DISCLAIMER: I had my bid to own Zootopia ready to go. I chartered a flight to Disneyland aboard a really junky looking freighter called the Millenium Falcon, and it's smarmy pilot that boasted he'd made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. Unfortunately we got caught in a tractor beam and the Imperials confiscated my bid. So I don't own Zootopia and am stuck on a freaky huge starship.

Thanks to TheoreticallyEva for editing this chapter and keeping things readable! Without her, this would just be a jumbled mess of nonsense!

The bunny and fox made their way into the briefing room Bogo had set aside for their raid. There were a number of familiar faces waiting for them, including Pennington and Fangmeyer. Judy ran over to the tigress and hopped up on the seat next to her, giving her a fist bump, with Nick following at a more sedate pace behind the doe.

"I take it, Judy, that you and Nick are ready to make the world a better place?" Fangmeyer gave a warm smile and a wink, raising her voice just a little to be heard over the noise of dozens of mammals chatting away.

"You bet, Liz! And I am ready to take Eric's killer off the street!"

The tigress nodded and her expression darkened. "Amen to that, sister. He was a brother to me…" Liz Fangmeyer trailed off with a look of longing and sorrow on her face.

Nick cocked his head but wisely chose not to say anything while Judy reached over and squeezed the feline's comparatively massive paw. "We all miss him, Liz."

The striped feline gave her a smile in return. "I know, Judy. Just… Well, I'll tell you later. Looks like Bogo's come to give us the briefing. Don't want to give him any reason to give us meter maid duty, do we?"

"You got that right, Stripes," Nick said with a wink as the bunny and tod glanced at the side door just in time to see the imposing police chief march into the room.

"OK, enough! Shut it!" The noise lessened to a whisper. "You all know why we're here. Yesterday, our city was attacked, and thanks to Hopps, Wilde, and our transfer detectives Rivers and Longtooth, we know who they are and, more importantly, where they are. Wolfowitz, can you get the lights, please?"

The wolf in question, seated near the back door, reached over and hit the switch while the chief turned on the projector and pulled up side-by-side images of two very familiar mammals.

"Our priority targets today are these two. Doug Ramses and Damian Hornby. There may be others on scene as well, part of the same group of terrorists, but these two are our top priority. Doug here is wanted for engineering the original Night Howler toxin a year ago, assault, aggravated assault, use and distribution of a controlled substance, murder of a police officer, first-degree murder multiple counts, and terrorism.

"Damian, on the other hoof, is wanted for multiple counts of first-degree murder, assault, aggravated assault, use and distribution of a controlled substance, corporate espionage, and terrorism. Together, these two, along with several other mammals currently deceased or in custody, were responsible for engineering the toxin used in the Grand Palm attack and the attack on the Rainforest District." Bogo changed the screen to a compilation of other mammals, all of whom had been identified through financial records. "These mammals are also involved in the terrorist group and are to be apprehended if seen. Consider this a 'most wanted' list."

The chief gave the mammals of the room a chance to memorize the faces before turning to his next slide, a Zoogle maps photo of a warehouse. "They are currently believed to be holed up in this warehouse in the Meadowlands district. It's owned by a property management company but is vacant and not on the market."

The chief changed the screen to a drawing of the building's floor plan. "The building is a basic industrial warehouse, with a large open area in the back with two loading docks and two mammal exits, here and here," he said, indicating the mammal-sized doors with a laser pointer. "The rest of the building is an office area. Four offices, all on the main floor, with a reception area and washrooms. There's also a break room accessible from both the office area and the warehouse. You have to go through it to get from the office area to the warehouse."

The buffalo hesitated. "We don't have any information on the layout of the office area beyond the floorplan—what they have for furniture and such—but you can expect lots of chemical manufacturing, clean room and lab testing equipment in the warehouse area. There's also a high chance of Night Howler derivative toxins at the whole site, and our targets may be using Night Howler-based weapons as well. Before you leave, make sure you stock up on antidote and tranquilizer rounds. The building is sized for up to medium mammals, so those of us too big will be tasked with guarding the doors to minimize the possibility of escape. We will be short-staffed, however."

