Zootopia: Unrest in the Shadows
Chapter one: Trouble in the Canals
By: TaraIsika
Disclaimer: We do not own Zootopia or any of the original characters featured in the movie. The only thing we claim is the story idea and the OCs we have created for this fanfic.
Story: A large amount of smuggling has started in Zootopia; starting in the Canals and spreading throughout. Not to mention crimes are on the rise and the Crime Lords that run each district are starting to get antsy. Nick and Judy find themselves at the center of it all, but they come to the realization that it's all much larger than any of them could have imagined.
The gentle sound of chips being tossed across the table caused animal ears to flicker at the noise. A fox, a raccoon, a buck, a bear, and an okapi, all sat around a poker table staring that their cards with the utmost seriousness. One light hanging from the center of the ceiling casted shadows over their faces, creaking at it swayed ever so slightly over the table.
It was a small room, tucked away in a building on the north side of Tundra Town, big enough for a large table and an array of chairs. Forgotten filing cabinets collected dust, while old paintings on the walls started to crack. No one knew what the little building had been used for, and no one seemed to care enough to find out. It was slightly chilly inside, but that helped to keep everyone on their toes. Windowless, which suited them all just fine.
Not everyone was supposed to be here, so their secret poker games were best kept that way. It's not to say their bosses would be angry, but no one liked to chance the idea of them finding out. Eyes shifted here and there, trying to get a read on the atmosphere of the game. Some mouths curled into devious smiles of confidence, while others did their best to hide their nerves.
"Ready?" Nick, or as the others knew him, Todd asked. He liked his chances, and smiled at the others a little arrogantly. "Alright, gentlemen, show your cards." They laid down their cards in order, the okapi was the dealer; to his left, in order, was the buck, bear, raccoon, then Nick.
When it got to the raccoon, named Farris, he hesitated for a moment, glancing at Nick.
"Farris?" Nick smirked, as did Farris when he laid down his hand. A full house, very impressive.
"Read them an' wipe." Farris let out a laugh that sounded more like cackling, as he revealed his two cards. "Full house!" He stood up on his chair and leaned across the table to scoop up his winning chips.
"Now now, not so fast, I haven't shown you my cards yet." Nick tsked the cocky raccoon and very slowly laid down his cards, making sure both cards snapped into perfect place on the wooden table. "Straight flush, now I am sure this is the winning hand, wouldn't you say?" Nick grinned at Farris with smug satisfaction.
Farris stared in disbelief at the hand Nick had just presented.
"W-what! No! You've been winning all night! You dirty cheating fox!" Farris, now standing on the table, grabbed Nick by the collar. "Show me your sleeves you Tundra Town scum! You're all rats and everyone here knows it too!" Farris, who had a gift for making large confrontational scenes, didn't cause any of the animals to worry. Nick, still smirking, still cool and confident in his well-tailored suit and sunglasses, very gently took Farris' paw off him.
"Farris, me? Cheat? I'm shocked." Nick's voice held an overly sarcastic tone, stifling back a smile. "I know you're bad at losing, but don't embarrass yourself, aright?" Nick, tilting, his head forward, allowing his glasses to fall forward, used his eyes to motion to the table that Farris was now standing on. Farris was snarling mad, tail fluffed out, hair on his back prickled to a point, just now realized that he was, indeed, standing on the poker table.
"Hmph…" He snatched his hand away from Nick. Straightening out his clothes Farris went back to his seat. "Lay em' out again." Nick winked at Farris as Enock, the okapi, dealt the hands and laid the flop. Farris scowled, having a short enough temper as is. "Careful Todd, or I might just have to do something crazy!" He snapped the last word, teeth making a sharp chomping sound, the hair on his tail prickling again.
