at their hooves, looking like they were ready to use it in a moment's notice. Bellwether knew that they were afraid of her. Everyone in that prison seemed to be afraid of her after what she did to that wolf a few days ago.

Ever since they realized that she was a mage, they looked a lot edgier with her, as they now knew that she was able to do with them the same thing she did with the canine, who needed to be send urgently to the infirmary right after Bellwether was done. All of them were afraid that Bellwether could do the same to them, and this time actually kill someone, both the guards and the inmates, even though Krystin Mieczyslaw had assured them she would not do anything with any of them.

Speaking about the fox therapist, he was standing in there, between the two female swine. His expression was calm, and he wore a nice suit as he looked at Dawn. His face, unlike that of all other predators (and many of the prey), did not had the aggressive and hostile look, that made it seem that they wanted to maul her at the first chance they got.

Bellwether looked at him. Many would expect the look of the ewe to be carried with disdain and contempt, however, her gaze was soft. She didn't had any hostility as she looked at the fox. She looked to be tired and sad, and the fox only looked back at her.

"It's time." He said, and the ewe looked intently at him, seeing that he was carrying something on his paw.

She flinched when she saw that, but she looked in his eyes and nodded.

The fox walked to her, and he stood in front of her, who was sitting in her own bed. As he stood in front of her, the ewe rose her chin, and their eyes met. Still no hostility from any of them.

As she had her head raised, she felt something wrapping around her neck and being lock in place. She flinched again as she felt the cold embrace of the metal collar locked around her neck.

As the fox finished, he removed his paws and took a step back. The ewe immediately took a hoof to her own neck, and started to feel the contraption that was now locked on her neck. It was a collar alright, made of some cold metal that felt almost like some kind of stone. With her hooves, she could feel the symbols that had been carved all around the circumference of the collar. Symbols that, if someone looked closely, could swear that were glowing very softly.

The thing was heavy on her neck. It had just barely been put in place and she could swear that it was already itching over her skin. However, there was nothing that she could do about it now.

The ewe sighed, as her arm fell limply on her side.

She looked defeated.

The fox looked at her, and then he looked at the guards, nodding.

Soon the two porcine approached, one with the shock baton in hoof, while the other was bringing a pair of cuffs.

Bellwether did nothing, and just let them chain her up...