Bogo turned to the mammals in the room. "Pennington, you will be responsible for the rear exit and loading docks. Take Johnson, Andersen, and Snarlov and force your way into the warehouse as well. Do your best there. Try to prevent any escapes, either by vehicle or by hoof. Rhinowitz, you will be blocking off the side exit. Same deal. No one escapes. You'll have Jackson, Grizzoli and Krumpanski. On my order, you'll also be effecting entry."

Bogo turned to the remaining officers. "Fangmeyer, Wolfowitz, Hopps, and Wilde, you four will be with me on the front door. If we can get the loading bay doors open, we larger mammals will be able to help secure the building. The controls will likely be near the doors themselves."

The chief switched to a satellite photo of the area with the warehouse highlighted. "The only way in or out of the area right now is this road, here, 58th Street, and our targets will have a direct line of sight, so they'll see us coming, unless someone here can think of something. Otherwise, we'll have to organize the convoy so that we all end up where we need to be at exactly the same time and are able to breach in seconds."

"Why not just move the roadblock up a block?"

Bogo shook his head. "The cruisers we have there wouldn't hide our approach. Too small. And moving the roadblock may give them warning or a bigger opportunity to escape. We can't afford that."

Everyone stared at the map for a moment, memorizing the streets and building layout. It was Nick that spoke next. "There wouldn't happen to be any open businesses in the area today, would there?"

Bogo looked over at the fox. "I highly doubt it, Wilde. What are you thinking?"

Nick smirked. "A diversion, chief. Make them look at something else while we sneak in. If we can…organize a delivery… at one of those businesses, we might be able to slip our cruisers through the alleyway just south of the entry road. That one that goes behind the old car wash building there, on the corner of 58th and Prairie Lane." He pointed to the map, as though that would help.

"What would we deliver? And why should we believe that could possibly work?"

Judy turned to look for the voice and spotted Officer Andersen. The polar bear was skeptical of the plan and, from the look Judy could see on his muzzle, of the fox suggesting it. The doe frowned and turned back around to face her boss.

Bogo was staring at Andersen with an unreadable expression. "I suspect I know why Officer Wilde suggested the plan of action, but I'd like to hear it from him first. Wilde, would you care to explain what you have in mind?"

Nick sat back and folded his arms behind his head. "Well, sir, if you stage a delivery… Nothing has to actually be delivered, just need the truck to block the view of the road so we can slip our cruisers into the alley behind it. We take the alley up a block to 59th street, then head west again, then turn south on Acadia Street, come in from the side instead of head-on."

Bogo looked back at the map and pinched his chin. "A good thought, Wilde. I may even know where we can get a utility van for the idea."

"Of course, chief. Can't have your first fox officer do ALL the planning, can we?" The reynard winked at his superior.

"There's the Wilde we all know," the chief muttered, turning back to his podium as some of the officers around the room chuckled. "For now, we will stage at Meadowlands Precinct Twelve. Their officers are out enforcing the lockdown, so use the officer's lot. Meet there in an hour on the dot. Dismissed."

There was a flurry of activity as all of the officers in the room stood to move to do whatever they had to do to get ready for the mission. Judy, however, turned back to Fangmeyer. "Everything OK, Liz? There was something you were going to tell us."

The tigress glanced around the room, then gestured that they should leave, too. "Not here, Judy. Not with so many ears around."

"Ooooh, a SECRET secret!" Nick rubbed his paws together, only to get elbowed by his doe, to which he let out an 'OOF' and gave an apologetic grin to the glaring bunny.

Fangmeyer chortled at their antics, some of the tension visibly leaving her. "Thanks, you two. I needed that laugh." She stood up and led them out the briefing room door and through the hallways to her cubicle. She picked up a picture frame and looked at it a long moment before she turned and showed it to the two smaller officers.