"No you won't, you're all talk." It was the black bear, Muta, that spoke up. Muta worked under Farris in Savanna Central; which is under the control of the crime boss, Gregory Bellathar. Bucky, the deer, also worked with them. Everyone here was the underling of a crime lord somewhere in Zootopia. Nick, fake name Todd Copper, came here under the disguise that he worked for Mr. Bigs. Enock, the okapi, was the second for Mr. Kimbly, the crime boss that controlled the Rainforest district.
"I'll show you all talk; I'll show you all talk till you're begging for me to stop!" Farris snapped again, baring his teeth, almost barking his words. Muta rolled his eyes as he obvsered his cards. As usual Farris only said half of what he was thinking, so he made no sense.
Nick had posed the idea of an infiltration to Chief Bogo several months ago, explaining that it would be a great way to dig up information about crimes going on in the different areas. Here the underlings spoke freely, about their own crimes, and the crimes of criminals unassociated with a boss. Those were the crimes Nick was most interested in. No one at the ZPD had the desire to bust a crime lord, unless of course the action was needed.
Judy had been the one to ask Mr. Bigs to allow Nick to pose as his subordinate. Mr. Bigs, as a favor to Judy, was generous enough to allow this. Nick was grateful, therefore they had a verbal agreement that Nick wouldn't expose any of the crime lords. If he was being honest, it was a tricky thing to do. Nick had to dye his ears and tail black, along with his muzzle. He also had to dress in a stuffy tight suit, which Judy found hilarious. He went under the name Todd Copper. So far no one suspected him, not with Mr. Bigs good name to swear by.
So the arrangement had been drawn up. Now here Nick was, playing poker with the underlings of crime bosses, with Judy parked several blocks away waiting for the game to end. She had made it perfectly clear when this all started that she wanted to be involved. It was his idea to have her as his getaway car, just in case things went wrong. So far it all went smoothly, so afterwards they always met up to go over what he had overheard.
"Alright, place your bets." Enock gestured to Bucky to start the betting.
Ugh, bad hand, Nick inwardly grimaced at his cards. He tossed in a few chips, hoping for the turn to be better.
In the midst of their silence there was a small knock on the door. The sudden knock didn't cause any of them to jump, as it might have a lesser animal. Farris, the ringleader of the poker games, got up and walked over to the door. He, in turn, knocked back on the door in a pattern of, tap - tap tap tap - tap. The animal on the other side responded with, tap tap – tap – tap - tap tap.
"Hmmm…" Farris reached up and snapped the eye shutter open. "Who is it." The knock was always necessary to be sure it was someone that knew about the poker game on the other side of that door.
"Lathan." The voice that spoke was a meek, sleepy sounding, male. They all recognized who it was immediately.
"You're late." He hissed the words under his breath, irritated. He began unlocking the door, there were four locks altogether, and let him in.
Lathan lazily shuffled in, dragging his tail and feet. He was a pangolin, second to the to the crime boss of the desert district, who also happened to be his wife. They all shook their heads, in mutual sympathy, as he pulled himself up into a free chair; looking as pathetically tired and exhausted as ever they did see him.
"Finally escape from the Misses I see." Nick chuckled and wiggled his eyebrows at Lathan in a teasing fashion. Lathan had taken up the chair next to Nick, between him and Enock.
"Yes, finally." Lathan's voice was a nasally low tone, he sort of always sounded sick. Despite his armored appearance and clawed hands, he wasn't a very intimidating second, they fact that he wore blocky glasses didn't help either. Unlike his wife who was considered to be, by far, the most aggressive and angry of the crime lords.
"I hear she's on another one of her rampages, even more than usual." Enock laid down the turn card, but it seemed to go uncared for, the game was being forgotten at the moment.
"That's true, there's some low profile gang causing problems." Lathan, rubbed his eyes under his glasses. "We can't get our hands on them."
"What do you mean?" Muta casually tossed in some betting chips as he entered the conversation.
"We can never find them, we don't even know what they look like, just what they leave behind, which is just a mess of trouble." His voice had taken on the tone of whining, which caused Farris' own irritation to flare up.
