Zootopia and Robin Hood and their respective characters belong to Disney. Cover art by kenket on Deviantart, used with permission.

I'd like to thank to following people for their reviews for the final chapter of "the Pawcuffs": Omnitrix 12, Saforite154, Camoss, PizzaSteve3902, RemyW, DrummerMax64, Aninat131, Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps, Blenderguy15, TheAssassin2, phantomreader42, 1010 very good (why thank you!), CAPTAINPRICE79 and Guest! And now, on with the show…

Tap-TapTapTAPTAP!

The sound of soft paws rapping on wood rang across Nick's basement suite. The fox emerged from his bedroom, recognizing the distinctive knock of 'shave-and-a-furcut', which could only be from one mammal. He strode over to the front door, tapped out 'two bits' and opened it. There as expected stood his partner, carrying a case of berry soda under her arm.

"Hey, Nick! Ready for another old-movie night?"

"Always am, Carrots." replied Nick with a smile. He opened the door widely and dramatically beckoned the bunny inside. "Welcome to Casa de la Wilde."

Nick had lived in his old suite at 1955 Cypress Grove Lane since his hustling days. It was small and had pipes in the ceiling that leaked once in a while, but at least unlike Judy's apartment it also had a kitchen (which adjoined the living room) and its own bathroom, not to mention a TV for their weekly movie night.

This tradition had started a month before, shortly after the two had affirmed that they were still friends following the pawcuff incident. Judy had remembered Nick mentioning some movie called "the Third Mammal" while they were searching for Weaselton and casually asked him what it was about. And then Nick had launched into a detailed summary of the film, revealing it to be an old black and white movie about a writer trying to solve the mysterious death of a friend in post-war Vixenna, starring a hare named Joseph Cottontail and a ram named Orson Wooles. With the enthusiastic way Nick had described the film, and intrigued as always by a mystery, Judy asked to see it. And the following night they did, on FurFlix at his place. Judy had never seen a black and white movie before; growing up on a farm with over two hundred siblings to take care of didn't leave much leisure time for anyone, and when there was time for movies the ones played were usually animated cartoons for the little ones. So between her chores and her studies Judy's free time as a child was mainly spent reading detective stories like Nancy Shrew and the Baker Street Mysteries. She had ended up enjoying the Third Mammal so much that she had asked him to recommend another mystery film, so the following week he had shown her the Moletese Falcon, and Judy had liked Humphrey Boargart in that movie so Nick had rented Carrotblanca next, the ending of which moved the ever-emotional bunny to tears. Once that was over, Judy had pressed Nick over how he knew so much about old movies. The fox revealed that his mother had worked in a movie theater when he was young, and every day after school he would bus down there and she would let him in to see any movie he wanted while she finished her shift (as long as it wasn't R-rated, although she had caught him sneaking into one or two). And once a week the cinema would hold a special screening of some old classic, which Nick never missed. After that, he and Judy agreed to have their own classic movie night once a week, just the two of them.

Judy put the case of berry soda in the fridge, pulled out two bottles for herself and Nick, and plopped down on the couch where the TV was on and FurFlix was loaded and ready. "So what's the movie tonight, Nick? Maybe an Alfred Hitchclaw thriller, or one of those silent comedies with Charlie Chomplin?"

"You have been doing research, I see," said Nick with a chuckle. "Actually, I thought I might let you pick the movie tonight."

"Really?" Judy asked excitedly.

"Oh yeah," said Nick, handing her the remote. "You just flick through the classics section and find something that looks good while I make the popcorn."

Nick didn't have a microwave; he preferred to make his popcorn the old-fashioned way on a stove. He poured the oil and popcorn kernels in a pot and put the lid on top, and listened to Judy rattle off movie titles over the sound of the corn popping:

"The Wizard of Paws, Ben-Herd, a Zootopian in Purris, Quiet of the Lambs… hey, this looks fun! And it stars a fox too!"

"What is it?"

"Robin Hood!"

Nick's ears suddenly shot upright as the popcorn started to reach the top of the pot. "Robin Hoo-?"

