[center]
[i]I really don't believe in magic.
[b]~J.K. Growling[/i][/b][/center]

[center]**********************[/center]

Nick woke up just as he did nearly every morning. He yawned, snapping his tongue to get rid of the taste that built up on his mouth during the night. Getting up, he walked out of his bed to take care of the morning's business.

Nick didn't even bothered to look at the time, but he knew that the sun had not rose yet. Many didn't took Nick for the kind of mammal who would wake up early, but he [i]was[/i] an early mammal. It was something that came from the years he spent on getting up early in the morning to work on his hustles. Also, now it was a requirement of him to wake up before the sun, so he would be able to keep up with his energetic and always-ready-for-work bunny partner.

After emptying his bladder and brushing his fangs, Nick then was taking a bath. The water was cold. Nick had a hot shower at home, but he had a strategy he developed to move on with the day. Nothing like a splash of nearly freezing water to shock you completely awake and leave you alert and ready to face everything.

Still, Nick yipped when he was drenched with the cold water, nearly letting out curses.

The tod washed what he had to wash and got out of that shower as fast as he could, being swift in reaching out for a blow dryer, using it to blow his thick coat of fur dry. It was one of the disadvantages of having a long coat of fur, but Nick was not one to complain about his own fur. He simply dried himself the best he could, paying particular care and attention to his tail, not only drying it out by preening it. After all, the tail was one of the matters of greatest pride for any fox worth their own fur.

Soon, Nick was getting out of the bathroom, and after a while more dressing his working clothes, he felt ready to work. That was one day when Nick felt like getting out of his home dressed in blues, as his way of telling others: "yes, this fox made it to the ZPD, got a problem?"

It was a way of Nick showing to the world that he was more than just a sly fox, and that he could do as good to society as any of them. That he could truly make a difference, and that he was able to do most anything he put his mind on.

Nick started out his coffee machine as he reached for the remote to turn the tv on. It was good to be in well-informed of what was going on, even if it was very early in the morning. Luckily, there were news shows that were on at this time, ready to give the first news of the day to the mammals who woke up before the sun did.

Nick put the machine to work, and as he did, he kept his ears attentive to the news coming from the television.

[i]"... And this is yet another scene of one of the protests that have been riddling the city of Zootopia in the past days.[/i]" The voice of some reporter came from the television, "[i]The sun didn't even rose yet, and we have yet another group of protesters reuniting in here, they all protesting about mages and their presence in the city of Zootopia.[/i]"

Nick sighed as he heard that. Good thing he just made a strong coffee for himself, for it was obvious that it was going to be yet another of these days.

These protests were getting more frequent, with the last one having been just two days ago, making it the third of the week. People were demanding that both the City Hall and the ZPD to do something about the "mages of Zootopia" before they hurt anyone. They have been around ever since a few days after that website went on air. They have been growing in frequency ever since, and they have even started to gather more protesters.

Some of them actually seemed to be insecure by the fact that there were mages out there, and they actually expected someone to do something about it. Still, to Nick, it seemed that most of them only wanted some kind of excuse to make mess and to scream at others. Maybe they didn't even cared about what was happening, but they saw it as a chance to do what they liked, some of them even used the protests as excuse to vandalize the city and even to rob.

These protests were troublesome. Nick and Judy, as well as many other officers of the ZPD had to go and try to calm down these events. It was something taxing, and it involved usually going face to face with these protesters. Not only Nick almost was stepped and tased by them, but he was sprayed once or twice. He wondered why the "good and peaceful mammals" would carry fox Tasers and Fox-Away sprays with them. He would not be surprised if he found out that some of them actually started to bring guns to that. The thought worried him.

If there was yet another protest forming so early in the day, then Nick already knew, the day was going to be a taxing one.

He poured himself a generous cup of coffee, and he walked around as he drank it, getting himself a piece of toast and some nice starred eggs. Once more, Nick was glad that he learned how to cook, at least enough to be able to make some food for himself. It was better than having to rely on another mammal to do everything for him. Nick liked the idea of being self-sufficient and independent, and this, of course, involved having basic life skills, including the ability to prepare his own food.

Nick enjoyed his strong breakfast the best he could, knowing that this was probably going to be yet another day in which he was going to need all the strength that he could get.

They had been having many days like that lately.

This was something that honestly made Nick worried; both for himself, for his fellow officers, and for his bunny partner most of all.

Nick looked at the clock on his wall, and he saw that he still had some time before he needed to get going to find his partner on their route to work. Some time that maybe he could kill in talking with someone.

Now, Nick was not the kind who loved to babble and talk with his friends as way of making a therapy without having to pay. However, he would be lying if he said that he did not liked to have someone to talk about things from time to time. Problem was; most of his old "friends" had stopped talking to him since he became a cop, and some even gave him clear warnings not to contact them again. Trying to talk to one of them now would most likely put them on defensive, and some of them might make good to the warnings that they give him about to snitching.

There were others with whom he could talk, but most of them would not be up so early. He thought of one that had the habit of waking up as early as he did, and he decided that it was worth a shot.

By dialing a number on his cellphone, Nick took it close to his face, hearing the sound of the other line calling. He drummed his fingers on the table as he waited for the one in the other line to pick up.

It was taking rather long. Did he called too early?

Suddenly, they pick up, and on the other side, a familiar deep voice said:

"[i]Who is it!?[/i]"

"Hey, Finnick! How is my little buddy today?" Nick said, as positively as he could to the clearly irritated fennec on the other side. "Just called to ask you how you are doing in this beautiful morning."

