PROLOGUE

The Mongoose in Red

The air was thick with dust, and his nose itched relentlessly against the sand-peppered breeze. Fighting the urge to sneeze, he tightened his grip on the tranquilizer gun and stalked towards the southeast entrance of the warehouse. The old abandoned building had a macabre sense of abandonment about it, reminding Nick of old noir mafia films. A smirk flickered across his muzzle as he thought of how cliché the whole thing was. A police raid on an old abandoned warehouse, in the dead of night. Then again, clichés had to come from somewhere.

The moon hung low in the sky, barely bright enough for most mammals to see clearly. For Nick though, it might as well have been noon. He watched with keen eyes as the other SWAT teams headed towards their objectives. He led Delgato and Fangmeyer towards their own designated entrance with ease and confidence, silent in the still of night. It was a simple task. Wait for the signal, bust in, and subdue any suspects within. After that, it was up to the sniffers to dig up any incriminating evidence. All in all, a simple, if exciting, day at work.

As he arrived at the door, his thoughts once more focused on the task at paw as he took point, signaling to his team to stay low and follow tight. Nick breathed deep. Everything was set. His team was at the door, and all he had to do was wait for Hopps to give the signal. Nick reached towards his belt where he stashed his flash grenades, but thought better of it. It would probably hinder him in the end. Once more he smirked as he cocked his gun. He was a better shot in the dark anyways.

He could feel the adrenaline rushing through his bloodstream, hear the frantic pumping of his heart within his chest. Time seemed to slow down, and he could sense every detail, hear every whisper. The thrill was unique, but it was always enjoyable. A year ago, he would have felt the same rush after getting away with a risky scam. Now, he was on the opposite side of the law, and loving every minute of it.

"All teams in position?" Came the tinny voice of Judy Hopps. Nick's ears twitched as the other teams sounded out, each and every one of them already in position and ready to move in.

"Foxtrot in position at Southeast entrance, over."

"Confirmed, move in on my count…"

Nick felt his lips curling instinctively, baring his fangs. If he were brutally honest, he had to admit that he loved this part of the job. He blamed Judy for it. The incredible sense of accomplishment of bagging the bad guys was unlike any other. And darting them had its perks, too.

"Ready… All teams move in! Go! Go! Go!"

Nick signaled Delgato, who moved forward and aimed a vicious kick at the door. The force sent it reeling at the hinges and Nick scurried in, looking down the sight of his gun and searching for his prey.

All around him he could hear scuffles and shouts of "Police! Stand down!" But he was focused on his task, and he deftly maneuvered his way across the cluttered containers and broken down machinery.

The inside of the warehouse was dimly illuminated by a few rays of moonlight snaking through old, greasy window panes, and a few hanging lights here and there. It looked to have been a packaging plant at one point, seemingly abandoned to the ravages of time in the middle of a busy day of work, with rusting metal machines and rotting boxes and crates strew haphazardly throughout the building.

But Nick had made his way through worse dumps than this before. And now, with the police academy under his belt, and already a good couple of months on the force, weaving through the dense, dark environment seemed like a walk in the park. His focus was entirely on reaching his objective: center mass.

By now, Judy would have broken through from the opposite end of the warehouse. Judging on his squad's brisk pace, he figured they would meet in the middle. With two fronts, pincering in the main group of suspects should be a cinch.

Thankfully, Nick heard no signs of any serious struggle, and best of all, not a single shot. Glancing to his left as he ran, he spotted Rhinowitz and one of the hogs from TUSK taking down a heavy-set brown bear, cuffing him while they read him his rights. But something caught his attention. Nick slowed down just enough to catch the slightest glimpse of the bear's face, and saw that he was smiling smugly. Something about that smile rubbed him the wrong way, but he quickly shook his head clear, and kept sprinting. He had a job to do. He could worry about smiling bears later.