The photo was a selfie, obviously taken several years ago, while she and Wolford were in training, judging by the ZPD Academy t-shirts they both wore. They had goofy faces on, clearly enjoying themselves, perhaps after a long day of training and classes.

"Eric and I met each other the first day of academy. He was so gung-ho about it, but after the first day, I thought he'd collapse in the major's sandstorm box. A bit boastful at first, but the major—well, she was a captain at the time—anyway, Friedkin whipped that out of him pretty quickly, especially after he started having trouble with some of the legal aspects of the training."

Nick and Judy both shuddered at the memories of those classroom sessions. If you got a question wrong, the major would spend the next five minutes yelling at you and the rest of the class as to WHY that answer was wrong. They had both learned very quickly to come to those classes prepared for anything.

Liz took a breath before continuing. "I saw he was struggling, and that's one part I was doing fairly well in, so I offered to be his study partner and helped him out. Got to talking, and before you knew it, study time would be over, and it was lights out or an extra fifty push-ups the next morning."

Judy nodded at that, having been caught studying past lights out several times, being handed the extra push-up punishment as a result.

"Anyway, the two of us were a lot like you in some ways. Inseparable at the academy. It helped that he treated me as an equal." She looked down at the doe. "Back then, a lot of mammals weren't as open to the idea of a female on the police force."

Nick snorted. "From the scuttlebutt I heard at the academy, Pennington had it fairly easy."

The tigress nodded. "Larger mammals in general had it a bit easier, in terms of getting respect. But if you put Pennington with Bob Trumpet, most would bet on Bob passing the Academy and Francine going home. Of course, that would be double for you, Judy. Before you came along, I hadn't heard about any mammals smaller than a wolf."

Judy snorted, with a grim look on her muzzle.

"Like I said, we were inseparable. From muster time to lights out, we spent what we could together. I didn't really form any other connections at the academy, not even with my roommate. So, when it came time to graduate, the two of us hoped we'd get assigned to the same precinct. We did, and even got to be partners after a couple years."

Liz's face fell. "I was the first one he ever told about Debbie. I was happy for him, but a little crushed too." She sighed. "I guess I kind of wanted a shot."

She stared at the floor for a long moment. "A lot of couples seem to shut out the world when they build their relationship. He didn't do that. He treated me the way he normally did, though I sometimes felt like a third wheel if I was ever with him and his wife."

She sighed. "They named me the godmother when his pups were born. I was the third mammal to hold them."

"He sounds almost like he treated you as part of the family anyway," Judy said quietly. Nick nodded slightly, electing to keep his mouth shut.

"He did. I didn't get to be a part of his wedding party, but he always invited me over for dinner with his wife at least once a month." Her face grew mournful again. "I miss him."

Judy hopped up onto the tigress' desk and opened her arms for a hug, and the huge cat proceeded to almost completely envelop her, lifting Judy off her feet, armor and all.

Nick stayed quiet for a moment longer. "If things go as planned today, the mammal who did this will be brought to justice, one way or another."

The tigress' gaze hardened. "Don't tell me who it is, if you even know. I… may not be able to restrain myself."

"I don't blame you." The surprising statement came not from Judy, but instead from Nick. The usual smug expression was gone. "If something happened to Judy here, and I knew who it was, I'd… not hold back."

Judy glared half-heartedly at the fox. "You'd better! I wouldn't want you ruining your career for my sake!"

Nick grinned. "Who said anything about that? There are much more… creative ways to get back at a mammal. And covert. I may not know everyone anymore, but I know enough mammals." He winked at the doe.

Judy shook her head, still in the tigress' embrace. "Dumb fox."

The fox in question fell into his easy smirk. "I think you mean 'sly fox', dumb bunny."

Judy shook her head as Liz put her down, the tigress smiling at them. "You two are adorable, you know that?" A look of alarm came over her face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that to sound speciesist or anything."

Judy waved her paw. "No, it's fine."

"It's only c… well that word, I guess, huh?"