"Yeah! Well, we got the same damn thing going on in our neck of the woods!" Farris slammed down some chips, obviously thinking he had a good hand. "All this crime that some scums committing, and we don't got a damn clue who to whack to make it stop." He huffed, his hair starting to stand up again. "Getting blamed for it too, the boss is pissed! Do you know how terrifying he is when he's mad!?" Farris growled, reaching up and grabbing the back of his head, pulling at tuffs of fur. "Aggh!" He nearly slammed his head into the table as he thrashed about in fear of his own boss. Muta and Bucky gave each other side long glances, nodding in agreement.
Nick stayed silent during all of this, casually looking at his cards, laying some chips down softly. He kept his eyes low, but his tears perked, mouth just slightly pressed. He did his best to move slowly, not drawing any attention to himself as he listened.
"I heared there are some interesting things being smuggled in through the Canals lately." Enock took this as a sign to lay down the last card.
"Yeah, me too." Farris got a serious look on his face, glancing around the room. "Snake venom." The words came out very sternly, changing up the tone of the conversation.
Here Nick's ears gave a slight uncontrollable twitch. This, this is what he had been hoping to hear tonight. Chief Bogo had an anonymous tip off not along ago, hinting that something big was happening in the Canals. Nick wasn't too keen on trusting some
no name stranger, but Bogo assured everyone that his source was reliable. Tonight was proving that correct.
"Yup." Enock nodded, glancing around the table. Snake venom was not something anyone took lightly. Even amongst criminals that stuff was something to be warier of.
"Snake venom, you don't say, on Ms. Silvia's order?" Lanthan adjusted his eyeglasses, his nose twitching at bit.
"Nope." Farris added, stretching out his arms, they let out tiny cracks of age. "The old bitch is losing it I say, got no control over her people anymore."
"I fold, if anyone cares." Bucky mumbled as he lazily tossed his cards down; Muta followed his example.
"Same here." Their folds seemed to go unnoticed as the seconds kept up their conversation without skipping a beat.
"The Canals are so large and active these days, it's a wonder she's never have problems before." Lathan added, his boss and Ms. Silva used to do business back in the day, so he was familiar with how she worked. These days though the Canals were starting to get a bit over run. Too much for one person to handle on his opinion. It wasn't Ms. Silvia to let things get sloppy on her watch. She had a public, and private, image to uphold.
"Let her sink in the swamp! More territory for us." Farris gave a snicker at the thought of expanding, the Canals were prime real-estate for a crime lord. "Mr. Bellathar's been wanting to get his hooves on the Canals for a awhile now." Farris rub his chin a little, seeming to be fantasizing about this a little too much.
"Don't get ahead of yourself Farris. If there's snake venom involved…I don't think you want it." Enock gave a sight warning smile. The Canals were snuggled against the Rainforest district, so it wasn't a surprise that Enock and his boss would have their eyes on it as well.
Farris shifted his gaze, not enjoying the sharpness of Enock's eyes. He pretended to be interested in his cards. "Any idea when that's going down?" He did his best to ask as casual as he could, but his eagerness took form in his voice.
"I have my source." Enock, folding his arms over the table, leaned in a little. He knew Farris wanted to know it all, even if it had nothing to do with him.
"Aaand?" Farris motioned with his paws for Enock to spill it.
"Let's just say it's soon. I can't say too much about it. It's up to Ms. Silva to put a stop to it if she wants too, but I don't think she minds." There was a long draw out sigh to his voice, and they could till that Enock wanted to say more about it.
"Tightass." Farris grumbled under his breath, resting his cheek in his paw as he leaned on the table.
As the conversation seemed to die out Nick felt he had everything he needed for this night. He never liked to press the conversation, to risky that they might find out why he was really there. So, instead, he allowed them to talk it out. Farris never disappointed when it came to spilling the goods.
"I fold." Enock and Farris looked at him, having forgot about the game till just now. "Looks like it's your win Farris."
