Crisis in Zootopia
Chapter I – Judy Returns to the Force
Zootopia is owned by Disney. The characters you know in this story belong to Disney, the others are based on Disney concepts. The plot is mine, but I of course make nothing other than the enjoyment of creation. This disclaimer is for the entire story, so no need to repeat it.
After Judy & Nick Solve the Night Howler Case
I wrote this between 2017-2018, hoping to post this on my usual posting site, but they've never added the category. I rather forgot this (never mind working on a sequel), but I guess I should post this somewhere before the sequel comes out. So, no talking reptiles or birds – those are wild non-speaking animals, some active predators, some domesticated for food.
PS-I've actively been posting fan fiction since 2003 at various sites and am not interested in collaborations, people drawing scenes from my fics, etc.
Judy Hopps, once again in uniform, sat in Chief Bogo's office. It was her first day back in uniform; she admitted to herself she had wondered after Bellwether's arrest if she could be reinstated to the force – she had done more than cut a few corners, after all, even if she and Nick had solved the case. Fortunately, she had been told to report the morning right after leaving the hospital for the treatment of the wound in her leg, sustained just two days before. She really hadn't needed to stay that second night, but the Chief had insisted, mostly, she suspected, because he knew she had given up her room when she had left town weeks before (of course, she also knew Bogo would never admit to such thoughtfulness). Additionally, it also kept her away from reporters and allowed her, Nick, and the Chief to construct a report that would do the most damage to Bellwether and the least damage to the truth. The Chief had mentioned to her that some of her uniforms were still in the same police locker, so she had come in, changed, and reported as ordered.
Unsurprisingly, Bogo just told her to sit rather than greet Judy in any way, and then started right in. "Hopps, I told you this the other night, but overall you and the Fox did a good job. I am disappointed you didn't come to me, but in light of how I treated you and Wilde that night in the Rainforest, I understand why you felt you couldn't." His frown deepened, and he leaned forward. "However, no more grandstanding. You are truly part of the team, and I expect you to act like it."
"Yes, sir."
Bogo seemed to relax just a bit. "I talked it over with Command and the City Office, and it has been decided you were on a deep undercover research leave, which ended when you returned to the city. It created a bit of paperwork to go back and to get the authorizations, but not nearly as much as actually formally reinstating you." He glared at her. "To do that, you would have also had to go through a modified version of the Academy course."
Judy swallowed nervously.
"Now, first things first. I looked over the final reports you submitted, and while overall they could be a bit better, I am satisfied with them, as is the Prosecutors' Office. Former Acting Mayor Bellwether's preliminary hearing should be next week – or even her trial if there is a quick plea bargain – and you will be expected to be available to testify."
Judy merely nodded her understanding.
"You will report in here every morning, but you will be spending most of your time working with the detectives and the PO making certain that the case is airtight. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" She was a bit nervous about testifying, as she had only set paw in a real court room when her class at the Academy had visited one, and had even less experience with the Prosecutor's Office. Hopefully both would go better than her first press conference!
"Next, that sort of leave is of course paid leave. Pick up the check when we're finished, and then take the late afternoon of today getting yourself a decent apartment. Something better than that little room in a place with practically paper walls I understand you were in before."
"Yes, sir!" Judy was happy about that of course.
"Now, do you really think that Wilde would make a decent street officer?" The doubt in his voice was clear.
Judy was even happier to answer that question. "Yes, sir, I do!"
The Cape Buffalo snorted. "You do know that, while never convicted, he has had numerous arrests?"
"I do, sir, but. . . ." She stopped when he raised a hoof.
"That means he needs three police sponsors to the Academy. Are you willing to stake your reputation to be one?"
"I am, sir!" She frowned. "What about the other two?"
"On your surety, I will be one. Sargent Clawhauser has agreed to be the third."
Judy was pleased but not surprised that Clawhauser would do so, but more than a bit surprised that the Chief would, or at least that he would let her know so directly. "Thank you, sir!"
"Most of our uniformed officers do not work with set partners, other than some of the motor patrol officers. You will need to go through the extra driving training for that. We'll arrange that after the Bellwether case is finished. As for Wilde, well, that will depend on how he actually does at the Academy. If he's in the top ten percent of the required scores, he'll have his chance to do the course at the Academy before he graduates. I hope you both know that this is unusual, and only being done because of the quality of the work you did together. Good partners are discovered, never predicted, and it appears you two might work well together."
