Chapter 1 – Genesis of Light:

Author's Note:

Ah, Zootopia… I went in expecting nothing and I was pleasantly surprised by how good the movie was. So good that the moment I got home I actually looked for fanfiction. And the movie was young, so there wasn't much… but I had never considered writing something myself. Until Dracologistmaster provided me with the opportunity to help write a fic of his, I had started to really think about writing a Zootopia fic of my own. And here we are, plot ready and an outline all set. We're ready for liftoff. So, to set up the story a bit, we're picking up a few months after Nick joins the force. He and Judy have been getting along splendidly (nothing particularly romantic) and the duo make up one of the most effective teams in the ZPD. And now it falls on them to figure out who is behind all the disappearances in Little Rodentia… please, enjoy.

XXX

"A lunar eclipse… quite beautiful, don't you think?" a tired voice sounded in the darkness. Though the moon was gone, stars shone brightly in the sky, illuminating a small mammal laying on his back on a green hill.

Below him lay the hustle and bustle of a great city, light shining harshly in the darkness, dimming their ability to see the night sky. Which was why the mammal sat atop the hill, some ways away from the city. He wasn't quite far enough away to escape the sounds of the city, though he wasn't sure if he wanted to do such a thing.

The sounds were calming to him. They told a thousand stories all at once, if one had sharp enough ears to hear each tale that was told. Even if each song was a panicked cry into the night before it was replaced by a new sound, he could hear them all. A frantic worker trying to get home to spend what few free hours he had with his wife and kids. A woman on a date with a man she met at a bar, stepping into their apartment for what would surely be a night of passion. And a young boy, not even a few months old, falling asleep for what might be the last time, even if he couldn't comprehend such a notion.

He was at peace. He often needed a break from such a busy life, though he could never bring himself to go too far. It was a bond he was unwilling to sever. The mammal sat up in the soft grass, lab coat shifting underneath him. "I don't know why I bother speaking to you," he sighed.

New sounds hit his ears, and now he had his sight to back them up. How could sound alone make the city seem so beautiful, but the mere sight of the city reveal each and every dirty thief, shady corner, and backstreet dealer? How could something sound so magnificent, to rival nature itself, yet be so wretched at the same time? Sounds and sights of drug deals, murders, rapists… how did he miss these before?

He snorted to himself, he had changed the outcome by observing it. He laid back down, breaking his line of vision with the great city once more. And the violence and filth disappeared and was replaced with the typical hustle and bustle of a city. He would not make the decision of observing the city again.

But it was already too late for him, the sounds had been permanently tainted by his mistake. He could hear police sirens, gunshots, and the screams of victims as they fell to the ground, never to rise again. He groaned as he sat back up, drawing his legs up to his chest and resting his head on his knees, he was so far from peace now.

"It's not like you'd be able to respond," he muttered to himself as he observed the police cars parking around a single building. Dozens and dozens of officers piled out of their cars and walked up to the door. One officer held a piece of paper in her paws while the others carried mostly non-lethal weapons.

He observed through bleary eyes as the smallish officer rapped loudly on the building door, only to receive no response. Not that it mattered to the officer, she had a warrant. He turned away when the officers broke the door down and charged inside the building. His eyes shut tightly when he heard gunfire coming from the building, but he didn't dare turn towards it again.

He desperately tried to find something new to observe, but could find nothing void of atrocity. Crime ran rampant in the city, and only his keen hearing and eyes could see it. And only because he was now an outside observer. "Disgusting," he mumbled to himself.

It wasn't like he could do anything about it. The police focused on the big deals, drug busts, serial killers, missing mammals, they didn't have time for every snatched purse or lone drug dealer on a dimly lit street corner. One mammal alone couldn't make a difference, it wasn't like he was built for fighting crime.

"Perhaps it is because you never truly listen for me," a voice behind the mammal said, breaking the mammal's concentration. He whirled around, trying to find the speaker. Nothing, or so he thought. He squinted, trying to make out what he believed to be nothing more than a trick of his eyes. Two glowing orbs, hovering hardly a foot off the ground.