At this, Judy nodded, smiling. A second later, her ears perked up and a smile graced her face. "Hey, maybe you could join us and Nick's mom for lunch once in a while!"

The large predator smiled. "Only if I'm not imposing, Judy."

"Of course not! We'd love to have you!"

"And Nick's mom?"

The fox whose mom was being referenced shrugged and smiled. "I'm sure Mom would love to meet you, Stripes. She's… unavailable right now, though." His grin faded. "Another reason to succeed today."

That got Liz's attention. "Is she OK? She wasn't hurt, was she?"

Nick shook his head. "No, she's fine."

Judy looked the tiger square in the eye. "We're not actually supposed to tell you, or anyone. Nick's mother is in a safe house."

Liz was surprised. "How come?"

"Well, Stripes, she's kind of part of the reason why we're going on this raid. Her and her intel. But now that we've told you—"

"— you have to buy me cookies," Liz interrupted the famous Sherlock Paws quote by throwing in a curveball.

Nick blinked for a second, caught off guard, before settling into his easy grin again. "I was going to say dinner, but cookies are much cheaper."

Liz groaned as Judy burst out laughing. "I walked right into that one. I don't suppose I can trade the cookies for donuts."

"Only if Clawhauser lets you. He doesn't seem too keen on letting anyone near his donuts, though if you have a hankering for one, I hear he keeps a stash hidden behind the coffee mugs in the cupboards in the breakroom."

At that, Liz's eyebrows went up. "And how would you know that, Nick?"

"I may or may not have seen him restocking it at one point. If you mention that to anyone, though, I'll deny knowing it."

"And leave me holding the proverbial bag?"

The fox in the group nodded with a smug smile on his muzzle.

The tigress glanced at Judy. "I would hope that your partner here would… educate you on how wrong that is. Wouldn't she?" Liz looked at the doe, still recovering from her laugh attack, who just nodded and gave her a thumbs up. The striped feline grinned, then looked at her watch. "We'd better be getting ready. Bogo's going to want to do a roll call at P12. We don't want to be late."

The three stood and headed out the cubicle to their cruisers waiting in the garage.

"Yes, I need a water utilities response crew to meet me at Meadowlands Precinct Twelve." A certain cape buffalo rubbed his temple. Explaining what he needed to the city utilities commissioner was proving harder than he expected. He'd already called Chief Pawrell to have a few of his pumpers at the scene he'd chosen. With the city's water supply contaminated, having the utilities crews and fire department working to purge the water in that particular area would be the perfect cover to get his cruisers into the area without anyone noticing.

"We're trying to get drinking water back to the city, Bogo, or do you not want coffee tomorrow morning?" The snarky responses of the hippo on the other end were grating the chief's nerves. Maybe Wilde had a fourth cousin hippo or something.

"Yes, restoring city water is a priority, but this is also a part of that. Have your people started clearing the Meadowlands yet?"

"No, Bogo, they haven't. Savannah Central and Sahara Square, along with getting the Rainforest District plant back online, take priority. Meadowlands is pretty low on our priority list. I'm sure you'll agree." The other mammal said with a hint of arrogance.

"Low on your priority list. That's what I thought. Consider this escalated, and as the city is in a state of emergency and under lockdown, I am requisitioning a response crew and truck. Have them at Precinct Twelve in forty-five minutes. This isn't a request, it's an order, commissioner." Bogo fought to keep the sarcasm from his voice with that last word.

"Well, if you make it an order, how can I refuse? You'll have the resources, but when mammals complain, we'll be sure to steer them your way, Bogo. Gaynor out." The hippo disconnected the call without another word.

Bogo stared at the phone, before dropping it on its cradle. "Prick."

Politics and politicians were two things that he grew to hate as he rose through the ranks of the ZPD. The further and further up he got, the more red-tape, interdepartmental squabbles, and posturing he had to handle. Sometimes, it seemed that no matter which way he turned, someone didn't want to cooperate, even when it was in the interest of justice, or some political detail or new law was passed to make things more difficult for him and the department as a whole.

