New Talent

New Talent is an AU Zootopia story by PrinceBalto.

Premise
This is an AU that takes the idea of Judy being Gazelle's dance student and takes it to a new level: Nick and his family have inherited the poorly run theme park Wild Times, and instead of being a cop, Judy is Gazelle's female backup dancer. I have to admit, I love these AU's in which Judy is something other than a ZPD officer. Judy's dance costume is a nod to Aladdin in that it is the outfit Jasmine wears when she is Jafar's captive, only Judy's is purple. This is in Nick's POV. This is part of a new canon entitled Wilde Times in Zootopia.

Story
It was an exciting day for my father, Robin Wilde, my mother, Marian Wilde, and I. We had managed to take control of a good-sized but poorly run theme park called Wild Times from its owner, a nasty lion named John. Now, we owned it, and began the process of fixing it.

"This is going to be great," I thought with pride for my father, who had gotten John to hand it over.

Dad's first act as the new owner of the park was to add an "E" to "Wild" so that the park's name became Wilde Times. Though foxes were often looked down upon as a species, that didn't stop various mammals from all over Zootopia calling us in order to ask when the park would be open again. We also had a few friends who offered to help fund the work. Chief among them was my mom's old friend, Gazelle, the beautiful and popular Zootopian pop singer and wife to record producer Soren Oryxhorn.

"I would love to help you all out, and if you ever need entertainment, don't hesitate to give me a call,"  she said.

That same day, my parents gave me a new job in our workplace: that of finding talent to provide entertainment at the park. This is something I eagerly undertook. I traveled through all twelve districts of Zootopia, from Savanna Central to Tundratown and everywhere in between in search of a rising star. I hadn't found one yet, but I was on the right track. That's when Gazelle called me up. She had an idea.

"Hello, Nick," she began.

I smiled. I had known her since I was a kit, and she had been my celebrity crush as a teenager. I would eagerly listen to someone such as her if they had an idea.

"Hello, Gazelle. What's going on?" I replied.

Then Gazelle spoke her idea.

"I think I know someone who would make a great talent for the park," she said.

I smiled. I at least had one potential perfomer to check out.

"Who is it?" I asked.

Gazelle sounded excited when she spoke again. I took it as a very good sign.

"On my team, I have a beautiful female bunny backup dancer. I personally trained her in my form of dance, and she would certainly be a star performer for the park," she told me.

I was certainly curious about this bunny dancer, and why Gazelle was willing to just send over her student. However, I didn't say this.

"Sounds good. Can you send her over for an audition soon?" I replied.

Gazelle was happy to hear me say that. She was definitely eager for me to observe the one she had trained in the same attractive dances that she herself performed.

"How does this Saturday sound?" she asked.

It sounded good to me.

"That's a good day for me. Just send her over around 3:00 or so," I replied.

Gazelle agreed, said her goodbye, and then hung up. After that call, I rushed to tell my parents about this phone call. They were ecstatic. The rest of the week passed, and the weekend came. I sat in the office area that my parents had given me to conduct performer interviews. Yesterday, Gazelle had given me the bunny's phone number, and so I had explained to her where to go and at what area to be at. It was almost time, and I longed to see her. What walked through the door was a magificent vision of a bunny, gorgeous beyond words. She had lovely grey and white fur, and big, shining, beautiful purple eyes. She had a beautiful, fit body, with very nice, attractive hips. From her looks, I guessed her to be no more than twenty-four, four years younger than my current twenty-eight years of life. Right now, she was wearing a grey shirt and black pants, and carried with her a clothing bag, which held her dancing garb. Also in her possession was some jewelery of gold and a boombox with a CD. She looked and smiled at me.

"Hello, Mr. Wilde," she said in a sweet voice.

I went up to her and shook her hand. I had to admit, even though she was a bunny and I a fox, I found her attractive. She was easily the most beautiful female mammal I had ever seen. Putting that aside for a moment, I got down to business.

"Hello, mam. What's your name?" I replied.

The bunny smiled.

"I am Judy Hopps," she said.

I went and sat back down, eager to know more about her. I also couldn't wait to see her dance. She had been trained by Gazelle, so her moves must be every bit as attractive.

"So Miss Hopps, how old are you? I need to know for your employee paperwork," I said.

Judy nodded.

"I am twenty-four years old," she said.

I nodded back.

"So, have you been dancing long, and are you from Zootopia?" I continued.

Judy got a pleased look in her beautiful eyes.

"I have been dancing since I was a little girl, when I took ballet, and no. I am originally from Bunnyburrow, where my parents and 275 brothers and sisters still live. I came to Zootopia when I was twenty to live my dream of performing in this great city. One day, I entered a contest where the prize was being mentored by Gazelle in her form of dance. I won, and Gazelle began to teach me. She told me that I did so well that she wanted to keep teaching me, and even that she wanted me to be her backup dancer. I couldn't say no," she answered.

Now I really wanted to see her perfomance.

"Well, why don't you let me see your dance?" I said in a playful voice.

Judy looked around for somewhere private where she could change into her dancing attire.

"Is there a place I could change in?" she asked.

I directed the gorgeous bunny dancer the nearby female bathroom. When she returned, she was clad in a unbelivably gorgeous bedlah outfit,  which was sparkly, similar to Gazelle's stage outfit, only purple and with long, billowy harem pants instead of the short skirt Gazelle wore. Her narrow, shapely waist was bare, only her chest covered by the outfit's top. Just like with Gazelle, her outfit made the wondrousness of her hips more apparent. She also had on her golden jewelry.