"Oh, yeah…ha-ha! Guess it is!" He wasted no time at all racking in his winnings across the table, making sure to grab every last chip.
"I'm calling it a night." Nick slid his seat back, the legs of it scraping across the floor.
"But, the game's not over, and you're doing so well?" Enock frowned a little at this, to which Nick just shrugged. Usually he did stay till the end, but he felt the information he just got was too important to let sit any longer.
"Todd always does well." Farris sneered, looking the other way as Nick slid his chips over to Enock. Enock rolled his eyes and tallied up Nicks' earnings.
"Don't be jealous just cuz I'm good." It was too easy to fluff up Farris' fur. In many ways Farris reminded Nick of Finnick, his old partner from the streets. Nick chuckled when Farris' bared his teeth a little at him. This was all in good fun, for money of course, but fun. Enock counted out the money to Nick, to which Nick verified. Grabbing the jacket off the back of his chair he donned it. It was black with a faux fur collar, warm and stylish.
"See you again soon." Lathan waved a little, as did Bucky and Muta.
"Yup, let's play again soon." Winking at Farris as the raccoon undid the locks for him.
"I'll be in touch." Farris mumbled, almost sounding like a warning.
"Please do." He bowed his head a little.
"Hnn." Farris snorted as he slammed the door behind Nick, locking him out. Out in the hallway was dark. It was narrow with the only light available being from the windowed door at the end of the hall. His nails made light clicking sounds as they scraped across the stone floor.
Outside it was night, silent, and freezing as the snow fell in soft tuffs onto his fur. It was cold enough that even his body heat didn't melt them right away. The building was in a part of town that was, for the most, part uninhabited after dark; the streets were disserted. He began walking, trudging his way through the heavy snow to where Judy was parked. It was agreed that she would always park several blocks away, so as not to be seen by anyone there for the game.
It was around one in the morning, so the town was still sleeping. The only sound Nick could hear was the crunch of the snow beneath his paws and the raspy sound of his own breath. It was a quietness that he was no longer used too. Before Judy, his life had been full of being alone. Now though, now the dark silence of the streets left him longing for company. Looking up the sky was clear and beautiful with starlight. He wanted someone to look at this with him, to share in the moment. These thoughts were a common occurrence when he had to walk back through these quite snowy streets.
xxxxx
The night was clear with stars and the beautiful sight of snow falling from the sky, well, giant snow machines. The window was covered in it, making the space around Judy seem small. The car had long since gotten cold with the heater off, but that didn't bother her too much. She leaned back in her seat with her earbuds in; music playing softly, allowing her mind to wonder. It was still low enough to be alert, but just distracting enough so that she wouldn't count the minutes till Nick would be here.
The nights that Nick had these poker games were long and worrisome. She never told Nick about the worrying part, but she always found herself stressing about everything that could go wrong. Nick was capable, that she didn't doubt, but he was her friend and partner. So worrying about him being alone with a room full of criminals was natural.
She felt that they had come to rely on each other for everything, that she had his back as much as he had hers. She hadn't liked the idea of Nick posing as a gang member just to get information; that she felt could be obtained in a much safer manner. In the end Nick had been so earnest about it that she felt obligated to help. Forcing Nick to have her as his getaway was just a way to be involved somehow; to be of some help, even just a little bit.
Judy sighed, leaning back further in her seat, staring out the window into the starry sky and snow covered sidewalks. If she was honest with herself, she felt that they were growing apart. Again, she never told Nick, but the gap was there. She wondered if he felt it? Lately she had been so busy with new recruits that Nick had been doing a lot of things alone. Nothing big, just small stuff that was easily handled by one officer. Straight out of training camp they had been glued to each other's side; for seven months they had been partners as close as any. Friends, her best friend, now she felt a rift starting to form.
Her ears perked up at the sound of snow shifting underneath paws. Nick turned a corner, the sight causing her to smile. Even though she laughed about it, she actually liked the sight of Nick in suits. He looked cool as he crossed the street to her car, like something out of a cop film.
