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For the next week things remained relatively quiet, aside from the routine of what some officers called "normal crime." Wednesday night saw Wilde and Hopps shutting down a street racing ring in Little Rodentia while on foot patrol. Thursday, they helped Francine, Wolfard and McHorne round up the members of a snatch and grab team who had been plaguing Sahara Square for several weeks; and on Friday they pulled a security detail at a Gazelle concert with Clawhauser. Nick joked that they were there more to protect the singer from her avid fans on the ZPD than the general public.

Pulling night patrol meant they were working a three on, four off schedule with plenty of time for the two partners to hang out together; especially since they'd decided to combine resources and find a nice, moderately priced, two bedroom apartment only a fifteen minute stroll from Precinct One. Days off would often start about noon with a 45 minute jog that circled City Center and cut across the northeast corner of Happytown.

Jogging past Z.P.S. 24, Nick's mind momentarily wandered back to his days in Ms. Silverback's civics class as he glanced up toward the fourth floor window, third from the left. Not surprisingly, the hole in the window was still there, covered, no doubt by the same piece of cardboard that had covered it twenty-two years earlier. He chuckled to himself thinking of what his former teacher would think of him now.

"What's so funny slick?" Judy asked.

"Memories, carrots. I went to school there when I was eight."

"Kind of looks like a prison."

Her partner nodded. "It was... the kind where they trapped your mind and warped you into thinking this was the only life you could live and that Happytown was paradise."

The bunny opened her mouth to reply when they were startled by the sudden, sharp, piercing scream of a female. It came from an alleyway two buildings back from the school. Within seconds, both Judy and Nick had drawn their concealed tranquilizer guns and had taken up flanking positions at the entrance of the alley.

The fox quickly glanced down the darkened alley. Even at noon, there were places in the city where the sun never shone.

"What can you see?" his partner asked quietly, trying not to alert whoever was there.

"Not a lot of cover," Nick replied. "I think the scream came from that side alley behind this building, but I can't be certain."

"We'd better call it in," Judy suggested, pulling out her cellphone. She punched the speed-dial for precinct one but got no response. Glancing at the phone she cursed. "I'm not connecting... How about you?"

Nick pulled out his phone, then shook his head. "Nothing here either," he whispered. "Not really surprising, this is Happytown after all. Last stop for all but the most antiquated of city services."

There was another, much weaker scream followed by the sound of someone being slapped violently. This was followed by a low, menacing voice. "Shut-up, bitch! Or I'll shut you up permanently."

"Nick... we have to do something," whispered Judy.

The fox pointed down the alley. "There's a row of trash cans just before that side alley. Follow my lead. Stay low and quiet."

The two officers moved quickly from the entrance to the trash cans, using them for cover. "You cover me. I'll cross the side alley and flank it. Maybe I can get a look at what's going on without him seeing me."

"Alright, but please be careful."

Wilde just grinned at his partner, giving her the same cocky expression of confidence that said he had everything under control. Pushing off, he took three rapid steps, then planted his left footpad on a broken bottle the same color as the alleyway's cobblestones. He hissed in pain and staggered momentarily just as he crossed in front of the side alley. Three shots rang out in quick succession. Two were poorly aimed, but the third struck the todd in the center of his chest. He went down like a sack of potatoes, his body lying exposed at the side alley's entrance. The tranquilizer gun went spinning out of his hand and into the alley.

Nick couldn't breathe and he could barely move. He felt as if he'd been kicked in the chest by McHorne. He looked down the alley. His vision was blurry, but he thought he saw what looked like a wolverine holding a very illegal revolver. Behind him lay a young ferret girl, no more than twenty, her dress ripped open at the top. The mugger was staring at the tranq gun not quite believing what he saw.

"A COP!" the wolverine growled. "You're a damned COP!" He raised his pistol and took two steps forward.

The fox saw Judy rise up from behind the trash cans as if to move forward and protect him. He tried to wave her off, to get her to stay under cover but had neither the strength nor wind to do much more than gasp. The world was moving in slow motion around him therefore it was not strange that he was the first one to see it.

A tall, powerfully built figure leapt from the second floor fire escape, landing between the wolverine and the fox. In one hand he wielded a thin sabre, in the other a guitar. The wolverine raised his pistol taking aim.

"¡Olé!" The thin blade of the sabre came down between the hammer and the pistol's cylinder blocking it from firing even as the thug pulled the trigger. Whipping the sword back, the gun was jerked out of the wolverine's hand and the edge of the guitar came down hard across the top of the perp's head. A cacophonous chord rang out from the strings and the mugger went down, knocked out cold.