"[i]Wilde! Do you know what time is it!? The sun hasn't even rose yet![/i]"

"Yeah, guess you are not the early bird that you used to be when we worked together, huh?" Nick said, appreciating the irony of now being him the one to tease Finnick like that, when in the old times, when they first started to work together, it was the little vulpine who would come to Nick and tease him awake in the first hours of the morning.

Nick could hear grunting coming from the other side of the line.

"[i]Calling me this early in the morning… I didn't even got my eight hours sleep… I'm gonna be grumpy all day 'cause of this… And stop smirking, Wilde![/i]"

"Me? Smirking?" Nick said as innocently as he could, but truth was, he had a rather big smirk on his face. Yeah, it was hard not to have one when he could tease his small ex-partner in crime like that.

"[i]Yeah, you…[/i]" Finnick said to him from the other end of the line, in a tune that mocked him for his hypocrisy. "[i]I know you are smirking now, I can feel it in your voice.[/i]"

"Oh, come on, I'm just teasing you." Nick said to him. "So, how you actually going, huh?"

"[i]Could be better without someone calling me so early in the morning just to ask me how I'm going.[/i]"

"[i]Fin?[/i]" Nick could hear another voice in the other end of the line. "[i]Fin, what is going on? Who are you talking with?[/i]"

Nick perked on his seat as he heard that voice. It was sounding groggy, as if the mammal had just woke up. However, what truly stand up on this voice was the fact that this voice was female. That combined with the early time in the morning induced Nick to take his own conclusions.

"[i]No one.[/i]" Finnick said, apparently to the other voice. He was trying to cover the phone, as it was to be noticed by the muffled way that his voice suddenly went. However, he was not doing a very good job. "[i]Just an idiot who don't have any notion of time. Go back to sleep, babe.[/i]"


  [i]Oh, boy. He is with someone![/i]


"So, who is this in there with you, buddy?" Nick asked as soon as the fennec fox was back on line.

"[i]None of your business.[/i]" The voice came, really annoyed.

"Would that by any chance be your famous lady friend?" Nick said once more, "She sounds nice."

"[i]Want me to tell you where to put that phone of yours?[/i]" Finnick said to him, and Nick was sure that the smaller vulpine would surely tell him. He preferred not to hear anything inappropriate so early in the morning, especially when he was still finishing his breakfast.

"Okay, okay. Sorry 'bout that." Nick said to him. "I was just teasing you, after all, this is what we do, right?"

It was an attempt to break the tension, and judging by the lack of nasty retort from the other side, it seemed that it had worked, so, Nick decided that now was a good time to continue.

"Yeah, really sorry to bother you and your girlfriend so early in the morning – hope the night was good, by the way – so…" Nick said, and he took another bite on his toast. "I just decided to call you to have a word. You know, talk a little bit, we haven't really spoke to each other since after this whole thing started."

Nick stopped to take a mouthful of coffee to swallow down the toast, before he continued.

"The whole thing of mages living among us is just crazy, you know." Nick said to him, "I'm still not sure what to think of it."

That was a lie; Nick had seen enough things to be more inclined to believe in it. However, he was still far too composed and reasonable become one of those protesters.

"How are you feeling about all of that? I was meaning to ask you that. Oh, since your girlfriend is there as well, maybe you could ask her what she thinks about that too… Fin?"

There was no answer on the other line, just the sound of the phone. Nick blinked, and looked at the phone.


  [i]Did he… hung up on me?[/i]


Nick looked at the phone, before conforming to it and going back into eating his food.


  [i]Did I said something he didn't liked? Maybe he is just edgy about all that is happening. Everybody seems to be…[/i]

[center]**********************[/center]

In another part of Zootopia, Nick was not the only one who has woke up early. Judy was so quick upon waking up that she hit the button of her alarm clock still in the middle of the second beeping.

For a few moments, she just stayed in her bed, surrounded by a few plush tuys of her collection. Yes, Judy Hopps collected plush toys, she did since she was a kit, and it would be something that would call the attention of people who knew her and saw her as some hardcore bunny cop. Judy knew it was childish, but she just had a weak for those soft and adorable hugging toys. She still had a wide variety of them back in BunnyBurrow, even though she had already gave many of them to her younger siblings.

She stayed in her bed, hugging one plush in particular, which was a toony fox. Suddenly, she reached out, picking up her phone, and she changed positions, so now she was crouching in her bed. Her eyes focused on the window over her bed, which had the curtains drawn. She didn't had the habit of sleeping with the curtains drawn until a few months ago, but recent events made she acquire it.

With care, Judy approached the window, and gently moved a curtain aside. She looked outside, her eyes scanning the area in front of her window. The sun had not rose yet, so it was mostly dark, still, Judy strained her eyes to be able to see what was happening in the outside.

Just a couple mammals were walking into the sidewalks, after all, it was very early in the morning, and very few actually would be up at a time like this, since most mammals took a diurnal schedule. The building right in front had a few light on, as the mammals who lived in there seemed to enjoy making parties (to which Judy was never invited). However, the center of the bunny's attention was in the powerlines in front of her building, in which birds were able to perk and remain.

She looked very intently at those lines, looking for anything black and with wings, and she saw nothing in there. Of course, he saw a pigeon or two, the literal "early birds"; however, she saw no sign of the crow.

Looking a bit more to be sure, even venturing to look up to see if the said creature would be hoovering above, she finally sighed as she relaxed a little bit.

Sitting back on her back, she reached out to her phone, and she used the "recording" function of her phone to save a new audio file.

"Judy Hopps, entry of the crow." She began, being careful to speak in a low voice, to avoid waking up her neighbors. This was another occasion in which Judy would wish for the walls to be thicker. "Today is June 18th of 2018, 5:15 A.M. I just checked outside for any sings of the crow… I have not sighted it."