He didn't get to finish, for right then the popcorn overflowed inside the pot and pushed the lid off, causing it to tumble off the stove and land with a loud clank right on Nick's toes. "YOWW!" The fox yelped and hopped around cradling his foot.

"Nick, are you okay!?" Judy vaulted over the couch, quickly shut off the stove and grabbed Nick's foot to inspect it, nearly sending the fox falling to the floor in doing so.

"OW, I'm fine, Carrots." Nick took back his foot and gingerly set it down. "You said Robin Hood, right? What version?"

Judy was startled to hear him ask that. "Version?"

"I mean, what year?"

"Uh…" Judy looked back at the screen, "1973."

"Starring Brian Bedfurd and Phil Bearis?"

"Yeah, and Monica Evulpes." Said a confused Judy.

Without saying more Nick limped over to the TV and stared at the screen, reading the movie description. Judy watched his eyes while he read; Nick had clearly seen Robin Hood before, that much was obvious, but there was a strange mix of emotions on his face that she had never seen before. Some strange combination of joy, sadness and awe, all in one. But when he spoke, it was in his usual casual manner: "Well, how about that?"

He turned back to the stove and started picking up the popcorn kernels that had fallen on the floor. Judy was naturally curious about what had just transpired, but with Nick she knew it was best to ask about these things gently, so she simply asked:

"I take it you know it?"

Nick nodded. "Yep. I saw it with my mom once, on my birthday when I was a kit."

This piqued Judy's curiosity further, for Nick bringing up his childhood was always a rare event. "Oh? Did you like it?" she asked.

"Like it? I loved it. One of the best birthdays I ever had," Nick finished clearing up the popcorn and started separating it into two bowls. "Robin Hood sounds good. Butter on your popcorn or plain?"

"Plain, please. Nick, ummm…" Judy considered asking then what the prior look on Nick's face had been about, but decided to leave it alone for now. "What did happen on that birthday, if I may ask?"

Nick raised an eyebrow at her, "Getting a little nosy, are we, Carrots?"

"Oh no, I just… like hearing happy memories come from you, that's all." Judy responded as casually as possible.

Nick said nothing to that for a few seconds, but simply carried the popcorn bowls over to the couch and set them on the coffee table, Judy following. But once they had sat down, Nick answered:

"Okay, it was my 8th birthday. I didn't really have parties or anything like that when I was a kit since I didn't make many friends, but my mom still always found ways to make it special. First she took me out to this fancy place called Remy's, which took her a month of saving her spending money to do. And then we went to her theater, where to my surprise they were having a special screening of Robin Hood."

Judy pointed at the screen, "This movie we're about to watch?"

"Uh-huh. I think it was its 20th anniversary or something like that… Yeah, that would've been 1993. But the whole thing had been my mom's idea in the first place, she had set it up just because she thought I'd like the movie. And I tell you, I did. It made an impact on me like I'd never felt before. It was the first movie I ever saw that had a fox as the hero, and later I learned, it was actually one of the very first movies to do so."

"Why is that?"

"Simple: people didn't trust foxes, so studios thought nobody would go to a movie starring a fox in the lead. Before Robin Hood, foxes were only cast as crooks and villains, when they could get work at all. You could say Brian Bedfurd was a pioneer for fox actors, even if he didn't do many other movies."

"Really? Nobody wanted to cast fox actors?"

"Let me give you an example: have you ever heard of Zorro?"

"Yes."

"That name literally means fox, but the first Zorro movie ever to use a fox in the lead was a 1998 movie starring Antonio Fangderas. Before that there had been a TV series starring a wolf named Grey Williams, and before that a 1940 movie with a panther name of Tyrone Prowler."

"Well, surely there are other big-name fox actors by now." said Judy.

"A few now, sure," Nick replied, "Besides Antonio Fangderas there's also Vixey Burton, and then there's Ace Todd, and of course that guy Jason Biteman, but I don't think any of them would have made it if it weren't for Brian Bedfurd and this movie."

Judy was astounded. "How do you know all this stuff, Nick?"

