FA+
Shop
1188
Views
Views
4
Favorites
Favorites
Category
All / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 100 x 100
File Size 1.3 kB
Report this content
★
More from Orion89
Chapter 6
“Well, here we are,” spoke Nick as he and Judy stepped out of their car and looked at the aged building of the Roo’s Pouch Apartments. “Ready for dinner?”
“After spending all that time listen to Clawhauser go on about eating for the last two hours after he got back from lunch, I’m starved. I didn’t even know deep fried butter on a stick was a thing. Wouldn’t it just melt?”
“Don’t underestimate the power of fried foods,” the fox warned her. “Tis a temptress of unlimited potential.”
“Is this coming from the voice of experience?” she wondered.
“Corgi Island in the Summer of ‘02,” he recalled. “I was the operator of a completely fair and legit ring toss game when I first experienced the wonders of fried foods. Long story short, I was called, ‘Nick Wide’ till the Winter of ‘04.”
“And what’s the long version, Mr. Wide?” she chuckled and elbowed his gut.
“Perhaps I’ll tell you my story of obesity and overindulgence another time, Carrots,” he answered. “Right now, we’re in the middle of Clawhauser’s story of obesity and overindulgence.”
Reaching the front door, Nick knocked and the door was quickly opened and revealed countless kangaroos crowding the hall in front of them.
“Like being back home with the family,” commented Judy. “Glad I never developed claustrophobia.”
“Sorry, it’s always crazy like this at dinner time,” apologized the roo who answered the door. “Try fitting three hundred kangaroos in one building.”
“I don’t remember how many kids Clawhauser said Mrs. Roody had, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t over a hundred,” Nick recalled.
“Mrs. Roody isn’t my mom, she’s my grammy,” the roo explained. “Ever since she started expanding the apartments to the adjoining buildings she’d been bringing in more family. Distant relatives, her kids that moved out and their kids, and even a bunch of orphans.”
“Awe, that’s very sweet of her,” smiled Judy.
“One, big hoppy family,” added Nick. “So, let me guess, your name is Joey, right?”
“How’d you ever guess?” he asked sarcastically.
“Heh, I like this kid,” commented Nick. “So, you think we can get in to see Clawhauser?”
“If you can make it to the dining room,” he answered. “He’s always the first in.”
“Well, it’ll take us days to wade through all this chaos,” commented Nick.
“Luckily, I have plenty of experience with this sort of thing,” replied Judy as she led Nick outside and around to the side of the building and started peeking in through the windows as she searched for the one closest to the dining room. When she found it, she discovered Clawhauser at the table rubbing his paws together with squeeful delight as he awaited dinner. Out of his cop uniform, he was in blue jeans and a red t-shirt that fit over his hefty frame.
“Looks like we found him,” said Nick as he tapped on the glass. “Hey, big guy.”
“Hmm?” wondered Clawhauser as he turned his head in confusion till he saw Nick and Judy waving at him from the window. “Oh, hey! Glad you guys could make it.” Pulling back his chair, he got up and opened the window. Judy climbed in and with a helping hand from Clawhauser and her, Nick was able to get in as well. “Good idea coming in through the window. This place is really crowded.”
“No kidding,” commented Nick as he saw the table he was sitting at was already filled up with many of the other roos. They did, however notice a couple seats left vacant beside where Clawhauser was sitting as well as one more on the other side of him. “How does everyone even fit in here to eat?”
“Well, Mrs. Roody makes like four or five dinners for everyone,” he explained. “She’s just about to bring out the first one.”
“I guess we’re lucky to get the first meal then,” said Judy.
“I typically stick around for all five,” Clawhauser giggled with gluttonous anticipation. “Her cooking is just that good. I don’t mind admitting that I ended up moving up a few notches on my belt as a result, believe it or not.”
“Oh, I believe,” chuckled Judy as she took her seat.
“I don’t believe you still can wear a belt,” stated Nick as he sat down too.
“Dinner time!” called Mrs. Roody as she brought in an elephant-sized pot with the help of several other roos carrying over to the table. “I hope you are all in the mood for some nice pasta tonight. And I see Benny’s friends have made it over. So happy to see you both.” Hastily, she hurried over to them as the other roos got to work doling out the pasta. “Glad you both could make it.”
“Well, it was an offer we couldn’t refuse,” joked Nick discreetly and got a sharp elbow jab from Judy. “Ugh, uh, so we’re having pasta tonight?”
“Pasta and then, for dessert, a delicious chocolate mousse,” she added.
“Oh, I can’t wait to dig in,” drooled Clawhauser with delight as he was given a small mound of spaghetti that was then covered over in a thick layer of sauce and then sprinkled over in cheese. Without wasting another second he grabbed his fork and started to attack his meal, bringing a multitude of strands to his maw and slurping them up.
“Boy he’s eating like he hasn’t done so all day and he’s gonna do this four more times,” commented Nick. “Plus dessert.”
“Small wonder how he got so big, uh, no offense,” said Judy.
“None taken,” smiled Clawhauser after his swallowed his mawful of spaghetti. “I’m fat, but I’m happy with my body just the way it is. In fact, thanks to it I was able to save Bogo’s life.”
“Please tell me that is going to come up in your story,” hoped Nick.
“As a matter-of-fact,” nodded Clawhauser. “It all happened the day I finally came back to work. You see I-”
“Too much gabbing,” interrupted Mrs. Roody. “My Benny Boy needs his food. I’ll tell you what happened.”
“You know what happened too?” asked Judy.
“Of course,” she nodded. “I couldn’t just let my dear Benny go back to work by his lonesome. So, when his leg was feeling better and I helped put some meat on his bones, we walked back to the ZPD so I could have a nice little chat with Officer Bogo.”
“Where is the big oaf who suspended my precious Benny boy?” snapped Mrs. Roody as she burst through the front doors of the ZPD. Under normal circumstances, every cop there would have all had their tranq guns aimed at the potential danger barging in so loud and abruptly, but the sound of her voice filled them with enough dread that they quickly cowered wherever they could find cover. “I have more words for him!”