This was something that Judy had started doing in recent times. Ever since she started to have suspicion that she crow that Bucky said that was spying the building was actually spying on [i]her[/i], she started to pay very much attention to any apparition of the bird.

As Bucky had said, the bird would come every few days. It would remain perked in there, looking at the building. Or more precisely, it would remain in there looking at [i]her window[/i]. She started to look for the crow, and she even started to keep a digital record of any time that she saw the crow, taking pictures and keeping audio records of her sightings.

She made sure to keep in secret the fact that she was keeping records on this, even from her neighbors. After all, she knew that if people found out that she had been keeping records on a bird that was stalking her, she would face some weird looks, some jokes, and maybe even some quite difficult questions. The only one who knew about these records was her partner, who was the one who was most inclined to believe her, once he was the one being stalked by a magic butterfly.

If anyone heard these from the two, they would most likely be label as insane. However, when you thought of what had been happening lately in Zootopia, in the country, in the whole world… well, maybe some mammals would actually take them seriously if they told them that.

Sighing, Judy got up, stretching her body and picking up her things, as she was getting ready to the start of the day. Grand Pangolin Arms did not had individual bathrooms in the apartments, having, instead a single communal bathroom. This was quite troublesome to some. Judy, however, had the advantage of waking up really early for her work, so she was able to go down, take care of her business, bath and go back to her apartment before the others would wake up.

Still, sometimes the bunny just wished that she could have an apartment with a private bathroom. Oh, well. Maybe one day, as of right now, the Grand Pangolin Arms still served her perfectly.

Once she was back to her apartment, and getting dressed, she caught herself wondering if the crow would follow her to her new home if she moved out of that building…

"The bird is outside again!" A voice came from the other side of the wall, startling Judy.

"Oh! Not that stupid bird again!"

"Yeah, 'that stupid bird again'! It is perked just out of the building again!"

Judy blinked, and rushed to the window, which still had the curtains drawn. She moved the curtain very slightly and slowly, just enough to be able to look outside. This time, she saw it.

Just perked into the lines, was the same familiar crow. The same creature of black feathers and red eyes that almost seemed like they were glowing. It just remained in there perked, looking ominously at Judy's window, even though the curtains were drawn. For a moment, Judy even thought that the crow had caught a glimpse of her eye.

She ducked out of sight quickly, but was able to recover and look back to the window, seeing the crow. She pulled her phone, and pointed the camera at the black bird. She took a picture, without the flash, and she quickly left the window, letting the curtains still cut off the sight of the crow.

It had come back.

It had come back as it usually did.

The comings were not periodic or constant, at least not since Judy started to keep an eye for it in case it came back. However, it would come back sooner or later, and just remain in there.

"Entry of the crow." Judy said, setting her cellphone to record once more. "June 18th, 5:45 a.m. I just saw the crow perched in front of my window again. The first time it has appeared in six days. Also, the third time it has appeared in the morning since the entries started."

Once she finished whispering, she put her cellphone down, and looked at the window. The curtains were still drawn, but she could feel that the crow was still on the other side, still looking at the window. Waiting for her…

"You need to stop this non-sense!"

"How can you call it non-sense? With everything that is happening?"

"Mages are one thing! For a bird to be watching mammals is another!"

"Maybe the bird could be related to mages! You can't know!"

"And you can!?" Pronk asked, and Judy remained silent as she continued to listen in silence to their squabble. "Because you have been looking into that esoteric meditation website!?"

"It has nothing to do with it!"

"Neither has the crow!" Pronk yelled back, a bit louder than he usually did. "Also, maybe you should stop looking at that thing! Others might think you are a mage and they start targeting us both!"

"Oh, shut up!"

"YOU SHUT UP!" Judy nearly jumped out of her fur with that yell. "You shut up! Because I know that a lot of mammals are becoming targets for going to fortune tellers and for playing magic RPGs! I don't want you getting targeted now for talking about crows that serve mages, because I do not plan to become a widower!"

There was a heavy silence following this. Judy looked at the wall, and she was almost sure that she could hear faint sniffing coming from the other side of the wall. She continued to look in there until her cellphone beeped.

She looked at it, and saw a new message for her.


  [i]Carrots, just outside. I am waiting for you. (smilling fox izooji)[/i]


Judy looked at the window, going at it and taking a look outside. The crow was still there, but now, Judy looked down, and saw a familiar fox standing on his police uniform. The fox looked up at her and winked.

She was actually able to smile back, and she texted: [i]Going down in a moment.[/i]

She walked to the door, but stopped, and looked back at the wall. These two had become unusually quiet now.

She pondered for a moment, and walked to the wall, knocking it gently.

"Huhh, boys?"

"Y-yeah?" One of them said, sounding strange, as if hurt.

"I… huhh, I'll be going now to work." She said to them. "Are… are you two going to be okay?"

"Y-yeah." One of them said, more upbeat a little. However, Judy was sure that she could hear someone sniffing. "We'll be fine. You know how we are. We scream a lot, keep silent a bit, and then we go back at screaming. You can go."

"Yeah, we are fine." The other one confirmed, however, Judy was not sure.

Still, she decided to go to work. She was already walking out of her apartment, and she had just barely closed the door when they resumed their normal yelling. Still, Judy was sure that there was something more behind that yelling. The things they had said, and how they had gone quiet like that. They had been on edge in these last months, each day more.

Walking down the stairs, she met up with her fox partner, with his usual sly smile.

"Heyyyyyy there, Carrots." He said, greeting her warmly, "So, had a good night?"