"As a kit I used to read all the magazines in the theater lobby, and they would also hand out brochures on classic movie night," Nick responded. "And now, there's this wonderful invention called the internet."

The fox then leaned back on the couch and popped open a bottle of berry soda. "So, Robin Hood it is then?"

"Well, the way you've built up this movie, now I really need to see it!" Judy declared. She clicked the remote, the screen buffered for a second, and then the movie began. Music started playing, and fancy yellow words appeared on the screen: Walt Deersney Productions presents. Judy leaned forward in her seat, excited, and unnoticed by her so did Nick.

The words faded, and then the scene changed to a shot of an ornate green book on a red satin sheet with ROBIN HOOD emblazoned on the cover. The camera moved in towards it, and suddenly the book opened by itself and turned to the first page, which sported fancy writing and an illustration of a fox shooting a bow and arrow. Judy could make out the first line on the page: Once upon a time Robin Hood and Little John were walking through the forest. And standing on the elaborate old-English O that started the sentence was what appeared to be an illustrated raccoon playing a lute. The camera moved in on said raccoon, and then the shot changed and suddenly he was alive, playing the lute in a soft tune that matched the background music. He had distinct brown fur Judy surmised was that of a torch key raccoon, and was dressed in green pants and a teal shirt with puffy striped sleeves along with a small feathered hat atop his head. For a moment he just stood there, casually strumming away. But then he stopped and smiled, regarding the audience with friendly-looking green eyes, and spoke:

"You know, there's been a heap of legends and tall tales about Robin Hood, all different too. Well, we folk here at Deersney have our own version. It's the story of what really happened in Furwood Forest…"

He resumed his strumming, before pausing and gazing at the audience again:

"Oh, incidentally, I'm Alan-a-Tail, a minstrel. That's an early-day folk singer, and my job is to (a string broke on his lute suddenly broke with a TOING, making Judy giggle) tell it like it is. Or was, or whatever."

Then the raccoon started playing again, and the scene changed to a forest setting. Judy immediately saw a large brown bear, walking alongside a fox that looked somewhat like Nick. Both were clad in similar green tunics, breeches and feathered bycocket hats, and were casually strolling along their path with a jolly demeanor and a spring in their step, as if it was just another happy day. Both were walking to the beat of Alan's music, and now the minstrel was both singing and narrating:

"Robin Hood and Little John were walkin' through the forrrest, laughin' back and forth at what the other 'un has to saaayy…"

"Ha ha ha, well folks, that's the way it really happened."

Judy watched, entranced, as the newlywed Robin and Marion waved at the audience and rode away in their carriage, an arrow embedded in the heart of their just married sign. And then a familiar song started playing as the camera panned up to the sunset over Furwood Forest:

"Love goes on and oooonnn... Ooh-de-lally, ooh-de-lally, golly what a day. Ooh-de-lally, ooh-de-lally golly, what a daaaay…"

THE END

Judy sniffled at the happy ending. "Aww, that was really good Ni-" She suddenly paused. "Nick?"

Nick was sitting there, engrossed as she had been, only there was what looked suspiciously like a tear running down his cheek.

"Nick? You okay?" She prodded his shoulder.

Nick jumped, and quickly let out a long fake yawn and stretched, surreptitiously rubbing the tear off his cheek as he did so.

Judy was not fooled. "Nick, were you crying?"

*Sniff* "No I was not, Carrots. Just got a little popcorn salt in my eye, that's all."

"We ran out of popcorn an hour ago, Slick, but if you say so," said Judy, positively grinning. She sat up and stretched, inhaling and exhaling dramatically. "Gee, I liked that! Maybe it was a little kiddish with the songs and all, but those archery shots were sure well done! And that jailbreak scene at the castle – I was on pins and needles!"

She gathered up their popcorn bowls and carried them over to the sink. "And those vixens who played Maid Marion and Lady Clawck - they were great!" She added, "Is there anything else I can see them in?"

"No idea, I think they mostly worked in theater," said Nick, "Although I do recall this one animated feature where they voiced a pair of talking English geese."

Judy smirked as she strolled back to the couch, "Talking geese? Really?"