“Crud,” Officer Higgins cried as the huge hippo attempted to remain hidden behind the water cooler. “She’s back again. Why isn’t there a force to serve and protect the common folk from menaces like her who disturb the peace?”
“Uh, that’s supposed to be us,” Officer Grizzoli reminded him as he attempted to be a polar bear skin run on the ground.
“Do you wanna apprehend her?” asked Higgins.
“Are you nuts?” he answered. “If I even get close to her she’ll eat me alive and I’m like ten times her size.”
“So many steps,” panted Clawhauser, completely out of breath from such simply physical activity. He looked around the room and saw the terror-filled cops all staring at the source of all their fear. “Mrs. Roody, I thought you promised not to come down here and make a scene.”
“I didn’t make a scene,” she answered quite nicely, but her voice quickly returned to her angry one as she looked back at all the terrified officers. “I merely gave these flatfoots a piece of my mind for bullying my poor Benny.”
“I already told you,” Clawhauser stated. “It wasn’t anything like that. I got hurt and it was my own stupid fault not theirs.”
“Well, they better not cause you anymore trouble,” she said and gave all the officers a glance that could have wiped out them and their entire species. They quickly fled to the meeting room and prayed she wouldn’t hunt them down.
“So much for laying low on my first day back,” thought Clawhauser as he walked to join the others in the briefing room.
“Have a nice day,” Mrs. Roody waved bye to him, though wasn’t turning to leave. “And don’t forget to eat plenty. You need to keep your strength up.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” he told her as he looked down at his gut, the clear enormity of it was incredibly obvious and if Mrs. Roody hadn’t filled his fellow officers with fear, he imagined they’d be rolling on the floor laughing at the world's fattest cheetah. “I’ll see you at home tonight.”
Entering the briefing room, the fear inside seemed to fade after he closed the door, but while it did make things feel more relaxing at first, it also allowed the others to realize just how fat Clawhauser had become. As he moved, his thighs rubbed together and his stomach sloshed with the noises of the multitude of sugary breakfast cereals, milk, and orange juice sloshing about inside it. When he took his seat, one made for a medium-sized animal like a lion, tiger, or cheetah like him, it was no longer a proper fit. It even creaked in protest and was not wide enough to properly hold his entire posterior.
“That’s Clawhauser, right?” asked Officer McHorn.
“It looks like him,” replied Officer Rhinowitz. “Well, him times ten anyway.”
“He was only out for a month,” commented Fangmeyer. “I can’t imagine what he could have eaten to get so big.”
“That’s obvious,” snickered Grizzoli. “Everything.” Hearing that, the whole group of officers couldn’t help burst out laughing. The only one who wasn’t was Clawhauser, wondering if he should have even bothered to come in today, or ever again.
“It’s just like school,” he whimpered. “Just like school all over again.”
“Alright, everyone,” announced Chief Bogo as he entered the room, afro as bushy as ever. He had a clipboard with some papers on it and the same gruff look he always wore. Taking his spot by his podium, he put his reading glasses on and started to look through his notes. “The first order of business we have today is that our Mr. Clawhauser’s back from his suspension.”
“Y-Yeah,” he answered meekly. “I’m back everyone. Sorry again about, well before, but I promise to do better from now on.”
“It’ll take a lot more than words to make up for turning our operation into a three-ring circus, Clawhauser,” huffed Bogo as he glared at him. “I expect to see it in your actions, but I am still hesitant about putting your back into field work. First off, how is your ankle? I believe that you still have five months before it will be fully healed.”
“Well, the swelling has gone down and the pain is gone for the most part,” he explained. “So long as I don’t put to much weight on it-” He paused as the other officers snickered after he said the word “weight.” “Uh, anyway, I am capable of returning to active duty.”
“While your leg might be in working order, what about the rest of you?” he wondered. “I don’t recall you possessing so much… padding as you do now.”
“Well, admittedly, I’ve been getting a bit too relaxed with what I was eating and how much,” he began to say before Bogo cut him off.
“I don’t really care,” he replied with his usual gruff, uncaring tone. “Moving on to more important business. “Today’s Ms. Tuskadero’s last day with us.”
On cue, a rather elderly elephant made her way into the room. “Oh, Bogo, you don’t have to make a fuss over lil, ole me. I hardly deserve a party or to be celebrated for merely sitting behind a desk all day.”
“Nonsense,” he assured her. “You’ve been our receptionist for longer than most of us have been on the force and we’ll be so sorry when you go. I have no idea where we could find anyone to fill your shoes.”
“You’re such a sweet thing to say all that,” she smiled.
“I was gonna let it be a surprise, but we’re actually gonna throw you a going away party tonight. We just need to handle a little operation beforehand. We’re finally going to nail that no good crook, Elmer ‘Mad Cow’ Bullowski.”
“Sounds important. Well, I don’t want to keep you from your work,” she told him and exited the room.
“As you all know or, uh, most of you do,” Bogo said looking particularly at Clawhauser. “Mad Cow has been spreading terror throughout the city. More than a dozen threats have been sent to Mayor Lionheart about how he plans to unleash an epidemic of Mad Cow Disease on the populace if he isn’t paid five million dollars by noon today.”
“Noon?” gasped Clawhauser as he looked at the clock and saw it was already after ten.
“Luckily, an informant has gifted us with the location of his hideout,” he continued. “At eleven o’clock we will do a raid on it and capture him and his entire crew to put a stop on his insane plot. It’ll be a dangerous job that will require the best from each and every one of us. Now, we leave for the hideout asap.”
All the officers got up at once and made their way out of the room. The last two still insider were Clawhauser who was feeling winded just from getting up and waddling to the door and Bogo who blocked his way out.
“I said I need the best from my officers, but your best is not good enough,” he told him.