"Yeah, I did." She said, and subtly gestured to Nick, showing him her cellphone, which had something typed on it:


  [i]The crow is here again. Right above us. Act naturally.[/i]


Nick blinked as he read that. However, he still retained his usual smirk, and he just asked:

"So, ready to go and make the world a better place once more?"

"Totally." Judy said, and they both turned and began to walk. As they did, Nick, at some point, asked:

"Is it following us?"

Judy ventured to look up to the sky, and she saw the dark shape of the crow following them against the indigo sky of the early morning.

"Yeah, it is." Judy said to him. "Just like it followed me two weeks ago as I walked to the subway."

"So, we are now sure that it is following you, right?"

"We sure are." Judy confirmed. "Just like we are sure that the strange butterfly is following you. Have you seen it lately, by the way?"

"Not on recent times." Nick said very casually. "I actually caught a glimpse or two of it, but I'm not really sure. It was really fast, and when I looked it was not there anymore. Maybe it got tired of looking at me?"

It would sound strange to anyone who was listening to the conversation, if they did not had previous knowledge of what the two animals were talking about. It almost felt strange to the two cops themselves, to talk about something like that in the middle of the street, as if they were speaking of a coded secret that only they truly understood.

However, they both could agree that, with all that was happening, it seemed that this could maybe not be so strange anymore. At least enough for them to drop their guard even so slightly. Still, they knew that they better not go telling to others about their worries, for multiple reasons.

"Saw this morning news?" Nick asked his bunny friend, trying to change the subject and put her mind out of the crow that was hovering above them. "It seems that there is yet another protest forming right now. These guys are truly early birds, aren't they?"

Judy looked up at Nick surprised. She was in silent, however, and only spoke when she went back into looking at the nearly empty street.

"This makes it the third one this week."

She spoke, and Nick agreed.

"Yeah, these guys really want to make a lot of noise over this."

"They are scared and confused." Judy said, and she suddenly was remembering her neighbors. She remembered their squabble that morning, and she also remembered that, in the following months, they had been louder than usual, and they also had been arguing more. "Everyone is."

Nick also remembered about how Finnick reacted when Nick made the question. That and the fact that lately the fennec seemed that he was becoming more and more distant.

"Yeah, I can agree with that." Nick said finally, and sighed. "Well, guess we can just keep doing what we can. So, should we hurry up to arrive at the station on time? Don't wanna give Buffalo Butt yet another reason to be in a bad mood."

[center]**********************[/center]

The travel to the station via subway was rather uneventful. They lost sight of the crow as soon as they went inside. Two subways later and they were able to get out of the underground very near the station.

Clawhauser was in the front desk in there, surrounded by his morning breakfast as always. One quick word with the cheetah, trading good-days and stuff, and them the two small officers were off to the bullpen.

In there, the officers gathered as usual. The bigger ones gathered each one in a chair, while the smaller ones could gather many in a single chair for bigger animals. They seemed to be going their usual routines; it was hard to notice the tension that had been building in the past weeks.

As they walked, Eliot Fanghanel waved at them, and he seemed about to go to them, when Higgins came:

"Ateeen-hut!"

Soon the while room was ready for the chief, who walked to the stand. His unamused expression, close to constant annoyance, was in there as always. However, who knew the buffalo for long enough would be able to notice that the chief was more annoyed than usual. However, even that extra grumpiness seemed that it was becoming commonplace during the course of the past months.

"Okay, Okay!" The chief said, silencing the officers. "Everybody get seated."

Soon there was silence in the room, and the chief seemed like he wanted just to get things done already and go back home.

"Look, this day is one that already started busy, and we all have assignments for today, including myself. So, let's just focus on the important matters and get this over with."

It was clear by his expression and the tune of his voice that he was not very interested into jokes or any waste of time in the moment, and that was what stopped Nick form making any snarky remarks.

"If you were paying attention to the early morning news." The buffalo said to the mammals in the room. "Then you will know that this morning we have our third protest this week, and this, on itself, is already something that is worth of attention." He went through other files. "Also, today seems to be yet another day in which we have been receiving many calls regarding 'supernatural' events."

No one said anything.

"Not to mention the amount of calls about robberies, vandalisms and even of scammers who are taking advantage of all of this nonsense." He finished with a lot of annoyance. It still seemed that it was a good moment to be silent, however, it seemed that some in the room didn't noticed that.

"Excuse me, Chief." Fanghanel said, raising his paw as if he was a student in a classroom. "I have seen a lot of the videos of the website. All of them, actually." The wolf said, getting the buffalo to look at him. "Well, they seemed like a pretty big deal, and a lot of animals out there agrees. So, I guess I wouldn't call it [i]nonsense[/i]."

The way he spoke was very friendly, and he was just sharing an opinion. Still, some animals in the room actually flinched a bit, as they looked at the buffalo, as if they were waiting for his reaction.

Bogo remained still, and he looked at the wolf.

"Officer Fanghanel…" The buffalo said to the wolf. "Are you saying that it is not nonsense to start to act like a bunch of primitive savages over videos that do nothing more than induce panic and mistrust into animals?" He asked, making the wolf shrink a little bit. "That we should all start to hear these stories and throw away our reason and common sense so we can follow superstition and paranoia?"

The wolf was a bit stunned (and honestly, quite scared) as he took a few moments to be able to answer that.

"N-no sir. Of course not."

"Oh, good." Bogo said to him, still rather calmly, before he lashed:

"Because if you did, I would seriously question your place in the ZPD!"

Fanghanel yipped at this, his tail tucking in between his legs. Some officers present also flinched, including Nick and Judy.

