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Sunset's Isekai

by Wanderer D

Chapter 45: Rising my Hackles (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 4)

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Sunset's Isekai
Rising my Hackles (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 4)
By Wanderer D

"...and even though our beloved museum lies in ruins, let us not forget what it represented: centuries of evolution as a joined community of predator and prey animals, working together to build a better society…"

Judy tuned out Mayor Lionheart, tilting her head just enough to glare at Sunset, who did her best to smile at the crowds. "You know you're not off the hook," she whispered.

"I'm not off the hook for what?" Sunset counter-whispered. "Not being a magical, mystical horse with a horn on my forehead in a world where unicorns don't exist?"

"Giiirls…—" Nick sing-sang in a whisper "—not the best time."

Sunset had done her best to pretend innocence at her slip-up earlier. Even if the notion of her being one was ridiculous, it was very clear that the word meant something to the wolf. Perhaps some sort of code-word or nickname? It had certainly put her on the defensive, and if they weren't supposed to meet with the mayor so soon, she would have insisted on dragging Sunset over to the station.

Very few things irritated Judy more than a mystery that could be solved if the suspect just opened up! It wasn't even necessarily incriminating! But Sunset had avoided answering the question with misdirection and a "oh, look at the time!" comment. And the worst part was that it had been a legitimate excuse right then.

They had rushed out of the restaurant to get to the event in time, and then they had been separated, prepped up individually and made stand in front of a large crowd… which prevented her from digging deeper at the issue.

"I know you're not a unicorn!" Judy hissed. "But you're hiding something."

Mayor Lionheart continued talking to the crowds, unaware of the drama next to him. "...and as proof of that, despite the odds, despite the fire that burned the building, one of us proved once again that our community as members of different species being together bringing the best in all of us, risked her own life to run back into the museum…"

"Everyone hides something," Sunset whispered back, ignoring the speech. "Doesn't mean I'm a criminal!"

"There are too many questions that need answering!" Judy quietly retorted.

Sunset smirked and leaned down to whisper right next to Judy's ear, making it twitch.. "Sorry, you'll have to do with the fact that I have no idea why people invent stories about my exploits."

Nick stood frozen next to them, a wide smile plastered on his face. "Girls. It's almost—"

"...as such, it is my distinct honor to give Miss Shimmer the key to the city for her heroic acts!" Mayor Lionheart finished grandly, waving Sunset over to stand next to him, while Judy and Nick took the box from behind the stage and walked over to the other side of the podium, showing it off to the crowds. "And here to give it out, are our heroes Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde!"

The Mayor then took the box and ceremoniously passed it over to Sunset, who graciously took the key from him and flashed a smile at the crowds, leaning into the microphone when he waved her towards it. "I am glad I was able to save Josh, Santino and Molly. I happened to be in the right place, at the right time… I know that every citizen of Zootopia has it in their hearts to be the heroes of the day."

Short and simple.

Why couldn't things just be short and simple?

"Hopps!"

"And there he is," Nick muttered.

Judy turned to face Chief Bogo, who approached the three of them behind the stage. "Hello, Chief."

"Hopps, now that you and Wilde are done with this whole charade—no offense, Miss Shimmer—it's time to get back to work!"

Judy felt things beginning to slip out of her control. "But chief—"

"We have witnesses saying that someone saw something weird, and now wild stories are going around about how the place is haunted by the spirits of the dead animals in there. Probably some kids thinking it'd be funny, or even thieves trying to see if they can get anything valuable." He grumbled a little before turning to face her and Nick. "I want you both to investigate a bit more beyond the initial scope… figure out who has been sneaking in and bring them in for questioning. It might just be pranksters, or it could be related. Don't let the trail go stale. The Chief Sprout also has some more clues to discuss with you."

"But Chief, Sunset—"

"Can go now, you don't need to escort her anymore."

"Actually, Chief," Sunset spoke up, "since I was in the museum while it was on fire, Officer Hopps had asked me to go with her to the museum ruins to see if I might notice something missing or remember any specific details. I hope you don't mind?"