“I’ve learned my lesson, sir,” he pleaded. “I deserve another chance.”
“This isn’t about what you did, but how you are now,” he explained. “You clearly aren’t in the shape you were. Frankly, I cannot fathom how you did this to yourself, but, I, in good conscious, cannot allow you to put yourself in danger if you are not in shape to do this. You’ll only be a liability to everyone.”
“Please, just let me come,” he begged. “I’ll wait in the car if I have to.”
“No and that’s-” Bogo started to say, getting irate, but a terror suddenly filled him. He couldn’t see what was the cause of such blood-chilling fear, but his instincts told him that there was a roo-shaped danger nearby and to do anything to displease it was something he had to avoid at all costs. “Uh, fine,” he conceded. “You can come, but you must stay in the car the entire time. Do you understand?”
“I do indeed, sir,” answered Clawhauser sounding greatly excited.
“Then you’re with Fangmeyer,” Bogo instructed him.
“I’m on it,” saluted Clawhauser as he turned to hurry out of the room. He barely made it several yards away before he slouched and started to gasp and pant for air. After a minute, he got up and trudged his way to the front doors once more.
“I can’t imagine a new recruit more troublesome than him,” sighed Bogo as he shook his head.
“Congrats, Carrots,” Nice told Judy.
“And why are you congratulating me?” she asked, prepared to roll her eyes at whatever he said next.
“For being the most troublesome recruit Bogo’s ever seen,” he answered.
“Me? Troublesome?” she scoffed. “Sure, I was maybe a bit too overly eager to make a difference, but I was nowhere near the pain you were, always making wisecracks and annoying Bogo with one snarky remark or another.”
“While that might be true,” he added. “Let’s not forget on whose recommendation I was given the job in the first place.”
“And you think Bogo will hold it against me for wanting you to be my partner?” she questioned him before realizing he would. “Oh, cheese and crackers.”
“Heheh, I love to win,” chuckled Nick.
The ZPD hurried to their cars, the thrill of the hunt still very much alive in the predators and even in those that were herbivores. All seated and their engines roaring to life, they started to leave, one-by-one, each waiting five minutes after the previous police cruiser went before then next one drove off, taking a different route to their destination in order to disguise what they were doing as an ordinary police patrol.
Fangmeyer was the last to leave, which was fortunate for Clawhauser as he was barely able to call out to him while making his way over. “W-Wait! Wait!” he wheezed like he had just run a marathon. “I’m coming too.”
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” wondered Fangmeyer as he poked his head out the window and watched him waddle over, sweat soaking his uniform and thighs rubbing together with each step forward.
“I’ll be fine,” nodded Clawhauser as he reached the cruiser and bumped into it, his weight enough to make it shake some. “I’m just gonna ride along.”
“Well, hurry on in then,” the lion told him. “Bogo will chew us both out if we are late.”
“Thanks,” the fat cheetah smiled and made his way to the passenger seat with a bit of renewed pep in his step. Opening the door, he started to work his way in, his fat, heavy, body proving difficult to squeeze into the car and sit down. Sighing, Fangmeyer had to get out and give him a shove from behind to get his butt onto the seat. The cruiser creaked and the frame lowered to the ground from the addition of Clawhauser’s girth alone.
“Seriously,” asked Fangmeyer as he got back into the driver’s seat. “What happened to you in the last month?”
“What do you think I did?” asked Clawhauser as he took out his lunch and started eating it. “I ate.”
“Obviously,” replied the lion as he watched his partner devour a three foot long hoagie. Along with that, he had a full jumbo bottle of blueberry gatorade. After devouring the first foot of the sandwich, he washed it down with several big chugs of his drink. “But, what happened to the Clawhauser that dieted and wouldn’t so much as sniff a donut?”
“Turns out,” he sighed as they started to drive to the raid as well. “As much as I tried to leave that part of me behind, I ended up falling back into the habit. No, worse. I ended up fully embracing my gluttonous side and Mrs. Roody was more than happy to indulge me, bless her loving heart.”
“You actually sound like you enjoy being this way more than the cocky jock you were before,” he observed.
“Truth be told, I was more like this growing up,” he admitted. “I was a heavyset child that thrived on sweets. Not only that, but I was more in touch with my emotions if you know what I mean. My parents were supportive of me, so I never thought there was anything wrong with me. But then I learned what bullies were and suddenly found myself teased constantly for it throughout elementary.”
“So you started to diet and exercise to stop the teasing?” Fangmeyer figured.
“Yeah, and it worked,” sighed Clawhauser, sounding a bit disappointed. “Suddenly, I was a star athlete, popular, and had all the girls fawning over me. But…”
“That wasn’t you,” he concluded.
“I was miserable being myself for being teased and miserable pretending to be something I wasn’t cause it made me feel like the bullies were right about me. That and I missed out on so many tasty things to eat in favor of staying fit. Now after all these years of suppressing it, I’ve finally started to indulge and already I can see things are going bad. Everyone is already snickering at the king-sized cheetah and Bogo is never going to take me seriously ever again. I really don’t belong in the ZPD.”
“That’s rough,” Fangmeyer told him. “But I wouldn’t sell yourself short yet. While I can’t promise much, if you just try to be yourself and give the others time I’m sure you’ll find that you fit in with us somewhere. And Bogo, he might seem strict and uncaring, but he’s got a heart of compassion where it counts.”
“Thanks,” smiled Clawhauser. “That actually makes me feel better.”
“Glad to help,” the lion nodded. “Now, hold on, we’ll be at the bust in a few moments.”
“If I’m going to remain honest with myself,” added Clawhauser. “Do you think we can stop for donuts first?”
“Donuts?” questioned Fangmeyer. “Now?”
“I’m just gonna be waiting in the car. What if I get hungry?”
“You are eating-” he began to say when he noticed that the hoagie and gatorade were already gone. “You just ate. I’m sure you can go without food for a whi-” He was cut off as Clawhauser’s gut let out a hungry rumble. Seeing the donut shop on the way, he sighed and turned into the drive thru.