Less than a second later Judy planted herself between her partner and whatever threat had brought Nick down. All she could see was a large figure dressed in black holding a sword and a guitar.

"ZPD! FREEZE!"

The figure turned to face her taking a single step forward. The bunny didn't hesitate to fire two darts, based on the size of the perceived threat. In a flash the guitar came up and blocked both darts, one of which became imbedded in the instrument. Judy quickly fired a third dart. This time however the figure didn't block using the guitar. Instead he wielded it like a badminton racket. It struck the dart and sent it flying back towards the officer, embedding itself in her thigh.

"Oh Cheese and Crackers!" she muttered, dropping to the ground unconscious as the dart's serum took full effect.

The large figure pushed the wolverine off to one side and approached Nick. The todd's vision was still fuzzy and getting worse as he just couldn't seem to catch his breath. He looked up as the figure stood over him and pulled up the officer's shirt. He nodded to himself seeing the white, form fitting bullet proof vest beneath with the single round embedded in the center. It hadn't penetrated, but it did hurt like hell.

The figure in black gently propped the fox up against the building wall, then laid his unconscious partner across his lap. He removed Nick's cell phone, it being the larger of the two and pulled out the concealed pawcuffs that each officer carried. These he used to hogtie the wolverine so he couldn't escape, before unceremoniously sticking him into a trash can where he could easily be found by the police.

The figure then went over to the young ferret girl who was shaking badly. He took off his black cape and wrapped it around her, then pulling the dart out of his guitar, gently pricked her in the arm with it. She was asleep within seconds. He carried her over and leaned her up against the wall next to Nick.

He looked down at the fox and nodded. "You'll be alright. Just take shallow breaths until the medics get here. Pant if you're able. It will help." He held up Nick's phone. "I need this for a moment. You'll find it on the roof when you can get up there."

The figure stepped away from the police officers and strode over to nearby trash can, emptying the revolver and dumping the bullets into one can and the gun into another. He then disappeared down the side alley. Nick could hear the fire escape being pulled down and then the sound of someone climbing it.

When he reached the roof, the white-furred equine looked at Nick's phone, nodded to himself then dialed a number.

The phone at the desk sergeant's station rang. As per policy, Clawhauser let it ring three times just to make sure it was a legitimate call and not some robo-caller. "Precinct One, Officer Clawhauser speaking... How can I direct your call?"

The voice on the other end of the phone was clear and succinct. "Officers down. Alley behind 226 Lakeland, Happytown. Ten-Fifty Two. Urgent!" The phone clicked off.

Clawhauser reacted immediately, grabbing a pencil and quickly jotting down the information. He then hit a relay button that connected him directly with the chief's office. Two minutes later, half a dozen police cars were racing for the address.

Bogo himself arrived at the scene within the first fifteen minutes. He watched critically from one side as he let the senior tactical officer present sort through the details of what happened; remaining silent except to ask about the condition of his two officers. Both Judy and a young ferret girl were being loaded into an ambulance. Neither were conscious, but the chief easily recognized the effects of a ZPD tranq dart. He grunted, musing that whatever the cause, it was going to be one for the procedures book.

He watched as Officer Wilde was brought out on a stretcher. The medics paused at the door to a second ambulance as one of them finished applying a field dressing to the fox's foot pad. He was alert enough to continually insist that he ride with Hopps. The chief intervened in order to get Nick to settle down.

"There isn't room, Wilde. She's going to be alright, so lay quietly and let the medics do their work. That's an order."

Surprisingly, the todd did as instructed. Bogo noticed that his officer's shirt had been removed as well as a bullet-proof vest that had obviously taken a hit dead center. Even through his fur, the chief could see a very ugly bruise spreading across Wilde's chest.

"Hurt much?" Bogo asked gruffly.

The fox looked up at him. "Congratulations sir... you just won my understatement of the year competition." There was a sardonic twist of a smile on Nick's face, but his eyes didn't reflect the normal gleam of humor that accompanied his witticisms.

He looked down at the fox. "Do you often go jogging with your vest on?" the chief observed. "I know you don't have many friends outside of work, but that's almost borderline paranoid."

"Judy's idea," Nick replied. "She wanted us to be as fast wearing it as we were without."

"You always do what Hopps suggests?"

"Well," the todd grinned, "it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"I won't disagree," the Cape buffalo replied. He watched as Wilde was loaded into the second ambulance. Just before the doors swung shut Bogo drew the ambulance attendant to one side. "Make sure the doctor gets an x-ray of his chest," he said quietly. "I'll be asking about it when I get to the hospital." The driver nodded, closed the doors and pulled out, heading for Zootopia Central as quickly as possible. Anything to get out from under the chief's withering glare.