I write this story for practice since I've always struggled with languages, especially grammar and spelling. The second reason is to get back into the hobby of reading and telling stories and up it from telling to writing.
A few keywords for you dear reader to evaluate if this story could be to your liking:
Alternate Universe, WildeHopps, Romance, Drama, Crime, Mafia, Drugs, Violence, probably light smut
Of course, I changed quite a few aspects of the story and circumstances of the characters, so they will be a bit different but I hope they will be easy to recognize and associated with their original counterpart. There will be some OCs as supporting characters, but main characters will be Judy and Nick.
I hope you enjoy the read. Feedback is very welcome.
With a sigh and the wave of one paw the mammals in the room fell silent and awaited the verdict of their boss. The focus was an old arctic shrew clad in an exquisite suit. He was seated in an ornate chair on the bear sized desk together with four other arctic shrews who were seated in a similar manner. An arctic fox stood behind him on his right. The other occupants of the office were a caribou with a claw scar on his head and face who was seated before the desk, as was an old wolf. Seven polar bears lined the walls of the office and one giant polar bear was directly seated behind Mr. Big himself.
"Get those dealers, get them to talk and ice them. Zootropolis is my turf and there is no respect to be garnered from drugs." Time and time again the boss of the Zootropolis Outfit had made it clear that neither drugs nor mammal trafficking were to be part of the underworld of Zootropolis, in no uncertain terms. Not that Mr. Big was naïve enough to think that it wasn't happening either way, but anything that seemed to be a growing syndicate was reason enough for the old shrew to make it a war. A war he was confident to win.
For a small mammal like an arctic shrew he had an impressive presence. Maybe it was due to the many polar bears who treated him with utmost respect, or maybe it was the hunkering form of Koslov who sat behind his charge. The most trusted of Mr. Bigs direct henchmen was a sight to behold. Larger than most polar bears and with a cold and impassive attitude he gave the clear signal not to mess with his boss, himself or the family.
"Boss, how about we use Nicholas? Isn't it time that he proves that he can become one of us? Besides he almost always knows everything that goes down in the streets and high society." This came from another arctic shrew who was seated on a chair less ornate than that of his boss. The eyes of 4 other shrews, one wolf, one arctic fox, one caribou and 8 polar bears landed on the shrew. There was a pause before Mr. Big sighed again. "Nicky is a friend of the family, but no made mammal. He is doing us a great service with maintaining Wild Times, but we won't drag him to the darkest corner of the underworld." With that this idea was obviously dismissed. Sure, Nicholas Piberius Wilde was no innocent mammal, not even by a long stretch, but he was only an associate in rank. And Mr. Big promised John that it would stay that way.
After a quiet humming the arctic fox began to talk with a calm demeanor. "We should send some enforcers and soldiers to do the dirty work, but I advise that one of them should at least talk to Nicholas for some information and input. That boy has a brilliant mind, even if he uses it mostly for mischief and hustling. How about we send Nyx?"
That suggestion left some tension in the air, even if asked that casually. Nyx Jaeger surely lived up to name and moniker as Night-Stalker as one of the best enforcers of the Big family. Mr. Big was unaffected by the tension and seemed to ponder the suggestion of his Consigliere. On one paw he wanted to keep Johns little boy out of this mess, but on the other paw it was true that Nicky was one of the mammals with the most connections. If it was just about information and the real work was left to Nyx… Mr. Big tried to read the face of his most trusted adviser, there seemed to be some information that the arctic fox was withholding at the moment. "Very well. Call upon Nyx and you gentlemammal will start the deployments of soldiers and enforcers in your turfs. I want that budding drug cartel down and iced."
After all mammals had left the office except Mr. Big, the arctic fox and their respective bodyguards the talk continued. "So, tell me Michael, why Nyx?" Angelo Big, boss of the Big family and king of the zootropolian underworld trusted his adviser, but it was time for answers to questions which couldn't be asked before. "Simple my friend. Our dear Nyx has experience with the distributed drug. Night Howler may be used as an upper and doping, but it is and was a drug used by the shady side of the military."
"I see." Which lead the mafia boss to remember the beginning of Nyx career in the mafia. The background checks, trust tests, the talks. "This is unsettling. If my old head doesn't fail me, I remember what that awful drug can do to the body and mind. I assume you suspect more than just the intention of money with the distribution of that drug?" Which was answered with a serious nod from Michael.
At the same time one grey rabbit doe was exasperated and slightly rolled her purple eyes at her parents. "Guys… I've been working for this my whole life." Which prompted her mother to answer "We know. An we're just a little excited for you… but terrified." That surely wasn't the way Judy Hopps had imagined her farewell, but she would've been lying if she said she had not expected something along these lines.
She had always been the oddball in her family and her dream to become a police officer had always been controversial in her "farmer only family". It wasn't like it was unheard of that smaller mammals became part of the police force in this country. A lot of the officers of the settlements for smaller mammals were of similar types as the residents themselves.
It just so happens that Judy had been valedictorian of the police academy and therefore been assigned to the city of Zootropolis, instead of some smaller town like Bunny Burrows. She never told her parents, that she was shooting past the moon for the stars. They had been reluctant of her dream ever since, but probably thought and hoped she would either choose a different career, fail the academy or at least be stationed somewhere fairly save. Preferably Bunny Burrows.
But Judy had bigger dreams and after she had been accepted by the academy and flew thru the basic training of the police force, she had enrolled to the specialized courses to be able to apply for the duty in the big city. At first, she had been struggling, battered down and drained from the harsh and demanding training of the female polar bear instructor Major Friedkin. Judy persevered and found her own way of overcoming and mastering the problems her diminutive stature as a rabbit gave her.
She remembered the pride Major Friedkin showed with Judy's success and had congratulated her best student even before the official ceremony had taken place. It was a fond memory for the doe, even if she'd had a massive hangover after the unofficial party the cadets had together with Major Friedkin. In a way she could have done without her first major experience of a drinking party and the aftereffects… but no, she wouldn't have traded it for anything. It had showed the acceptance of her fellow cadets and her instructor, that she was a promising future police officer of the ZPD and not a small cop of a backwater town where the biggest concern would have been the breakup of a fight of two drunken bucks over some spilled beer.
She huffed in her mind as soon as her father began his lecture about the dangerous predators and especially warning her of foxes, again. Everyone was able to be a major jerk, not just foxes. It took Judy a while before her parents worried nagging abated. Her father presented her the anti-fox measurements he packed into her care packet. She took some fox repellent to placate her parents, after they recounted the story how in her youth some fox had left a claw scar on her left cheek.
After a last hug she boarded the train with a bittersweet smile while waving her family goodbye and was on her journey from Bunyburrow to Zootropolis. With a small sigh she went up to the observation deck to enjoy the scenery while listening to some music thru her EarPods. Subconsciously she felt the barely noticeable claw marks on her cheek and remembered to which length she had gone to conquer her budding fear of claws, fangs, predators and especially foxes in her teen years. Her thoughts drifted and she pushed them aside with a huff. No time to think about that, this was definitely not the place. Instead she took the fox repellent, shook her head and threw it into the trash bin nearby. Satisfied she began to muse about the big city and her very first own apartment waiting for her.