The rain was falling harder now. Nick Wilde did a quick sweep of his surroundings, but he did not see anything out of the ordinary. No movement. Nothing. Retreating farther into the shadows of the alleyway, Nick stopped when he felt his back press up against the wall of the large industrial building behind him. Off in the distance, he could hear sirens. How far away they were, he couldn't say, but they sure sounded like they were heading his way.

"Where is he?"

Nick glanced down at his wrist, only to realize he didn't have a watch. Nick shook his head as though he was waking up in a daze. His gaze shifted skyward. The neon lights of a skyline shown off in the distance, the bright colors piercing through the slightly misty sky. It was a world that Nick felt completely disconnected from in that moment. His current location was seemingly the polar opposite of the bright, bustling city just beyond his view. His ears focused on the sirens blaring in distance. The piercing sound slowly faded and finally disappeared altogether. Nick let out a sigh of relief.

At that moment, the door a couple feet to Nick's right swung open. He yipped and stumbled to the side, but immediately composed himself and turned to face the black-clothed mammal standing in the now open doorway.

"So much for being the first one done." Nick paused. "What exactly was that thing that you said?"

"How long have you been waiting?" came his partner's voice, muffled by a cloth mask.

"Oh, I don't know. Five, ten, maybe thirty minutes," Nick responded slyly. "Enough time to go to the gas station and get some Furitos."

Nick pulled a bag of chips out of his duffle bag that he had actually packed earlier.

"They have some weird - and I mean weird - flavors now. I mean blueberry? I never thought I would see the day." Nick opened the bag and took out a single chip, eying it intensely before finally tossing it in his mouth. "Want one?"

"Ha ha, very funny, con artist." Nick's partner removed his mask in one brisk stroke, revealing the face of an arctic fox slightly older than Nick. Nick supposed that there could be a rugged handsomeness in there, but his eyes were cold and penetrating. He definitely looked like someone you wouldn't want to mess with. "But we are wasting time. Keys."

Nick reached into his pocket to take out the pair of keys he had been entrusted with earlier. To his dismay, he found the simple task harder than he thought, as he couldn't stop his hand from shaking. Eventually, he was able to root the keys out and tossed them to his partner. In the same motion, Nick turned and started walking toward the nondescript white van partially obscured by a dumpster down the alleyway.

Nick heard a chuckle behind him that caused him to grit his teeth, but he kept on walking. The rain was really starting to get to him by this point and he had to wipe his eyes with the back of his paw. Nick shivered, but not from the cold. Despite the rain, the temperature was still mild and he was wearing multiple layers of clothing anyway. Outwardly, Nick had been putting on a confident, almost smug persona, but internally he was a wreck. Eating blueberry Furitos was about the only thing he could do to calm his nerves.

The job's almost done.

Nick climbed into the passenger's side of the van. He was soaked and the water from his fur dripped onto the seat beneath him. The driver's side door opened quickly, but no one joined Nick in the van.

"Crevan, is something wrong?" Nick asked after a few moments, no longer sounding confident.

The arctic fox jumped into the seat beside Nick.

"The coast is clear here," Crevan replied in a measured tone. "But I hope that those sirens aren't coming for us."

More sirens? Now?

Nick clenched his jaw. He couldn't come up with a snarky response.

"Nervous?"

Nick looked over at Crevan and found the other fox staring at him intently. "Maybe," was the only response that he could think of.

Crevan chuckled, a tinge of condescension permeating the air between them.

"We'll be in the clear soon, rookie. In the meantime, be prepared to hold on."

The engine roared to life as Crevan turned the key. The headlights from the van flooded the alleyway, revealing places that just a moment ago had been covered in shadow, including the doorway that Crevan had just come from. The door itself looked rusted and Nick doubted that many people ventured out this way. They pulled forward slowly, finally reaching the end of the alleyway after what seemed like an eternity to Nick. He looked out the window of the van across a vast parking lot that now lay in front of them, searching for a path out for the industrial complex that they were in. Crevan was still driving slowly, as though they were sneaking around in the van.

We are really exposed here.

Nick's eyes focused on a point almost directly in front of them.

"The gate is open!"

Nick could barely contain the excitement in his voice. Suddenly, the sound of sirens became perceptible to him, almost as if they were responding to his exclamation.