"Hey." She said enthusiastically, pulling her earbuds loose, as Nick opened the car door to climb in. She shut off her iPawed, wrapping the cord around it and shoving it in her purse.
"H-heya!" Nick stuttered as he hastily made his way into the vehicle, eager to get out of the snow. He started dusting off his suite only to notice Judy giving him a disapproving look.
"Yeah, it's not like you could have done that 'before' getting in the car." She gave a playful eyebrow arch, to which Nick responded by shaking his head and tail, causing drops of melted snow to go everywhere.
"Cut it out!" Lifting her hands up in playful defense of the water Nick stopped, laughing in the moment.
"Alright Carrots, let's get out of here and someplace warm. It's freezing out there, and in here." Nick turned on the heat as Judy started the car. On nights that Nick played the poker games they always went out to eat after. There was a dinner in Central Zootopia that was open all night, "The Bear's Den". They served an assorted array of seafood and herbivore meals. It was a good way for Nick to unwind after the games. Judy felt that, in maybe a small way, the act of playing a criminal again weared on him, just a bit.
"So, any good info tonight?"
Nick ruffled the fur on his head a bet, trying to get rid of the feel of melting snow running through it. He also began rubbing his cold tail, that still had chunks of ice stuck to it.
"Yeah, there was talk about the smuggling in the Canals. It's all speculation, but some of them think Ms. Silva is allowing it." He gave Judy a side long glance. It wasn't uncommon for bosses to allow smuggling, it was expected, being crime lords and all. What was unnerving to everyone at the ZPD was the amount and contents that was coming through the Canals these last few months.
"I wonder if she's got an arrangement going on with someone, gangs maybe, profiting from it in some way?" Judy's mouth formed into a frown as her mind raced away at the possibilities.
"My thoughts exactly. Apparently there's a shipment of snake venom; coming in sometime this week." Judy's head whipped over at this, unable to process clearly what she just heard.
"What! For her?"
"No," He shook his head, "supposedly she's not involved, but she is aware, just not doing anything." Nick's tone was serious, just like her, he knew the severity of what snake venom was capable of.
"Nick, snake venom…that's not something to take lightly." It was on both their minds. Snake venom, or any reptile bile that was poisonous, was banned in the city. Many poisonous snakes had evolved to kill mammals more efficiently. Just like mammals had evolved, reptiles had become more deadly, able kill in more precise and silent ways. Some snake venom didn't show any symptoms at all, until it was too late. Zootopia took it very seriously.
"I know, I know. We were tipped off that something big was happening in the Canals, no one knew what though." The ZPD hadn't expected this, weapons, drugs, animal fur, those were the norm for them. This was nerve wracking.
"Now we know." Judy sighed as she leaned back heavily in the seat, staring at the dark road ahead of her. Cars zipped by them, flashing their headlights across the pavements as they weaved through the walls of ice.
"Now we know."
After driving in silence for some time it was Judy who finally spoke up. "Did you hear anything else tonight?" She tried to make her voice as cheery and level as possible. Nick thought back to the poker game remembering the conversations.
"There was something else of interest I heared."
Judy's ears perked up, glancing at him curiously. He sighed, slumping his shoulders and edging back into the seat more.
"Apparently there is a new organization, or a gang, something...in the city that has been interfering with the local crime lords. They're on edge, so it's making them all a little twitchy I think." He took another sigh, trying to figure out how best to word himself. "And even though no one said during the game, there is the possibility that this mystery gang is involved with the increased smuggling activity in the Canals." Nick took a deep breath, still trying to wrap his head around the implications that he might be right.
"Nick," Judy said in stern tone, catching his attention. "Zootopia could be in danger, and it's our job at the ZPD to protect it and it's citizens. We will put a stop to this, because it's what we do. I know it." Judy's voice was full of determination, and her smile reflected it, never taking her eyes off the road.