"It is already hard enough to be a police officer and having to deal with the many problems that can come from having to maintain order and peace in this city without all of this magical nonsense!" The chief started out his tirade. "Now we also have to lose our time with all of those irrational mammals, with their baseless protests and their claims that some mammal has cursed them! Bah!"

No one said anything in return; they knew that it was better to allow the buffalo to continue without interruptions.

"We deal with real problems, not some stupid irrational thing that mammals are taking more seriously than they should."

"B-but chief." Someone among the officers. "The videos in the website..."

"I've seen the videos, and they are all fake!" Bogo lashed again, making many of the officers in there flinch. "They might look legitimate, but I assure you they are fake! There is no such thing as magic!"

Another silence filled the room, as the buffalo took a deep breath to regain his composure. No one dared to say another word to the buffalo, as he tried his best to calm himself to continue his briefing.

"There is no such thing as magic." The chief repeated, much calmer this time, even though it was clear that he was still pissed over that. "Believing in it is not reasonable and makes no sense. Once everyone remembers this the whole scare will stop, things will go back to normal, and they all will be feeling like idiots."

Some animals in the room shared looks, and though they didn't dared to say it aloud, many of them quite disagreed with the buffalo, considering everything that was happening. The buffalo let out a snort, as he walked best to his podium.

"… and now I need to have an emergency meeting with Mayor Amur and the other mammals of the City Hall because people are falling for that." He said in a grumpy way, before he let out a sigh, and fished his glasses out of his pocket and placed them on his face. "But nevermind that, let's go to assignments."

Some animals felt really glad for the change of the subject, for it was already clear that the chief did not liked the subject, as it made him in have a worse mood than usual. They'd rather not get him angrier than needed.

Soon, the officers were receiving their assignments for the day. Some of the bigger and more experienced cops had received the task of supervising the protest that was forming, to make sure that it would not escalate out of control. Some officers were given the task of checking on these many claims that were being made of events involving mages (which Bogo was dismissing as waste of time, but someone still had to give a look). Other officers were given "real situations", which included the robberies, vandalisms and scamming situations that were happening during the time. Among these last, Nick and Judy were given a few assignments, once they were "two of the top officers of the force". Nick would be lying if he said that being in such a regard with his co-workers and his boss didn't gave him a boost in the ego.

"So, it seems that we will have a busy day, right?" Nick said to his partner. "Checking on some complaints of vandalism and of scammers around there. Checking on a few robberies that have been here and there. Finishing the day with a patrol over an area that has had a lot of these lately. Yeah, it seems that we can kiss our free time goodbye for today."

"Yeah, it seems." Judy said, and looked back at him. "We have been had less free time lately, with the protests and the wave of opportunistic crimes. The city is going crazy. Just as they did during the Night Howler scare. Maybe that is part of the reason why the Chief is so…"

"On the edge?" Nick said, and the bunny nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Buffalo-Butt is surely grumpier than usual. Also, the things he say makes it seem that he hates magic."

"Nick!" Judy said, "He is not like these protesters! Don't say things like that!"

"I didn't said it." Nick spoke to the bunny, still keeping a calm demeanor. "Still, you got to admit, Carrots, he does get quite pumped up when someone mentions these magic things. And when someone says that the thing seem legitimate… It even seems that he is in denial…"

Judy had to admit. She too had observed that the Chief in particular seemed to be quite touchy on the subject of the videos and of the existence of magic and mages and all of that stuff. She had to admit that it even seemed a little bit suspicious. Still, she saw that the buffalo continued as dedicated to his work in the force as he had always been.

"Maybe he is just frustrated that the city is in such a state." She said to him, "That everyone is inclined to act unreasonable like that, and putting each other in danger."

"Yeah, maybe." Nick said, "It really is like the Night Howler scare. With the only difference being that now, instead of being afraid of predators going savage, mammals are afraid that some guy could cast a cure on them to make their fur fall." He spoke it very casually, and he leaned to his partner very slightly.

"Maybe it is a good thing that we kept Buffalo-Butt in the dark about our personal research. Who know what he would do to us for 'taking this nonsense seriously'…" Nick whispered at her, and even though Judy agreed to a point, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at the fox.

"Let's focus on our assignments..."

[center]**********************[/center]

The day was rather busy for the two cops. Firstly, they had to check on someone who was scamming mammals for their money. Apparently there was someone out there who was selling some "magic detection devices", which were "guaranteed to be able to pick up any trait of supernatural energy".

It still surprised Nick how gullible some mammals could be, even with the things that were happening.

What wasn't their surprise when they found out that the scammer in question was no other than their old acquaintance Duke Weaselton, the king of bootlegging. It seemed that he chose another option to make money other than his bootlegged DVDs, and that it was making some success.

Weaselton was not happy for seeing them, it was for sure, and he still resented both of them for using Mr. Big to threaten him into talking. Still, there was little he could do about it when they both came for him. They caught him red-pawed and they had everything to file him for scamming and fraud. They took him in with little problem, but Weaselton seemed totally unfazed, saying that this was routine to him at this point, and that he would be out very soon.

"He is right, you know?" Nick mentioned to his partner after they dropped the weasel into the station to be filed up and put on the tank. "What he was doing was a minor crime, and right now there is a lot to deal with. Even if there wasn't, these kinds of crimes normally don't get too much punishment, only a fee and some community service. It [i]is[/i] a minor infraction."

After that, they were to go in check on some cases of vandalism. Most of these vandalisms focused on places that had a certain "occult theme" to them. Some fortune telling houses, some places that were said to be abandoned and/or haunted, and some places said to be inhabited by "strange mammals".

