"It's in the parking lot!"
They ran through the crowd but stopped near the entrance, seeing the police cars blocking the gate.
"We're trapped!" said Old Todd.
"Lucky for you, I prepared for such an occasion," said Madame Mystique. "To the funhouse. Hurry."
They turned around and saw Officers Delgato and McHorn coming towards them.
"Other side," said Old Todd and they bolted around a cotton candy stand, narrowly dodging Officer Rhinowitz and Chief Bogo.
"They're heading towards the funhouse!" yelled Bogo. "Two at each entrance! Trap the in!"
Old Todd and Madame Mystique ran into the funhouse entrance, pushing aside everyone in the line.
"We've got them!" said Bogo. "Stay here, Rhinowitz! Delgato, McHorn, cover the exit!"
But suddenly, something burst out of the side of the funhouse. A pickup truck!
"They have a getaway ride!" said McHorn.
"TEAM TWO!" yelled Bogo into his radio. "THEY'RE ESCAPING IN A BLACK PICKUP TRUCK! BLOCK THEIR ESCAPE ROUTE!"
Judy heard Bogo's voice on her radio and waved to Nick to follow her. Nick's ears were stuffed with cotton, so he could not hear.
Just as they got into their squad car, a black pickup truck crashed through the wooden fence a short distance away from them, bypassing the police barrier. It drove over the rough terrain and bounced about, heading towards Meadowlands Highway.
"It's them! They're getting away!" said Nick.
"Not this time!" said Judy. "Hold onto your brush tail!"
She started the car and floored the pedal, shooting off after them.
"This is Officer Wilde! Perpetrators are fleeing west on Meadowland Highway!" Nick said into the radio, pulling the cotton swabs out of his ears. "Officer Hopps and I are on their tail."
"Copy, Wilde," said the voice on the other end. "We're right behind you."
"This time you're going down, creeps," said Judy behind her teeth, leaning over the wheel like a racer as they pursued the fleeing truck.
They shot past a familiar landmark. The emergency telephone booth where the brown van had been parked the night of the bank robbery. And just ahead...blinking lights and a loud horn...
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" yelled Judy as she saw the drawbridge signal flashing.
"We can corner them at the drawbridge!" said Nick.
"They're not slowing down! Look!"
The black pickup truck sped past the broken road gate and shot across the bridge just as it began to elevate.
Judy sped on towards the bridge, clutching the wheel hard.
"Carrots!" said Nick. "We've been here before!"
"We can make it!"
She held the gas pedal down hard with her foot.
"This time we can make it!" she said, her eyes glued on the bridge.
"I hope you're right about this!"
"Hold onto your seat!"
They reached the end of the elevating drawbridge and...
"Sweet cheese and crackers..." muttered Nick as he felt his tummy going to his feet.
The squad car was airborne for all of two seconds...and then plummeted down onto the other half of the bridge.
BAM! It bounced twice and sped on down the other side, right behind the black pickup truck!
"We made it!" said Judy.
"In one piece!" said Nick.
They both laughed out loud and shared a fist-bump.
The runaway pickup truck sped down the road, just a few yards ahead of them. Judy kept the wheel steady. They were gaining on them fast.
"They're trying to reach the county line," said Nick.
"We'll intercept them before they get close," said Judy. "The others are probably stuck at the drawbridge."
"If we...WHOA! WATCH OUT!"
The black pickup truck slammed the brakes and started swaying back and forth. Judy dodged it by a hair's breadth and slammed the breaks also. Just as they came to a stop, the truck shot past them.
"Dirty trick!" said Judy, flooring the gas pedal once more.
"They're not gonna make taking them in an easy task," said Nick.
Judy drove at top-speed and was just a foot away from them. Then, she opened her window.
"Take the wheel, Nick!"
"What!? What are you doing?!"
Then he figured out what she was doing.
"Carrots! I know what you're thinking, but unless you have a flask of Gummiberry juice in your pocket, don't...even...try...aii!"
Before he could stop her, Judy leaped out of the window and onto the pickup truck...just as it swerved away.
She barely made it. Her paws closed onto the edge of the tailgate, her body hanging in the wind dangerously.
With a tremendous move, Judy pulled herself over the edge and landed on the floor of the pickup bed. She took her stun gun out and crawled to the front.