"Thank you sir; I'll let him know."
"Interestingly, there is an upswing of applications from other under-lightweight mammals, starting with the upcoming class." Mammals were often classified into weight classes when not classified by individual or related species. "After this next class, they are going to have two new training courses built. The goal is not just to have additional officers around your size, but also some of the much smaller mammals. The hope is they would be able to take over the patrols in places where even you are too large to go, like Little Rodentia, instead of the Watch Patrols and Constables we have there now. The entire Academy will be expanded, to provide top training for all mammals. Then using the techniques worked out, other districts can create police academies for the rest of our world. It's time every place had a true professional police force readily available."
Judy nodded her understanding. Places like Bunnyburrow only had partially-trained constables, and most other towns only had similar constables and watch patrols, sometimes overseen by an elected sheriff. Zootopia, both the only very large city and the only one with fully trained police making up most of its force (and even then, there were still constables and watch patrols in Little Rodentia and a few other places), often had to send detectives to the nearby counties, and sometimes even around the world when any major crimes had to be investigated, which was a drain on the police. Further outside of the City, other than a few of the mid-sized cities which had a few officers who had trained in and/or transferred from Zootopia, there were regional Ranger Patrols, but they were mostly concerned with patrolling the highways and very rural areas. There was a small elite force called the Mammalian Bureau of Investigations, but they had even more limited resources in terms of investigators than the ZPT did, as they operated all over the world.
The Chief looked at the clock on his wall. "Go get lunch, and report back here at One. After we talk a bit more, try and find yourself an apartment. The sooner you find one, the less you'll have to pay for hotels. Check with the mammals when you get your paycheck, they may have a list of apartments. Also, I had your parents' truck taken back to your family's farm." He glared at the tiny form in front of him. "Why are you still here, Hopps?"
Judy hopped to the floor and saluted. "Yes, sir."
The Chief shook his head as the enthusiastic rabbit bounded from the room. He was glad to see there was no trace of a limp from her injury. Still, being on desk duty until at least the end of the Bellwether hearing should ensure she did not aggravate it before it fully healed.
Judy reported back to the Chief as ordered, in a very happy mood. She had been surprised at the size of her check – she had been paid as a full officer, rather than as a probationary one, and there had even been a decent bonus for her 'investigatory excellence'. She didn't believe she deserved either the promotion or the bonus, but decided not to argue. She was also pleased to see that Clawhauser was moving his things back to the dispatch desk as she had reentered the building and went to the Chief's office.
"We're going to have a very serious discussion, Hopps. Before you sit, can you see the photo up on that wall?"
The office was a tall one, made so that any mammal, even an elephant or a giraffe, would easily fit. The small photo was not all the way to the top, but it was slightly above the Chief's standing eye level. Judy had excellent vision, but still squinted, largely because of the bad angle.
"This one time, you may stand on my desk."
Judy hopped up on the chair and then over to the Chief's desk. She saw the photo had four mammals in cadet uniforms – a slim Cheetah, a huge Brown Bear, a Cape Buffalo who was almost certainly the Chief, and a Bobcat.
"We were the best four cadets of our class, and good friends. Best friends, I would say. All four of us became excellent patrol officers. One left the force after a few years to become a scholar. That's James
Colbert." Judy blinked – he was a famous philosopher and sociologist. She had read a number of his books while at college.
"I see you know him and his work. The Cheetah is Ben Clawhauser."
Judy blinked and leaned up for a closer look at the sleek and powerful cheetah in the photo.