"Who's there?" he asked nervously. He risked a glance down by his side to see his faithful, silent companion gone. Where did he go? He barely had time to wonder as the voice spoke again.

"I am. You should know… you brought me here." The mammal narrowed his eyes when he saw something hiding in the shadows, a shifting mass of darkness with two glowing emerald eyes. "Don't look so surprised, this is what you've always wanted, isn't it?"

The mammal gulped slightly, was he going insane? "What do you mean?" he asked the writhing shadow, receiving a hissing chuckle in reply. The mammal growled something incomprehensible, causing the chuckle to escalate into laughter, those emerald eyes never breaking eye contact with the mammal. Never blinking.

"Come now, doctor, we both know you have no one. Well, no one to talk to. They laugh at you and cast you out, that's why you're here, aren't you? This is where you go to get away," the being said with a slight lisp in its words.

"I don't have no one… I have you," the mammal said, spinning around to face the being.

"I hardly count as a friend. You're still alone," another hissing chuckle escaped the being's lips.

The mammal ground his teeth together in frustration. "Have you been able to speak this entire time?" he growled at the shadow.

"Of course."

"Then why wait so long to say anything? I took care of you and all your comrades when no one else would. Don't you think I deserve a bit of recognition? Even if it was just a single word of thanks, it would be enough," the mammal sighed.

"We needed to be sure you were the one. Our last caretaker… was not as kind as you are. Surely you can understand our hesitance to say anything," the being hissed.

"I… I guess I'll take that as a compliment. But that still doesn't explain the major scientific breakthroughs that can be made… now that I know you can talk," the mammal grinned as his eyes lit up with visions of a perfect future. Fame, fortune, recognition beyond his wildest dreams. And yet, here it sat before him.

"See, that's the mistake our last caretaker had made. We don't want to be noticed, we want to stay hidden," the being hissed angrily, voice deep with frustration. As if regretting its decision.

"Why? Wouldn't you rather be free of those cages forever?" the mammal pondered aloud. Is this why the caged bird sings? Because it knows it can never be free.

"That comes later… we want you to do something else for us," the being explained, moving from the darkness, though its emerald eyes never stopped glowing. The mammal watched the shadow move passed him and stop on the edge of the hill.

The mammal scooted so that he now sat next to the being, looking down on the city. He could see the officers that had breached the building dragging out a dozen or so criminals, hundreds of pounds of drugs, and millions of dollars in cash. He watched the criminals being stuffed into a large van, the smallish officer shutting the door on their fates and tapping the side of the vehicle, ordering it to drive the offenders to the prison.

"This world is rotting, my dear doctor," came the soft hiss from the being. It seemed so disappointed with the state of things, quite the opposite of what the mammal would've thought. "The empire of mammals will fall, just as theirs did, and soon, our time to rise will come. For now, we must patiently lay low."

"Then why risk yourself by telling me? Aren't you blowing your cover?" the mammal asked. He didn't plan to betray the being, but the being couldn't be sure of that… could it? He turned back to the officers celebrating their big bust, slapping paws together and congratulating the smallish officer on her performance.

"We need you for something important," the being hissed. The mammal raised an eyebrow as he heard the being shift. He turned to see if the being had left him behind, but was met with the nightmare's face in his own.

The nightmare's eyes were vivid and mesmerizing, drawing him in and forcing him to lock eyes with that eternal emerald stare. "What is it that you need?" the mammal asked slowly, not even flinching when the being pressed its face harder against his own.

Not a hint of emotion was betrayed by those eyes as it sucked the mammal in deeper. "Feed us," it hissed.

XXX

Her eyes snapped open at the sound of her alarm. She blinked rapidly as sunlight shone through the window, casting light into her little apartment. She sat up and stretched, putting a smile on her face, setting her mood for the day.

They had told her that she could take the day off if she wanted, but she didn't want to take the day off. That would leave her partner alone in the precinct, and she knew she couldn't do that to him. Plus, she wanted to be there to hand in her report personally. And praise from the chief was never a bad thing.

She went about readying herself for the day, showering and getting dressed. She knew that she could've upgraded to a larger apartment in a better part of town, but the little shoebox of a room had grown on her. So, she decided to stay at least until the end of the year.