“Thanks bud, you’re the best,” a very happy Clawhauser hugged him.
“Bogo is gonna chew us out for this,” he muttered, his voice already ringing in his ears.
“Donuts?!?” groaned Bogo as Fangmeyer and Clawhauser finally arrived at the location of the raid, an abandoned factory in the industrial section of the city. “We have a dangerous terrorist threatening the city and you two stopped for donuts?”
“I got hungry,” Clawhauser admitted, not certain if it was a good idea to take a bite of one yet or if it’d be worse to let Bogo hear his stomach grumble.
“I don’t have time to chew you two out right now, but when we get back to the precinct you can expect an earful,” Bogo stated. “Now, Fangmeyer, go join the others. And, just so we’re clear, what are you going to do, Clawhauser?”
“Sit quietly in the car till you guys get back,” he answered calmly, making sure not to upset Chief Bogo any more than he already has.
“See that you do,” spoke Bogo as he joined his men at the door, his heart racing over how important this bust was to the well-being of everyone in Zootopia and he hardly had the time for any insubordination from his men. Approaching his team poised to strike, he looked them all over, making sure they were all prepared. “Is everyone ready?” They answered with a slight nod, all just as aware of the direness as the chief. “Then on my mark we rush in and take down Mad Cow and his whole operation. Failure is not an option.” Bogo took a few seconds to breathe, attempting to calm his nerves as best he could before he began to count. “1… 2… 3… Go!”
Moving first, Officer McHorn burst through the doors with all the other officers rushing in behind him, tranq guns at the ready. Clawhauser watched from the car, maw full of donut, but he was too tense at seeing them rush in to remember to swallow and just keep munching on more donuts.
“Ok, you scumbags, on the ground now!” snapped Bogo at the top of his lungs, but his words were followed by silence. Looking around, there was nobody there, just tons of old crates leftover from whatever had been stored in the old building.
“Where are they?” wondered Fangmeyer as the cops started to look around. “Did we get the right place or did we get a bogus tip?”
“We’re gonna find that out,” answered Bogo as he proceeded further into the building. “Everyone keep your guard up. I don’t like this one bit.”
With great caution, the group of police made their way towards the center of the factory. With all the dust and cobwebs all over the place, it didn’t look like anyone had been inside for ages. However, as they reached a table in the middle, they found something incredibly alarming. It was a map of the city, with several red pins placed all over, one shockingly located on the ZPD itself.
“What is this?” wondered Officer Grizzoli. “What do all these pins mean?”
“I think it’s where they plan to unleash the Mad Cow Disease,” answered Bogo. “All of these locations are almost constantly cluttered with civilians at rush hour times. It’d be the best time to unleash the disease and ensure its spread. If so many get infected, it’d be impossible to prevent a city-wide epidemic.”
“Au contraire,” answered a voice that was not one of the officer’s. “There is but a simple way to prevent this ‘epidemic’ as you so crudely put it.”
“Mad Cow,” snarled Bogo as he turned along with all his men to aim their tranq guns at him. He was dressed in black leather pants and a jacket. Compared to most bovines, he was quite scrawny. He had on a nose ring and one long, pointy horn. The other was broken near the base. While he was covered mostly in white fur, he did have some brown spots on his body, including one over his lazy eye.
“You see, I’d prefer to call it an ‘ultimatum’ cause there ain’t no way the mayor would let something like this ravage his precious city. I mean, he’d have to be mad to let that happen. And not mad as in the angry kind, but the me kind of mad. Ya dig?”
“I do not dig anything you do,” retorted Bogo. “But I will agree you are quite mad to do such a terrible thing and just downright crazy to reveal yourself to us like this. Still, it makes things easier. With you in custody and your plans in our possession we can end this terror before it even begins.”
“See, now there’s where you got it backwards,” Mad Cow explained. “You see, I left my plans right there so you’d all gather up around it all neat like that and I walked on over here just so I could get a look on your face when I did this.” Taking in a deep breath, Mad Cow let out the most disturbing-sounding moo a cow ever uttered. As he did, the crates all around the officers burst open and Mad Cow’s henchmen quickly opened fire on them, tranqing each and every officer. The sedatives quickly took effect, causing them to collapse one after another till Bogo only barely had the fortitude of will to barely remain conscious. “Hahah! It was brief, but that ‘how were they prepared for us look’ was priceless!”
“You… ungh, knew we were coming?” asked Bogo, his vision fading.
“Well, I needed a way to lure the lot of you away from the station to plant the last viral bomb,” he explained. “I mean, I could have just skipped that one and more or less had the same impact on the city, but I hate coming up with a plan and not following it through to the very last detail. Just drives me mad, ya know. Anywho, I just needed to get enough of your man out of the way, you included, which brings us to here. All it took was a tip off to bait you and an insider to give me a heads up.”
“An insider?” asked Bogo. “You had someone watching us?”
“Sorry, Bogo,” came a familiar voice entering the room. Bogo was awestruck as it was the receptionist, Ms. Tuskadero. “It’ll be hard to forget all the good times I had at the station, but the money Elmer promised me for helping him should help.”
“Ms. Tuskadero, you… but the city…” groaned Bogo, his strength failing him.
“The city will be fine so long as the money is paid,” she told him. “Just take a nice little nap and by the time you awaken it’ll all be over.”
“It won’t be over,” he replied. “Not while there are good cops out there willing to stand up for what’s right,” he countered before collapsing.
“What nonsense is he going on about?” wondered Mad Cow. “By the time any other cops even find out what happened here it’ll be too late to stop us.”
What Mad Cow didn’t realize was that Bogo had stealthily turned on his radio and transmitted everything to Fangmeyer’s car outside where Clawhauser had overheard everything. There he sat, mouth agape and without a clue on how to proceed.
“Oh, cheese and crackers,” he whimpered, stuffing donuts into his maw to try and comfort his nerves.