They had mostly broken windows and words spray-painted in them, like "[b]HERE BE MAGES"[/b], "[b]GO AWAY SORCERERS[/b]" or "[b]CAREFUL, MAGIC AREA[/b]", and things of the like.

Some of them were actually houses of secluded mammals that some neighbors were claiming to be suspicious, and that some even went as far as to call witches and "devil worshippers" (which was actually one of the things spray-painted in the houses). Most seemed just stupid pranks and some unjustified depredation of public and private property. There were even some vandalism happening to places like "Mystic Springs", which was rather famous, and had a very esoteric theme to them. Once they talked to Yax, the yak who was in charge, he admitted to them that their business had been affected recently, as some animals were scared that they could be magicians, but their business was still as good as ever.

The surprising part was that some of the "vandalism" wasn't all bad. There were things wrote on the walls and on the houses that was like "[b]PRAISED THE TRUE WIZARDS![/b]" or "[b]NEW MAGIC AGE COMING[/b]" or even something like "[b]YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO OPPRESS MAGIC[/b]", it was quite interesting. There was even some art of some sorcerers like those of fantasy movies and cartoons, as if it was a tribute to them.

It seemed that not everyone hated mages.

After this, there was the case of the robberies.

This was a bit wider in variety, as it seemed that some mammals took advantage of the protests and of the situation of the city and of the world at large to steal things from others. Once more, there were things being stolen from some places that were related to occultism, as it seemed that some mammals had gotten interest in it. They were stealing some esoteric ingredients, like frog eggs and newt eyes; and they were even stealing things said to have some supernatural property to them. Some magic stores were reporting the stealing of talismans, and Mystic Springs reported that some "special healing crystals" had been gone missing after some sessions, as apparently some clients wanted to enjoy their power a bit more.

It seemed that these things were becoming a bit more popular as targets of theft. It even remembered Nick of a smaller case that they had a while ago, when some crazy antelope that stole a couple's wedding rings claiming that they were magical rings of power, and claiming himself to be a wizard. It seemed that were more wackos like that around. It seemed that were a lot of more wackos around lately.

These subjects were also investigated and solved by them, with some of them having files reported of the stolen goods, and soon, all that was left to do was do some patrols to ensure that more things would not happen. Said events seemed to happen with particular frequency into a part of the city that some said to be "inclined to mysterious occurrences". This place would be somewhere where Savannah Central made border with the Rainforest District. The place that had a flair of city, but catching part of the forest and a little bit of the very wet climate of the rainforest.

The day had been busy as Nick predicted, and they made two breaks, one for lunch and another for an afternoon snack. Other than that, they didn't had time to relax or to make "personal researches" of any kind. It did helped them pass time, as the day, even though filled with things that they couldn't really solve, had been filled with enough things that they didn't had time to think of much else.

Compared to that, the patrol they were making to end their day was something that seemed pretty much calm, even boring.

The sun was on its way to setting, and it seemed that most mammals had remained either at home or otherwise out of sight of the two cops. The street was nearly empty, and all left for them was to patrol in their car and look for any sign of trouble, although it seemed that trouble had just finished its shift already.

This calm made Nick have the chance to relax, and he did so by watching videos on his cellphone. This, of course, did not very much amused his partner, who felt like she was being on patrol all by herself.

"You, know, Nick." She said to him, as she still drove and kept her eyes into the street. "Only because the street seems calm, it doesn't mean that you can lower your guard." She looked at him, the fox still had his eyes on his phone, but the movement of his ears made it clear that he was listening to her.

"They [i]do[/i] teach us that we should be always alert and ready for anything."

"I think those are the ranger scouts." Nick said casually to her. "'[i]Always prepared[/i]', is part of their moto. At least the one I remember…" Nick said, and he must admit that he felt uncomfortable talking about ranger scouts, it brought back bad memories.

"Anyway, I was just browsing in the internet, looking for things that could be interesting." The fox said, changing the subject. "Also, seeing the news of the day, since we will obviously miss the ZNN's report. Do you know that the protest of this morning still hasn't ended? The guys are still protesting. I wonder if they made any breaks to go to the bathroom…"

Judy said nothing, and Nick decided to continue:

"It also seems that are a few other riots happening now. Yes, [i]riots[/i]. The guys are progressing in this." Nick spoke to the bunny. Judy tensed as she heard that.

"Things are getting worse." Judy said to them. "They are all scared, and they don't know how to deal with everything." She admitted to the fox, making Nick look up from his cellphone to look at her. "I talked to mom and dad just the other day, and they say that everything is getting complicated in BunnyBurrow. It seems that a lot of mammals are scared that 'witches could come to get them'. Heck, they both seemed scared themselves… mom seemed so distant…"

Nick looked at the bunny, and he saw how troubled she actually looked. Yeah, the problem with the mages and the scare were practically everywhere, including in her hometown. The fact that she knew that her family was troubled by all of this seemed like it was causing her to see the amount of trouble that it actually was, and it was making her quite worried for her loved ones back in the country. Nick felt sorry for his partner, and he wanted to help her somehow.

"Well, not all of them are actually scared." Nick admitted to her, causing her to look very briefly at him, but keeping her focus on the road. "Some of them actually seem a bit excited over it."

Nick tapped into his phone as he spoke, and he soon was accessing his ZooTube account, and among his favorite videos and historic, among the movie trailers and life hacks, he also could find some videos that he had seen online in the past days.

"Take a look at these videos." Nick said as they stopped into a red light, and he showed her a few videos.