Nick sat back in awe of this bunny, his partner, his best friend sitting next to him. A smile slowly spreading across his own face as he looked at hers. She always had this effect on him. No matter how hard or troubling things seem to be, she could always make him feel like they were capable of doing anything together.
"Well Carrots, I'd say tomorrow is going to be long day." He felt himself overflowed with renewed enthusiasm.
"Just remember, tomorrows your turn to pick up the coffee and I've got a feeling we're going to need a lot of it."
xxxxx
The door opened and Chief Bogo, Nick, and Detective Furosa entered the bullpen. Immediately the chatter stopped, filling the room with silence. It didn't take long for them all to notice the overly calm air about Bogo. Judy, sitting in the front row, could tell that their word was still weighing heavily on him.
Very early this morning Judy and Nick had met up with Bogo in private to discuss last night. Bogo hung onto every word intently, asking many questions to gain details that might be relevant. It had taken hours after that, but they had come up with a plan to deal with the smuggling. It was there that Bogo called in a detective who he felt could best work with them on this case.
She was an amur leopard named Natia Furosa. Judy had seen her before around the ZPD, but never before worked with her. For Nick it was his first time laying eyes on her. She held a quiet air about her, almost like she was keeping everyone around her at a distance. During the briefing she didn't ask any questions, only agreed to things here and there. Offering her opinion on the best form of action. When it was all said in done it seemed that she knew everything about the case thus far.
It was also Nick's first time meeting a detective, there wasn't many of them. Despite her young appearance Nick got the feeling she was older; or had seen too much. Detective work had been brought up to Nick by Chief Bogo several times lately, but Nick had no desire to leave police work. Still, Nick watched her closely, gauging her reactions; she barely showed any, only stared at the paper work and listened.
Now here, in the bullpen, they all were, with Nick and Detective Fursoa standing next to Chief Bogo at the head of the room. Nick felt very out of place up here, instead of next to Judy in their chair. Bogo, all the same, had asked that he asset in explaining what they had learned. All eyes were on him, probably wondering why he was up here to begin with. Natia stood slightly in back of everyone, with calm eyes and a stiff posture.
The room was closed-mouthed as the officers of the ZPD contemplated on what Bogo and Nick began to disclose to them. The hum of the fan was the only thing that could be heard when they were through; not a breath or a rustle of clothing dared to break the stillness. None of them looked at each other, or at Nick, instead they stared at the floor, wall, the table, anything to keep from making eye contact. Except for Judy, she looked to Nick, already prepared to deal with this.
The reserved reactions the officers in the room did not surprise the Chief. There are strict laws in Zootopia that prohibit bringing reptiles, or unauthorized bile derived from reptiles, into the city. Venomous reptiles in particular are among the most feared, and citizens tend to be afraid of things related to them. The Zootopia Reptile Capture and Protection unite (ZRCP), are responsible for handling most incidents involving reptiles.
One such incident was still fresh in the minds of the officers, long before Judy and Nick had joined them, which made the topic of venom sensitive for the ones that remembered. About three years ago there was a series of mysterious disappearances around Little Rodentia. Many of the tiny citizens started disappearing, in either the morning or evening; presumably around the times they were leaving and returning from work. The crime scenes showed little to no evidence as to who the culprit might be. Fear had spread throughout the district, many of its inhabitants became too scared to leave their homes. The ZPD had several officers patrolling the streets around the tiny district, but to no avail, the disappearances continued for weeks.
It wasn't until a newly assigned detective got involved did the case get solved. It had been Detective Furosa's first case, and one of her biggest successes. Back then she was a much more cheerful and carefree mammal. She had spent days inspecting crime scenes with fierce determination; the scenes gave nothing more than a little blood and signs of struggle, but she was convinced that they were missing something. It was frustrating, until she got a real led. She was asking around when she met a lemming that found something very interesting on his way back from work. It was a thin, small, almost metallic looking plate; which is what he had started using it for. Detective Furosa knew almost immediately what it was, a scale from a snake. After the ninth disappearance Naitia, along with the ZRCP, were able to hunt down the dangerous reptile and dispose of it.
