A New Zootopia

"Change comes fast..."

Jack pressed his back into the hard wooden seat at the Cat Heart auditorium. Officers filled the rows waiting to bid a final farewell to Chief Bogo, who limped to the stage to officially announce the replacement Chief of Police for Zootopia. He warmed to Judy's arm being draped over his shoulders and smiled to his right.

"You're comfy," she said.

"You're cute." A whine of feedback pierced the air as Chief Bogo tapped once on the microphone placed on the stand. The audience of officers fixed their gazes his way.

"It has been a year full of hardships. The end of which has brought us several new changes. Just last month we saw the complete restoration of Savanna Central's police headquarters. Yesterday we saw a modest increase in enrollment and welcomed two hundred officers into our ranks. And we even welcomed our first fox mayor. In continuing with the changes, I am here today to officially announce – as most of you are aware by now – my retirement." Judy shuddered a breath. Her bubbling emotion pulled Jack's attention away from Bogo's next words.

"You emotional bunny. Don't get me going too."

"S-sorry." He kissed a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Change comes fast. But at least this time, it's for the better." Judy nodded and stroked his right ear, sending a warm tingling sensation across his scalp. "Mm. More of that later?" She giggled.

"Yes."

"Please join me in welcoming your new Chief of Police: Mike McHorn!" The officers rose swiftly from their seats. Mammals of all heights and sizes applauded and shouted their sounds in welcome as Bogo gave McHorn a firm handshake, a nod, and a brief exchange of unheard words.

Being stuck in the middle, Jack and Judy had a poor view of the stage once everyone stood. To his left, Jack spotted Fangmeyer on the edge of a row just two down from him. He chuckled at her enthusiastic cheering. He elbowed Judy and pointed at Fangmeyer. When he got her attention, Judy stifled a laugh when she started fist-pumping and howling. It wasn't long that her howling set off the other wolves in the audience, filling the space with a chilling echo.

"Thank you, alright. Settle down. Settle..." McHorn orchestrated with his large hands for the audience to sit. Slowly the officers complied and grew silent again. "This was a long road. I'm grateful for the near-unanimous support I received in my bid for chief. I will do my best to honor those that have preceded me." Measured, calm and articulate. Jack marveled at what he was witnessing. McHorn stood firm, and his voice was confident. He even smiled as he addressed the crowd.

"Judy," called Jack.

"What is it?"

"He looks good up there huh?" She wiped her eyes and sighed, giving the stage one more look.

"Yes. He does. It's going to be a good year."

"Congrats on making detective, Officer Hopps." She punched his arm. This time more gently than she usually does, which he was grateful for.

"Oh, you can congratulate me later," she winked. The way she said it was so titillating. Jack purred and said,

"Our babies will be brilliant and beautiful."

"All of you. Please join me in a farewell salute to our former Chief of Police: Barry Bogo." Jack and Judy quickly stood and turned to watch as Bogo carefully limped off the stage. He straightened as best he could, waving as he slowly walked up the aisle to their left. The walk was accompanied by tears and a band of lemurs playing brass instruments just off stage. McHorn remained in the center of the stage, watching and offering his own salute.

"Rest easy, sir," mumbled Jack as Bogo passed his row. Jack walked out of his row with Judy at the end of the celebration and made his way to Fangmeyer. Together, they waited patiently as the press scrambled for their share of Chief McHorn's time.

"Ugh. This is going to suck." A grinning Fangmeyer gently shoved Judy.

"Don't worry, Detective. I'm sure we'll have him to ourselves when it's over."

"Has anyone seen Nick?" asked Jack.

"He finally settled in at my place!" said Fangmeyer.

"It looks like we're all coupling up then. Judy is going to stay with me."

"Good for you!" Fangmeyer smiled then turned her attention to the line of reporters in front of her.

"She's intent to listen in on this, huh?"

"Yeah," sighed Judy. "But there's one thing I want to ask." Judy gently tugged on Fangmeyer's shirt. Fangmeyer spun around and fixed her blue eyes on Judy. "Hey, Jennifer, you think we could help out Nick? I mean, if we could fix his record somehow..."

"I've thought about that. Let's ask McHorn together. He deserves a second chance." Nick, of course. What could be done for him? As Jack looked at the reporters in front of him, an idea sprung.

"Ladies." They turned to face him. "Why don't we get him some positive spotlight? Tell his story. How he helped us bring down Big. All of it. It could be a powerful way to get him back on good terms with the public."

"Genius! Let's see if Mike will go for that." They didn't have to wait much longer as McHorn loudly expressed his thinning patience with the row of reporters. He walked off stage and ignored the flashes of the cameras and pleas from the crowd and approached Jack and the others.

"Let's go before they make us all their dinner," said McHorn. The group smiled and marched out of the auditorium.

"Hey, McHorn, I wanted to ask something," said Fangmeyer.

"Already and I haven't even been chief for an hour. Is there some special favor you want?" She pinned her ears back and sheepishly turned her gaze away.

"You better get used to it. But this should be an easy request compared to what might come in the future from who knows where," said Jack.

"Hmph. Alright." McHorn gently shoved Fangmeyer by the shoulder and looked at his party. "What do you got?"

"We want you to help clear Nick of his past offenses," said Judy.

"Oh?" Chief McHorn stopped walking and nodded. They stood just outside the auditorium now. The afternoon was alive with chatter and laughter.