"I see it! Hold tight!" Crevan called out.

Crevan mashed the gas pedal down and the van accelerated much quicker than Nick would have thought possible. They raced across the empty parking lot and blew past the guard station by the gate. As the van passed by, Nick noticed a medium-sized car parked just outside the gate, as if it were waiting to enter. In that moment, he questioned what the mammal in that car was doing there. Nick's first thought was that they were a hapless employee that forgot something at work and just happened to return at that moment.

We couldn't get that lucky.

His next thought was that it was one of Crevan's associates. Crevan had been very insistent that they would have a way out…

Does he know someone on the inside?

Before Nick could give it any more thought, Craven ripped the wheel to the right and the van exploded out onto the main road, its tires squealing under it. Chips went flying every which way as Nick was thrown into Crevan, who shrugged him off.

"Whoawhoawhoa! You're heading toward them!?" Nick shouted as he fell onto the back seat, his feet ending up above his head. Right then and there, he pondered how ridiculous he must look.

"Just trust me on this!" Crevan growled back.

Nick worked his way back upright and stuck his head between the two front seats. Up ahead, he could see a stream of flashing lights. In the darkness, the lights combined with the rain on the windshield to create blue and red figures that appeared to dance back and forth. The sirens seemed deafening to Nick now and they were only getting louder. Nick bit down on one of his claws through his glove in anticipation, just as a group of three police cars passed them, one after another. Nick didn't breath; instead he held a laser focus on the police cars in the rearview mirror. Next to him, Crevan did the same thing.

The police cars retreated into the distance, before finally turning right, and, more importantly, away from the industrial compound.

Nick and Crevan simultaneously lot out howls of joy, relief, surprise, and many other emotions that Nick couldn't place at the moment.

"I never had any doubt," Nick said as he climbed back into the passenger's seat. "But I've never seen a fox look as scared as you did."

"Hey, I had my reasons," Crevan laughed as he slowed to merge in with the traffic that had appeared around them. "I can't completely trust a rookie. How would I know if you tripped an alarm or not?"

"Easy. As I said, I'm perfect, Nick said smugly as he learned back in the seat, his paws behind his head. "Also, as I saying earlier - before you rudely interrupted me, by the way – what was that thing you said to me before we started this whole escapade?" Nick said in a playfully mocking manner. "Something about doing something before someone else?"

"I don't recall," Crevan said flatly. "But…"

'Oh! I think I know!" Nick snapped his fingers before Craven could say anything else. "You said 'I promise you that I will be done before you are. No question.' "

Crevan let out a mocking sigh. "You never forget anything, do you Nicholas?"

They shared a laugh between themselves, and Nick watched as downtown Zootopia approached in the distance. In that moment, Nick felt elated. He had done it. Soon he would have his money. Soon he would be able to see his dream come to fruition. It was so close that he could taste it, like a blueberry chip lying on the dashboard.

"That is the thing about this city though," Crevan continued. "So many promises, and so many go unkept. What difference does it make if I don't keep a promise or two?"

At the time, Nick didn't think much about the statement. It was something that he thought he agreed with. But now the words echoed in his head.

So many promises go unkept.

What differences does it make?

Promises…

Promises…

You promised!

"Ten-eighty!"

Nick lurched upright in his seat.

What was that dream about? Why am I remembering that now?

"I repeat! Ten-eight-zero! We have a chase in progress!"

Nick blinked and looked around, trying to process his surroundings.

Where am I? What am I doing here? Eh, I'll figure it out after I get some rest…

As he slumped forward out of pure exhaustion, his nose struck the steering wheel in front of him.

Bbbbwwwwhhhhhaaaap!

The sound of the car horn startled him awake, for good this time.

"Officer Wilde, are you in the area?"

Nick watched the cars on the road in front of him whip by through the windshield of his police cruiser. He was currently parked on the shoulder of Herd Street, one of the major thoroughfares of downtown Zootopia. Overhead, a shuttle coming from Little Rodentia whooshed by, contained within a narrow, transparent tube. Nick rubbed the sleep from his eyes and grabbed the two-way radio on the dashboard.

"Officer Wilde here. Central… uh… can you repeat that again… over." Nick couldn't downplay the confusion in his voice.