Her success on that case led her to become interested in call cases dealing with reptiles. Her knowledge on this subject was the very reason Bogo choose her to be involved. He was relying on her more then she, or anyone else, knew.
Bogo looked around the room, allowing the time needed for the information to set in. The faces around him ranged from sullen to determined, to apprehensive.
"Alright, this is no time to lose your nerves. We have a job to do and it's no different from any other bust. Get yourselves together and listen up." Bogo's voice broke through the awkward silence with clear, precise command. Everyone in the room instantly straightened up and gave him their full attention. If any of them were still doubting they didn't let it show on their faces.
Bogo scanned the room, satisfied with their attention, he put on his glasses and shuffled the papers before him.
"Listen up, according to my source the drop off will be taking place at this location." Taking a step to the side, motioning to the map on the wall; he pointed to a particular spot in the Canal district. "Here there is an old storage warehouse that will be used tomorrow night as the meeting spot. My source says there will be four mammals at the pickup, and we should expect three to four more bringing the goods. That is an expected number of eight criminals at the scene. I don't expect to let 'any' of them get away." Turning back to the room Bogo, as stern and direct as ever, said his words very gravely. "Those of you here have been chosen for this. There is no room for error." He watched as the officers before him shifted in their seats, sitting up straighter, faces firming into harden looks of pride.
"That's better. Now!" Reaching up Bogo pulled on another map from the roll of maps on the wall. This map was a layout of the storage warehouse. "This is a one floor wearhouse, three walls on land, the back of the building is up against the water with a loading dock. There are a total of ten windows; four on each side and two in the front. There are two doors, not including the loading entrance." He paused here to look at the officers. All of them listening to him, putting everything he said to memory.
"Officer Hops, Wild, you two will be taking windows on the left side, along with Officers Lovis and Jaxs. Officers Wookmen, Mane, Grommel, Octavian, you will take windows on the right side. Officers Hornmar and Hoofmen, you each will be on a door. If the need arises I am counting on you two to break them down. Is that clear?" The two rhinos, seated next to each other, gave rough laughs, high-hoofing each other. "Officer Fangmire, Delgato, you two will be in a boat on the water, in case they try to escape that way. If not, I'll be calling you in when I need you. Be prepared. Myself and Detective Furosa will be in the tree line. We go in when I give the signal."
Again, there was another pause as the officers studied the layout of the building. It was large, with many exists to take into account. Without knowing the species of the mammals inside the possibilities of what could go wrong were endless.
"We're not expecting Ms. Silva or her mammals to make an appearance, but it's not out of the realm of possibilities. If that does happen we need to be prepared to make certain decisions." Judy and Nick looked to him now, Judy dead on, Nick out of the corner of his eye. They had gone over what they were to do if that happened. It wasn't something they wanted to do. Unlike the other crime lords Ms. Silvia was a public figure. She ran the Canals, she undersaw the transportation of mammals and cargo alike. She was known to the public as Ms. Harriet Douglas, the owner of the Canals. To the ZPD she was Ms. Silvia, a crime lord. She was wonderful at covering her tracks and was rarely directly involved in anything. If it came to light that this was all her doing, it was take a miracle to pin it on her.
"We will, and are prepared to arrest her, and anyone else involved with her." Bogo finished, laying his papers down and taking another glance over the room. Judy sat very still, hanging onto every word as if it was her first time hearing it.
Nick listened too, standing next to Bogo, who had yet to instruct him to sit down. Natia stood by the door, her face as motionless as it had been when she walked it. Every officers there began mentally going over the plan. Bogo spent the rest of the day preparing them on what weapons could be used, how to move, hand signals, it was like training all over again. He drilled everything into them until he, himself, was comfortable they were ready.
xxxxx
"I don't even remember training camp being that hard!" Nick faked dramatically, rested against the wall outside of the ZPD. It was late and they had just finished going over the plan for the twelfth time with Bogo. They all looked drained, but despite that none of them were ready to call it a night.