<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>
“Well, here we are,” spoke Nick as he and Judy stepped out of their car and looked at the aged building of the Roo’s Pouch Apartments. “Ready for dinner?”
“After spending all that time listen to Clawhauser go on about eating for the last two hours after he got back from lunch, I’m starved. I didn’t even know deep fried butter on a stick was a thing. Wouldn’t it just melt?”
“Don’t underestimate the power of fried foods,” the fox warned her. “Tis a temptress of unlimited potential.”
“Is this coming from the voice of experience?” she wondered.
“Corgi Island in the Summer of ‘02,” he recalled. “I was the operator of a completely fair and legit ring toss game when I first experienced the wonders of fried foods. Long story short, I was called, ‘Nick Wide’ till the Winter of ‘04.”
“And what’s the long version, Mr. Wide?” she chuckled and elbowed his gut.
“Perhaps I’ll tell you my story of obesity and overindulgence another time, Carrots,” he answered. “Right now, we’re in the middle of Clawhauser’s story of obesity and overindulgence.”
Reaching the front door, Nick knocked and the door was quickly opened and revealed countless kangaroos crowding the hall in front of them.
“Like being back home with the family,” commented Judy. “Glad I never developed claustrophobia.”
“Sorry, it’s always crazy like this at dinner time,” apologized the roo who answered the door. “Try fitting three hundred kangaroos in one building.”
“I don’t remember how many kids Clawhauser said Mrs. Roody had, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t over a hundred,” Nick recalled.
“Mrs. Roody isn’t my mom, she’s my grammy,” the roo explained. “Ever since she started expanding the apartments to the adjoining buildings she’d been bringing in more family. Distant relatives, her kids that moved out and their kids, and even a bunch of orphans.”
“Awe, that’s very sweet of her,” smiled Judy.
“One, big hoppy family,” added Nick. “So, let me guess, your name is Joey, right?”
“How’d you ever guess?” he asked sarcastically.
“Heh, I like this kid,” commented Nick. “So, you think we can get in to see Clawhauser?”
“If you can make it to the dining room,” he answered. “He’s always the first in.”
“Well, it’ll take us days to wade through all this chaos,” commented Nick.
“Luckily, I have plenty of experience with this sort of thing,” replied Judy as she led Nick outside and around to the side of the building and started peeking in through the windows as she searched for the one closest to the dining room. When she found it, she discovered Clawhauser at the table rubbing his paws together with squeeful delight as he awaited dinner. Out of his cop uniform, he was in blue jeans and a red t-shirt that fit over his hefty frame.
“Looks like we found him,” said Nick as he tapped on the glass. “Hey, big guy.”
“Hmm?” wondered Clawhauser as he turned his head in confusion till he saw Nick and Judy waving at him from the window. “Oh, hey! Glad you guys could make it.” Pulling back his chair, he got up and opened the window. Judy climbed in and with a helping hand from Clawhauser and her, Nick was able to get in as well. “Good idea coming in through the window. This place is really crowded.”
“No kidding,” commented Nick as he saw the table he was sitting at was already filled up with many of the other roos. They did, however notice a couple seats left vacant beside where Clawhauser was sitting as well as one more on the other side of him. “How does everyone even fit in here to eat?”
“Well, Mrs. Roody makes like four or five dinners for everyone,” he explained. “She’s just about to bring out the first one.”
“I guess we’re lucky to get the first meal then,” said Judy.
“I typically stick around for all five,” Clawhauser giggled with gluttonous anticipation. “Her cooking is just that good. I don’t mind admitting that I ended up moving up a few notches on my belt as a result, believe it or not.”
“Oh, I believe,” chuckled Judy as she took her seat.
“I don’t believe you still can wear a belt,” stated Nick as he sat down too.
“Dinner time!” called Mrs. Roody as she brought in an elephant-sized pot with the help of several other roos carrying over to the table. “I hope you are all in the mood for some nice pasta tonight. And I see Benny’s friends have made it over. So happy to see you both.” Hastily, she hurried over to them as the other roos got to work doling out the pasta. “Glad you both could make it.”
“Well, it was an offer we couldn’t refuse,” joked Nick discreetly and got a sharp elbow jab from Judy. “Ugh, uh, so we’re having pasta tonight?”
“Pasta and then, for dessert, a delicious chocolate mousse,” she added.
“Oh, I can’t wait to dig in,” drooled Clawhauser with delight as he was given a small mound of spaghetti that was then covered over in a thick layer of sauce and then sprinkled over in cheese. Without wasting another second he grabbed his fork and started to attack his meal, bringing a multitude of strands to his maw and slurping them up.
“Boy he’s eating like he hasn’t done so all day and he’s gonna do this four more times,” commented Nick. “Plus dessert.”
“Small wonder how he got so big, uh, no offense,” said Judy.
“None taken,” smiled Clawhauser after his swallowed his mawful of spaghetti. “I’m fat, but I’m happy with my body just the way it is. In fact, thanks to it I was able to save Bogo’s life.”
“Please tell me that is going to come up in your story,” hoped Nick.
“As a matter-of-fact,” nodded Clawhauser. “It all happened the day I finally came back to work. You see I-”
“Too much gabbing,” interrupted Mrs. Roody. “My Benny Boy needs his food. I’ll tell you what happened.”
“You know what happened too?” asked Judy.
“Of course,” she nodded. “I couldn’t just let my dear Benny go back to work by his lonesome. So, when his leg was feeling better and I helped put some meat on his bones, we walked back to the ZPD so I could have a nice little chat with Officer Bogo.”
“Where is the big oaf who suspended my precious Benny boy?” snapped Mrs. Roody as she burst through the front doors of the ZPD. Under normal circumstances, every cop there would have all had their tranq guns aimed at the potential danger barging in so loud and abruptly, but the sound of her voice filled them with enough dread that they quickly cowered wherever they could find cover. “I have more words for him!”