Nick finally spotted a cluster of mammals gathered around a table, large wooden crates stacked up all around them, the only things that didn't look as though they belonged in an incinerator. The mammals, however, didn't seem overly concerned. They seemed to be waiting for them. Nick smirked, feeling confident. This would be easier than he had thought.

Nick raised his gun, scanning the menagerie of mammals before him. None were familiar, and none looked too friendly. Still, no sudden moves so far. That was always a welcome surprise.

"ZPD! Get on the ground, now! Spread your arms, let me see your paws!" Nick shouted, Fangmeyer and Delgato copying his actions, shoving a few of the more resistant mammals down on the ground.

In the midst of the chaos, Nick spotted a single mammal still standing, resolutely ignoring his orders, and made his way towards her. He recognized her as a mongoose, nearly as tall as he was, impeccably dressed in a scarlet silk suit, accenting her feminine figure. Her fur appeared slick and clean, almost reflective, and her face bore a disinterested expression. He immediately disliked her, reminding him too much of himself in a different time.

As he approached her, she spoke in a strange accent, calmly and pleasantly.

"Officer, you're making a rather unfortunate mistake, I'm afraid…"

Nick grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around, immediately grabbing her paws and locking them behind her back as she protested.

"Only mistake I see is right in front of me. Silk is so last fall. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used-"

"You have no idea who you're dealing with, do you?" The mongoose interrupted him, her voice carrying a bit of a snarl. Just as he was about to reply, he spotted movement from the opposite end of the crates, and turned just in time to see Judy and Wolford enter the scene, guns at the ready. Nick smiled.

"About time, Carrots! I thought you bunnies were supposed to be fast," Nick teased just as she spotted him. She flashed him a competitive smirk, holstering her gun and grabbing her own set of cuffs.

"Can it, slick. I'm only late because I had to help Higgins fit through the door. What's your excuse?"

Nick merely shook his head, chuckling. "No excuses, Carrots. I won fair and square. Coffee's on you for a week."

"You two bet on a raid?" Came the incredulous but amused voice of Wolford from somewhere behind them as he handcuffed a resigned-looking horse.

"Of course not. Just on who got to their objective first. Now, what do we have here?" Judy asked, making her way towards Nick, her ears perked and alert. Nick moved his captive to the side, letting his partner get a look at the rebellious mongoose.

The mongoose twisted her face towards Judy, her false smile projecting nothing but disdain.

"Ah, the famous rabbit officer. I should have known." She said, with only the slightest venom permeating her honeyed voice. Nick tightened his grip on the handcuffs, and began to walk her towards one of the crates, Judy falling in line with her as she looked back towards Nick.

"This is the ringleader?" She asked, the mongoose hissing as she almost tripped on one of her comrades still lying on the floor.

"It would seem so. Either that, or this weasel has a pathological need for attention." Nick said, smirking at his perp. She growled at his remark, and his smirk only grew wider. If there was something he was good at, it was pressing mammals' buttons.

"I am a mongoose, you ignorant canine. My name is Christina Whitfur, and you are invading my property. I hope for your sakes that you have a warrant…"

"Well no, actually." Judy interrupting, casting a sly look towards Nick. "We usually just make a habit of breaking into old warehouses for fun."

"As a matter of fact, yours is the third one this week." Nick said, playing along. "Honestly, it's a little drab for my tastes. The other two were much nicer."

Judy chuckled, which only infuriated the mongoose even further. With a final shove, they arrived rather unceremoniously at one of the crates surrounding them while the rest of their fellow officers continued with their arrests.

Twisting her around to face her, Nick presented his trademark smirk and looked at her through half-lidded eyes.

"Well then, Ms. Whitfur, since we actually do have a warrant, and are going to arrest you anyway, want to make things a bit easier on us and just tell us what's in all of these crates?" Nick asked smoothly as Judy smugly produced the warrant for their forced entry.

Whitfur, however, did something Nick did not expect. She smiled, revealing sharp canines, and looked at him with utter confidence. Something didn't sit well with Nick at all. That was the second sign so far.