"It's not my story to tell, but he was a fierce patrol officer. He was involved in several . . . bad situations, the last of which consigned him to desk duty when he recovered from his injuries. Bobby Goldpaws was the only officer his size when he joined. You might be the first Rabbit and Wilde may become the first Fox, but we've had a small number of officers between about a third larger than your size and a bit larger than Wilde since Bobby came through. All were good officers when they joined. They had to be, to make it through the Academy and make the force. None of them lasted more than seven years on the streets. No regular officer has been quite as small as you, but even those more than twice as big as you, like Bobby or perhaps Wilde, have to work four or five times as hard out on the streets to make up for their size. You all proved it can be done, with a huge amount of extra work and talent. But all of them have so far either burned themselves out, been too injured to continue, or have been killed in the line of duty, like Bobby. Most of the ones who burned out either went into security work or became constables in the provinces, although two committed suicide. Most of the injured still work for the Department in the back offices or, like Clawhauser, in records or dispatch or joined the Parole Department and similar offices as liaison officers."
Bogo looked down on Hopps. "I didn't want you here, and when you came here I put you on parking detail, in part because I would hate to see any of that happen to anyone again. However, I did it mostly because normally any new officer, even one at the top of her class, comes in as a probationary foot patrol officer, not a uniformed detective or motor patrol. I was going to make certain you earned what you were given. However, there are many types of good police officers. Most are simply good at their jobs, but a few simply are true police officers – they live and breathe being cops. I've learned that you are a true cop, Officer Hopps. You deserve to make the most of your career. I am not telling you this to discourage you, because I know now that nothing is going to discourage you. I just wanted you to fully recognize the extra risks you are running."
Judy took a moment before she could answer. "Thank you, sir."
Bogo could see her determination to beat the odds against her, and while he was worried about her, he wasn't surprised. He decided to move on. "As I said, officers, and that means all new officers, are supposed to start on the beat. I put you on parking duty in part to give that time on the street, and to see if you would stick it out. And then I mistakenly treated you like an untrained meter maid instead of a probationary officer on parking duty. I was right to put you on parking duty, but I was wrong not to tell you why – and then overreact when you went over what I expected." Judy now knew that she had been spared walking a beat, first with an experienced officer and then on her own, because she had been a token bunny for former Mayor Lionheart's policies. "Now, there is an area between Little Rodentia, Tundratown, and the City Center. It's mostly built for mammals around Wilde's size to a bit smaller than you. I know you know it." Judy nodded; her first apartment had been nearby and she had done some of her shopping there. "Four patrol areas currently overlap that area. A patrol area for you is being carved out. Once your witness duties and motor training are over, you'll be patrolling there on foot. If Wilde makes it through and can join you in a patrol car, perhaps some of the other new smaller recruits can take it over if they make it through the Academy. If Wilde makes it through the Academy but doesn't make the grade for motor patrol, then that will stay your patrol area for a while, and they'll be doing other shifts there. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
Bogo almost smiled – Hopps was indeed a true cop. She was itching to walk a beat. "Wilde may be lucky – the next training session starts next week and there is room for him. Tell him to report to the Academy Monday morning by Eight. The train leaves Central at Seven, unless he makes other arrangements. As for you, roll call for foot patrol officers is at Nine. Be there and then report to the Prosecutor's Office by Ten until they are done with you. Dismissed!"
"Sir!"
Judy hopped down to the floor and out the door in a bound. She was meeting Nick at a coffee shop, to talk about finding her an apartment.
Nick sat on the hard bench in the coffee shop, the cup partially raised to his mouth.
Judy tilted her head in puzzlement, her ears fully alert. "Nick, are you okay?"
Nick finally blinked. "They're actually allowing me in?"
"They are."
"And the Chief is sponsoring me?"
"He is."
"And, if I do well enough, I will actually become your partner, right out of the Academy?"
"Yep!"
Nick sat his cup down on the table and looked Judy in the eye. He took in her smiling enthusiastic face and shook his head. "You amaze me, Carrots."
"How so?" She was confused by that.
"I was settled into a lifestyle. Not a great one in the short term I grant you," he admitted, "but it suited me. In a bit less than two months, you've turned my life around, changed Zootopia for the better, and . . . and. . . ." he trailed off.
"Wow, Nick the Foxiest Fox of them all, rendered speechless." She sipped her pumpkin carrot latte. "That might be my greatest achievement of all."
"Ha ha. Funny bunny." He picked up his coffee go-cup. "Follow me, Officer Hopps. I have a proposition for you."
Judy teased, "My mother warned me about mammals like you."
"Somehow, I don't think I'm what your mother had in mind, but come on. It's not a long walk."