"See, in this one there is a group of guys who are trying to perform some magic ritual to bring good fortune. They got inspired by this new mage craze." Nick showed her a video that showed some mammals painting a symbol on the ground and then gathering around it wearing cloaks that seemed made from bathroom curtains as they chanted something. "Most of the comments call them wackos, but many of them actually ask if the ritual worked, and if they could do it themselves."

Judy looked at it, and Nick soon looked at another video.

"This guy in here actually talks well about mages." Nick said, looking into a video of a donkey. "He says that mages are cool guys and that maybe they could help a lot of mammals that can't get help from science. The comments are divided, with some calling him an idiot for defending mages and the other half agreeing with him." He said, Judy continued to look at him, and Nick reached for yet another video.

"Also, there is a lot of these guys." He showed her yet another video, and this one seemed like a ZooTube channel that resembled a commercial for a new reality show, showing a pig, a hyena, and a sheep, apparently all of them teenagers. "They call themselves 'Mage Chasers' and they want to 'let everyone see mages and know their true intentions to the world and themselves'. Many call them wackos online, but the guys actually seem to have a neutral stance on mages. They don't think they are evil or 'Satan worshippers', or anything."

Judy looked at him, and Nick looked back at her.

"Not everyone is ready to go at each other's throats over this. You just have to look well to see that only the craziest and the most intolerant mammals seem to be rioting, and the ones who join them only want to go along." Nick spoke to her. "I'm sure that it will be okay, you just have to wait and things will get…"

"I know, Nick." Judy said, not noticing that Nick had stopped talking and was now focusing on something else. "Still, the way mammals are acting right now… It is just like in the Night Howler case! Just like they did back them just because of the stupid things I said! It is so… argh! It just makes me so frustrated…"

"Carrots…" Nick said, as he was now looking at something that really caught his interest. However, it seemed that Judy had not heard him.

"I mean, I know that this time it had nothing to do with my actions, but it is still the same!" The bunny continued. "Everybody nervous, mammals looking at each other strange, fear plaguing the streets. Also, the fact that many are saying that the mages are responsible for what happened in Fangtropolis… It is so disturbing! We should be able to look past our differences and coexist!"

"Carrots…"

"Everybody is on the edge! My mom is more distant now. My neighbors are squabbling more than ever. The Chief is nervous at everything. Ben has been down nearly all the time. Everyone is on their nerves because of all that is going on.

"Judy..." Nick said, but once more the bunny continued on:

"… and it seems that there is nothing that we can do about it! We can just keep looking and hoping that things will get better, but we can do nothing to solve this! I would like so much to be able to do something about- Nick!" Judy said as the fox placed a paw in her head and forced it to turn into the direction that he was looking.

"Judy, I know you are in trouble, but look in there, in the corner." Nick said, making the bunny stop and let her face be guided in that direction. The direction Nick was pointing was one that was closer to the forest. The street was seriously rundown, and it was nearly empty save for two mammals in there. A tiger with camouflage clothing, and a coyote with black clothes and with an aviator's hat on his head.

"What?" Judy asked. "What is it?"

"These two in there." Nick said, and Judy knew that it were the two mammals on the street, once there was obviously no one else around.

"What, what about those two?" Judy asked to the fox. "Are they doing something illegal?"

"Carrots, it's [i]them[/i]." Nick said, Judy looked back at him, and the fox concluded:

"Hudson Coyle and Zane."

Judy looked at him for a few moments, and then her eyes widened. She looked back at the two mammals in the street, and she now knew who they were. The mammals who had, on more than one occasion, threatened Nick. The ones who both he and Judy suspected to be mages.

"Are you sure?"

"Carrots, I'm a good with faces. And even if I wasn't, there is no way I would forgot those two, not after that night." Nick said, as Judy and Nick both now looked at the two mammals.

These two were just in there on the street, and they seemed to be chatting, even though it seemed that Coyle was the one doing most of the talking, while the tiger only remained in there with a grumpy expression, occasionally turning to him to say something.

These two animals were the ones that caused Nick to witness the first sign of the existence of magic before that website went on air. They were most likely mages. They would be able to give some answers as to what was going on.

They had not noticed the car or the two mammals in there, and so, the two decided not to call attention to themselves. Judy parked on the corner, and they both got out and started to watch the two animals while they hid.

The two remained in there for a while, and Nick and Judy even wondered if the two were waiting for something.

Soon, their question was answered, as they turned to a direction from which another mammal was coming. They saw a horse in tattered clothes approach them with a smile on his face and a star-shaped white marking on his brown face.

Nick looked at the newcomer for a moment, and he said:

"Carrots?"

"Huh?"

"Doesn't that horse looks familiar?" He said, still looking intently at the horse. "Maybe if he was shirtless and dancing… maybe with a heart-shaped flame on his hoof?"

Judy looked at him, and she looked back at the horse, her eyes widening as she also recognized the horse.

It was the horse of the square four months ago! The one who was dancing in there with the help of the guitarist wolf and of the dog DJ! The one who scared the armadillo lady with a heart made of flames and vanished into a smokescreen!

He approached the two, and the coyote greeted him warmly. The horse even hugged him a bit, and he even tried to hug the tiger, but the big feline stopped him with a mere gesture. The horse shrugged, and talked to the two, smiling.

"Do they know each other?" Judy asked, as the two cops continued to look from their hiding spot.

"It looks like it… Maybe the horse is a mage too?"

Yeah, Nick was sure that these two were mages after that he saw that night and after the website brought up that possibility. The horse was also famous, the video was on the net since that morning when he scared the lady in front of the crowd. As a matter of fact, that very same video was later shown on the website as a proof of existence of mages, as it was labeled: "[b]HOW MAGES CAN HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT[/b]" showing how mages could do as they pleased and hide right under everyone's noses, thanks to the curtain that hid them from discovery.