On days before something major the officers usually went out for dinner together. A sort of way to relax them before the big day. No drinking would be involved of course, just friendly chatting and good food. Nick, Judy, and a handful of others stood waiting to leave. Dressed down into casual clothes like this gave the sense that nothing bad was going to happen. That at the moment they weren't officers preparing for a big bust; to onlookers they were just a group of friends enjoying a night on the town. If only.
As they waited Judy checked her phone, out of the corner of her eye she say Natia exit the building. Unlike the others she still wore her work clothes, though more casual than a uniform. She wore simple black pants and a purple dress shirt. Her overcoat was plain black as well.
"Hey!" Judy called out as she trotted up to Natia. "Do you want to come with us for dinner?" Judy, making sure to use her peppy voice, smiled up at the leopard. She wasn't familiar with Natia, and honestly Natia seemed extremely standoffish, but she wanted to do her best to make nice since they would be working together.
"No thank you. We should all be getting our rest for tomorrow." Natia straightened out her coat collar and walked off. She barely took the time to look at Judy, let alone actually consider the offer. Judy's nose twitched a little and she let show a slight pout.
"Don't take it too personally." Clawhauser, who wasn't on the case, but always invited himself, came to stand next to her. In true Clawhauser fashion, had a bag of chips in his hands, and spoke as he ate them. "She doesn't go to social stuff, it's not you."
"I wasn't worried that it was."
"She actually used to be really nice." She looked up at him, about to ask what happened when some of the other officers called to them that they were leaving. Clawhauser headed back and she followed.
The place they were eating, "The Bears Den", wasn't that far off. The walk was nice. Unlike the rest of Zootopia, Savannah Central never seemed to slow down. It was the heart of the city and everything glittered with lights and activity. There were clubs, bars, eateries, dancing, music; Judy loved that it was always alive.
"Tomorrow's going to be exciting." Nick came to walk next to Judy, the rest of the officers were ahead of them. She looked up at him, giving him a playful nudge.
"You nervous?" Nick gave a sarcastic chuckle as he caught his balance.
"No, are you?"
"No." They were both lying, and they both knew it. Neither would show it though. There was no way not to be nervous. It wasn't that this case was any more dangerous than anything else they had done. No matter what it was, doing a bust job was always nerve wracking.
"Everything will be fine." Judy said out loud, for no one in particular.
"Of course! Don't worry Carrots, we make a good team." He winked down at Judy, taking his turn at giving her a slight nudge. "Now let us get something to eat,shall we?
"Indeed, after you Officer Wilde" Judy said in an exaggerated voice, as she caught the door to the restaurant.
"Well, thank you Officer Hopps. Don't mind if I do." Nick replied in an equally exaggerated fashion as he gave a slight bow and proceeded through the door.
They caught up to rest of the group who had already begun pulling table together to make room for them all. Taking their seats the conversations that night revolved around anything and everything but the job tomorrow. It went without saying that tomorrow would be pretty tense. So they made the evening enjoyable, light hearted, with joke and enough laughter for them all. That night some of them would sleep soundly, while others minds raced with heavy minds full of questions. They were all officers of Zootopia, they loved their city without doubt and with ferocious loyalty. To serve and protect.
xxxxx
Alright! This is our first Zootopia fanfiction and we are both really looking forward to what you all think of it! Please leave us a review! Also any feedback you might have would be appreciated! We hope to get chapter two ready in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for it!
Animals:
Pangolin: A medium sized mammal with a body covered in large hardened, overlapping plate-like scales. Long front claws, good for climbing trees. Native to Southern parts of Africa.
Okapi: A mammal resembling a zebra, but more closely related to a giraffe. Has strips on the back and front legs, but the body is chocolate brown. Small horns protrude from the head.