"Officers, you are making a grave mistake, I'm afraid. But seeing as how I am a reasonable mammal, I will give you one chance to release me, and leave these premises. I promise not to seek legal action against you or your police department."

Something in the back of Nick's mind told him that they'd already lost. Whitfur had also realized as much. Her smile grew wider with his stunned silence. But Judy was another matter entirely.

"Fine then," Judy said, grabbing at the lid of one of the crates, "We'll just have to add refusal to cooperate to your ledger. Pity."

As Judy began to lift the lid, Nick began to smell a peculiar scent in the air. It tugged at a distant memory, but he couldn't place it. Still, it rubbed his fur the wrong way, and he knew to trust his instincts… most of the time…

"Um, Carrots…?"

Judy ignored him and lifted the lid clean off, revealing rows upon rows of neatly packed plastic packages filled with a pale blue substance. Judy and Nick both stared in amazement at the sheer quantity of the strange cerulean powder.

Nick furrowed his brow, trying to think. Something was eerily familiar here, yet he'd never seen anything like it before. A shudder ran down his spine as the mongoose began to chuckle. Judy turned towards Nick, and her expression probably mirrored his. They were in uncharted waters now.

"Very well, officers. You've just signed your resignations. I shall cooperate for now. Shall we go and speak with your chief?"

Nick felt the sudden urge to growl, but swallowed it, not wanting to release the anger he felt at that moment. They'd been tricked, played right into this shifty little mongoose's paws. And the worst part was that Nick still couldn't understand how.

He remained standing there, dazed, until finally Judy grabbed Whitfur by her arm and began to take her away.

"Come on, Nick. Let's go. The chief needs to see this." She mumbled, apparently just as struck as he was.

With one last glance towards the crates and their strange, powdery contents, Nick turned and paced after Judy, ignoring the jumble of sounds of his fellow officers making their arrests. Absentmindedly, Nick grabbed his radio, clutching it nervously in his paw.

"Chief, this is Wilde. You there?"

"What is it, Wilde?" Came the eternally-annoyed voice through the radio's tiny speaker.

"We rounded up the suspects, and secured the warehouse, but… well, I think you need to see this for yourself, Chief." His voice was haggard, no trace of confidence left.

The radio went silent for a while before the chief finally spoke again, his voice much quieter this time.

"Understood. I'm headed there now."

"Oh, and Chief? Might want to get someone from Biohazards… just in case."

The radio was silent after that, and Nick slowly paced after Judy and her perp as she read Whitfur her rights. As he watched, the mongoose twisted slightly and looked back at him, showing him a bright smile, and a dangerous glint in her eyes. Despite being the larger predator, Nick felt as meek as prey beneath her dark gaze.

Something was definitely wrong. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Author's note: Greetings! Welcome to the show! First off, introductions. I'm a relatively inexperienced writer, and completely new to the fandom. I've loved Zootopia since the first time I watched it, back when it first came out, and I just couldn't get enough of it. After reading dozens of some of the great fanfiction stories so many wonderful author's have written, I thought I'd take a crack at it.

However, I've had the tendency to abandon some of my projects without ever finishing them. So this time, I decided to do something different. You see, I wrote this chapter about a year ago, and I promised myself that I wouldn't upload a single word of this story until I finished writing the finale. So as you can probably guess, I finally finished the story! I won't reveal how long it is, or when it ends, but I can guarantee you that THIS story is finished!

Still, for the sake of showmanship, I'll be uploading a new chapter every 7 - 10 days, depending on if I remember to do it or not! That's a promise! In any case, I hope you enjoy the story, and feel free to leave your comments, reviews, or even PM me if you'd like! I love the fandom, and I hope to become a part of it with this story.

And last but certainly not least, A great, big, enormous shout-out to my dear friend and editor, and the person without whom I never would have completed this project... AZDGARI! A brilliant writer, a great editor, and a wonderful friend. Cheers, mate! This one's for you!