"We have a chase in progress, near the park, heading east on Pack Street. Officer Fangmeyer is in pursuit. Are you able…"

Nick had already flipped the siren on and shoved the cruiser into gear. He peeled out onto the main road and floored it.

"I'm on it, Clawhauser. Keep me updated."

I should be able to intercept them up ahead, Nick thought, followed by: Bogo is going to kill me if I screw this up.

"I can't believe I fell asleep!" Nick muttered under his breath.

"Come again?" Clawhauser's voice came over the radio.

Whoops. Nick released the talk button on the radio and set it down. I can't believe I fell asleep! If I come back to the station emptyhanded, the Chief will never let me hear the end of it…

Nick turned onto a cross street and kept going. If Clawhauser's directions were correct, he should have seen the cars somewhere up ahead. Instead, the street was empty, except for the occasional parked car on the side of the road. An intersection was fast approaching. Nick reached for the radio again.

"Clawhauser. Where… gah!" Before Nick could finish his question, a yellow blur flashed in front of his cruiser. For a brief moment, Nick couldn't comprehend the fact that the object in front of him was another car. Nick's eyes went wide and he tried to slam on the brakes, but it was too late to do anything. Nick felt an impact and watched as the cruiser clipped the back bumper of the car as it roared past. The impact was enough to send it fishtailing briefly, but the driver was able to regain control, all the while not losing any speed. Nick screeched to a halt on the other side of the intersection, almost losing control of the cruiser in the process. The next moment, another car sped by behind him, followed by a ZPD cruiser, its lights and siren blaring. They continued down the street to Nick's right, trailing the first car that had almost disappeared in the distance.

"Nick! Are you alright?!" Clawhauser's concern was unmistakable, and made Nick wonder if he had involuntarily screamed into the radio. Nick composed himself quickly, but his heart was still racing in his chest.

"Hey Clawhauser. You said that they were going east on Pack Street, right?" Nick said flatly.

"Yes?"came the tentative reply.

"And did you mentioned that there are TWO cars?!" Nick exclaimed bitingly.

"Um, I didn't know, Officer Wilde. I'm so sorry! I… oh…" Clawhauser sounded genuinely upset.

"Don't worry about it, big guy," Nick replied, feeling a little guilty for snapping at the cheetah. "Just keep me updated from now on, okay?"

"Can do!" The excited reply crackled over the radio, but Nick barely heard it because he had already flipped the cruiser around and gunned it down the street after Officer Fangmeyer and the two fleeing suspects. Soon, the trio reappeared in front of him, weaving in and out of traffic. In their wake, they left a line of cars that had hurriedly pulled over to the side of the road, as well as a lot of cursing drivers. This allowed Nick to catch up, and he soon found himself pulling even with Officer Fangmeyer. Nick glanced over at the tiger, who was leaning over the steering wheel, as the cruiser was just a tad too small for him, and looking intensely at the road in front of him.

"Stripes, fill me in please!" Nick called out over the radio.

"We have to stop them before they get downtown!" came the breathless reply. Nick gritted his teeth. He knew that allowing the chase to get to an area with heavy foot traffic would probably end in disaster, but the area they were in was populated enough that a crash would more likely than not involve civilians. He watched the storefronts whip by in his peripheral vision, making a mental note of the number of mammals strolling on the sidewalk in front of them.

"A pit maneuver is out of the question! Can we get a road block, Clawhauser?" It was the only option that Nick could think of at the moment. With luck, they could box in the suspects, but they needed to do it quickly.

"Already on it!"

To this point, they had been fairly lucky in terms of traffic, but now Nick was swerving left and right to avoid cars that were seemingly oblivious to what was going on around them. His paws were wet from sweating and he had to tighten his grip on the wheel to the point where it hurt, in order to maintain control. Up ahead, he could see the makings of a traffic jam.

There's no way they can get through there….

Nick slowed and grabbed the radio. "We might get lucky for once. We should have them stopped near 5th on Pack Street. Will engage shortly."

Nick squinted at the nondescript green and yellow cars in front of him. They were both honking and revving their engines, but there were no breaks in the traffic, and they had slowed to a near halt. The street that they were on was one-way and there was nowhere to go. Nick wondered what thoughts must be running through their heads at that moment.

"I'll take green!" Fangmeyer called out.