The politics were the worst when it came to getting access to city resources. It seemed that no one there wanted to lift a paw if it had any potential to cost their money or political standing, even though the heads of the various departments weren't elected positions.

The chief let out a long breath and rubbed his temples. The whole situation was something out of a bad Z-movie. Something cooked up for entertainment. At least that's what it seemed like. When Hopps uncovered Bellwether's conspiracy, he had hoped he'd seen the worst things could have gotten, but these last few months, he'd been forced to eat a proverbial crow. The Grand Palm attack, the Rainforest District, and the associated revelations brought on by Wilde's mother and Ms. Stang had brought to light just how low mammals could go if they felt their cause was worth it.

After a long moment, the cape buffalo rubbed his face, picked up the phone again, and dialed the number for his two detectives at the Furston headquarters. Two rings later, the phone was answered.

"Rivers here, chief. What's up?"

"Rivers, Longtooth, where are you right now?"

"Staking out the Furston HQ front door. Got four other units watching the other exits, and confirmation that both McStripeson and Wood are in the building. We're ready to hit them. Just say the word."

Thank heaven for small miracles. "Not for a while, Rivers. We can't give them any opportunity to get word out. Our group will be staging in forty-five minutes, and we need to organize with the other precincts and get our cover screen set up. We'll probably be hitting in about an hour and a half."

"Copy that, Bogo. Longtooth and I are standing by." The elk disconnected.

One less thing to worry about. The police chief hung the phone up and picked it up again, dialing the number for one of the Sahara Square precincts' captains.

"I don't think I've ever seen Zootopia so… deserted."

That observation didn't come from the bunny in the driver's seat, but rather from the fox sitting next to her. Judy herself couldn't help but agree, though. Aside from a few dissenters and attempted escapes that were happening in other districts and one rowdy crowd that had forced their way into the streets in Tundratown, there wasn't a soul to be seen. The highway that encircled the city, one which they were taking to the Meadowlands now, was eight lanes of empty asphalt, save for the deliberately spaced-out cruisers.

Before they'd left, Rhinowitz had suggested that they all leave at random times and take less direct routes in case someone on Furbook commented on a convoy of vehicles all going in the same direction. If their targets were watching social media, that could tip them off that something was amiss.

Judy shook herself and refocused on the present, watching the empty road fly by. "When you and I were… separated… things got heated in the city, obviously. But that just meant more crowds, more traffic jams, and more anger. There were still plenty of people going about their daily lives, then."

Now, though, Zootopia was largely a ghost town. While mammals could still take public transit to work, word on the street was that most had simply decided to stay home. With the Internet, a lot of office work could be done remotely. Of course, that didn't help those who worked manual jobs. Even grocery stores were closed.

"What was the worst you've ever seen the city, Nick?" The doe glanced at her fox companion for a moment before turning her attention back to the deserted road.

Nick continued to stare out the passenger side window as the buildings beyond the highway's concrete barriers passed unnoticed in front of his eyes. After a long moment of silence, he finally spoke. "The worst I saw it, other than Bellwether's reign of terror, was those gang wars I told you about. They were mostly confined to that one area of the Meadowlands, but the fallout hit the whole city. The bloodbath made trusting mammals so difficult, it was as if they were expecting anyone to gun them down at any time."

The fox resettled himself in his seat and turned instead to stare at the road ahead of them. "Mr. Big really grew his empire at that point. His biggest competitors were taken out, businesses were going bankrupt, and he just snapped them up for next to nothing, then had his day-to-day mammals whip them into shape, all while funneling the new income into his own interests. Those that refused his buyout offer… failed."

"What do you mean, failed?"

The fox sighed. "Big would ruin them. Reputation, service, livelihoods, everything. Businesses, even homes, were burned. Police suspected arson, but there was never anything concrete, no arrests, and nothing to tie Big to the crimes."

Judy thought for a moment. "I remember looking into Mr. Big. There wasn't a lot on him, and nothing on any arson cases."