"I am ready to dance for you, Mr. Wilde," she said.

I pulled out my phone and set it to video camera mode in order to send to my parents for their approval. I turned it on and nodded to Judy. I couldn't wait.

"Begin," I said.

Judy turned on the boombox, which began to play very lovely oriental music of the sort played in the clubs in Sahara Square. She then began to dance in the manner of Gazelle. I couldn't take my eyes off of her as she danced. It was a magnificent sight to behold. Finally, the dance came to an end. Judy looked at me hopefully. I smiled and stopped the video camera.

"So, do I have the gig?" she asked hopefully.

Now was the moment. Inside, I had bigger hopes, hopes that we could eventually become more than just employer and employee, and begin a romantic relationship. She was more beautiful than any female mammal that I had ever known. I looked her in the eyes and told her that I needed to text the video to my parents so that they could see for themselves. I sent it to Mom for inspection, along with. As we waited for a response, I continued to talk to her. I learned that in addition to working with Gazelle, she had, since coming to Zootopia, put herself through classes at one of the local colleges. I was impressed. Suddenly, my phone dinged. It was Mom. She and Dad were very impressed, and gave me the go ahead to hire her. I turned to Judy.

"Welcome to the Wilde Times crew, Judy," I said proudly.

Judy's eyes went wide with delight and excitement. I could tell that I had made her happy. She took out her own phone, and began texting someone. For an instant, I wondered who it was. As if she picked up on it, she explained it.

"I am texting Gazelle. She will be so delighted," she said.

I only nodded, beginning to think of various things. When she was done with the text, she changed back into her normal clothes and we went together to their office. They were thrilled to meet her. After that, the days and weeks began to pass. The work crews began restoring all the buildings and the rides. At the same time, I spent a lot of time with Judy, discussing everything with her. Slowly but surely, my feelings for her got stronger, and, unknown to me, she began to develop feelings for me. Then, one day, we met in my office for something important. I knew that I had to tell her how I felt.

"Judy, I need to talk to you," I said.

The beautiful bunny looked directly into my eyes, interested in what I had to say.

"Judy, I have to tell you this. I am romantically attracted to you. If you aren't interested or already have a boyfriend, I apologize, but I wanted you to know," he said.

Judy gave me a gorgeous smile and batted her beautiful eyes.

"Nick, I don't have a boyfriend. I would have mentioned it if I did. I have romantic feelings for you too," she said.

I felt overjoyed. I had had flirtations with many lovely and beautiful female mammals before, but never a true relationship. I had one last question for her.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" I asked.

Judy was thrilled to hear this question. I could tell from the look on her face that she had the answer.

"I would love to be the girlfriend of a handsome fox like you," she replied.

My eyes went wide with delight. Here was a prey mammal who wasn't prejudiced against us foxes, willing to work for us and was even willing to enter into a romance with me. I was so overjoyed. We embraced each other in our first hug, then, our faces got closer and closer until we shared our first kiss. I had my next kiss. I was so happy as our lips made contact. To me, Judy's lips tasted sweeter than honey. Life couldn't get any better. As I kissed her, I had a thought. Finally, we broke the kiss. I smiled at my new love.

"Judy, I have an idea for the name of your new stage persona," I said.

Judy got an excited look on her face.

"What is it?" she asked.

I dramatically raised my hands and took on a showman persona. I couldn't wait to tell her.

"Picture this up in lights at the park theater: The Beauty of Bunnyburrow!" I said.

Judy smiled even wider. She loved it!

"I like it, Nick! I can't wait to perform for the guests!" she told me.

It worked. My parents were happy that I had finally found someone to love and love me in return. Weeks and months of work began on getting the park ready. Much attention was given to the theater that Judy would perform in. We named it the Wilde Times Theater. In all that time, my romance with Judy grew and grew. She devoted much time to perfecting her dance, as she had never danced alone for an audience before. In my opinion, she outshone even Gazelle herself. Finally, opening day came. Male and female mammals of various kinds showed up, so many that we couldn't even count them all. Among them were Gazelle and Soren. Dad went up and gave the opening speech, obviously eager to get his park open after all the money spent and time taken to make it great. Finally, he told them when "The Beauty of Bunnyburrow" would be performing her wondrous dance. Then he cut the ribbon and opened the gate. The mammals all flooded in and began having fun. We were all pleased. When the time was right, we headed to the theater for the show. For the theme of the theater, we had chosen an oriental theme like that favored in Sahara Square. We all sat down. The time came. The lights dimmed, the curtains opened, and the music began. Judy danced beautifully and everyone loved it. They cheered. I smiled.

"Beautiful!" I said as the dance came to an end.

When she went off stage, I went back there to meet her. I hugged her tightly, feeling love for my gorgeous bunny girlfriend. I told her how proud of her I was, then let her change back into her regular clothes. We headed out to enjoy more of the the festivities. While walking, Gazelle came up to us. She smiled at Judy.

"I am proud of you, my student and friend," she said.

Judy smiled back.

"Thank you, Gazelle, for giving me this opportunity. I will make you proud," she said.

Judy and I walked off hand in hand, eager for more fun and romance at Wilde Times. Little did we know that there was much more in store for us in our new life together.