The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One

The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One: Fuel - 109

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—A Zootopia Fanfiction

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Part One:

Fuel

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Chapter 13 –Facts are Stubborn Things
(Continued...Pt. 4)

It would have been impossible to say who first recognized who... but no one could deny that it was Judy Hopps who was faster on the draw.

"McHORN! What the heck do you think you're doing?"

For a moment there was nothing, only those piercing red lights...and then finally, a befuddled voice rumbled out of the darkness. "Wha-Hopps...Wilde?" More silence and then a barked order, "Everyone, stand down!"

At once the laser lights either winked out or fell away. And then more lights bloomed, flashing bars of red and blue, and glaring spots in harsh, pitiless white.

And now the doe-bunny could see them, at least five ZPD officers, all of them big, all of them powerfully built and all of them decked out in tac-gear. Every single one of them was exuding wisps of vapor, like dry ice, left to evaporate on a hot pavement. Some serious stress was happening here.

Or...well, this WAS the Rainforest District, but Judy had little interest either way. She felt her foot begin to hammer against the ground while her brow straightened out into a hard, flat line. Dangit, somebody in one of the houses they'd passed had seen them after all. Okay, fine...but what the HECK...?

"What the heck, a SWAT team?" She stared upwards at the rhino-cop in smoldering disbelief. If she hadn't been choked up with indignation, it would have come out in a scream.

McHorn's response was a half nervous/half indifferent shrug.

"Someone called in a report of a fox with a..."

That was as far as he got before a venomous snarl cut him off at the knees.

"And when you heard it was FOX with a gun, you just couldn't wait to get your tac-gear on, right McHorn?

Gahhhh, Judy could have slapped herself silly; in her agitated state, she'd completely forgotten about Nick. And a quick glance to the left told her it had been a grievous error on her part. Her partner's ears had vanished backwards, his neck-fur was all in spikes, his lips had reeled back, exposing his fangs, and—maybe it was just a trick of the light, but it almost looked as if his eyes had turned red. Good God, you could get thrown in cuffs for giving a police officer a look even half as threatening; she'd made that move herself a few times.

"No," The rhino responded coldly, "Not a gun, a HOSTAGE...and the report also said 'shots fired.'" He reached with a meaty hoof and flipped up the visor of his tac-helmet, revealing deep-set eyes, glimmering with contempt. "Sorta raises the stakes a little, doesn't it?"

Judy grimaced and wanted to scream again. Yup, that raised the ante all right; shots fired + a hostage = a SWAT team rolling right now. Even so, she felt her anger start to cool a little. McHorn and the other SWAT team mammals were only pawns in the game here. What were they SUPPOSED to have done, ignored the call from dispatch? This wasn't their fault; the blame belonged to whoever had filed that bogus report.