“We have just been informed of a heist on 21st with Main Street. Suspect is a…”

“Yeah, forty-five, I copy. I’m commencing my approach to the given location.”

“Sir, the suspect has not exited the building yet. We can’t be sure he’s not heavily armed. We are sending backup immediately.”

“Come on, forty-five! In my twenty years of experience as a cop, I have never requested any aid, and tonight won’t be the day when I break that record. I’ll take the newbie with me. So he can learn how the professionals do it.”

“I copy, thirteen, but I’ll keep the backup on hold. They’ll be near you in case things get complicated.”

“Copy and over.”

Rob Aguilar, the royal eagle and chief of the local police forces, hung the speaker in the dashboard of his police car, and twisted the key, causing the engine to roar amidst the shadows of the night. Hurriedly, the Mexican grey wolf whose name he kept forgetting night after night, quickened his pace towards the vehicle, leaving behind the convenience store where they had stopped to get some supplies for the night.

Trying not to spill the two coffees he had bought, the canine opened the door of the black-and-white Crown Victoria, and sat occupied shotgun seat, just in time to close the door as the eagle used his bare talon to step hard in the gas. He had always liked the feeling of unlimited and unrestrained speed. Made him feel alive.

Within minutes, the brakes slammed hard on the wheels and the car drifted for a few meters before stopping right in front of their destination. The dusty street was well lit, although all of the neon signs outside of the stores were turned off. All except for one. The pink letters shone bright though the dust that had been disturbed by the chief’s automobile stunt. The lights and the siren interrupted the otherwise peaceful avenue, where there was no one to be seen. Using the speaker in the police car, Chief Aguilar addressed the criminal, who as far as the cops knew, was still hidden in the shadows of the deserted street.

“The police has this building surrounded, turn yourself in now and the judge might lower your sentence.” The chief stated in a loud, firm tone, causing his words to echo down the street. Then silence returned.

The radio crackled again. “I repeat, walk out of that store with your paws where I can see them and charges will be reduced.” It was hard to distinguish any movement or any noises coming from the bakery as the words from the eagle disappeared into the nothingness, even when the canine’s ears were pointier than a Christmas tree during the holidays. Enough was enough. It was time to use brute force.

The eagle pointed his beak towards the door of the vehicle, so that the young wolf knew it was his time to shine. He nervously grabbed the plastic handle and pulled it, causing the door to open with a barely-audible click. The wolf stepped outside covering his body with the metal frame of the car, and pulled a flashlight from his handy belt. The bright white light flooded the storefront, revealing the interior of the bakery to the dumbfounded and incredulous eyes of the wolf.

The interior wasn’t very different from the crime scenes he had seen before in his relatively short experience in the field: furniture tossed aside, and knocked over, several baskets of bread completely turned upside down yet there was no trace of any content they once held. In fact, it looked as if the bread had never been in there in the first place. Not a single crumb could be seen through the large glass windows, and upon a closer inspection, it was clear where they had all gone.

Slouched against one of the side walls of the store, and barely waking up from a food coma that could have only been as heavy as the culprit himself, was a green skunk blimped up larger than the size of even the biggest pachyderms in town. The skunk looked as if he had stuffed on the whole-day production and then he had gone for seconds and thirds! He was absolutely massive. The policeman couldn’t believe his eyes as he approached the entrance, shining the light upon the face and the glaze-smeared snout of the presumed criminal. The little bell atop of the door and the intense light showering him were finally enough to bring the skunk back to reality, although still confused about the whole ordeal.

“W-What’s going on? T-Turn off that light, man! Jeez! Leave me alone already, would you, Sheero?” The skunk tried to block the light coming from the wolf’s lamp with his lard-laden arms, only to discover they were both far too heavy to effectively lift themselves, and far to thick to bend enough to cover the stream of photons.

While the skunk failed to wake up, the wolf assessed the situation, reviewing his classes at the academy: analyze the situation, propose a plan of action, develop alternatives, carry out the plan, provide feedback. He surveyed the whole room concluding that the skunk had no visible weapons, only an empty holster, and in case there had ever been a fire arm, the mustelid would have been in no conditions of properly using it. Additionally, the green fur seemed to have no devices for communicating with anybody, which lead the wolf to conclude that the was on a solo mission. Finally, the tools used —possibly by a much slimmer version of the thief— were contained in a duffel bag that was haphazardly discarded near the far corner of the store, as if someone had thrown it away in a hurry. He placed the evidence in a plastic bag, and proceeded to handcuff the sumo-sized suspect.

---

He took a sip from the lukewarm plastic cup before opening the door and exiting the vehicle. What could be taking him that long? the eagle asked, trying to distinguish the silhouettes of his coworker and the criminal inside the store. It had been thirty minutes already, and all he had heard from the canine was what he interpreted as “Everything is under control, I’ll be out there in a moment”, exchanged about fifteen minutes ago. Now it was beginning to get worrisome for the avian and for his entire career to have sent the inexperienced newbie to retrieve the thief.

But right when he had decided to step in, a loud grunt and an audible ‘POP’ brought the two figures out of the shadows and into the pink-hued street.

In all of the chief’s life he had never seen such a sight.

With the tips of his trembling feathers, he picked up the speaker and called the police station, shaking out of fear but mostly out of sheer skepticism. This was ought to be a joke of some sort…

… a joke from destiny itself…

“F-Forty… Forty Five? D-Do you copy? Listen… I-I think we’re gonna need m-much more than backup tonight…”

---

---

So this is a pretty overdue trade/gift I made for  choice_d which was originally due for his birthday —which, mind you— was on January 29th!!!

So yeah, those are the perks of being:

a) a lazy-ass dragon.
b) a lost soul finding its way through life.
c) a chemical engineering student.
d) the slowest artist in the planet.

(BTW, if you chose the first one, you are probably right, congrats! you earn a cookie!!)

I hope the small description makes it up for you, Denya. I really liked this idea since you came up with it and I really hope I made it justice. I wouldn’t like such a great creative output such as yourself going to waste!

So enjoy a fattened up thief Zero unable to be arrested due to a reckless binge of pastries while stealing something… what you ask? I’ll leave it up to your imagination! (You can read the story as told from the Zero's perspective as told by Denya right here)

Have a great day! :3