| On an average day, Nick and Finnick were in the midst of their latest scheme. He is first seen snooping about Savanna Central, and eventually entering Jumbeaux's Café, unknowingly being followed by Officer Judy Hopps, a rookie of the Zootopia Police Department, as she believed that Nick, being a fox, is up to no good. Inside the café, Nick is denied service due to his species, though Nick claims he means no harm, and is simply looking to buy a Jumbo-pop as a birthday present for his son (Finnick, disguised as a toddler). The shop owner, Jerry Jumbeaux Jr., refuses again, prompting Judy to intervene. She does so by threatening to shut down Jerry's establishment for health code violations, and out of fear, Jerry complies with Judy's demands by allowing Nick to buy the pop. With his luck running strongly, Nick furthers his scheme by claiming to have left his wallet at home, prompting Judy to pay out of sympathy. Nick then thanks Judy for her services, before he and Finnick leave the scene. They head to Sahara Square to further their plot, which is revealed to be an elaborate scheme in which he and Finnick meltdown the Jumbo-pop to create dozens of miniature pops (pawpsicles), selling them to lemmings at less than the original price, and recycling the popsicles' sticks to sell to mice for construction in Little Rodentia. After the work for the day is complete, Nick and Finnick split the profits and part ways, just before Judy reveals to have witnessed their entire scheme unfold, feeling foolish for having fallen for Nick's trickery. Out of anger, Judy threatens to arrest Nick, but the fox retorts by claiming he's done nothing illegal, having all of the required permits and paperwork in check to allow such schemes to take place. He subsequently berates Judy on her failure as a police officer and giving her the "reality check" that Zootopia is not a utopia where anyone can be anything, but a dystopia where you are only what stereotypes say you are, and nothing will change that. Finally, to add insult to injury, he tricked her into stepping in wet cement. These words strike Judy, and the following day, she becomes determined to prove herself, as her boss, Chief Bogo, also has negative feelings towards a bunny cop. She receives the opportunity when she volunteers to help solve the missing mammals case of Emmitt Otterton, though Bogo only allows her 48 hours to do so, or face resignation. After investigating, Judy finds that Nick was one of the last who saw Otterton, and labels him as a key witness. She finds both Nick and Finnick in the midst of another scam, and asks for information on Otterton's whereabouts, due that Nick sold him a pawpsicle shortly before his disappearance. When Nick refuses to help, Judy threatens to arrest the former for felony tax evasion, which she hustles him into admitting to having committed, using her carrot pen with a voice recording function to do so. With his luck run out, Nick begrudgingly joins Judy's mission, hoping to retrieve and dispose of the carrot recorder once their job is complete. He confesses that he only knows where Otterton went following their interaction, but sadistically neglects to inform Judy that the location is a naturist club, wanting to make her as uncomfortable as possible, as a means to exact revenge for her trickery. At the club, Judy, despite being horrified by the nude animals, manages to push through and gain information—the license plate of the car Otterton was last seen in—from the club's owner, Yax. However, being that she is not yet in the city's system, Judy uses Nick to run the plate, claiming she'll release his bind once her case is over in a matter of hours. Nick once again retaliates by taking Judy to the DMV run by sloths, where his friend Flash takes the majority of the rest of the day running the plate, according to plan. They find the car to be in Tundratown, though the lot is closed for the day by that point. When confronted about his schemes, Nick admits that he believes Judy's investigation to be a joke, claiming it should be a "real cop" searching for Otterton in her place. He then notes that Judy must back down as she doesn't have a police warrant to enter the closed premises, meaning their partnership is over. However, Judy throws the recorder over the fence, making Nick rush to get it, thus violating trespassing laws. This legally allows Judy to enter under "probable cause", and she successfully retrieves the pen before Nick, thus leaving her in charge once more. As the two search through the car, Nick realizes that it belongs to Mr. Big, the most feared crime boss in Tundratown, who has a grudge