A/N Hello reader! My name is Dogastrophic, and I have been an avid peruser of Zootopia stories on this site for several years now and I've recently decided to try my hand (or pen I should say) at crafting my own story. I hope you will enjoy it, and I look forward to any feedback on this story.
Prologue
The months following Bellwether's arrest were a blur for Judy and the city of Zootopia. After learning the full details of the Night Howler case and Nick's role in solving the case, Chief Bogo was able to fast track Nick's application to the Zootopia Police Academy. Following this, Nick went off to the academy to be a part of the very next cohort of cadets following Judy's class. While Nick was enduring his six-month stint at the ZPA, Judy continued to work at precinct one. Following her success with the Night Howler case, her number of parking duty assignments decreased to once a week, she was still a rookie after all, and someone had to do the grunt work. But for her other shifts, a ZPD cruiser was outfitted for her smaller stature, and she was assigned various other policework that she found quite fulfilling. Judy particularly loved going on patrol and being part of squads assigned to be a police presence during large events. Throughout this time, she rotated partners to help her get familiarized with her coworkers. While she enjoyed working with the other officers, who all treated her with newfound respect, she could not help but long for the day when Nick would become her full-time partner. As long as he finished in the top ten percent of his graduating class.
During the first two months after the Savage Scandal, the term coined for the Night Howler case by the media, many politicians who had been placed in power by Bellwether were investigated to ascertain whether they had been involved in her schemes. Assistant mayor Maurice Woolenstein resigned just one day after the arrest of Bellwether and was himself arrested a week later after attempting to flee the country while under investigation. Following this act, he was eventually imprisoned as it was discovered he had been up to his woolly elbows in her savage scheme. For the next two months the city council took over the mayoral responsibilities while various political figure put forth their candidacy for mayor. At the end of this period, an elk named Lance Deerbrooke was elected mayor. He selected a polar bear named Jacklyn Snofur to be his assistant mayor. The result of the election was not a surprise to most of the mammals as the tension that remained from recent events had caused most of the prey mammals to vote for Lance as opposed to the other top candidate Mary Claweborne, a Bengal Tiger. However, Lance was quick to dispel any of the remaining fears of the predator population by selecting council member Snofur to be his assistant and introducing laws that kept predators from being held liable for their actions caused by the illegal substance and Bellwether's plot and promised that under no circumstance would there be any sort of segregation or restrictions placed against any mammal group. In the months following the election, Lance also passed a bill banning the use of the Night Howler flowers for any reason apart from being used as pest control on some larger farms, who would now need to obtain a permit to use said flowers. Additionally, he also introduced a bill increasing the salary of all first responders and increasing the funding of the ZPD, which passed unanimously. All of these actions helped the city to breathe a sigh of relief and Zootopia finally appeared to be through the worst of the Savage Scandal and could move forward. But, unbeknownst to the inhabitants of Zootopia, a new threat was beginning to grow in the shadows and would soon threaten to topple the newfound peace and plunge Zootopia back into strife.