SPOILER ALERTS: This Zootopia-Firefly crossover is essentially an adaptation of the Firefly episode "Serenity" (the original two-hour pilot episode) with Zootopia characters. It follows the plot of the original episode more closely in some places than in others, but it will contain plenty of spoilers. (I recommend that you avoid the spoilers by watching Firefly. There are only 14 episodes, roughly 10 hours total viewing time. But I am admittedly biased.)

Also, my choices of Zootopia characters may be spoilers for that movie. And my author notes might include spoilers for "A Solid Plan" (my first Zootopia fanfic), for other episodes of Firefly, and for the Big Damn Movie itself (Serenity).

"Fear! Treachery! Bloodlust!"

A pudgy, spotted paw nudged a small plastic bunny across the console. "Thousands of years ago, these were the forces that ruled our world."

The cheetah's other paw nudged a small plastic tiger across the console, moving it towards the bunny. "A world where prey feared predators. And predators had an uncontrollable, biological urge to maim and maul!"

He growled softly, grabbed the toy tiger, and struck the bunny with it. He struck the toy bunny again, and again. With a shrill melodramatic scream, he shook the small plastic bunny with his other paw. "Blood! Blood! Blood! And death!"

The pudgy cheetah waved the plastic tiger in the air and continued, "We will rule this land, and we will call it... Pred-topia!"

He started to growl again, but was interrupted by sudden alarms and flashing lights. He brushed his plastic toys off the bridge console and stared intently at its display. "Oh... Em... Goodness..."

In a remote part of the system, surrounded by the blackness of space, an abandoned cargo vessel drifted. Its large, boxy hull showed no obvious signs of damage, but its lights were dark, and none of its other systems offered any indication of life aboard. But in its shadow, a small Firefly-class transport ship waited. An overweight cheetah wearing a tropical shirt sat at its bridge console, playing with plastic toy animals. The smaller ship faced one of the larger vessel's many airlocks. Around that airlock, three mammals in space suits worked quickly. The largest, a cape buffalo, who was far more massive than the other two combined, handed tools to the smallest, a red fox. The fox nodded, and then all three looked away simultaneously. A blinding flash of light illuminated everything near the airlock, and then quickly faded. A large section of the airlock door drifted away.

The fox's voice sounded tinny and muffled over the radio, "Okay, one more time. What's the plan?"

The cape buffalo grunted, "Get the goods, get off the wreck, get back to Serenity."

The fox nodded, then shined his flashlight through the newly created opening. He noted three shipping containers floating inside. "Okay, let's do it."

Suddenly the cheetah's voice broke over the comm system. "Nick, we've got company! Alliance cruiser, and they're, like, right on top of us!"

The fox muttered an indistinct curse, then demanded, "Have they spotted us?"

"I... I don't know. How could I-"

"Have they hailed us?"

"Great. Another job blown," the massive cape buffalo grunted, "And this time-"

"It isn't blown yet, M'bogo," said the third mammal, a tigress. "I'm sure the captain's-"

"Shut up!" interjected the fox. "Benji, shut the ship down. Everything but tech and life support, Big Guy. Do it now!"

"Okay, Nick! Shutting down!"

The cheetah's paws flew across the console flipping switches, and he called on the ship's intercom. "Judy! JUDY! Shut it all down! Go to black!"

A gray doe bunny wearing grease-stained coveralls bounded towards the engine room, shouting back, "I got it! Going dark!"

In the engine room, the bunny flipped switches, disconnected cables, and then hopped up onto an overhead beam, where she could just reach one last switch. Everything went dark, and the machinery went silent. In the darkness, the bunny spoke softly.

"Okay, now I can't get down."

The team in space suits continued carefully maneuvering the precious containers out of the wrecked cargo vessel. After a few moments, Nick inquired, "Benji, what are they doing?"