against him for a business transaction gone wrong. Nick attempts to escape, only to find himself and Judy captured by Mr. Big's polar bear henchmen. They are taken to the crime boss' mansion, where Judy interrogates the arctic shrew, accusing him of being a suspect in Mr. Otterton's disappearance. In response to this and Nick, Mr. Big orders to have the two frozen to death, only to have a change in heart when his daughter, Fru Fru, arrives and explains that Judy saved her life earlier. Mr. Big allows the two to live, and invites them to Fru Fru's wedding as honored guests. There, Mr. Big gives information on Otterton's disappearance, advising that Nick and Judy travel to the Rainforest District to question Mr. Manchas, the last person to have seen Otterton. When they find Manchas, he is in a state of deep fear, feeling reluctant to allow Nick and Judy inside, though he reveals the events of Otterton's disappearance, explaining that he went savage and attacked him, exclaiming something incoherent regarding the "night howlers". Nick cleverly convinces Manchas to allow himself and Judy inside, to which the latter complies, but before they can undergo further questioning, Manchas suddenly loses his sanity and becomes savage himself. Nick and Judy flee and are fiercely pursued by Manchas. Judy manages to evade the jaguar, but Nick is left cornered near a drop-off. Manchas lunges to kill Nick, but Judy chains the jaguar's ankle to a post, saving Nick's life; much to his surprise. Chief Bogo and his police force later arrive onto the scene, only to find that Manchas is nowhere to be found. Bogo accuses Judy of failure, and requests her badge, revealing to Nick that she was pressured to solve the case in a mere two days or face resignation. Angered by the unfair treatment, Nick steps in to defend Judy, calling out Bogo's bigotry and noting that she still has ten hours left to solve the case. This forces Bogo to stand down, and from this point, Nick establishes himself as Judy's supportive ally, now with the knowledge that his enlistment was out of desperation, rather than spite. Nick and Judy take their leave on a cable car, and after a moment of silence, Judy thanks Nick for his compassion. Nick responds by revealing his traumatic childhood experience that would lead to his stoic nature, conning lifestyle, and sympathy towards the oppressed and underestimated, in turn providing Judy with a better understanding of his previously harsh attitude. He immediately regrets doing this, as he broke his vow to keep his vulnerability under wraps; he makes an attempt to change the subject, but Judy merely comforts him on the matter, thanking him for sharing his story. Nick doesn't acknowledge her words, as he suddenly gets the idea to uncover what happened to Manchas by using the city's traffic camera systems, which are plugged into just about every area in each district. Later that morning, they visit Bellwether, the assistant to Mayor Lionheart, who grants them access to the city's traffic cams. They discover that Manchas was captured by wolves (which Judy assumes is what Manchas meant by "night howlers"), and Nick cunningly tracks their path through hidden roads to an abandoned hospital outside of town called Cliffside. Judy, impressed by Nick's actions, congratulates the fox and notes that he has the potential of being a valuable addition to the ZPD, though he playfully brushes this off. Once the two head out, they eventually find the asylum to be heavily guarded by wolves and filled with imprisoned predators who have fallen under the mysterious "savage" affliction. The operation is revealed to be run by Mayor Lionheart, who Nick and Judy eavesdrop on, learning that he wants to keep the imprisoned predators a secret to prevent public panic, and by extension, the loss of his position. When discovered, Nick and Judy escape and report their findings to Bogo, who arrives with his police forces and arrests Mayor Lionheart. Following these events, Judy is hailed a hero, and a press conference is held in regard to the situation. Nick advises a nervous Judy to remain calm, and moments before it's time for her to speak to the press, Judy offers Nick a position on the police force as her partner. Nick, touched that someone sees something beyond his species, takes it into consideration, and proudly looks on as she speaks about her latest victory. When asked why the predators have gone savage, however, Judy, at a loss for answers, suggests that it may have something to do with "biology", which is taken as a serious sign that predators are reverting back to their ruthlessly primitive and aggressive