Chapter 1: The new case

It had been six months since Nick became a police officer, and the Night Howler case was behind us. Lessons were learned by predator and prey alike, and I couldn't have been happier. I mean look at me, Judy Hopps, respected ZPD cop. And as for my partner and best friend Nick Wilde, he quit his life of hustling (for the most part) and joined the force. Life could not have been more perfect. Crime had gone down, and we at the ZPD had a little time to relax, that is until that dark and stormy day when things once again began to unravel the very fiber of Zootopia's peaceful way of living.

It began as most mornings, I arrived forty-five minutes before roll call to finish auditing my notes on our last case. Just some timber wolves throwing a howling party a little too late at night, disturbing the peace. Nothing too bad. I finished just in time to see everyone drag themselves into the room. I guess their get-up-and-go got-up-and-went.

I hopped out of my seat and greeted everyone. "C'mon guys, we're the proud members of the ZPD, show some pride!"

Delgato rolled his eyes, his mane was a bit disheveled. "Hopps, must you be so nauseatingly chipper every morning? I haven't even had my coffee yet."

"Aw you guys, you don't need coffee. Just take a sip of that wonderful drink called justice!" I said gleefully.

"Don't make me gag…" said Delgato.

So there I was, the only one happy to be there that morning. All of my fellow officers were down in the dumps. I looked around and noticed that Nick wasn't here yet, he was running five, scratch that, six minutes late.

"Where is that fox?" I whispered to myself. He was usually late by one to three minutes; I check the clock every morning when he creeps in. Every time he's late, I lecture him, and he always says "Okay Carrots, I'll be on time tomorrow." Apparently for him, tomorrow is always a day away.

Ooh he is gonna get an earful today. I thought to myself.

"Okay, okay pipe down everyone!"

I looked over at the podium and there was Nick standing on top of it with a pair of glasses that looked just like the Chief's.

"That's right it's me: Chief Buffalo-Butt." he said in a remarkably accurate accent of Chief Bogo.

"We've got a few items on the docket today. First off, crime is down today thanks to everyone's hard work. Especially the work of the incredibly talented and extremely intelligent Nicolas Wilde and his adorable sidekick, Officer Carrots." Nick pointed at me and winked.

Everyone in the room began to snicker, but I wasn't so amused. He was going to get us in trouble. Besides, I was certainly no sidekick.

Nick puffed out his chest and had a serious look on his face "…But who cares? I sure don't, because I have a major personality problem. In fact, my biggest role model is Simon Growl from Zootopia's got talent. I sound just like him, don't I? Well heck, what do you expect? I'm still trying to hide my 'secret' obsession with Gazelle from everyone, even though you can clearly see a poster of her right behind my filing cabinet and have every one of her songs memorized."

The room roared with laughter, which was better than everyone moping around.

"Now, what's next? I'm going to have to assign each of you a few more cases a week, because I'm just sooo busy with paperwork. I swear I'm not fawning with my Gazelle dancer app."

Everyone was laughing even harder, but they suddenly stopped. Chief Bogo had walked in the room, his eye was twitching with annoyance. He crept behind Nick while he was still talking.

"You got a problem? I don't care, if you make me mad I'll just assign you to parking duty for all eternity and-"

"Ahem." Chief Bogo coughed, interrupting Nick's performance.

Nick gulped hard, turned around and looked up at Bogo. "H-hey sir, what's going on?"

"You're the incredibly talented and extremely intelligent fox, you figure it out!"

Nick cracked a nervous smile and took his glasses off. "I was just lightening up the room, sir."

"Well then you've done your job. Go sit down, Wilde." said Chief Bogo, glaring at him.

"Yes sir, Chief Buffalo buh… I mean Chief Bogo sir. Love your new gun holster sir, is it custom made?"

"Sit…down."

Nick scurried off of the podium and jumped up to our chair. He patted my head and gave his signature sly grin. "Mornin' Carrots." he whispered.

"You're gonna get us in so much trouble." I whispered back.

"Nah, the Chief is a good guy. We'll be fine."

"Quiet, everyone. I've got one major item to discuss with you this morning. Although crime has indeed gone down, it's still out there. We've noticed a spike in criminal activity in Tundra Town, there have been multiple robberies in several jewelry stores and pawn shops all over the fringed streets of Tundra Town; From the shady Icepick St. to the ritzy Borealis Blvd."

He adjusted his glasses to look at the file more closely. "According to most eyewitness accounts, the culprits appear to be two male polar bears driving in a white limonene."

"Polar bears in white limo, huh?" Nick whispered to himself. I knew what he was thinking, it sounded awfully familiar, but it was hard to believe.

"Wilde, Hopps!"

We both looked up. "Yes, sir?"

"You two will lead this investigation. Go to tundra Town and interrogate Mr. Big, he may very well have something to do with this."

I immediately contested. "With all due respect, Chief. Mr. Big and his whole crime syndicate have turned over a new leaf since the Night Howler incident. He's opened an orphanage for lost and abandoned rodents, he's started half a dozen charities, he's even helping the mayor by funding the Mammal Inclusion Initiative. He's a real sweetheart when you get to know him."

"Well this sweetheart was at one time the biggest crime boss in Tundra Town, all of Zootopia even. And old habits die hard."

"Excuse me sir?" said Nick. He had one eyebrow raised and his arms were crossed.

"You have something to say, Wilde?"

"Yes I do. I'm still not exactly on the best of terms with Mr. Big, but Carrots is right. He's changed, and as long as the past is in the past, we shouldn't go pointing fingers without having all of the facts."

"Don't be naïve, Wilde. Think like a cop, it'll do you some good. This shrew was so deep into crime, if he was any deeper he'd be poking his head out in China. Now I understand the concept of 'innocent until proven guilty', but Mr. Big is looking more and more suspicious. You're all dismissed, and I don't want to hear another word until after you've gone to talk to him."

Nick and I were walking to the car. It was raining even harder now and he was gripping his umbrella incredibly tight. He had an intense look on his face like he was deep in thought. He was uncharacteristically quiet. We got into the car and he slammed the door.

He looked over at me "Ya know what? I don't think things have changed that much since the Night Howler incident."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He took a deep breath. "Oh it's nothing. Let's go pay good ol' Mr. Big a visit. And hey you can see your goddaughter while we're there." He said, trying to change the subject.

I feigned a smile. "Okay, let's go." I was a little worried about him. He came a long way, but I know he still had some insecurities about himself that he never let surface, even with me. But I knew him, and I knew he never liked to show when things got to him. And I could tell that what the Chief said got under his skin.

So off we went to Tundra Town, to visit an old friend of ours. Little did I know that things were about to get wild once again in Zootopia.