Arriving at Precinct One, Vex walked into the building to come face-to-face with ZPD's front desk assistant and dispatch officer, Benjamin Clawhauser.
"Oh hi Vex!" Clawhauser said, giving a wave to the bat as he munched down on a donut.
"Sup Ben," Vex replied, giving the cheetah a wave.
"So, Chief called you in today?" Clawhauser asked, resting his head on his hand.
"Yep. It seems that my expertise is needed," the bat said, walking off towards the bullpen. "Catch you later!"
Walking into the bullpen (having to fly up to reach the doorknob), Vex was greeted with the usual sight of all of the ZPD officers, giving a silent greeting to each he past. Going up to the front of the room, he was surprised to find a bunny sitting where he would normally be sitting.
"Hey!" Vex shouted, getting the bunny's attention. "That's normally where I sit."
"Oh, sorry sir, it's just that I needed a seat where I could clearly see the front," she said apologetically.
"It's fine, I understand," Vex replied, "us smaller mammals were not really accommodated for these seats. When can share one for today." Flying up to join her on the chair, Vex blinked as he noticed her purple eyes. "Hey, aren't you that bunny cop from TV earlier this week?"
"Yep! Officer Judy Hopps, ready to make the world a better place!" she announced, giving a straight-standing solute.
"Vergil Vespertilio, Interpol officer in the Zootopia jurisdiction," Vex said, shaking the rabbit's hand. "Everyone calls me Vex, by the way."
As the two exchanged pleasantries, Officer Higgins, a hippopotamus, gave a Ten-hut to call everyone to attention as Chief of Police, Bogo, entered to room. The Cape Buffalo took a stand behind his podium as everyone started to pound on their desks in anticipation.
"Alright. Alright!" Bogo shouted, getting everyone to be quiet. "Sit down." The officers complied, though Judy had to stand to see over the desktop. "I've got three items on the docket. First... we need to acknowledge the elephant in the room." As he said that, everyone turned to the elephant officer. "Francine- happy birthday."
Everyone cheered and clapped for their fellow officer, with Francine giving a tiger officer a noogie.
"Number two; there are some new recruits with us I should introduce, but I'm not going to because I don't care," Bogo continued. "Finally; we have fourteen missing mammal cases - all predators - from a giant polar bear to a teensy little otter, and City Hall is right up my tail to find them! This is priority number one." Officer Higgins handed Bogo files for the day's assignments, the buffalo putting on his reading glasses to properly read the fine print. "Assignments: Officers Grizzoli, Fangmeyer, Delgato; your teams take missing mammals from the Rainforest District. Officers McHorn, Rhinowitz, Wolfard; your teams take Sahara Square. Officers Higgins, Snarlov, Trunkaby: Tundratown."
As all of the assignments were handed out, only Judy and Vex were left in the room as the other officers left for their job.
"And finally, our first bunny; Officer Hopps," Bogo said, looking straight at Judy. "While I would be putting you on parking duty, instead I will be assigning you to go with Officer Vespertilio to go gather information from city hall. If the Mayor wants this case solved so badly, then we'll need him to comply with us as well."
"Yes sir!" Judy said, giving a solute as Bogo just snorted and left the room. The bunny turned to Vex with a smile on her face. "I can't believe it! This is my first big case! We're going to crack it wide open, I know it!"
"Calm yourself, Hopps," Vex said, "all we're doing is talking to the Mayor, if he's even willing to talk." Pulling out his phone, the bat dialed a number, putting it to his ear as the mammal on the other line picked up. "Hello, Bellwether? Yeah, this is Officer Vespertilio of Interpol, do you have a time open for some questions? Uh huh, all right, thanks." He looked to Judy, putting his phone away. "Alright, country girl, let an old pro show you the ropes of the city."
[***]
Going to the mayor's office at city hall, the two cops were brought to Mayor Lionheart's office, where he was waiting for them to arrive.
"Well if it isn't our city's first rabbit officer and our very own Interpol officer," Lionheart said, smiling widely. "What brings you two to my office today?"
"We're here about the missing mammals case, Mayor," Judy stated.