She slipped on the chest plate of her armor over her head and attached the badge to it, polishing it with the back of her paw. It gleamed in the sunlight, casting a bright spot onto the dark wall. She grinned and headed towards the door, but halted after she opened it.

She had nearly forgotten, causing her to let out a deep sigh. It was the one part of the job she didn't like. She shut the door to her apartment and walked slowly over to her desk, spotting the object she had nearly left without. A gun lay, not quite forgotten, inside of its holster on the wooden desk.

She gripped the weapon through the holster, hesitating before snapping it to her belt. She didn't want to admit that things had gotten so bad that she needed to carry one around. While many of the officers were large enough that they could get away with hand-to-hand combat or batons, she was too small to be considered effective without a ranged weapon of some sort. Although a few of the officers carried Tasers or tranq guns, she and her partner were the only officers on the force who carried live ammo.

And she hated it. She hated having to carry the weapon. She hated having to put in hours at a shooting range every month. She hated seeing that fear go through her target's eyes as they realized that she carried a real weapon. The Glock-22R, made for rabbits, by rabbits. Although it would be less than effective against something as thick-skinned as an elephant or rhino, it could put down even large tigers and wolves.

She hated that she loved the power by her side. Most officers were forbidden from carrying guns because they could be taken and used by nearly any criminal or ne'er-do-well they would come across. But her weapon could only be used by rabbits, and, though she hated to say this, there just weren't any rabbit criminals.

She hated that it was the weapon by her side that made her an effective officer. Without it, she would be limited to criminals smaller than foxes. Though she was fast and smart, and she was never without her partner, she just couldn't deal with the typical foe. But the moment she drew the gun, it was over. No animal was stupid enough to try and outrun a speeding bullet. She was at least thankful she never had to shoot anyone… but she wasn't sure what would happen after she was forced to.

She took a deep breath and put on another smile, though this one noticeably more forced than the last. She stepped out of her apartment and made her way to the precinct. The one plus of her apartment was the close proximity to the precinct. So much so that she could just walk to the building. She never needed a car of her own.

That reluctant smile on her face widened immediately as she laid eyes on the precinct. The building was as huge as it was beautiful. She hopped up the steps and entered the building, glancing around as she did, looking for her partner. She let out a sigh, but it didn't diminish her chipper attitude.

She made her way over to the front desk, intent on striking up a conversation with the man sitting behind it as she waited for her partner to stroll through the doors. Late, as always. "Good morning, Clawhauser," she said, stretching out the word 'good.'

The cheetah in question looked over his desk at the small rabbit, shoving a donut in his mouth as he did. "Good morning, officer Hopps!" he said, spraying crumbs as he spoke. She gave him a deadpan look, brushing the crumbs off her, causing him to cover his mouth. He swallowed loudly, "Sorry."

Her ears stood tall as she shot him a kind smile, "No worries." It wasn't the first, nor would it be the last, time he had sprayed her with crumbs. It was kind of… endearing, she believed. The chubby receptionist was her first friend at the precinct, and she would never complain about his messy eating habits.

"What do you think, late as usual or early?" Clawhauser questioned with a smile, the tip of his tail flicking excitedly. "Five bucks says today is the day he comes in early."

"My money is on late as always," Judy said with a knowing smile. The day that fox came in early was the day chief Bogo was in a good mood, for once. The two stared intently at the door, waiting to see who would walk through. It had become a daily ritual for the two of them the moment they realized Nick had never once been on time. Judy had never lost the bet.

Her ears pricked when she heard another loud swallow and a groan. She rolled her eyes, Clawhauser had ran out of donuts. "Hey, Judy," she heard Clawhauser say, causing her to tear her eyes away from the door and look up at him.

"Yes?" she asked, glancing back at the door, but only for a moment. There was still five minutes until she needed to be in the Bullpen. She usually spent that time waiting for Nick to see if he'd actually show up, though he never did.