Nick raised an eyebrow at her, "Like that's really stranger than a talking fox and rabbit?"

Judy laughed out loud, gathered up their berry soda bottles, and dropped them in the recycling bin. Then she had an afterthought:

"And you know, that raccoon who played Alan-a-Tail looked kind of familiar – who was he?"

"Just a sec, I'll look him up," Nick pulled out his phone and opened up the Zoogle app: "Roger Thrash was his name. Says here he's a country singer who made occasional forays into acting, and is now retired and living in Zootopia."

"Hmm," Judy tapped her chin quizzically, "I wonder if he's related to that busker we see around Savannah Central sometimes. They look very alike."

"You mean Max, the kid with the drums? I wouldn't be surprised; torch key raccoons aren't exactly common around here."

"Well, maybe we can ask him about that next time we see him," replied Judy. She plopped back on the couch next to Nick, "And speaking of kids, if you don't mind, I'd like to hear more about what happened when you saw Robin Hood when you were a kit."

Nick suddenly stiffened, clearly having not expected that. "Carrots, you heard that story, why would you ask again?"

"Well, you just got this really odd look on your face before we started watching, like you were reliving both happy and sad memories at the same time. I just thought there might be more to it, that's all."

Nick's face was hard to read, but Judy could feel him growing increasingly uncomfortable as she spoke. She hated probing like this, but she really wanted to know.

"Carrots, you're not wrong, but not now, okay? I'll tell you some other time."

Judy knew this meant never if he could help it. "Nick…"

"I mean it, cross my heart." Nick literally did cross his heart as he said so.

The rabbit turned her violet eyes on him pleadingly. "Please?"

Nick sighed, and looked away from her for a moment, mulling things over in his head. Then he answered: "Alright, fine. Where was I?"

"It was your 8th birthday, your mother took you to a special screening of Robin Hood and you loved it. And then what happened?"

"Well, after that we were walking home from the theater, same as usual. I was just a giddy little kit: jumping off lampposts, swinging invisible swords, shooting invisible arrows at everything, all those things kits do. And I tell you, I was inspired. I wanted to be like Robin Hood. I wanted to help the poor, help everyone, make the world a better place, as you always say," Nick paused to take a breath, letting it out slowly, "And that was when I saw them."

Judy's nose twitched with curiosity. "Saw who?"

"A pair of kits my age, a zebra and a beaver, selling cookies from a booth on the sidewalk. They were dressed in green, just like Robin and his Merry Mammals. Naturally that got me curious, so me and mom went up and talked to them. It turned out, they were Junior Ranger Scouts."

"Oh," Judy nodded, then her eyes suddenly widened with comprehension and her paw clapped to her mouth. "OH…"

Nick nodded. "Oh is right. They looked kind of nervous when they saw us, and looking back it should have been obvious why, but they told us what was going on: they were trying to earn their charity badges by having a bake sale to help fund a new homeless shelter in Tundratown.

"A pack of kits dedicated to helping others, just like I wanted to do. I tell you, it was like a sign. Right on the spot I begged my mom to let me join them. And the next day she made some calls, started saving her nickels and dimes again to buy me a uniform, and you know what happened after that." There was a familiar hint of sadness in his voice as he said this, even though his face remained stoic as ever. He wasn't even looking at Judy anymore, just staring into space with half-lidded eyes.

"From that, I learned that Robin Hood was just a movie. And by spending all my time at the theater, I was just denying reality. In real life, I thought, nobody would ever believe a fox was trying to be the good guy. If I tried to help an old lady cross the street, she'd just think I was trying to pick her pocket. So I shelved trying to help the poor, and started dreaming up legal ways to rob the rich instead."

A sudden touch of a soft paw on Nick's arm ended his reverie. He looked over and saw Judy, her ears drooping and her violet eyes gazing up at him wide with sympathy. Nick knew that look well, for it was the same one she had worn when he had first told her about being muzzled by the scouts. He felt a rush of déjà vu. Only this time, he didn't pull his arm away, but simply put his own paw on top of hers.

"It's okay, Carrots. It's okay."