The lion's smile instantly vanished. "I see. Well, I don't think I'll be of much help, considering that no one I know has gone missing."
"There's another reason we came here, Mr.' Mayor," Vex said. "There's reason to believe that all of these cases are connected, due to each one of the missing mammals being of the predator classification. I just thought it would be best for you to be on your guard in case whoever is doing this tries to go after you."
"Well I can assure you that I have security near me at every point during my day," Lionheart stated, gesturing to the two wolf guards at his door. "So, if that's everything you two need, then have Bogo call me up next time he needs something."
As the two officers left, Vex grumbled to himself and pulled out his phone. "Well, I'll call the chief to tell him that we've got nothing new for the case. Judy, why don't you go outside and make sure the cruiser is warmed up."
The bunny nodded as she left with the car keys, leaving Vex to give a call up to the Chief for an update on the situation. After the call, the bat turned to leave, only to encounter a sheep in a dress and glasses.
"Vex!" Assistant Mayor Bellwether exclaimed, pulling the bat into a hug.
"Bellwether, how are you?" Vex asked, pulling out of the hug. "So, how's the valedictorian of our school doing as the assistant mayor?"
"Oh, I mostly just do paper work for Lionheart," the sheep answered, "nothing special. I do have a new boyfriend, though."
"Ah, so you final asked Leodore out, then," Vex teased. "What was it you and the girls called him in High School? 'Lion-Hunk'?"
The sheep blushed furiously from the bat's words. "What? Oh, no-no-no-no-no, I could never ask Lionheart out. He's my boss now, do you know how weird that would be?"
"Don't knock it till you try it," Vex said, "this is Zootopia, after all, where anyone can be anything." He laughed a bit as he started to walk out. "Anyway, you'll have to introduce me sometime to your new boyfriend. See you around!"
As Vex left the mayor's office. He was surprised to find the car still parked without Judy in it. Curious about the situation, the bat got in and used his spare keys to start up the vehicle, pulling out from city hall to go find Judy. When he did find the bunny, she was stuck in cement and had a rather peeved look on her face.
"What happened to you?" Vex asked his partner as he helped to pull her out of the cement.
"I don't want to talk about it," Judy seethed, obviously angered at what had happened to her.
"Well, it's getting late, so how about I take you home for the night?" Vex offered.
Judy just nodded and gave her address to the bat, whom drove her to her apartment and then left to return the cruiser to the station.
[***]
When Vex had returned home, he found Pamela and Rocket sitting on the couch, watching some television.
"Finally, we had to put your dinner in the microwave," Rocket said, not turning away from the screen.
"Thanks," Vex answered his friend with a sarcastic response, "I'm sorry that my job doesn't have a set time to clock in and clock out."
"How was today?" Pamela asked her boyfriend.
"I partnered up with that bunny from the news, Judy Hopps," Vex replied, taking out his meal (which was a Hawaiian personal pizza) and grabbing a soda from the fridge. "She seemed nice, if just a bit too peppy for my liking."
"A bunny as a cop?" Rocket snarked.
"Hey, none of us have conventional jobs for our species," Pamela said defensively. "I'm a freelance reporter for ZNN, Vex is a freaking Interpol Agent, and you're a mechanic and amateur inventor."
"Hey, I'll be professional when someone buys my patent, just you wait," Rocket said.
"Keep telling yourself that," Vex said, "if you want someone to buy your designs, you'll have more luck on the black market than in a peaceful city like Zootopia. Even the cops only use tranquilizers and Tasers."
"I just have to convince the city's department of defense that my weapons are safe for public use," the raccoon said.
"Are they?" Pamela questioned.
Rocket's ears burned with embarrassment. "I'm… working on it," he stated, focusing on the TV and not responding.
"Well, tomorrow I'll be back on the case," Vex said, "and hopefully it will get a lot more interesting."
Author's Note
The next chapter is here, and Vex has met Judy for the first time. He's not going to be replacing Nick as her partner, but he did need a connection to the Missing Mammals case to work on it.
Also, Vex's relationship with Bellwether will be important for later in the story, so more on that later.
Next time, the case truly begins.