"He's always careful to have other mammals do his work, and they are the best in what they do. A death that looks like a suicide, or a case of arson that looks like a bad wiring job, or even mimics another mammal's M.O. down to physical evidence, so the blame gets pinned on them." Nick's voice was devoid of its usual humour.

The doe gave her fox companion a shrewd look. "How would you know this, Slick?"

"I only heard rumours. When I worked for him, all I did was procure items for him. Nothing illegal, but I was young and naïve like you were, and I really didn't care how I made money as long as I did and nobody could lock me up for it," the red canine remarked as he winked at the bunny. "Anyway, there were the occasional rumours that floated around. Big was always careful to keep everyone on a need-to-know basis. If anyone tried to sell him out, they wouldn't know much, and Big would usually… silence them."

Judy shuddered, knowing exactly what Nick meant there, having come close to it herself, only to be saved by the crime boss's daughter. While she'd been grateful for the shrew's forgiveness, and his help later on in getting Weaselton to talk, she didn't want to be involved in that kind of world.

The doe guided the cruiser off the highway and onto one of the arterial roads that lead to Precinct Twelve. Like the highway, the arterial and all of the roads branching off from it were deserted, and only a few of the shops and services along the route were open, despite it being a Saturday, when most places would be operating.

As she drove, Judy tapped her thumb on the wheel and thought for a long time before speaking again. "What do you think will happen now? With all of the things that have happened?"

Nick turned to stare at Judy. "Well, I don't know if Big will make another push for more territory. He's as affected by these freaks as everyone else, perhaps even more so, because 90% of his core operation are predators. But I know places outside Zootopia probably won't view us favourably. The tourism industry will shrink, if not completely collapse, and a lot of places won't want to trade with us." He stared down at his lap. "A lot more businesses will probably close after this. A lot of mammals will be out of work."

The rabbit doe's ears dropped. For years, she'd believed the advertisements that Zootopia was the ultimate utopia, but the last year had been a harsh reality check. She still believed that anyone could be anything, but that had been somewhat tempered from her original dreams of the city, though not as much as her belief that everyone in Zootopia got along. That was a harsh lesson learned.

"I hope it doesn't come to that," Judy shuddered.

A few turns later, and the two pulled into the parking lot of Precinct Twelve. Though not the first ones there, they weren't the last, either. Bogo was still organizing a few things when they'd left, so the two smaller officers assumed he was on his way, as they made their way into the empty station.

"Someone's trying to get in, Cam."

The cougar head of cybercrime looked up from his computer at the antelope who had just poked his head into the office. "Come again, Stevens?"

"Someone's been trying to get into the traffic camera system."

The cougar narrowed his eyes. "Talk to me."

The antelope walked into the office and shut the door. "Last night you had us lock down the city surveillance systems so that only we could get it. Obviously, we did that, but we started getting a lot of sign-on attempts. Mostly news stations that didn't get the message, but we've just now gotten a few from a user that was supposed to be disabled years ago... Doug Ramses?"

Cam shot to his feet and came around his desk. "Show me."

The two headed out of the cougar's office and into the small cubicle farm set aside for the cybercrime team. Stevens sat down at his computer and clicked on a few icons, pulling up the system monitor. "He's getting his username and password right, and it's letting him into the city hall remote work system, but he's not coming from within the building, so he's getting blocked when he tries to connect to the camera feeds."

The cougar nodded. "Except for the fact that his user is still good. Lock him out of the city hall system completely. You know his Internet address?"

"Yeah, it came back to a foreign country."

"So, he's relaying his signal. Nuts. Do your best to see if you can figure out where exactly he's coming from. And what he was doing when he could get in. If you can't, that's OK, but any information we can give Bogo will help."

The antelope nodded and got to work.

Doug sat back in his chair, crossing his arms at his laptop. "I can't get in."

The ram's Texas longhorn compatriot looked up from his own computer, where he'd been browsing the news feeds. "What?"

Ramses gestured to his computer. "The traffic cameras. I can't get in."