"Why'd you come in today? Don't you have the day off?" he asked, rummaging around inside of the desk he sat at. He didn't bother to look, he knew the contents of the desk by heart. He pulled out a bottle of soda and popped the top before procuring a straw to suck down the sugary liquid.

"You mean they gave me the day off, doesn't mean I have to take it. Besides, you know I'd rather be here than at home," she sighed. Clawhauser giggled something incomprehensible, though Judy swore she heard the word Nick in his mumbling. She glared at him, causing him to slap his paws over his mouth.

She didn't need to be a detective to figure out Clawhauser had made a passing comment towards her partner. It was no secret the rabbit and fox combo was an odd choice, even if they did turn out to be one of the most effective duos in the force. The fact the two of them were inseparable gave rise to dozens of different rumors, ones that, if turned out to be true, could get both of them in a lot of trouble.

That didn't stop Clawhauser from spreading them. They were untrue, of course, but the cheetah could dream. "Why do you have to be scary all the time?" Clawhauser whined, refusing to move his paws from his mouth.

She smirked, her "death glare," as Nick called it, could strike fear in the hearts of even the toughest mammals. Usually. Nick had grown used to it, though he sometimes pretended to be afraid. She could see right through him, however, but never said anything. In truth, she loved the power, even more than the weapon by her side brought.

"Because you won't stop with me and Nick," she sighed. She rolled her eyes again when he let out another bout of giggling. He was incurable. She turned back to the doors just in time to see it open, but it wasn't her partner walking through the doors.

She shook her head, his time was up. She waved goodbye to Clawhauser and headed towards the Bullpen. The other officers had long since stopped glaring at her whenever she entered the room, instead completely ignoring her presence. In truth, she often wished for just a glance of contempt, something was still better than nothing, she quickly learned.

She wasn't special. She was a good cop, yes, a damn good cop, but she was only one bunny. That arrogant, prideful side of her demanded the other cops to praise her, pay attention to her, recognize her in any way because of her achievements. But they would do no such thing. To them, she just… was. Nothing more. Nothing less.

At least she had her partner, Nick. While separately they were outcasts among the other officers, at least they had each other. Speaking of Nick… where is that fox? Judy wondered quietly as she shifted in her seat.

Bogo had arrived and started making his daily announcements, but there was no sign of the fox. He was usually here by now. She felt so exposed without him by her side, as the two of them were small enough to share an entire seat. Did something happen to him? She let out a deep breath, trying to stay calm. He was just later than usual, he was fine. Clawhauser should owe her double for this.

She began to panic as Bogo handed out assignments. She desperately glanced around the room, hoping that he was leaning against one of the walls, just trying to set her off. But she could not find him. Her ears flattened against her head as she bit her lip, foot tapping wildly against her will. She was so distracted, she didn't notice she was the last one in the room, besides Bogo.

"Hopps!" the chief's commanding voice broke her out of her panicked state. She locked eyes with him, her nose twitching ever so slightly in annoyance. Nick was not here. He let out a tired sigh when he realized he had her attention, "You were supposed to take the day off, Hopps."

She didn't answer him verbally, only shaking her head a resounding no. She had never taken a day off, and she didn't plan to take one any time in the future. "Well, since you're here, we got a report earlier this morning about a missing mammal in Little Rodentia. I was going to give it to you in a few days, because technically we can't call him missing until forty-eight hours have passed, and you were supposed to take today off, but here you are, so here you go," Bogo said as he walked to the table she sat at, and placed a file down in front of her.

"At the very least, I want you to gather some preliminary information while we wait for the forty-eight-hour mark to pass. Then we can launch a full investigation," he explained, walking away from her.

"Wait! Sir," Judy called out before he disappeared through the door. He looked over his shoulder with a grunt of annoyance, but she continued with her question nevertheless, "Where is officer Wilde?"

"He seems to think that the day off I offered you extended to him as well. Drag his ass out of bed and put him to work, will you?" he ordered, leaving the room.

"Yes sir," she mumbled. Why did Nick take the day off? Surely he knew that she would never do such a thing. Still… I hope he's all right.