Bogo blinked. "Not at all, good idea, Hopps." He gave Judy a folder which she opened, noticing the glowing bunny-like figure in the blurry picture attached to all the paperwork. "Here's the report so far," he said while Sunset and Nick leaned in to take a glance, before Bogo firmly pushed Sunset back away.

"I understand that you're helping, but the information in that file is not for civilians, Miss Shimmer."

"Oh, no problem at all, Chief!" Sunset said, crossing her paws behind her back and smiling innocently at him. "I'm sorry."

"N-not at all."

He turned to look at Judy and Nick. "I'll leave you to it."

"Right, chief," Judy said, saluting and watching him go in silence before turning to look at Sunset with a bit of confusion. "So… I thought you didn't want to be involved?"

Sunset chuckled. "Nah, I was just pulling your tail, Hopps. I do want to help… I really don't know why that box might be related to Rarity's business partner, but we might as well figure out if it's coincidence or not."

Judy narrowed her eyes, studying the mysterious wolf up and down. "So what's that about going to the museum? I don't recall bringing that up."

Sunset grinned. "You did not! But the chief said it was okay, right? Besides, what better place to start our investigation?"

She started walking towards the building remains leaving Nick and Judy behind.

"Think you found another police cadet?" Nick asked, walking up to her.

Judy shook her head. "I don't know what her deal is, Nick. What is she hiding?"

Nick shrugged. "Well, we now have an excuse to keep her around and find out, right?"

Judy nodded. "I just know there's a lot more going on, Nick, and it's tingling my police instincts."

"And here I thought you only did that adorable nose-twitch when thinking about me."

Judy felt her face warm up and she growled—a very fox-like growl, since she had been practicing—before stomping after Sunset, who was patiently chatting with Pennington. "Come on, Nick."

As the pair approached, Judy's sensitive ears picked up what Pennington was almost whispering.

"... and it jumped back in the rubble… but I didn't really want to say anything, you know? The last thing I need is a forced vacation right now because Chief Bogo thinks I'm losing my mind."

"Everything okay, Francine?" Nick asked casually.

"Oh, hey Nick. Hi Judy." The elephant smiled at the pair. "I was just telling Sunset here about the, um… kids or whatever that have snuck in there last night. Snarlov said that they were running all over the place, but he couldn't catch them." She tapped her nails together nervously. "I saw him this morning… his fur was all fluffed up. He was spooked."

"So is that where the 'ghosts'—" Judy made air quotes at the idea "—came from?"

When Pennington simply shrugged, Judy sighed. "Well, we'll see if we can find any clues. Sunset here will go with us to the museum to retrace her steps… maybe she'll remember something we might be able to use."

"Suit yourselves," Pennington said, stepping aside and waving them in. "I'd rather stay out here if it's all the same to you."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of ghosts, Francine?" Nick teased.

"What? No! Of course not!"

"Right," Judy said, elbowing the fox in the ribs. "Come on, you two. Let's take a look around."

Judy led Sunset and Nick into the ruined building. It stank of burnt materials and ashes, even though the ground was still wet from all the water poured into it to quell the flames, making it almost look like a bog.

Sunset sniffed the air, wincing at the odors. "I can't smell anyone here other than you guys and the firemen, no smell of rabbits either besides you, Judy."

Judy raised an eyebrow, and looked at Nick who took a couple of whiffs too. "I can smell the uniforms and rubber, but not any sort of paint or anything. What would kids be doing here anyway?"

"I don't know," Judy said, glancing at Sunset. "Do you recall anything at all you might have missed?"

Sunset shook her head, glancing around. "I'm trying to remember if I missed anything, but even before the fire started, I don't think I noticed anything strange."

Judy bit her lower lip, then nodded to herself. "Okay, let's go down to where the fire started, maybe we can find something there."

The trio made their way down to the basement, passing under the warnings, and stepped into what remained of the room. Judy noticed with interest how Sunset's eyes zeroed in immediately on the epicenter of the blast, where the box used to be. But, instead of looking at the remains of the box, she stepped lightly to where the blast originated and knelt next to it, studying it carefully.