Damian Hornby frowned. "Why not?"

The smaller mammal shook his head. "ZPD probably blocked everyone but their own when they put the city on lockdown. They probably don't want to take the risk that someone they are after has access to the system. Like us."

"Could they know it was you? Or us?"

Doug shrugged. "I doubt they know about us. But they are on the lookout for me since Bellwether, and they might have found out that my system access was never turned off."

The Texas longhorn groaned. "Please tell me they can't trace you back here."

With a shake of his head, the ram closed his laptop. "No. I was relaying through an address in Africa. They wouldn't be able to trace it back here."

"So, they might know it was you that tried to access the system but not from where. At least it's not information they don't already know. They'd have to be stupid not to put two and two together after they caught your two buddies."

Doug went back to his work. "I'm actually surprised they haven't made any meaningful announcements. It's almost laughable."

As if to punctuate his words, the scanner crackled to life. "All available units, officer requesting backup in Tundratown. Riot at Glacier Way and Athabasca Drive. Available units respond."

"Zulu 240, 10-4 enroute."

"Zulu 238, I'm on the way."

"226 here, we're responding."

"210, we're all the way over in the Meadowlands, but we're heading that way."

Doug let a rare display of emotion, a smirk, cross his muzzle. "For now, though, it sounds like they're chasing their tails."

Judy's smirk mirrored Nick's as she put the microphone back into its holder. There was a riot at Glacier and Athabasca, but that was being handled by the Tundratown precinct with backup from a few county sheriff's department units. The call and response were only to throw off anyone who might be listening in. The doe hoped it worked.

She and her fox got out of their cruiser and walked over to where Bogo was standing, a circle of officers gathering around him. The chief had already sent a city crew and truck up to their target area, along with the fire department. Those two would work in coordination to shield the entry road from prying eyes, under the guise of flushing out that portion of the city water system.

The chief himself was silent for a moment before speaking. "You all know your assignments, and you all know the targets. And you all know what's at stake.

"These monsters decided that some mammals didn't belong in our society. They decided that anyone who didn't fit their worldview didn't belong in the world. They wanted chaos, destruction, and complete genocide for many. They wanted to turn us against each other. They wanted a world that they saw as perfect but would only be perfect for those that fit their worldview. And anyone else would be forced out, or worse."

He took his badge off of his shirt and looked at it a moment. "There are three words on each of our badges. Trust, integrity, and bravery.

"Trust is the trust of the public, and of ourselves. The public trusts us to uphold the law. They need to trust us to bring these monsters to justice. We in turn have to trust ourselves to watch each other's backs and make sure that we all make it home safely tonight. And if you're in a situation where it's you or them, make sure it's you that walks away.

"Integrity is what the public and I expect from every decision that's made today. Everything we do will be scrutinized, picked apart, and debated. When we take these monsters down, I expect it to be done properly. No mistakes.

"Bravery is what I see in you and what the public expects to see in you every day. You are the ones who stand between our citizens and the evils of this world. This was something you chose to do. Something you were born to do." Judy thought she saw Bogo glance in her direction. "The world's a broken place. That's why the world needs good cops. It's our job to help fix it.

"By the end of the day, I want all of the mammals responsible in custody. And I am trusting you to make sure every one of us gets home safely. These monsters have tried to steal Zootopia's soul. Today, though, the bill comes due."

A/N

And here we go. The final battle. The end of the purity group. We hope! A lot has to happen! And I'm PROBABLY going to get some hatemail for teasing Fangmeyer/Wolford here. *Ducks*

2020 is still being a nasty little gremlin, and I've now come down sick so that's not helping my writing ethic at all. Stuffed up noses and sore, congested throats make for a sad Camoss.

A few people caught the Harry Potter reference in the last chapter! Can you catch any references in this one?

Coming up on February 21: Check! (And no, not the unwelcome slip of paper you get at the end of a nice night out with your date)

Questions? Critiques? Did Darth Vader tell you he is your father? Leave a comment!