“Crud,” Officer Higgins cried as the huge hippo attempted to remain hidden behind the water cooler. “She’s back again. Why isn’t there a force to serve and protect the common folk from menaces like her who disturb the peace?”
“Uh, that’s supposed to be us,” Officer Grizzoli reminded him as he attempted to be a polar bear skin run on the ground.
“Do you wanna apprehend her?” asked Higgins.
“Are you nuts?” he answered. “If I even get close to her she’ll eat me alive and I’m like ten times her size.”
“So many steps,” panted Clawhauser, completely out of breath from such simply physical activity. He looked around the room and saw the terror-filled cops all staring at the source of all their fear. “Mrs. Roody, I thought you promised not to come down here and make a scene.”
“I didn’t make a scene,” she answered quite nicely, but her voice quickly returned to her angry one as she looked back at all the terrified officers. “I merely gave these flatfoots a piece of my mind for bullying my poor Benny.”
“I already told you,” Clawhauser stated. “It wasn’t anything like that. I got hurt and it was my own stupid fault not theirs.”
“Well, they better not cause you anymore trouble,” she said and gave all the officers a glance that could have wiped out them and their entire species. They quickly fled to the meeting room and prayed she wouldn’t hunt them down.
“So much for laying low on my first day back,” thought Clawhauser as he walked to join the others in the briefing room.
“Have a nice day,” Mrs. Roody waved bye to him, though wasn’t turning to leave. “And don’t forget to eat plenty. You need to keep your strength up.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” he told her as he looked down at his gut, the clear enormity of it was incredibly obvious and if Mrs. Roody hadn’t filled his fellow officers with fear, he imagined they’d be rolling on the floor laughing at the world's fattest cheetah. “I’ll see you at home tonight.”
Entering the briefing room, the fear inside seemed to fade after he closed the door, but while it did make things feel more relaxing at first, it also allowed the others to realize just how fat Clawhauser had become. As he moved, his thighs rubbed together and his stomach sloshed with the noises of the multitude of sugary breakfast cereals, milk, and orange juice sloshing about inside it. When he took his seat, one made for a medium-sized animal like a lion, tiger, or cheetah like him, it was no longer a proper fit. It even creaked in protest and was not wide enough to properly hold his entire posterior.
“That’s Clawhauser, right?” asked Officer McHorn.
“It looks like him,” replied Officer Rhinowitz. “Well, him times ten anyway.”
“He was only out for a month,” commented Fangmeyer. “I can’t imagine what he could have eaten to get so big.”
“That’s obvious,” snickered Grizzoli. “Everything.” Hearing that, the whole group of officers couldn’t help burst out laughing. The only one who wasn’t was Clawhauser, wondering if he should have even bothered to come in today, or ever again.
“It’s just like school,” he whimpered. “Just like school all over again.”
“Alright, everyone,” announced Chief Bogo as he entered the room, afro as bushy as ever. He had a clipboard with some papers on it and the same gruff look he always wore. Taking his spot by his podium, he put his reading glasses on and started to look through his notes. “The first order of business we have today is that our Mr. Clawhauser’s back from his suspension.”
“Y-Yeah,” he answered meekly. “I’m back everyone. Sorry again about, well before, but I promise to do better from now on.”
“It’ll take a lot more than words to make up for turning our operation into a three-ring circus, Clawhauser,” huffed Bogo as he glared at him. “I expect to see it in your actions, but I am still hesitant about putting your back into field work. First off, how is your ankle? I believe that you still have five months before it will be fully healed.”
“Well, the swelling has gone down and the pain is gone for the most part,” he explained. “So long as I don’t put to much weight on it-” He paused as the other officers snickered after he said the word “weight.” “Uh, anyway, I am capable of returning to active duty.”
“While your leg might be in working order, what about the rest of you?” he wondered. “I don’t recall you possessing so much… padding as you do now.”
“Well, admittedly, I’ve been getting a bit too relaxed with what I was eating and how much,” he began to say before Bogo cut him off.
“I don’t really care,” he replied with his usual gruff, uncaring tone. “Moving on to more important business. “Today’s Ms. Tuskadero’s last day with us.”
On cue, a rather elderly elephant made her way into the room. “Oh, Bogo, you don’t have to make a fuss over lil, ole me. I hardly deserve a party or to be celebrated for merely sitting behind a desk all day.”
“Nonsense,” he assured her. “You’ve been our receptionist for longer than most of us have been on the force and we’ll be so sorry when you go. I have no idea where we could find anyone to fill your shoes.”
“You’re such a sweet thing to say all that,” she smiled.
“I was gonna let it be a surprise, but we’re actually gonna throw you a going away party tonight. We just need to handle a little operation beforehand. We’re finally going to nail that no good crook, Elmer ‘Mad Cow’ Bullowski.”
“Sounds important. Well, I don’t want to keep you from your work,” she told him and exited the room.
“As you all know or, uh, most of you do,” Bogo said looking particularly at Clawhauser. “Mad Cow has been spreading terror throughout the city. More than a dozen threats have been sent to Mayor Lionheart about how he plans to unleash an epidemic of Mad Cow Disease on the populace if he isn’t paid five million dollars by noon today.”
“Noon?” gasped Clawhauser as he looked at the clock and saw it was already after ten.
“Luckily, an informant has gifted us with the location of his hideout,” he continued. “At eleven o’clock we will do a raid on it and capture him and his entire crew to put a stop on his insane plot. It’ll be a dangerous job that will require the best from each and every one of us. Now, we leave for the hideout asap.”
All the officers got up at once and made their way out of the room. The last two still insider were Clawhauser who was feeling winded just from getting up and waddling to the door and Bogo who blocked his way out.
“I said I need the best from my officers, but your best is not good enough,” he told him.
“I’ve learned my lesson, sir,” he pleaded. “I deserve another chance.”
