0264, The 7th age of Mammalkind
Zootopia is the manifestation of an interspecies dream.
Its goal is provide a place where any kind of mammal regardless of size and shape can live and find solutions to their differences in peace.
Zootopia has grown as a city state, located within neutral territory, and after almost 200 hundred years of existence, has surpassed expectations of its founders, becoming a centre for international peace after millennia of fear and conflict.
It thrives in prosperity and innovation in its diversity.
It is a world city bustling with businessmen, scientists, scholars, diplomats, and visitors from around the globe.
23 million mammals with over 500 different species living together.
It is a centre that also attracts mammals of greed and corruption.
Where old rivalries between different species surface.
The renowned Zootopia Police Department is tasked with ensuring that Zootopia continues its purpose of being a symbol of interspecies friendship.
The most skilled and courageous are assigned to Precinct 1, the Centre of Zootopia.
Michael Harrie pulled at the long strands of fur on his chin that were distinctive to his species. He glanced out over the rise in Downtown Zootopia that provided him with view of the outer suburbs and towards Sahara Square to the bay.
He slipped back into the alley and the goat chewed the gum in his mouth thoughtfully. The building he had his eye on was with stone masonry just like any other building along Tobol Avenue. Close together with several alley ways with fire escapes crossing the height of the apartment blocks. Backed against the incredible high rises that made up the CBD of Zootopia on one side, on the other side he could see landscaping attempts to green the area with squares cut out of the sidewalk and needle leaved shrubs beginning to shoot towards the sky.
He stopped in mid-chew and glanced out of the alley way again to see a porcupine in a suit and fedora with a briefcase in hand, march up to the front door of the building and greeted by an opossum. There was also a lion parked on the other side of the road that seemed to be having trouble with his tire, he had his full attention on getting the car's jack together so he didn't see him as a problem.
Harrie turned to the pig in a trench coat and upswept hair style that was leaning against a huge square bin beside him and nodded. The opossum immediately caught sight of him and his bodyguard and stood by the open door. The marsupial's ears twitched with anticipation as the other pair emerged from the alley opposite the road. Micheal Harrie the Goat and "Razor" the Pig reached the building first and the opossum whispered "Second Floor, second of the left" as they went past.
He then turned to the second pair, a cougar in a modest dark green jacket and jeans. He was with a fox clad in a jacket with a gelled Mohawk and a pair of tinted green glasses followed.
The Cougar and the Fox stamped up two flights of stairs and Michael and Razor in a room with the Porcupine seated at a small table in the rooms centre opening the briefcase.
"Gnash is not here." The Cougar said with a flat tone. He shot his eye to see if, Bart, his fox body guard, was watching the doorway.
Bart nodded his vigilance
"He knew the time of this meeting regardless, Mr. Pelt " the porcupine replied "I will proceed. I have other meetings to attend to"
The porcupine looked up from under the fedora.
"You all know why you are here."
From the briefcase he pulled out a black box filled with malleable foam with a small cylinder outline cut in the middle.
"You wish to use my merchandise for your own purposes. I can assure you that these components will do as they say."
From the briefcase he lifted two small metal cylinders the size of a fridge magnet.
"One thing that you must remember is to put the Bollix cylinder into its container when it is not in use."
"It can disrupt any kind of technology from cell phones to a large network of CCTV cameras when placed on a power relay box. Its covering will prevent that when in storage. "
He saw scepticism in his audiences face.
"Just to show you that there is power in these things..."
The porcupine quickly hit two of them together and a large metallic shriek nearly pulverised the eardrums of everyone in the room.
Michael grasped his horns covering his ears.
Manus Pelt's paws flicked back hitting Bart the Fox in the stomach.
The blow made Bart bow forward and slightly dislodge his green tinted glasses.
Manus turned instinctively so he could see what he hit. He caught a glance of the fox's eyes before the glasses went back on.
He turned back to the porcupine, but his buckskin face frowned and turned back to the fox.
"Wait, you are not Bart!"
Manus' memory went into overload as he remembered feeling fury seeing the picture of a green eyed fox in uniform
The uniform of an...
Manus eyes suddenly flared.
"You're that COP!"
The fox had a gun in his hand in an instant and his glasses clattered to the floor. He wiped his paw over the collar of his jacket and pressed down of a button in the cloth.
"S'right buddy!"
Everybody in the room held his gaze as he passed the sights of his ZPD standard pistol over them.
"You are Nick Wilde!" Michael seethed "Well, I never."
"I've got a dart for each of you if any of you makes a move" He backed towards the door.
Then his instincts kicked in and told him that someone was behind him.
He felt the wind on the back of his neck when a tawny fist with black spots threw a right hook narrowly missing the police fox.
Nick recovered spinning to plant a kick on his attacker. A Jaguar. The Jaguar caught the blow in his shoulder and let out a grunt.
He realised that this was the late comer to the meeting.
Raymond "Gnash" Tawnous.