Judy shrugged and followed her friend. It was indeed a short walk of just three blocks before they turned onto a side street. Like a lot of Zootopia, the size of the buildings, or at least the size of the floors in each building, changed rapidly. The main street they had been on had buildings which accommodated mammals the Chief's and even McHorn's size, but the apartment levels above the shops were a bit smaller. The side street had lower-middle income apartment blocks, some with shops geared for mid-sized or small animals on the ground floors, others with apartments on the lower levels made for slightly smaller mammals than the Chief and the upper stories increasing smaller. The top floors seemed to be for those about the size of gerbils.
Nick led Judy to one of these buildings. Unlike just over half of the buildings, which had shops on the bottom floor, this was one of the pure apartment buildings. The door, like many apartment buildings in the city, was a door made for the largest residents, with a smaller door inset into it, and an even smaller door inset into that one. He unlocked and opened the middle-sized door and let Judy go in first. "The first two floors are for the larger animals – maybe a bit smaller than the Chief – the next four would be for maybe my size but really a bit bigger, like wolves. The next three would be good for you, me, or a tad smaller; the top six are smaller still. The first two floors are currently mostly large prey types, the rest of the building are mostly preds, but tending more towards omnivorous than purely carnivorous, other than most of the Mustelids." Judy saw there were three different sized elevators and well as a stairwell with three different-sized parallel sets of steps. They entered the middle elevator, and Judy saw the buttons only went from one to nine. Nick pressed eight.
"There are four three bedroom apartments, two facing each side – the building is of course deeper than it is compared to the street frontage – four two bedroom apartments, one on each corner – and four one bedroom apartments, two in the front and two in the rear. The seventh and especially the ninth floors get a bit more traffic, deliveries from larger animals for the higher floors and such. This back corner bedroom is quieter than one facing the main street, not that one is open at the moment. In fact, this is the only apartment for your size open in the building right now."
He opened the door and showed Judy in. It was small for a two bedroom apartment, especially for any mammal larger than Nick – five and a half foot ceilings, a kitchenette off to the right as she entered and a long living room. Stunned, she let Nick show her the bathroom and the two small bedrooms. "The delousers come every Tuesdays, except for holidays of course, and are included in the rent."
"Nick, this is amazing, but I can't afford this! I don't need this much space anyways!" 'Although,' she thought, 'if I had this apartment, I could finally get all my books out of storage at least, and still have room to spare.'
"The rent is the same as that awful room you told me about, but you have to pay for the electricity on top of that. That includes the hot water heater, by the way. Oh, and fifteen bucks a month for the best wifi available, unless you want to continue to rely on the crappy city-wide service, and basic cable access is part of the deal. If you want any of the premium channels, you have to pay for that. It's certainly more than a bit closer to being sound proof than your old place was!"
"It has to be at least three times the cost!" That was nearly true, but mostly because she had been overpaying a bit for that room.
"I made a deal with the landlord."
Judy was immediately suspicious. "What did you do?"
Nick sighed. "Carrots, I'm the landlord."
Judy blinked.
Twice.
"What?"
"I told you, I've been hustling since I was twelve, and I was very good at it. Don't judge my abilities from the pawsicle hustle – that was partially something I pulled on summer afternoons for some extra cash and to help Finnick out. I hustled for my money, and I invested it. I own this place – and yes, I pay the taxes on it. I'm incorporated, my little Fluff. Granted, I never declared my hustling income, but check out my corporation, and you'll see it's all above board."
"But Nick, I couldn't. . . ."
"Sure you can, and sure, I can. No, I won't make money off of what I'm charging you, but I won't lose any either, and I really want you to have a decent place to live – one where I can keep an eye on you."
"You live here?"
"Of course. What? Did you think I lived under that bridge? Carrots, I owned that property." Enjoying the rabbit's amazed look, Nick explained. "I bought this place cheap about eight years ago; it was an abandoned mess although structurally sound. I had to buy a place that was run-down because I needed to pay cash – no one would have floated me a loan without collateral. Took me a year to get it fixed up, and as I did, the neighboring landlords improved their places so they could raise their rates. That improved the whole neighborhood, and we could all raise the rates again. Since then, I've used it as the collateral to invest in some commercial properties. I live in the basement rent-free – that's all I've taken out of the business. Granted, it's probably the one part of the building that still needs work, but it's spacious. It's also my corporate office, so I don't have to declare it as personal income. Nearly all of the custodial and most of the repair staff for all the buildings live down there or in similar spaces in the other buildings. I gave up major hustles about three years ago, and since then just hustled for living expenses, using a lot of my time getting the business built up."