Madame Mystique and Old Todd were inside, sealed and beyond her reach. There was no way she could make them stop.
"Cotton rot!" said Judy under her breath. "Maybe I didn't think this through."
Then her eyes turned to the right...and she saw a box. It was half open and inside were...
"Darts!"
It was Old Todd's box of spare darts to replace the ones that got damaged at his booth. Judy opened the box and took a pawful of darts.
"Well..." she said, moving to the back of the truck. "This is either very smart...or something else altogether."
She threw the pawful of darts under the truck...and she heard a loud BANG! A wheel had busted!
Nick sped right beside the truck, now destabilised and swerving dangerously.
"GRAB MY PAW!" said Nick, extending his arm out the window.
Judy tried to jump, but every time she tried, the truck swerved away.
"JUMP! I'LL CATCH YOU!"
"NICK!"
"JUDY!"
And then, the truck tipped over!
"AAHH!"
Judy jumped. She closed her eyes, feeling nothing beneath her, sure that these were her last seconds of life...only to be gripped firmly by the paw and pulled in through the squad car window, landing on a lap and embraced tightly by a warm, familiar arm.
Nick hit the brakes as he held Judy tightly, watching the pickup truck tumble and skid on the asphalt, until it came to a complete stop.
Judy and Nick approached the pickup truck. It was lying on its side, its wheels spinning slowly. Out of the broken windscreen crawled two figures, battered and woozy: Madame Mystique and Old Todd.
"Urrrg," muttered Old Todd.
"Beaten by a backwater bunny and a trashy fox," groaned Madame Mystique under her breath.
Judy and Nick looked sideways at each other and nodded. Nick knelt down and Judy jumped onto his shoulders.
"Cop didn't see it..." said Judy as she leaped off Nick's shoulders and round-house kicked Madame Mystique in the jaw, knocking her out!
Old Todd looked aghast, but before he could utter a word, Nick's fist connected to his face and the boar fell to the ground, out cold!
"...I didn't do it!" finished Nick as Judy landed from her jump right beside him, and they high-fived.
And just then, they heard the sirens of the rest of their fellow officers arriving in their squad cars.
At first, they were uncooperative. But finally, they gave in. Old Todd and Madame Mystique confessed to their crimes. They told the police where they had stashed the loot. The banknotes were found and traced to the Stoat Farm Bank in Bunny Burrow and the Lemming Brothers Bank in Zootopia. Everything was recorded and registered and broadcast on ZNN for the entire city to see. Judge Hodgson was less than sympathetic when the time came to pronounce their sentence.
Mayor Vince Mousawitz was proud to award an Exceptional Merit Medal to Judy Hopps and Nicholas Piberius Wilde in front of the press, extolling their virtues and emphasising that they served as an example for the community. A rabbit and a fox, awarded medals for courageous and intelligent duty at great personal risk, for the entire city to witness. Chief Bogo was right. The world was moving forward.
Mayor Mousawitz also awarded a Good Citizen Award to Garth O' Possum for his invaluable help in cracking the case and finding the true culprits behind the mysterious robberies.
"Aww, shucks, it was nothing, really," said Garth into the microphones. "So this is what a 'You Won' screen feels like in real life. Gosh, I could get used to this."
And he was met with thunderous applause.
Nick and Judy walked out of the courthouse after witnessing justice being imparted. Suddenly, from the crowd, a familiar face came running towards them! It was the coyote college girl, now cleared of all charges. She was carrying two bouquets of flowers.
"Thank you so much!" she said, hugging Judy and Nick and giving them the flowers. "I can never repay you for all you've done! I study Forensic Science, it's my final year. As soon as I get my diploma, I'm heading straight for ZPD and I'm going to work with you! You are my heroes!"
And with that, without warning, she kissed Nick's cheek and ran away blushing like mad.
Judy smirked and looked sideways at Nick.
"Well, slick, looks like I've got competition," she said. "You should get yourself a PO box for all your fangirl mail."
"Oh, shush, you," said Nick, grinning and chuckling with her.
Nana Bernardine was acquitted. The sheriff and his deputies and half of Bunny Burrow were present when the judge pronounced the verdict. Nana Bernardine hugged Judy with tears streaming down her old
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