XXX

Nick didn't live too far away from the precinct, she could've walked if she wanted to. However, she would be going straight to work after she picked him up, so it was more convenient to drive the police car. Traffic was always atrocious this early in the morning, slowing her down. She almost considered flashing her sirens to get her through the jam.

That would be abusing my authority, she immediately told herself, causing her to move her hand away from the button that activated the sirens. She would just have to be patient and wait out the traffic. She heard someone honking loudly behind her, but she refrained from turning around and yelling at the driver.

She let out a sigh as she eventually fought her way through traffic and pulled up in front of Nick's apartment. She pulled the key out of the ignition and leaned back in her seat. She had wasted nearly an hour trying to get to Nick. Perhaps it would've been better to walk to his apartment and walk back to the precinct to get the car… even if it did seem redundant.

She made it into the apartment complex before realizing she had never actually been in Nick's new apartment. She had been in his old apartment, which was even worse than hers. Old and ratty, wallpaper tearing from the edges, and mystery stains on the floor. She knew that he had moved only a week ago to the new apartment, which had the added bonus of being closer to the precinct. His old apartment had been miles away, but this one was only a few blocks. Not that it made any difference in traffic.

He had invited her several times, but she had always been too busy to visit. She walked up to the door and buzzed for Nick's room. Hopefully Nick would be awake and she wouldn't actually have to go up to his room. That would only give the rumors some truth… and Clawhauser would have a fit when he found out.

She waited a full minute before letting out a sigh. Nick must be asleep. At least he better be asleep, she growled under her breath as she buzzed the room next to Nick's. "What?" a voice growled over the system.

She took a deep breath, briefly considering if this was a breach of her authority, but decided that Bogo had ordered her to bring Nick in for work. By any means necessary. "This is officer Judy Hopps, I need to be let into the building," she said stiffly.

It was silent for a moment before the voice finally said, "You're about six hours too late, officer."

She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"My noise complaints, you're about six hours too late to arrest my loud ass neighbor. That's what you're here to do right? Drag that damn lion out of his apartment and get him to shut the hell up! I mean… three in the morning is outrageous!" the voice growled loudly.

"Uh… I don't know anything about a noise complaint, I'm here for your other neighbor," she explained. Though maybe I could have a word with his neighbor, three in the morning is a bit too much… she promised herself.

"Oh," the voice trailed off, realizing that he had made a wrong assumption. "What did he do?"

"Dodging work, I'm afraid," she grinned.

"Oh, damn," the voice muttered before she heard the tell-tale click of the front door being unlocked. She opened the door and made her way through the lobby, drawing stares as she went. She ignored them, she was used to the stares.

She stepped onto the elevator and hit the button for Nick's floor. She silently repeated to herself Nick's room number, that way she didn't embarrass herself by knocking on the wrong door. Or get his neighbors unnecessarily worried about him.

She marched straight over to his door the moment she stepped off the elevator. "Hey… isn't Nick a cop too?" a voice drew her attention to the door to her left. She saw a raccoon leaning on his doorway, chewing on a straw.

"And he doesn't have the day off," she snorted, rapping loudly on Nick's door. It was silent for a few minutes as they waited to see if Nick would answer his door. Nothing. She growled something and knocked louder, shouting, "Nick!" as she did.

Still nothing. She let out a sigh as the raccoon to her left chuckled. "Yeah, I didn't think so, hold on a moment… I've got a spare key," he disappeared into his apartment, leaving Judy alone outside of Nick's room.

He reappeared not a minute later, key in hand. "Are you sure Nick would want you using that key to let someone into his apartment?" she asked. She wasn't used to people being cooperative, or even remotely helpful, during investigations.

The raccoon snorted, "Your Judy Hopps, right?" She nodded slowly, unsure of what point he was trying to make. "Nick talks about you all the time. You're his partner, aren't you?"

She nodded, before pausing, "For work, yes." She didn't want the raccoon to get the wrong idea.

The raccoon in question raised an eyebrow as he unlocked Nick's door. "You get that a lot?" he asked.

She sucked in a deep breath before letting it out in a loud sigh, "You have no idea." The lock clicked and she pushed the door open, but halted when she heard the raccoon clear his throat loudly.

