A/N: Alrighty. Before we get into the next chapter, I wanna tell you guys something.

You know that white bunny with black tipped ears you saw near the end of the last chapter? Well that, my friends, is my OC Chase! She's just a cute fluffy little bunny with a fun and cheeky personality. I think you guys are going to really like her, especially since I plan on putting more of her in this story.

Now that that's out of the way, let's dive back into the story.

Chapter 2: The Murder of Gazelle

"Hopps? Hopps! Are you there?"

A single tear fell from Judy's right eye as she sat on her bed, staring down at her phone screen. The doe was in complete shock. Gazelle? Found dead? Murder? Who could've done such a thing?

"Y-Yeah," she replied, picking up her phone. "I'm still here. You... you were saying, Chief?"

"Hopps, we suspect that the cause of Gazelle's death was murder- er, I already said that, didn't I?"

"You did. Keep going, Bogo."

The chief took a deep breath before speaking again. "Look, as for this case of murder, we don't exactly know how it happened," he said. "But our job is to find the suspect before he does any more harm to our entire population."

"What do you mean by entire population, Bogo?" Judy asked, her eyes widening in shock.

"It seems as if the suspect who killed Gazelle has a very similar drug to the Nighthowlers. It's called AniDote."

"AniDote?"

"Yes. AniDote. I will explain more what happened to the rest of the team, which means I will need you and Wilde to come by the precinct as soon as possible. Is Wilde with you, Hopps?"

Judy glanced over at the sleeping fox beside her and nodded. "Yeah, he's with me," she replied. "We'll be on our way. See you soon, Chief."

"Affirmative," said Bogo before hanging up. "See you both soon."

Judy put her phone back down on the nightstand and stood up from her bed, getting dressed for work.

"Carrots?"

The sound of Nick's voice caused the doe to turn her head towards him, seeing the fox open his eyes and let out a yawn. "Nick, we have to get to the ZPD," she said, pulling him out of bed. "It's an emergency."

"What happened?" he asked with a concerned look.

"It's Gazelle. She was found dead a few hours ago."

"So let me get this straight... Gazelle was murdered?" Nick asked, looking up at the chief with wide eyes.

"Yes, Wilde," Bogo replied. "I said that five times already. Now, as I was telling Hopps earlier, the murder seemed to be caused by a drug that has similar dangerous effects like the Nighthowlers did."

"But Chief, how is that even possible?" Judy asked. "Dawn Bellwether is in prison. There's no way she could've-"

"Carrots, it wasn't the crazed sheep mayor who did this to Gazelle," Nick interrupted her, placing a comforting paw on his partner's shoulder.

"Wilde is right. There is no way that Dawn Bellwether could've done this." Bogo cleared his throat before speaking again. "Now, as you all know, the Nighthowlers were bad enough, but this new drug, AniDote, is way much worse," he explained, a grave expression on his face as he studied the cops sitting in the bullpen. "It's said that AniDote will wipe you out, meaning that once the drug hits you or ends up inside of you, you'll be dead in less than a second. I encourage all of you to stay far away from that drug, but we must also get a lead on this case to track down the suspect. It will be dangerous, but I need all of you to take part in it. Now, does anyone have any additional evidence of what happened at the scene of the crime?"

A light gray hedgehog with dark brown hair stood up from her seat, raising her paw in the air while holding a glossy print in her grasp. "I think I may have something, Chief," she said. "It's not much, but it might be helpful."

"Excellent, Officer Gemma," said Bogo, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. "Bring it up here."

The hedgehog walked up to the buffalo standing behind the podium and handed him the print. Bogo put on his glasses, looking over the photo carefully. His eyes widened in shock when he saw something suspicious in the photo.

"Ah, it seems Gemma has found something," he said. "And I see it too."

"What is it?" Judy asked.

"What I found at the scene of the crime was an empty wine glass," the hedgehog explained. "I know it may seem pretty obvious and not helpful at all, but believe me when I say that whatever liquid was in that glass was not safe to drink."

"So you think the suspect poisoned Gazelle's drink?"

"Sure seems like it, only the drink didn't look like an actual drink. Whatever the liquid was, it was no doubt to be AniDote."

"That's insane," said Nick.

"It sure is. AniDote apparently is a liquid and a solid, and whoever touches or drinks it will die on the spot."

"Sweet cheese and crackers," Judy muttered under her breath. "A drug in the form of a solid or liquid? Something is definitely wrong here."

"I agree," said Nick. "This case sounds dangerous."

"That's right," said Bogo. "Which is why Officer Gemma will be teaming up with you two for this case. All of the other recruits have already been put into teams."

Nick and Judy looked around the room, surprised to see every officer in groups of three. Slowly, they looked back at the brown haired hedgehog and nodded in approval.

"Officer Gemma," said Judy with a polite smile. "Welcome to the team."

"Thank you, Officer Hopps," the hedgehog said, returning the smile and sitting down in the empty seat next to the rabbit. "So... I have something to tell you."

"What's up?" Judy asked.

"I was inspired by you to join the ZPD. Also, just to get to know each other, my name is Kaitlyn. You can call me Kait or Katie for short."

"Well, nice to meet you Kait." Judy shook the hedgehog's paw. "How long have you been in the ZPD for?" she asked, curious.

"Eh, not long," was the hedgehog's reply. "I've only been here for a week, but I've learned so much already."

"That's great to hear," said Nick. "We could really use some help on this case, Katie."

Kaitlyn nodded. "Of course," she said. "I'm a smart cookie. You won't regret having me on your team. Also, we're going to solve this case no doubt."

"I hope so," Judy muttered. "This sounds dangerous enough."

"Alright, you're all dismissed," said Bogo. "Good luck and don't be afraid to call for backup or if you have any concerns. We'll be here to assist you."

The officers stood up from their seats and walked out of the bullpen. Nick, Judy, and Kaitlyn followed close behind, being the smallest officers on the team. They walked past the dispatch desk and frowned when they saw Clawhauser holding a picture of Gazelle while crying into his sleeve.

"Poor Claw," Kaitlyn muttered. "The death of Gazelle hit him hard."

"Yeah," said Judy. "I'm a Gazelle fan too, and I'm so sad that she's now gone. I wouldn't be surprised if Ben is sad about it too."

"He sure looks upset," said Nick. "Poor guy. He's not even eating his donuts."

Kaitlyn walked up to the cheetah behind the desk. "Hey Clawhauser," she greeted him with a pained expression. "You okay?"

Clawhauser shook his head, his tears falling down onto the picture of Gazelle. "I can't believe she's gone," he sobbed.

"Me too," said Kaitlyn. "I'm so sorry. I knew you were a huge fan."

"I was too," said Judy, tears welling up in her eyes. "But don't worry, Clawhauser. We're going to solve this case, and whoever did this will spend life behind bars."

A/N: Not very proud of this chapter tbh. I did my best though, so that's all that matters!

Anyway, we have another OC in this story named Kaitlyn (aka Kaitlyn the Hedgehog). She's my personal favorite I've created. Even though she's originally from the Sonic franchise, I thought it would be nice to make her all Zootopian like. What do you guys think?

So yeah... leave a review and let me know if I should continue!

-Ultra