Author's Note: As with "Time," (my other fanfic) "The Wrong Mammals" was helped written and revised by Isaac Babcock. Thank you for that Isaac. Now time for the story. Enjoy.
Prolouge
It was the end of another long day as the ZPD Cruiser pulled into the parking garage. "Well, that was a pretty boring day, wouldn't you say Carrots?" "Yeah, I guess. Pretty uneventful." They parked the police cruiser, and stepped out onto the pavement. The bunny and fox walked towards the precinct in silence. However, Nick had his slick smile, as if there was something on his mind. Judy looked at him, and asked "What's so funny?" Nick's smile grew bigger, "Nothing…" he chuckled in a teasing tone. "Nick, I know when there's something on your mind, so what is it?" "It's a surprise…" he said as his grin grew bigger. "Oh, so that's how it is, then?" She asked, a bit frustrated. "You'll see, Fluff, and I think you'll love it…" Nick hinted cryptically. "Okay, but it had better be good, or else someone's sleeping on the couch tonight!" she jokingly warned him. He laughed, as they entered the precinct. They went about their routine as normal, giving Bogo their bland report, chatting with a few other officers for a bit and checking out, until they decided to leave. Just as they were about to leave, Judy decided to talk to Clawhauser. Nick told her that he had forgotten something, and went to get it. After a while of Judy chatting with Clawhauser about her boring day, Nick came back, holding something behind his back. Judy, who was still talking with Clawhauser, didn't notice, but Clawhauser did. Nick looked at Clawhauser, and put a finger up to his lips, telling him to keep quiet. Nick then quietly snuck up behind Judy, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He startled her so badly that she nearly jumped out of her skin. "NICK!? God, you scared the crap out of me!" "Sorry, Carrots. I wanted to surprise you, but I figured now was as good as a time as ever." "What do you mean?" she asked him, as she noticed he was hiding something behind his back. Nick cleared his throat, and then spoke in a raised voice, "Attention everyone, I have a bit of an announcement to make," he said to everyone in the room. The room got quiet as everyone turned to look at Nick. After it looked like he got everyone's attention, he continued: "As many of you know, Officer Hopps and I have been partners for a long time now. She's been an amazing partner, and my best friend. But now, I think it's time we become… something more…" He looked at Judy, and then got down on one knee, revealing what he had hidden behind his back. "Judy Hopps… will you marry me?" In his paws, was a box, with a ring. Judy cupped her paws over her mouth in shock. And then she began to cry tears of joy, "YES! Yes, I will!" she cried out in glee and jumped into his arms. The room thundered with applause from practically everyone in the room, while Clawhauser squealed in delight. This was the happiest time of Nick and Judy's lives… at least, it was supposed to be…
Chapter 1: The Mistake
Date: Classified. Location: Unknown alley, Savanna Central, City of Zootopia, USA
It was supposed to be a quick routine, like any other. But little did they know, they just signed their death warrants…
"Come on Nick! Hurry up!" Judy told the fox, who was trailing behind her. "Are you sure about this Carrots?" Nick asked her, with a look of concern on his face. "You know this could be very dangerous." Judy stopped, looked back at him, and told him "Slick, there is nothing to worry about. We've done more dangerous things before. Also, isn't the danger one of the thrills of being a cop?" Nick sighed and said "I guess you're right Fluff." They continued walking, until they reached a dark alley. They heard two mammals taking, the drug dealer, a rather large grizzly bear, and his client, an elk. They heard the two speak. "You got the stuff?" the client asked. "Si." the dealer replied in a heavy Mexican or Latin American accent, pulling out a bag of cocaine. "100% pure Colombian grown sugar. Now pay up." he demanded. The client flashed a badge, and told him "I don't think that will be necessary." He pulled out his pistol, a Bearetta M9 and pointed it at the dealer. "Officer Grazer, ZPD. Surrender yourself now!" "That's our que." Judy told Nick, and they ran into the alley and drew their pistols as well. Nick carried a Glock 17, while Judy had a Smith and Wolffson .38 snub-nosed revolver. They too, pointed them at the dealer. The dealer looked at them in shock, before pulling out his own gun from beneath his trenchcoat, a Desert Eagle, and pointed at Officer Grazer. Two other mammals emerged from behind him, a lion and a wolf, holding more dangerous guns. The wolf held an AK-47 while the lion was wielding an Uzi. They pointed their guns at Nick and Judy, which made Nick break into a panic. He started shaking like crazy, and broke into a cold sweat. His ears drooped, and his jaw dropped a bit. The dealer smiled, as more and more mammals emerged from behind him, holding all sorts of different weapons. There were pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, submachine guns, machine guns and many more, there were even a few that had grenade bandoliers. Both Judy and Officer Grazer looked calm and focused, despite the dangerous circumstances. Nick on the other hand, was sweating harder, and shaking so much he almost dropped his gun. He was about to run off in a panic, when he heard the all-too familiar phrase, "ZPD! Surrender yourself, or we won't hesitate to use lethal force." Nick looked behind him, and saw a large number of police officers, and even some of the SWAT team. It looked like almost the entire force was there, backing him, Judy and Officer Grazer up. The bear screamed something in Spanish, and they opened fire. Shortly after, the ZPD retaliated, and both sides were firing away. There was blood everywhere, mammals were falling left and right, and it was absolute carnage. Nick started freaking out, firing his gun like crazy. He looked over at Judy, who was running after something, with Officer Grazer close behind. Looking forward, he realized that the mammal they were targeting, the dealer, was pushing his way through the cartel members to get to safety. He reluctantly followed them through the crowd. It looked like the ZPD was winning, as their opponents had more casualties, but they had taken heavy losses too. Nick kept following his partner, trying to avoid stepping on dead bodies while still maintaining a steady pace. He eventually caught up to them, as Judy and Officer Grazer had cornered their target at the end of the alley. "We have you surrounded. There is nowhere to run. Surrender yourself or face lethal force." Officer Grazer told his target, and brought his hoof closer to the trigger. Judy stayed silent, but her look alone showed that she meant business. Her gun was aimed at the bear's head, and her paw was on her trigger as well, ready to fire at a moment's notice. The dealer raised his paws, dropped his gun, and said "Alright, I surrender." Officer Grazer holstered his pistol, took his handcuffs from his pocket, and started walking towards the bear, when he was suddenly grabbed by the collar of his shirt. The dealer pulled him close, took his gun from it's holster, and fired twice point-blank into Grazer's chest. Judy was quick to react, as she quickly drew her own pistol and shot the bear right between the eyes. He fell to the ground with a thud. Judy dropped her gun, and ran over to Officer Grazer with a shocked look on her face. She immediately checked his pulse, nothing. She scanned his body for injuries, and found the bullets had penetrated his heart, killing him almost instantly. She pulled out her radio, and gave a report. Nick on the other hand, was stunned, and unable to move. He heard Judy say "Officer down. We had to use lethal force." When he calmed down and was able to move again, he approached the body of the bear. When Judy finished, he was already checking the body for evidence or identification. While Nick was checking his clothing, Judy found something around the mammal's neck. She took it off, and called over to Nick "Do you know what this is?" He walked over to her, and took the object from her paws. It was a necklace, consisting of a painted metal circle attached to a chain. Nick stared closely at the circle, and his heart nearly skipped a beat when he saw what it was. It seemed simple enough, just a black background with a bush in the center, but there was a noticeable pair of blood red eyes inside it. Suddenly, everything started to add up. The weapons of choice, the lack of prey, the Spanish…
Nick felt a chill down his spine as he realized: This was one of the leaders of the drug cartel, the Stalkers, and he was lying dead right in front of them. Nick started sweating uncontrollably, his ears became droopy, and he ran over to Judy and grabbed her by the shirt, all while his mind was just echoing the words "Holy shit." "I know what this is Judy, and it's not good. You see him?" He pointed to the bear lying dead in front of them. "That's one of the leaders of the Stalkers, AKA one of the most dangerous drug cartels to set up shop in Zootopia, and you just killed him. Shit. We fucked up. We fucked up big time." He started crying softly. "Oh Nick." Judy tried to comfort him, stroking his fur. "Everything is going to be OK. They won't know it was us, and even if they do, they don't know where we live. Besides, wouldn't the death of one of their higher ups and a lot of lower ranking mammals hurt them?" "I guess you're right." Nick said hesitantly. Just at that moment, the remaining law enforcement made their way back, along with some EMTs. As Judy was calming Nick down and convincing him nothing bad would happen, Officer Grazer's body was carried away, along with the dealer's body, who was later found out to be Josè
Maulson, a Columbian-born drug trafficker, dealer and cocaine maker who was in fact a higher up in the Stalkers, a drug cartel based in Mexico, as well as Central and South America. Judy and Nick exited the alley with their arms around each other, slowly walking to a police cruiser waiting for them.