A criminal with a reputation of using his species powerful jaws in robbing and maiming his victims.
Nick cursed the obvious solution in his hand and tried to get his dart gun up.
Unfortunately as he descended to the ground, Manus took no time in grabbing the fox in headlock with his right arm.
"To think I respected your cunning to see you end this way, Wilde" Manus breathed into his ear.
Nick felt the puma tighten his grip around his neck then suddenly the pumas arm went slack and Nick pulled himself free as Manus fell to the ground unconscious.
The rest of the criminals in the room spun around to see a rabbit in a protective vest and blue uniform kneeling on the open window sill, a dart gun in her right paw.
The criminals yellow eyes looked at her with intimidating coldness and reached for their belts.
Suddenly Gnash's large eyes fluttered as his knees folded beneath him and he fell to the ground.
This revealed Officer Delgato with his pistol entering to room.
Dressed exactly as the lion fixing his tire on the side of the road.
"Games up! You're Busted!"
Quick as a flash, Michael pushed past the salesman and Razor to the bathroom.
He took point when he entered the room and knew that the window was slightly open and big enough to fit through.
He stopped suddenly when the muzzle of a pistol pressed against his nose and a white wolf with narrow eyes stepped forward forcing Manus to walk backwards back into the room with the pistol against his nose.
The white wolf smiled "Looks like Nick tagged you around long enough to allow him to introduce you to ZPD SWAT."
Nick stood up. "The cat's outta the bag"
Everyone in the room froze as a noise that sounded like a train whistle came through the room. The officers and criminals all looked at each other.
Finally Delgato hit the side of his phone. "My daughter keeps changing my cell phones ringtone". He muttered.
Four police cruisers sat in the street each side with their lights flashing.
They had few passengers to take into the station in cuffs. Harrie, Gnash, Razer, Pelt ,the porcupine businessmen as well as their bodyguards.
Nick Wilde scratched the fur on the top of his head with claws ruffling up that mohawk.
Three weeks talking gangster was enough for him. He was ready for the boring duties of being a street cop again.
It will certainly nice to spend his time with...
Right on cue, Little Bunny Sure-Shot was right next to him.
Nick smiled "Not bad, hey Jude?"
Judy grinned and slapped him lightly on his arm.
"Three gang leaders, their body guards and a black market associate. Yeah, not bad at all."
Nick looked up to the skyline "With these guys in the bag I reckon this neighbourhood will be a better place to live."
Nick saw the corners of Judy's mouth go up.
Nick looked up at the stars.
"Well, better get this debriefing over with so we can call it a night so we can get into that R and R first thing tomorrow".
A loud and irritating sound filled the dark room, illuminated only by the red numbers on the alarm clock. Darkness did not matter to Nick Wilde, but for a few seconds he stared accusingly at that clock.
"Mmm…. Uh… Ohh"
The sounds he made reflected his protesting body's return to a conscious state. He hit the top of the clock turning off the alarm.
Dressed in just some boxer shorts and an old T-shirt he stumbled into the kitchen and flicked on the light.
He heard some deep snoring from behind a door coming into the kitchen. Finnick didn't share his morning routine.
Except on special occasions.
His first route was to the fridge where he knew an opened container of instant coffee was kept.
He felt a surge of distain as to how light the container felt. Shaking it confirmed that it was completely empty.
"Then why the heck did I put it…?"
Nick sighed. Then the corners of his mouth twitched upward.
His brain kicked in again finally and a wave of euphoria hit him as he realised he didn't need to go to work and he could forget the character role-play as Bart.
Last night he hit the hay early after spilling out his experiences to the police executives and the local counseller at the station.
At present his first instinct was to go back to bed for a sleep-in.
Then again, he should embrace this day to the full.
He chuckled as he realised that he didn't know what to do first.
Then he remembered the empty cardboard container in his hand.
He could head out and satisfy his craving for an espresso cappuccino.
He pulled the fridge open again. Could to a shop while he was looking for coffee. Get one thing out of the way.
Strolling along he stopped at a small shopping centre and went to get his dose of coffee.
He noticed a new sushi place had opened up there. Not a bad idea to grab lunch there with a special someone.
This early he was first in line and the barista knew what they were doing so the first sip of foam off the top was heaven this morning.
He had just passed out of the doors when he heard the ruckus around a vending machine happening the other end.
It was Fangmeyer the Tiger and Higgens the Hippo, they both were glowering over a badger. No doubt they were returning after night shift to the station when they saw a badger breaking the law. The small predator had both paws behind his head they all headed towards the cruiser.
They looked up and Nick was there.
"Morning officers, Fangmeyer. Higgens."
The two nodded in response.
"Officer Wilde" they said
Nick looked at the badger.
"Fallow"
The badger made no movement, but his brown eyes against his dark fur narrowed.
"In another place it would be good to see you, Wilde" he said quietly
Nick frowned.