"Um… Sunset?" she asked. "What did you find?"

"It's strange…" Sunset said, her voice wondering. "The blast is concentrated from here then outwards, but it didn't start here." Her ears twitched and she stood back, studying the air around the box and raising her paw up to touch it as if there was something there. "It's like… whatever was in here defended itself…"

"What is she doing?" Nick whispered.

"I… don't know…" Judy said. "Just watch for now."

"The fire," Sunset spoke up, "...it was a reaction. It wasn't caused by whatever was inside the box." She looked around, eyes narrowing as she went to a pile of ashes and beams that had once been a crate of some sort. She brushed remains out of the way until she uncovered something.

"Wait… is that a blowtorch?" Judy asked, trotting up to Sunset. "What is that doing here? Even worse, how is it that no one found it?"

"It is very odd," Nick muttered. "I thought Chief Sprout's crew worked this place over."

"It's not too strange that they didn't see it," Sunset muttered, "it's slightly displaced… see?" she waved her paw through the blowtorch. "It's just reconstituting itself back now, if we had been here yesterday, I wouldn't have seen it either."

The wolf stepped over to the center of the box, once again, waving in the air, and Judy took a step back, bumping into Nick when she heard whispers… and she could almost see something trailing behind the mysterious female's paw… as if she was dragging some sort of cloud of light or something.

Judy and Nick jumped when something fell apart on the other side of the basement, but whatever it had been, it had the unintended effect of snapping them out of their fascination, as Sunset turned to look that way.

"What was all of that?!" Judy demanded, feeling very much out of her depth. What she had just seen… wasn't possible, was it? She hadn't just heard voices, right? She glanced at Nick, whose fur was also standing on end.

Sunset gave them an apologetic look. "Sorry… it seems there's more going on here than I thought… this world wasn't supposed to have things like this, so…"

"Things like what?!"

Sunset looked at her straight in the eye. "Spirits."

Judy patiently waited as Chief Sprout gave Sunset Shimmer a wondering look, but since the wolf seemed to be distracting herself with the books on the shelf, his attention went back to her.

"And it's okay to bring a civilian into this?" he asked cautiously.

Judy nodded. For now, she wanted to get all the facts on the table. She didn't believe in ghosts, there was no such thing as magic, so there had to be a rational explanation. "She's working with us in the case… she's a specialist."

Chief Sprout narrowed his eyes, but then shrugged. "Fine. After more thorough investigation of the scene, we established that the fire had not originated inside the box as we had initially thought." He spread out some pictures and papers with analysis on them. "We found traces and marks on the edges of the box that are more consistent with the combustible material being used on it."

Judy gave Sunset a glance, but the wolf had simply smiled without looking back her way, apparently concentrating on the contents of one of the books.

"We did find a blowtorch," Nick said.

"Yes," Sprout sighed. "I have no excuse… I have no idea how we didn't see that there."

"It was buried under a lot of stuff, chief," Judy said gently, "and there was a lot going on at the time."

The chief didn't look convinced, but nodded, putting together the paperwork into the file for Judy and Nick. "Here's all we found out. It seems that the door was forced open, and whoever went in there tried to use the blowtorch to open the box, not expecting the contents to be so volatile. As to what the contents were…" he shook his head. "That we have no idea yet."

Judy nodded. "Thank you, Chief Sprout, we'll take a look at the information we have so far." She glanced at the others. "Come on, you two. Time to get going."

The trio walked out of the station. It was getting late by then, with just an hour or two before sunset. Judy glanced at their guest. "So, Sunset, any idea yet what could have caused that?"

"So far no," Sunset replied, shrugging. "But we might as well check in with Mr. Clawhorn and see if he does. It was his firm's property, after all, right? He might have an idea of what it contains, and why someone would want to steal it."

"So I guess that's our next destination," Nick stated, looking over at the city. "The offices of Clawhorn and Hoof."

End Part 4

Next Chapter: Ewe Don't Wanna Know (Zootopia — Movie Pt. 5) Estimated time remaining: 16 Hours, 53 Minutes
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