"Ten-four." Nick sped up and angled his cruiser toward the bumper of the yellow car and prepared to ram it. At the same time, he had one hand on the tranquilizer gun that was holstered on his belt. He would have to hurry around to the driver's side after ramming the car in order to prevent the suspect from doing anything that would endanger the other drivers on the road. Not too fast. This isn't my car after all…

Right as the bumper of the cruiser was about to make contact, the yellow car suddenly spun ninety degrees in the lane. For a brief moment, the car was perpendicular to Nick and the driver, a raccoon, was visible to him. In the blink of an eye, a space had opened up between cars in the adjacent lane, and the raccoon disappeared through it, leaving a trail of smoke in his wake. Nick had to slam on his brakes to avoid rear-ending the next car in front of him.

"Whoa, Central I have a problem here. One suspect is heading north." Nick looked to his left, the direction that the raccoon had sped off in. The only possible route was down a narrow alleyway. "Down an alley. He's heading down an alleyway." Nick grimaced. The situation was getting dangerous for any pedestrians in the area.

"I can get there!"A new voice leaped out of the radio and caused Nick's heart to skip a beat. It was a voice that he would recognize anywhere, even through the static of a police radio. "I'm turning onto Trip Street now!"

Alright, I need to catch up. Right now.

Nick turned the steering wheel and starting pulling forward, in an attempt to cross into the far lane. There was still a slight gap in between the cars to his left, but he had a poor angle and needed more room. The cruiser's siren was still on, but none of the cars around him seemed to be paying him any mind. Nick slammed his fist on the horn, a move that finally drew the attention of the driver next to him, a rather disheveled-looking weasel. He stared at Nick for a moment, then shrugged, as if to say sorry, and returned to vacantly staring at his cellphone.

"Come on, back up! Nick yelled and hit the horn again. In his mirror, he could see that Officer Fangmeyer had managed to grab the other suspect, another raccoon, out of his car and was in the process of handcuffing him. Nick's full attention returned to finding a way to go after the yellow car.

Enough of this! Nick tightened his grip on the wheel and inched the cruiser forward until it contacted the front side of the car blocking his path. He could see the weasel yelling and gesticulating wildly at him.

Do I have your attention now?

In the next instant, the car backed up, giving Nick just enough space to fit the cruiser through. He pulled through, crossing the lane perpendicular to the flow of traffic. As he passed by, he gave the weasel a mock salute. The smug look on Nick's face quickly disappeared when he thought about the cosmetic damage he must have caused to both vehicles.

I'll definitely be hearing from Chief Bogo about that. Nick sighed internally. Stay focused. I have a job to do.

Nick hopped the curb and entered the narrow alleyway that the yellow car had disappeared down. It was slow-going and there were a couple times when he nearly scrapped his side mirror against a wall. Eventually, the alley opened up and split left or right. Cars, presumably from shop owners, were parked haphazardly here and there. Nick chose to turn to the right, tipped off by the group of trash bins that had been knocked over and now lay in the middle of the way.

Nick kept following the alleyway, but he was growing concerned that the raccoon had been able to give him the slip. These fears came to a head when he saw that the alleyway ended directly up ahead, terminating against a concrete wall. As he approached, however, he noticed that part of the chain-link fence that had run along the side of the road was laid over, presumably run over by a car.

This guy is serious, Nick thought.

He followed the trail through the fence and found himself in an apartment complex. Around him were rows and rows plain-looking square buildings that differed only in their sizes, presumably to cater to different types of mammals.

He could have gone anywhere. Nick decided that he had no choice but to go toward the main road.

"I may have lost the suspect," Nick reluctantly spoke into the radio. "I'm heading toward Trip Street now… wait."

He had passed by the final apartment building and could see the main road. Right at the entrance to the apartment complex, the yellow car again came into view. It had jumped the curb to his left and hit a fire hydrant. The hood was crumbled in and the driver's side door was wide open. Just beyond the car was a police cruiser parked horizontally on the road, effectively blocking the entrance. There were no mammals in sight.

"I have a visual on the vehicle!" Nick shouted and slammed on the brakes. The cruiser screeched to a halt in the middle of the road, and Nick bailed out. He raced past the crashed car and ran toward the nearest apartment building.