"Really?"
"Remember that crew I sold the 'red' wood to?" Judy nodded. "That was the final part of a deal I'd made with the company for remodeling some of my smaller office spaces – they ended up paying me a bit more than I paid them."
"Wow."
Nick shrugged. "I figured if I ever got bored with being on the make, or had to quit, this would be my retirement. If I make it through the Academy, I'll be a cop for my living expenses. I'll keep the business up, I just won't be expanding it anymore. That factory building near the bridge and the property that goes with it was sold this morning. I was out there the other day because I had been showing it to the buyers that morning and was taking the rest of the day off."
"You . . . you're rich?"
Nick shook his head. "Nope, not yet; as far as cash assets go, I'm probably not much better off than you should be in a few months. But by selling that land, I've got full possession of this building again, and have paid off most of the other mortgages as well. I need to invest the rents into the properties a bit more before I can really start making a good profit off of all this – it's been a long-term plan. I should start seeing that good profit in three to five years. Instead of living off of money I've hustled, I'll live off the cop's salary and get an okay pension on top of that if I can last at least fifteen years and a very good one if I last twenty-five."
"Clever fox," Judy admitted, admiration in her voice. She looked at Nick. "And you risked all that planning just to help me a few days ago?" Judy was both shocked and touched.
"Well," he told her honestly, "not entirely. I did it for two reasons. One was because of the growing fear of preds and I believed you when you said you were going to try and take care of things, but yes, the second was purely because of you. I've had lots of, well, let's call them associates over the years." Judy could see the insides of his ears flush slightly. "You . . . Judy, you're the first I could say was my real friend, and to my utter surprise it really hurt a lot to think I lost you. I was astonished to see that you are not just an unbelievably optimistic dreamer, albeit with a blind spot that you've now hopefully mostly gotten rid of, but a clever mammal willing to put the work in to make those dreams come true. To my shock, I not only liked you, I believed in you; the first person I've believed in for decades, other than myself. It was worth any risk to try and solve the problem facing us preds and to be able to believe in you again."
Nick knelt down so he was eye-level with Judy and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I never stopped believing in my abilities, but you're the first person since my mother died who believed in me as an individual. You're my friend, and maybe even my future partner. Please, let me make sure you have a decent place to live. Oh, and try and stock up on blueberries."
Judy threw herself into Nick's arms and hugged him. "Okay, Nick," she whispered. She backed off a bit and asked, "If you don't mind answering, when. . . ."
"When did my mother die?" he asked as he stood back up. "You're the detective."
"When you were twelve?"
"Close enough. I was still eleven, but it was just a month or so before my birthday. My father had died when I was still little. I learned to hustle to survive in the orphanage. I worked hard at school and harder on the streets. I graduated early; I didn't drop out."
"Why . . . why the orphanage?"
"No close relatives, and adoption is rare for any species once they're older than a toddler."
Judy hugged him again, this time around his midsection, hard.
'Bunnies are so emotional,' Nick thought with a small smile as he hugged her back. Still, it felt good to actually care about someone again, without wanting to take advantage of them or them wanting to take advantage of him. Above all, he knew that Judy would be there for him as well. Even Finnick, who had been the closest mammal to Nick over the previous few years, could only be trusted so far.
"So, come on down to the office and sign the paperwork. There's some furniture in storage downstairs from tenants who left stuff; we might be able to get you a sofa or some chairs, maybe a writing desk or something. Then, we'll go around the corner to a furniture store and get you a bed, and then to a Targoat or someplace to get some other things to get you started. I will front you the money, but that you will pay back. Okay?"
"Okay," Judy managed to say, "partner."
Nick vowed he would make it through the Academy, if not at the top of the class, then so close it wouldn't matter. This little Rabbit had reopened parts of his emotions he had thought were long gone, and he wasn't going to disappoint her. He was going legit.