“This isn’t about what you did, but how you are now,” he explained. “You clearly aren’t in the shape you were. Frankly, I cannot fathom how you did this to yourself, but, I, in good conscious, cannot allow you to put yourself in danger if you are not in shape to do this. You’ll only be a liability to everyone.”
“Please, just let me come,” he begged. “I’ll wait in the car if I have to.”
“No and that’s-” Bogo started to say, getting irate, but a terror suddenly filled him. He couldn’t see what was the cause of such blood-chilling fear, but his instincts told him that there was a roo-shaped danger nearby and to do anything to displease it was something he had to avoid at all costs. “Uh, fine,” he conceded. “You can come, but you must stay in the car the entire time. Do you understand?”
“I do indeed, sir,” answered Clawhauser sounding greatly excited.
“Then you’re with Fangmeyer,” Bogo instructed him.
“I’m on it,” saluted Clawhauser as he turned to hurry out of the room. He barely made it several yards away before he slouched and started to gasp and pant for air. After a minute, he got up and trudged his way to the front doors once more.
“I can’t imagine a new recruit more troublesome than him,” sighed Bogo as he shook his head.
“Congrats, Carrots,” Nice told Judy.
“And why are you congratulating me?” she asked, prepared to roll her eyes at whatever he said next.
“For being the most troublesome recruit Bogo’s ever seen,” he answered.
“Me? Troublesome?” she scoffed. “Sure, I was maybe a bit too overly eager to make a difference, but I was nowhere near the pain you were, always making wisecracks and annoying Bogo with one snarky remark or another.”
“While that might be true,” he added. “Let’s not forget on whose recommendation I was given the job in the first place.”
“And you think Bogo will hold it against me for wanting you to be my partner?” she questioned him before realizing he would. “Oh, cheese and crackers.”
“Heheh, I love to win,” chuckled Nick.
The ZPD hurried to their cars, the thrill of the hunt still very much alive in the predators and even in those that were herbivores. All seated and their engines roaring to life, they started to leave, one-by-one, each waiting five minutes after the previous police cruiser went before then next one drove off, taking a different route to their destination in order to disguise what they were doing as an ordinary police patrol.
Fangmeyer was the last to leave, which was fortunate for Clawhauser as he was barely able to call out to him while making his way over. “W-Wait! Wait!” he wheezed like he had just run a marathon. “I’m coming too.”
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” wondered Fangmeyer as he poked his head out the window and watched him waddle over, sweat soaking his uniform and thighs rubbing together with each step forward.
“I’ll be fine,” nodded Clawhauser as he reached the cruiser and bumped into it, his weight enough to make it shake some. “I’m just gonna ride along.”
“Well, hurry on in then,” the lion told him. “Bogo will chew us both out if we are late.”
“Thanks,” the fat cheetah smiled and made his way to the passenger seat with a bit of renewed pep in his step. Opening the door, he started to work his way in, his fat, heavy, body proving difficult to squeeze into the car and sit down. Sighing, Fangmeyer had to get out and give him a shove from behind to get his butt onto the seat. The cruiser creaked and the frame lowered to the ground from the addition of Clawhauser’s girth alone.
“Seriously,” asked Fangmeyer as he got back into the driver’s seat. “What happened to you in the last month?”
“What do you think I did?” asked Clawhauser as he took out his lunch and started eating it. “I ate.”
“Obviously,” replied the lion as he watched his partner devour a three foot long hoagie. Along with that, he had a full jumbo bottle of blueberry gatorade. After devouring the first foot of the sandwich, he washed it down with several big chugs of his drink. “But, what happened to the Clawhauser that dieted and wouldn’t so much as sniff a donut?”
“Turns out,” he sighed as they started to drive to the raid as well. “As much as I tried to leave that part of me behind, I ended up falling back into the habit. No, worse. I ended up fully embracing my gluttonous side and Mrs. Roody was more than happy to indulge me, bless her loving heart.”
“You actually sound like you enjoy being this way more than the cocky jock you were before,” he observed.
“Truth be told, I was more like this growing up,” he admitted. “I was a heavyset child that thrived on sweets. Not only that, but I was more in touch with my emotions if you know what I mean. My parents were supportive of me, so I never thought there was anything wrong with me. But then I learned what bullies were and suddenly found myself teased constantly for it throughout elementary.”
“So you started to diet and exercise to stop the teasing?” Fangmeyer figured.
“Yeah, and it worked,” sighed Clawhauser, sounding a bit disappointed. “Suddenly, I was a star athlete, popular, and had all the girls fawning over me. But…”
“That wasn’t you,” he concluded.
“I was miserable being myself for being teased and miserable pretending to be something I wasn’t cause it made me feel like the bullies were right about me. That and I missed out on so many tasty things to eat in favor of staying fit. Now after all these years of suppressing it, I’ve finally started to indulge and already I can see things are going bad. Everyone is already snickering at the king-sized cheetah and Bogo is never going to take me seriously ever again. I really don’t belong in the ZPD.”
“That’s rough,” Fangmeyer told him. “But I wouldn’t sell yourself short yet. While I can’t promise much, if you just try to be yourself and give the others time I’m sure you’ll find that you fit in with us somewhere. And Bogo, he might seem strict and uncaring, but he’s got a heart of compassion where it counts.”
“Thanks,” smiled Clawhauser. “That actually makes me feel better.”
“Glad to help,” the lion nodded. “Now, hold on, we’ll be at the bust in a few moments.”
“If I’m going to remain honest with myself,” added Clawhauser. “Do you think we can stop for donuts first?”
“Donuts?” questioned Fangmeyer. “Now?”
“I’m just gonna be waiting in the car. What if I get hungry?”
“You are eating-” he began to say when he noticed that the hoagie and gatorade were already gone. “You just ate. I’m sure you can go without food for a whi-” He was cut off as Clawhauser’s gut let out a hungry rumble. Seeing the donut shop on the way, he sighed and turned into the drive thru.