ways. Nick takes extreme offense by this, feeling Judy, someone he has grown to trust, has done nothing but labeled all predators as "savages" which, in technicality, she did. While confronting Judy on the matter and going as far as to ask her if she thought he would try to eat her, Judy starts to feel threatened and actually started to reach for her fox repellent, confirming that she, too, sees Nick as a potential savage, much like the rest of the world. A betrayed Nick then leaves the department, returning the application and declining Judy's offer to join the force, thinking that Judy doesn't want a "predator" for a partner. When Judy takes a look at the application, she finds that it was filled out entirely. Following these events, Nick returns to his normal life in the streets, reuniting with Finnick and finding himself lounging about in solitude in his spare time. Three months after the press conference, Judy suddenly returns and with a breakthrough in the case, needing Nick's help to solve it and save the city. Nick declines, which prompts Judy to confess how foolish she's been, and how regretful she is for causing so much trouble for innocent predators while, most importantly, betraying Nick in the process. Knowing her words are genuine, Nick forgives Judy, teasingly recording her confession on her carrot recorder, which he has held onto. The two share a warm embrace to further solidify their reunion, and with the case back on track, Nick and Judy take their leave to follow the night howlers, which Judy has discovered are actually toxic flowers that have severe psychotropic effects on mammals. They track down Duke Weaselton for information. Duke had stolen "moldy onions" on Judy's second day at work; they were actually night howler buds. When Duke refuses to cooperate, the pair brings him before Mr. Big, who threatens to ice the weasel unless he tells them what they wanted to know. Duke reveals that the flowers were sold to a ram named Doug, who operates a secret lab hidden in the subway tunnels. Nick and Judy find Doug and learn that the flowers are being used to create a serum which he has been injecting into predators via a dart gun, turning them savage. Judy hijacks the lab (which is on a still-functional train) and tries to take the evidence to Bogo. Doug's assistants, Woolter and Jesse pursue, and though they are defeated, the train is derailed and destroyed. Nick, fortunately, reveals to have saved the evidence containing the dart gun and its night howler toxin pellet, and the two make way to Bogo through the history museum. There, they encounter Bellwether, who is revealed to be the true mastermind behind the villainous operation. She sends her henchrams to capture Nick and Judy, and though they make a break for it with the evidence in hand, Judy is injured in the process. Nick refuses to leave her and tries to carry her to safety, only to be thrown into a pit-like exhibit by the sheep. There, Bellwether regains the dart gun and shoots Nick with it so that he will become feral and kill Judy. Bellwether subsequently calls Bogo to make it all look like another "savage attack", but both Judy and Nick reveal to have gotten the best of Bellwether, as the drug pellet was actually just a blueberry, which they switched before Bellwether could regain the gun. With Bellwether's confession of criminal activity recorded on the carrot pen, Bogo and his force arrive and arrest her and her goons. In the end, Judy is reinstated as a member of the Zootopia Police Department. Nick, with a change of heart towards his life, joins as well, becoming the first fox officer. At Nick's police graduation ceremony, Judy herself gives Nick his Z.P.D. badge, exchanges salutes with him as an official welcoming into the force, and subsequently takes him on as her partner. The epilogue shows that Nick has become a welcomed member of the force, and even a liked companion of Chief Bogo, who gives both Nick and Judy the task of tracking down a street racer as their first assignment (though not before jokingly regulating them to parking duty). While staking out, the relationship between Nick and Judy is shown to be stronger than ever, with Nick getting Judy to admit that she loves him (platonically); sentiments he returns with a warm smile. Eventually, their perp zooms by who, ironically, reveals himself to be Flash, much to Nick's surprise and amusement. During the end credits, Nick joins Judy and several other Zootopia citizens in attending a concert starring pop star Gazelle. At first, he just watches, but a nudge from Judy gets him to dance.
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