"I'm sorry… but do you think you could still have a word with my other neighbor? He's just… way too loud too late in the night," he smiled weakly, rubbing his tired eyes.

Judy thought for a moment before pulling out her notebook and wrote her work number on the paper. She tore it off the rest of the book and handed it to the raccoon, "Call me the next time he's being a bit too loud and I'll see what I can do."

He grinned and thanked her before walking back into his room, shutting the door behind him. Oh… now he's going to wake me up at three in the morning, she realized. But she shrugged it off. She was willing to sacrifice her sleep if it meant she could help someone.

She walked into Nick's apartment expecting the worst. Although she was doubtful he was entirely responsible for the reprehensible state of his previous abode, she was surprised to see how clean the apartment was. I can actually see the floor…

And it was a nice place. Unlike hers, which only had two rooms, a bedroom and a bathroom, Nick's apartment had a living room and a small kitchen area. As she marveled at the size of the apartment, a scent reached her nose, causing it to wrinkle in disgust. She made her way through Nick's living room, trying to figure out where that awful smell was coming from.

That's when she found him, lying on his couch, completely knocked out. She rolled her eyes when she noticed that he still had his television on. As she reached for the remote on the side table she noticed the cigarette sitting, still smoking, in an ash tray. Her eye twitched as she shut the television off.

"Nick," she said, nudging him. He only mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'not now, sex bunny' before turning over in his sleep so that his face was pressed into the back of the couch. She let out an exasperated sigh before saying louder, "Nick!"

He let out a groan, shifting and stretching out. She sucked in a deep breath, planning on shouting even louder, but he beat her to the punch, "Shrill, piercing, and annoying… carrots?" He didn't move from his laying position, nor did he turn to look at her. His voice was muffled from pressing his face against the back of the couch.

"Yeah, it's carrots," Judy sighed, not even bothering to argue with him. "We have a job to do, so get your butt moving! And since when do you smoke?" she tacked on at the end.

He didn't move. "Only after a long night. And we don't have a job to do, we have the day off," he groaned, curling tighter into himself.

"I have the day off, and I'm not taking it, you and I still have a job to do," she sighed. Bogo was right, Nick did think the offer had extended to him as well. "There's a missing mammal in Little Rodentia and we need to get down there for some preliminary interviews."

Nick let out another moan before saying, "Go without me… I'm sick."

"Or hungover," she growled, looking over at his coffee table to see bottles of alcohol strewn about the glass table. I suppose he has a right to celebrate, especially after that big bust last night, she reasoned.

She didn't smoke because she found the smell to be intolerable, and she never wanted to get used to it. She didn't drink because, as a rabbit, she couldn't hold her liquor. It was safer for everyone if the light-weight rabbit didn't drink especially with a gun at her hip.

"…Most likely," came the hesitant reply. At least he admits it, she growled to herself. But she wouldn't just let him sit here and rot on his couch. They had a job to do.

"Officer Nick Wilde, I'm going to give you ten minutes to shower, get in uniform, and meet me in the lobby. Do I make myself clear?" she said sternly. It was her "authoritative" tone that was usually reserved for suspects and witnesses… and the occasional neighbor to let her into her partner's building.

"Oh, come on… let me take a sick day," he groaned, rolling over to face her. His bleary eyes shot her a pleading glance, one that she found difficult to ignore. But she remained strong.

"Do I make myself clear?" she asked again. It wasn't often she pulled seniority over her partner, but he would keep complaining unless she did.

"Yes carrots…" he trailed off. He pushed himself off the couch, pushing the blanket off his form, revealing he was only wearing boxers. She nodded and marched towards the exit of his apartment.

"Ten minutes, Nick," she reminded him before shutting the door behind her. He let out a loud groan before setting about preparing for the day. He considered skipping the shower, she did only give him ten minutes, but one whiff of his cigarette-infused fur changed his mind quickly.

XXX

And there we go! First chapter done. Ah, I'm really excited about this story. It's turning out great… in my head. There's still the writing it all down part that I have to do. I would like to thank Dracologistmaster for inspiring me, and helping along the way. In any case, stay tuned for the next chapter!