This is the only place he could have possibly run to. Nick's mind was racing, trying to process the scene that he was leaving behind. He could hear Clawhauser yelling for him from the radio he had left in the cruiser, but he ran on.

Hurry, hurry, hurry!

Nick burst through an open gate and almost ran over a surprised genet. He kept running.

Rounding a corner, he found himself in a garden behind the building. Plants were trampled around him and there were two trails of paw prints in the dirt. Nick's gaze lifted and he saw two figures struggling in the dirt just ahead of him. One figure was the raccoon from earlier and the other was a smaller mammal dressed in the full dark blue uniform of a ZPD officer.

"Judy!"

Judy Hopps looked up as Nick ran toward her.

"It's alright! I've cuffed him!" she called out.

Nick reached her position and found the raccoon lying face down in the dirt, his hands cuffed behind him and Judy's knee in his back. Nick breathed a quick sigh of relief and then had to catch his breath.

"Would this happen to be your suspect?" Judy said jestingly.

Nick flashed a quick smile.

"Are you alright, Carrots? He asked, looking her over as she got up. "You're looking a little dirty," he said, gesturing at her uniform.

"You know I grew up on a farm. I'm used to some dirt," Judy replied as she brushed off the front of her uniform.

In the distance, Nick heard another police siren approaching. He looked over at the suspect still lying on the ground.

"Let's get him back to the precinct," Nick said as he helped the raccoon to his feet.

Nick began steering the raccoon back toward the cruiser, and Judy walked along just behind them. Nick glanced back at her briefly.

"No complaints, Carrots, but what are you doing here? What happened to the school outreach thing?"

Judy looked up at him incredulously. "Do you know of any schools that are still in at five o'clock?"

"Oh yeah." They turned the corner from behind the building and the apartment complex entrance came back into view. "You see, I may have lost a few hours somewhere in there."

"So what are you saying?" Judy asked. The look in her eyes communicated the fact that she knew exactly what Nick was getting at.

"I'm sure that Chief Bogo will want an update on what I did today. I could really use this one."

Judy winked at him. "I was never here."

They reached Nick's cruiser and Nick helped the raccoon into the back. He closed the door and turned toward Judy as she was walking back to the other cruiser.

"Hey Carrots, why do you have that anyway? Nick asked, pointing at the cruiser.

"The kids wanted to see it!" Judy called back. "I'm just borrowing it for the day!"

"So you'll need to use my car again, then?"

"Your car? That's my car! You're just borrowing it!" Judy said teasingly as she waved goodbye to him.

Nick chuckled and got back into his – no, Judy's – cruiser. His mood instantly changed when he remembered the chase that he had just been involved in. I guess the damage must not be that bad if she didn't notice it. Right?

By this time, Officer Fangmeyer had caught up with them, but Judy waved him on. She then pulled out and headed in the direction of the precinct.

Nick picked up the radio that he had haphazardly thrown on the dashboard and called into Clawhauser to make sure he knew that the suspect was apprehended and that a tow truck needed to be sent for the crashed car. He then turned to address the raccoon that had remained suspiciously silent the entire time.

"Is there anything you want me to know about before I go check out your vehicle over there?" Nick asked, trying to be as professional as possible, but he couldn't hide the annoyance in his voice.

There was no response.

"Alright, can you tell me your name?" He paused. "Or at least how I can address you?"

"You're a fox." The voice that came from behind the partition was higher pitched than Nick expected.

"I'm a police officer," Nick asserted. "And you'll answer my questions."

"What are you doing with them? The police!?" Nick could hear legitimate anger building in the raccoon's voice.

"In just a moment, I am going to go over to that car and I going to find whatever you have in there. Is there anything you want me to know?" Nick felt that he was doing a good job of remaining calm.

"I'd would rather not talk to someone that would stab me in the back," came the response, followed by silence.

Fine. Nick got out of the cruiser, steaming. He slammed the door shut. He was keenly aware that he shouldn't let things like this bother him, and in years past they wouldn't have. But recently, they had been, more and more.

He looked out toward the road and watched the cars whip by, their drivers going on about their day, barely cognizant of anything that was going on around them.

I'll make this city better one day at a time, Nick thought and then groaned internally at the saccharine nature of the idea.

Maybe Judy's attitude was rubbing off on him after all.