“Thanks bud, you’re the best,” a very happy Clawhauser hugged him.
“Bogo is gonna chew us out for this,” he muttered, his voice already ringing in his ears.
“Donuts?!?” groaned Bogo as Fangmeyer and Clawhauser finally arrived at the location of the raid, an abandoned factory in the industrial section of the city. “We have a dangerous terrorist threatening the city and you two stopped for donuts?”
“I got hungry,” Clawhauser admitted, not certain if it was a good idea to take a bite of one yet or if it’d be worse to let Bogo hear his stomach grumble.
“I don’t have time to chew you two out right now, but when we get back to the precinct you can expect an earful,” Bogo stated. “Now, Fangmeyer, go join the others. And, just so we’re clear, what are you going to do, Clawhauser?”
“Sit quietly in the car till you guys get back,” he answered calmly, making sure not to upset Chief Bogo any more than he already has.
“See that you do,” spoke Bogo as he joined his men at the door, his heart racing over how important this bust was to the well-being of everyone in Zootopia and he hardly had the time for any insubordination from his men. Approaching his team poised to strike, he looked them all over, making sure they were all prepared. “Is everyone ready?” They answered with a slight nod, all just as aware of the direness as the chief. “Then on my mark we rush in and take down Mad Cow and his whole operation. Failure is not an option.” Bogo took a few seconds to breathe, attempting to calm his nerves as best he could before he began to count. “1… 2… 3… Go!”
Moving first, Officer McHorn burst through the doors with all the other officers rushing in behind him, tranq guns at the ready. Clawhauser watched from the car, maw full of donut, but he was too tense at seeing them rush in to remember to swallow and just keep munching on more donuts.
“Ok, you scumbags, on the ground now!” snapped Bogo at the top of his lungs, but his words were followed by silence. Looking around, there was nobody there, just tons of old crates leftover from whatever had been stored in the old building.
“Where are they?” wondered Fangmeyer as the cops started to look around. “Did we get the right place or did we get a bogus tip?”
“We’re gonna find that out,” answered Bogo as he proceeded further into the building. “Everyone keep your guard up. I don’t like this one bit.”
With great caution, the group of police made their way towards the center of the factory. With all the dust and cobwebs all over the place, it didn’t look like anyone had been inside for ages. However, as they reached a table in the middle, they found something incredibly alarming. It was a map of the city, with several red pins placed all over, one shockingly located on the ZPD itself.
“What is this?” wondered Officer Grizzoli. “What do all these pins mean?”
“I think it’s where they plan to unleash the Mad Cow Disease,” answered Bogo. “All of these locations are almost constantly cluttered with civilians at rush hour times. It’d be the best time to unleash the disease and ensure its spread. If so many get infected, it’d be impossible to prevent a city-wide epidemic.”
“Au contraire,” answered a voice that was not one of the officer’s. “There is but a simple way to prevent this ‘epidemic’ as you so crudely put it.”
“Mad Cow,” snarled Bogo as he turned along with all his men to aim their tranq guns at him. He was dressed in black leather pants and a jacket. Compared to most bovines, he was quite scrawny. He had on a nose ring and one long, pointy horn. The other was broken near the base. While he was covered mostly in white fur, he did have some brown spots on his body, including one over his lazy eye.
“You see, I’d prefer to call it an ‘ultimatum’ cause there ain’t no way the mayor would let something like this ravage his precious city. I mean, he’d have to be mad to let that happen. And not mad as in the angry kind, but the me kind of mad. Ya dig?”
“I do not dig anything you do,” retorted Bogo. “But I will agree you are quite mad to do such a terrible thing and just downright crazy to reveal yourself to us like this. Still, it makes things easier. With you in custody and your plans in our possession we can end this terror before it even begins.”
“See, now there’s where you got it backwards,” Mad Cow explained. “You see, I left my plans right there so you’d all gather up around it all neat like that and I walked on over here just so I could get a look on your face when I did this.” Taking in a deep breath, Mad Cow let out the most disturbing-sounding moo a cow ever uttered. As he did, the crates all around the officers burst open and Mad Cow’s henchmen quickly opened fire on them, tranqing each and every officer. The sedatives quickly took effect, causing them to collapse one after another till Bogo only barely had the fortitude of will to barely remain conscious. “Hahah! It was brief, but that ‘how were they prepared for us look’ was priceless!”
“You… ungh, knew we were coming?” asked Bogo, his vision fading.
“Well, I needed a way to lure the lot of you away from the station to plant the last viral bomb,” he explained. “I mean, I could have just skipped that one and more or less had the same impact on the city, but I hate coming up with a plan and not following it through to the very last detail. Just drives me mad, ya know. Anywho, I just needed to get enough of your man out of the way, you included, which brings us to here. All it took was a tip off to bait you and an insider to give me a heads up.”
“An insider?” asked Bogo. “You had someone watching us?”
“Sorry, Bogo,” came a familiar voice entering the room. Bogo was awestruck as it was the receptionist, Ms. Tuskadero. “It’ll be hard to forget all the good times I had at the station, but the money Elmer promised me for helping him should help.”
“Ms. Tuskadero, you… but the city…” groaned Bogo, his strength failing him.
“The city will be fine so long as the money is paid,” she told him. “Just take a nice little nap and by the time you awaken it’ll all be over.”
“It won’t be over,” he replied. “Not while there are good cops out there willing to stand up for what’s right,” he countered before collapsing.
“What nonsense is he going on about?” wondered Mad Cow. “By the time any other cops even find out what happened here it’ll be too late to stop us.”
What Mad Cow didn’t realize was that Bogo had stealthily turned on his radio and transmitted everything to Fangmeyer’s car outside where Clawhauser had overheard everything. There he sat, mouth agape and without a clue on how to proceed.
“Oh, cheese and crackers,” he whimpered, stuffing donuts into his maw to try and comfort his nerves.
<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>
Category All / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 100 x 100px
File Size 1.3 kB
Comments