Staring at the bridge console, Benjamin replied, "Nothing. They're just cruising along. They don't seem to be interested in us. In a few more minutes-"

Another alarm sounded on the console, and more lights blinked. "Oh... Em... Captain, they're running a sweep!"

Nick grimaced. "Prep the ship now, Big Guy. Fangmeyer, Bogo, move those crates, double-time."

Benjamin worked the console, shouting, "Judy, fire it up!" In the engine room, Judy flipped the switch in her paw. The lights came on and the machinery started humming back to life. She hopped frantically around the engine room, connecting cables and flipping switches.

In a sing-song voice, Nick said, "Help me, help me, help, she said."

On the bridge, Benjamin continued the sing-song, "Before the Alliance shoots me dead." He flipped a switch and announced, "The bunny is knocking."

Elsewhere, a vaguely bunny-shaped satellite orbited a small moon. Held together with duct tape and baling wire, the improvised device came to life. Its LED "eyes" glowed blue and red. Its antenna "ears" transmitted a recorded Alliance distress signal.

The unauthorized salvage crew quickly moved the three containers into their own ship's airlock. Nick hit a button, closing the airlock door behind them. A yellow light flashed, and then the three mammals and their cargo gently descended to the airlock floor.

The captain ordered, "We're on! Shake a tail, Big Guy! Everyone hold on!"

Serenity moved away from the wreck, rotated her bow away from the massive Alliance cruiser nearby, and engaged her main engine. With a burst of yellow light, the small transport ship quickly faded into the distance.

Judy descended the stairs to the cargo bay and welcomed the trio back as M'bogo carried all three heavy containers in from the airlock.

Benjamin's voice announced over the ship's intercom, "Ohhh Captainnn, we are shiny! They are NOT, repeat NOT, pursuing us. They seem to be responding to the distress signal."

The unsmiling tigress looked at her captain and sighed. "Close one, Sir."

M'bogo grunted, "At least we finally have a win."

With a practiced smile, Nick replied, "Right. We win."

Author Notes:

My first Zootopia fanfic used a Firefly quote to set the mood. While discussing unfinished versions with nburgin (my beta-reader), I ended up with an image in my head: At the end of the Big Damn Movie, the blast doors open to reveal... not River Tam, but Judy Hopps, a bloody weapon in each paw, the bodies of savage mammals piled around her. That mental image grew into a full-fledged plot bunny (no pun intended), which was the beginning of this Zootopia-Firefly crossover.

Clawhauser was the first Zootopia character I cast. I thought his cheerful, happy-go-lucky, non-action-guy character fit Wash's role beautifully. And the similarity between Wash's toy dinosaur monologue and young Judy's stage-play monologue gave me my story's opening.

Both Mal and Nick have tragic backstories, a deep need to belong to a family/pack, and a determination to face life's difficulties, whatever may come. Casting Nick as the ship's captain was my next decision.

Judy was next. I actually considered (at least briefly) casting her as each of the female Firefly characters:
Zoe - because Judy is Nick's ZPD partner, and she can take down a rhino.
Inara - for the WildeHopps ship and because bunnies have a certain reputation.
Kaylee - because of Judy's unquenchable "make the world a better place" optimism.
River - because Judy looks fragile and vulnerable, but she can take down a rhino.

I ended up deciding that Judy's "make the world a better place" optimism made her a better fit for Kaylee's role, so I changed her obsession with becoming a cop (which wouldn't have worked in a Firefly setting anyway) into a talent with all things mechanical. Alas, that means that my original mental image will never appear in the finished story. And my apologies to any WildeHopps fans, but Judy is more of a "kid sister" to Nick in this setting. (But who knows... Maybe I'll continue this crossover and adapt the episode "Shindig".)

Many thanks to Steefwaterbutter and RenkonNairu, my beta-readers. Their advice has been invaluable while I have been polishing (and rewriting) this story.

I hope you enjoy this fanfic, whether you're a fan of Zootopia, of Firefly, or of both.