"Well, I just thought you'd be too smart to go for looting a vending machine in plain view."
The badger grunted.
Nick looked up.
"Did you think about cuffing him after searching him?"
Higgens tilted his head.
"Don't see why not. He easily complied."
He looked smugly at the fox.
"...and they did teach us how to search in basic training"
Nick's eyes narrowed and returned the smug expression.
" Annnnd, Did they teach you about... kletpo's? Especially the professional artists?"
Fangmeyer and Higgens looked at each other and bent down again. They pulled out several objects from the badgers pockets.
"Hey my Wallet!"
"My Watch!"
Nick turned.
"Oh, its probably best if you put one of them mouth guards on him."
Fangmeyer and Higgens looked up.
"I know I'm not a fan of it" Nick continued "but in this instance, I think it's for the best."
He watched as they escorted their felon into their car.
Nick Wilde turned back to the mall and thought about the list in his pocket.
He had a sense of satisfaction. It seemed like that all his past experiences had been preparing him for this.
He knew every street and alley like the back of his hand and the network of different criminals.
Of course he couldn't take them himself, but needed a partner that could think fast on her feet, sharp eye and could spout legal procedure like a text book.
It also meant, for the most part, when the day was finished he could have a bit of time to unplug and unwind without needing to worry that some disgruntled customer would be coming through his door.
This change in him also got him thinking about other areas of his life.
"...Then there's Felicity, Sophie and Grace."
Judy finally stopped for a breath and took a bite out of a cucumber and cheese roll before quietly wiping the soy sauce off her mouth.
Nick had slowly been munching way and licking a bit of tuna off this thumb answered.
"So that's all your siblings?"
Judy smiled.
"No uh... actually those are just my sisters." She raised a finger. "My brothers now... Oh"
She picked up her phone was buzzing against the table top and opened her messages.
"Oh hey!" She smiled "Paul's been accepted into the academy!"
She looked up and her partner. "That's one of my brothers!"
She looked back down. "He's with thirty other bunnies that are going through with him to become officers!"
Nicks eyebrows shot up. "Well, Carrots looks like you're not going to be alone on the force."
Judy looked back up at Nick. "Yeah, maybe I'll have to visit there and see that he settles in well."
She smiled "It's good that he won't be alone there. I thought with him it would be just a matter of time."
Nick smiled back "Well, he'll have the same mentor that got me through the academy. A type personalities are the best motivators."
Judy gave him a look. "I helped you with the legislation and the text book stuff. You have some original ideas when it came to practical application."
Judy frowned. "I really thought that you wouldn't be up for undercover work. I'm really impressed by that. You will have to write some guidelines for me if I'm ever approached in the future."
Nick shrugged. "Being a street cop's well and good. I was ready for something a bit more interesting."
Nick smiled. "In my past career I did pull the wool over the eyes over a lot of mammals..." He sat back in his chair. "...but that gang bust had to be the hustle of the decade."
He pointed a finger at his partner. " I couldn't have pulled it off knowing you were watching my back".
Judy smiled and then frowned slightly "You did almost make me forget that we switched the nighthowler pellet when you tore up that deer in that museum. Kinda made me really panic for a moment."
"I had a bit of practice as a kid tearing stuff up."
Nick paused and his eyes narrowed.
"I guess I got angry as a kit sometimes..." he continued " I decided to take it out on different things."
Judy spoke up quietly.
"You know you haven't mentioned your mother much."
Nick tapped his claws on the table.
"She and I had a falling out ten years ago. I guess I haven't really thought about it since I was constantly thinking about the next plan for a hustle."
He lent against his left hand on the table.
"I don't know what she is doing right now."
For about ten seconds an awkward silence set in.
Judy did not know what to say after that.
"Well." She began "Bogo mentioned that there is going to be a number of international partners coming in. You could find a bit of spare time next week if you want to..."
"Hey look! The shops got an actual octopus in their fish tank!"
Judy spun around to see an array of tentacles disappear under a rock in Sushi Corners aquarium.
She turned back to see one of her rolls missing.
Nick had it in his paws pretending to hold it towards his mouth with a mischievous look in his eye.
Judy laughed and reached out to snatch it back.
"Well, you gonna eat up Carrots or do I have to finish it for you?"
After wrestling her roll back, she took large bite and returned his smug expression.
"You know it bugs me Carrots..." He began
"Really?" Judy frowned and looked at his tray. "I thought you were eating fish?"
Nick chuckled and continued.
"The operation came together because we knew those gang leaders were working together and we were ready to pounce because we knew they were meeting. That porcupine with the brief case was a surprise..." He rubbed his ears remembering the sound those metal cylinders made.
Judy swallowed a piece of her roll.
"That porcupine with those... Bollix cylinders. He was ready to sell those things to those lowlifes."
She tapped her chin.
"Imagine the damage they could do with them if they got away with them."
Nick hummed with agreement
"Hopefully, we might not have to find out."