"Nick… I – I'm sorry," Judy bowed her head in shame. "I swear, if I'd known…"

"Then you wouldn't have asked," finished Nick. Then to Judy's surprise, he tipped her chin up with his other paw, smiling at her. "You emotional bunnies," he said, "Carrots, you don't need to apologize. You were just being an over-concerned friend, same as always. Besides, the story doesn't end there."

"It-it doesn't?" asked Judy.

"Nope," Nick replied, "Then one day, years later, I met this crazy bunny who had some crazy dreams. And we didn't get along at first, just like Robin and Little John when they first met, but after a while I discovered, much to my surprise, that she seemed to actually believe that a fox could be the good guy. And the rest, as they say, is history."

Nick paused for second, before deciding to lighten the mood: "Hey, how's a new nickname sound? Instead of calling you Carrots I shall start calling you 'Little Jude'!" He said with a grin as he gave her nose a little boop. Judy waved his paw away but started to smile too.

"You do that and everyone at the station will know your middle name, Piberius." She said, giving him a coy smirk.

Nick was unfazed.

"You do that and your middle name comes out too, Laverne." He countered with an even bigger smirk.

"Then I'll- I'll- well, I'll think of something!" Judy declared, now trying not to laugh.

"I am sure you will," said Nick in his best patronizing voice. And then his tone turned serious again.

"Thanks for watching that with me, Carrots. It was nice to see Robin Hood again."

"Huh? Oh yeah, I had a good time too." Said Judy, noticing the change.

"You'd better get home now, it's getting late." Nick got off the couch, pulled Judy up, and started moving her towards the door, Judy sensing the fox wanted to be alone for a while. But when he opened the door for her, she paused. "Nick?"

Nick looked down at her, and she looked up into his eyes, pulling her arm away gently.

"Look, I know you didn't get to fulfill your dream of being like Robin Hood when you were a kit, but it all kind of worked out in the end, didn't it? I mean, as a cop you get to help people now, just like you wanted. And me, Clawhauser, all the other officers at the ZPD, we're kind of like our own band of merry mammals, aren't we? We just dress in blue instead of green and we're not outlaws."

"I beg to differ on the merry part, considering the look our esteemed chief gets on his face every time he sees me," said Nick with a grin, "but I guess you've got something there."

Nick did a little counting in his head, and then let out a soft whistle. "Wow, that happened almost twenty-five years ago. Time sure flies, huh?"

One of Judy's ears gave a large twitch. Almost twenty-five years? But then, that would mean…

"Thanks again, Carrots. For everything."

Judy jumped out of her thoughts, and smiled warmly at her friend. "It was my pleasure."

She gave the fox a quick hug, and started walking in the direction of her apartment as he closed the door behind her.

But the moment she turned the corner, where she knew Nick wouldn't be able to see her, Judy pulled out her phone and started searching through her contacts. She felt gears start to turn as some of the things that Nick had said that evening fluttered through her mind:

"Okay, it was my 8th birthday."

"Wow, that happened almost twenty-five years ago. Time sure flies, huh?"

"I didn't really have parties or anything like that when I was a kit since I didn't make many friends, but my mom still always found ways to make it special…"

Finding the number she was looking for, one she had acquired a few days before Nick's academy graduation, Judy pressed the call button and lifted the phone up to her ear:

"Hello, Mrs. Wilde? It's Judy."

And CUT! Just to clear up any confusion, this version of Disney's Robin Hood I'm presenting is a 'real-life' movie, not an animated one. You'd have to change the bird and reptile characters of course, and make sure nobody is pantless, but the rest of it falls pretty well into place I think. For those who didn't know, the actresses who voiced Maid Marion and Lady Cluck really did play Abigail and Amelia in the Aristocats.

The version of Alan-a-Dale in this story is based off DrummerMax64's OC Max Thrash. "Ace Todd" belongs to RobertFiddler on Deviantart from his excellent comic "An Adventure in Zootropolis". "Vixey Burton" belongs to me. Whoever can guess how I came up with that name (the full name) gets a cookie.

The follow-up to this story has been released! Here is the link: s/12643190/1/