They continued to look for a while, and they saw the tiger pull out a cigar. He looked on his pockets, apparently looking for either matches or a lighter. That was when the horse approached his hoof from his face, snapped his fingers, and produced a flame of green coloration from the palm of his hooved hand.

The tiger looked at it, and casually used it to light his cigar.

"Yeah, maybe he is." Nick said, as he and Judy remained in their hiding spot, looking at the mammals in the other side of the road.

They talked to each other for a few moments, before the horse made a gesture, indicating them to follow, and the three animals started to walk away.

"Where are they going?" Judy said. Nick looked down to her, and he saw that same determined look that was on her face many times before in the past. Nick blinked, as he knew what that look meant.

"Carrots. Carrots." Nick whispered to her. "Carrots, whatever it is you are thinking, you better stop thinking it."

"We have to follow them." Judy said, and Nick had already predicted that.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea." He said to her.

"They might have answers, Nick!" Judy said to him as she continued to look as they moved away. "If there is any hope to find answers for this entire story, or to make things better in the slightest, then they are the key."

"Maybe you are forcing it a little bit." Nick said, as she was not sure how these animals could help solve anything. Of course, they would be able to give them some concrete answers to what was going on. That much Nick knew, but still, after what he has seen that the tiger and yote could do, and coupled what he suspected the horse would be able to do as well, he was sure that following them was not very safe.

"They are getting away. We need to follow them now." Judy said, right before she moved and subtly started to follow the animals, causing Nick to remain shocked for a few moments, before he was sneaking behind her, trying to talk some sense into the bunny.

"Carrots! Wait!" Nick whispered to her, but the bunny continued, as if she didn't even heard him. "Judy! We cannot simply go after these mammals! I know that I'm not unreasonable like the others, but these mammals are not something to play with! If they are mages, then they might be able to shot fireballs at us! We cannot face them all alone!"

Judy stopped for a moment as she and Nick both were hiding behind a mailbox in the street. She looked at the animals form behind of her hiding spot. She seemed to be thinking, and turned at the fox.

"You are right…" She said, and for a moment, Nick thought that he had finally managed to put some sense in her head. However, his hopes washed away as the bunny said: "We will need back up.

Oh, Lord have mercy…

Judy soon contacted Clawhauser through their radio, the cheetah talked to them through the radio, but the bunny was calm and direct, as the situation was important (from her point of view). She soon was informing the cheetah that she and Nick were "following suspicious mammals". She was very through when saying that, even giving their approximated address. She was even able to say the description of the old, abandoned looking pathway that the three mammals were taking, as they passed through the chain-fence closing the path without a care in the world.

"They might be dangerous." Judy said to her radio, "Officer Wilde and I will continue to follow them and we will keep watch. Please, send backup. We will be waiting."

The cheetah gave an answer on the other side of the line, right after Judy turned her radio off and dashed across the street, and Nick, once more, had no other choice but to follow her across the street and into that pathway.

They both easily passed by the chain that was blocking the path, and they went on the trail, which was a path of beaten grass and dirt with some trees decorating the path. The animals were far ahead, and the two were very careful as not to make any noise that would alert the animals that there was someone tailing them.

The path lead to something that looked like a big, abandoned storehouse. It had broken windows and run-down walls. The place looked completely abandoned, for years by the way. They had line of sight of the three mammals, who were just walking around the abandoned building, and they looked like they were getting ready for something.

"What are they doing in a place like that?" Nick asked as he and Judy hid behind a tree, watching as the horse knocked on the door with a certain flourish. Soon, the door opened, as someone from inside allowed the three to go in, before it closed again.

"I don't know." Judy said, "But I plan to find out…"

Soon she and Nick were walking around the building, and they could hear some sound coming from the inside.

Sounded like voices.

Judy was able to sight of a few boxes and vines on a wall, and gesturing to Nick, he saw it too, and understood what she was saying.

Soon, the two small mammals were using the boxes and vines as ladders to reach out for a window, and they were able to look inside the storehouse.

"I'm glad you two made it…" A feminine voice said, "For a moment, I was worried we would have to do it without you two. Again."

The one who was speaking was a figure with a hood. In front of them were the horse, the tiger and the yote. The tiger and yote seemed to be the ones who the figure was talking with, and the yote actually seemed quite nervous.

"S-sorry boss." The coyote said, "We kind of lost track of time."

"[i]You[/i] lost track of time." The tiger said to him. "I had to go and drag your tail here."

"Good thing you did." The hooded female said once more. "Because otherwise, I would have to go and fry his tail."

The coyote whimpered.

"Well, Hudson and Zane are both here." A voice said as another mammal came into view, and Nick and Judy both could recognize the animal that just appeared. They had seen the same wolf with the horse on that day on the square, playing guitar. "This means we can get things, started, right?"

"Yeah. And it's almost time too." Another voice said, and the two officers looked over, to see the same dog who was with the wolf and horse that day. He was moving his fingers in front of himself, as if he was tapping into an invisible keyboard. "The alignment will officially start in a few minutes."

"Good, then we should get ready to begin the ritual." The hooded figure said once more, as she moved away.

Nick and Judy assumed it was a female because of the voice, but they still could not get a glimpse of her to identify her species. Still, as she moved, they could take a better look in the inside of the storehouse. There was something drawn on the ground, a big circle with strange symbols in it, in what seemed to be red paint. Also, they could notice that there were three cages on the place, and while they could not see what was inside of them, one of the cages shook, as whatever was inside let out a guttural growling sound.

Nick and Judy both felt a shiver run down their spikes, as they both wondered what they had just walked into…