"We're pretty familiar with him by now. And given all that happened, he has zero chance of making it on his own. But he's been faithful to us since the start. I think we owe him that. I owe him that," said Jack. Judy kissed him on the cheek and whispered in his ear,

"Thank you." Fangmeyer gave both him and McHorn a begging look. McHorn continued to weigh the request. His ears flicked, and he sighed in thought.

"He was the one that gave us the names of Big's key players. He helped lead us to him. He even lost a close friend in the process and even saved Judy from one of Big's goons. He's worth redeeming in full."

"Alright," said McHorn. "I'll see what I can work on. But he's going to need more than a clear record on paper."

"I can work with you on the press to get him a good public reputation," said Jack.

"Then it's settled." Fangmeyer sighed in relief and hugged McHorn. "I can't wait to tell him the good news." She then rigorously shook Jack by the shoulders saying, "Thank you!" He poked her in the ribs and laughed.

"We'll go tell him together." Jack draped an arm over Judy, who kept her paws in her pockets. She leaned into him as they walked to Fangmeyer's home.

"Wolfie! What's with all the officers? Am I finally under arrest for being handsome?" Nick waved inside the group then shut the door behind him.

"Well, someone's in a good mood," said a surprised Fangmeyer. Jack created some distance between himself and the others, enjoying a stretch and some extra personal space. He sat on a teal colored couch in the living room, mentally complimenting the cozy home. The hardwood floors glowed with amber light created by translucent brown curtains filtering the suns rays.

"I'm glad we could all meet together just once and not have to focus on any serious work. Big got facial surgery and was convicted on most counts. His partner Bellwether was also convicted. And most of the smaller problem people were dealt with. Yes, good times ahead." Nick stuffed a small notepad into his back pocket. He tilted his head at McHorn and Judy as they stood by the door, then walked over to Jack and let himself drop down beside him on the couch.

"What's going on, Stripes?"

"That's Special Agent Savage to you, Mr. Wilde," teased Judy.

"Oh, sorry mom."

"Nick, don't sass Judy," laughed Jack. McHorn strolled to the entrance of the kitchen as if it were his own.

"Sorry, dad."

"Can we keep him?" asked McHorn.

"If he behaves I'll let you take him out for daily walks," said Fangmeyer. She offered Mchorn a glass and poured him a beer.

"That's kind of why I'm here," said Judy. She walked to Jack and Nick and placed her paws back in her pockets.

"Say what?" Nick stared with interest. His tail wagged, beating on Jack's thigh.

"We're offering you a second chance," said Jack, batting away his tail. "At everything."

"How?" asked Nick. His voice suddenly business-like.

"I'm going to do what I can to scrub your record clean, Nick. As the new Chief of Police, I have a certain level of authority. And these wonderful officers and officials here have convinced me that you don't belong with the riff-raff. You don't deserve to be shut out of opportunities your whole life because of what Bigsby has done to the city. That's all over and done with."

"It's a new Zootopia!" said Jack. He patted him on the shoulder and listened to Nick's heavy sigh.

"You can do that for me?"

"Nick, you've helped us since the beginning to deal with Bigsby. You've been faithful and reliable throughout. Whatever happened before no longer applies. With McHorn correcting your record and me working on the public front, you'll be hailed as a model citizen. A hero. You did, after all, save officer Hopps from a harrowing encounter with a vile weasel." Nick crossed his arms and hugged himself. He shuddered a breath then leaned forward on the couch. Fangmeyer, unable to contain herself, rushed to him and hugged him tight.

"It's alright, Red."

"See that? He's overwhelmed already. And with our new fox mayor, Mayor Cunningham, prejudice toward foxes might even settle down."

"Nick." Judy walked forward. She pulled out a folded paper with the ZPD Logo printed on top. "We know you've lost so much. But we also know that you can't get by without a good job."

"And if you're thinking about going through with that amusement park idea for when you're old and gray, you better start squirreling away the cash now," said Fangmeyer. Nick wiped his eyes and grabbed the application from Judy.

"Oh!"

"I could use a good partner. How about it?"

"It's not easy work, but you'll do fine." The home grew silent. Nick gave a respectful nod to Jack and with a steady breath, stood up and looked at McHorn.

"Chief McHorn, sir?"

"Yes, Nick?" Chief McHorn smiled at the formal address.

"Do you have a pen?"

Here are some things that didn't make it into Power Struggle:

I scrapped an idea where Big and Jack met and negotiated terms to divide Zootopia. In the very beginning of coming up with the idea, there was a bigger mob element and Jack was going to lead an illegal underground lifestyle as a second mob boss competing for Big's resources. I scrapped this because I didn't want it to be any more gloomy than intended. I thought having Jack be a second villain would have made the difference between them less stark.

Finnick had a motorcycle and not a van. There was even a highway chase that got removed.

Nick when learning about Jack and Big plotting to split the city, kills Big. He then goes after Jack, fearing he would be just as bad. Judy, learning that Nick was going after Jack, intervenes and kills him to protect her lover. All of this got removed when I decided to keep Jack away from the mob scene.

There was a different event with the climate wall where Jack bribes a group of penguins under the control of Big to blow up part of the wall and have Big framed for it. Removed for above reasons.

The boat scene was different and there was an ocean chase. Bellwether was on the boat with the bears. Jack gets lost at sea after being injected with the drug. The ending was Nick leaving Zootopia to help look for him.

I did some edits to the first half of the story. The first 13 chapters were corrected. Removed bloat, off point text, fixed small errors, corrected perspective where necessary.

On to other things...