A/N: So I was forced to watch Stranger Things on Netflix a week ago. Was really not interested at first. Not really in to those weird things (sort of). After binge-watching the entire show, I thought it was… just ok.

But it did leave me with an interesting fanfic idea. I took a few ideas from the show and this is what I came up with. Enjoy :).

Strange Encounters

Prologue: The Disappearance of Judy Hopps

It had been a year since Nick Wilde's inclusion into the force. By this time, their teamwork had reached a certain dynamism that was unparalleled from prior ZPD partners, not even Bogo and whoever his partner was back then. They were just a natural, two sides of the same coin.

Bogo almost felt envious of their talent. Almost. With record cases solved, record suspects apprehended, record… parking tickets handed out, crime was at an all-time low. If there was any great moment to be a police chief, now would be that time. And with everything that has been done, who cares if he had the most energetic bunny and the most hands-on fox for a duo. He was riding the waves of these two mammals.

And maybe she was right. We can make the world a better place, especially if we start with ourselves. If some farm girl from Bunnyburrow can bring change with her infectious enthusiasm, then those living in the city can obviously do better. Judy Hopps somehow showed that you do not need to be a politician to make Zootopia make a change. And perhaps that was what made Judy Hopps well-loved by its citizens. She would get the occasional greeting from a passerby or two.

She was mostly seen with Nick. Obviously, they were partners. They always kept it professional at work. Outside of work, there was something else. As time grew, they grew into each other, but it was Nick who first caved in and admitted his feelings for her. The feeling was mutual and Nick was happy she felt the same way.

They finally made the big step of moving into one apartment. There were the initial adjustments, but everything seemed to sort itself over time. And that was Nick's one year in the ZPD. He had an honest job and he had a life partner. To Nick, life could not get any better than this.

Then one day, she just… disappeared… without a trace.

Nick and Judy responded to a 10-90 in the Rain Forest District. A 10-90 is code for suspicious mammal. A volunteer neighborhood watch had noticed a mammal, almost fully covered. The mammal had a trench coat, shades to conceal his or her eyes, and a fedora hat, telltale signs of a mammal who did not want to be identified. What the neighborhood watcher could identify though was that the suspicious mammal was fairly large and had a tail, indicating the mammal was probably of feline descent. Now of course in Zootopia, this attire was normal, except for the fact that he has been seeing the said mammal for the past week. His instincts told him the mammal was up to no good, and while it was prejudice to have someone be checked by police because he or she was a predator, the entire set-up seemed pretty suspicious.

That's when they approached the supposed place, the suspicious animal realized something was up and started to sprint, heading for the dense foliage. It was not long before it became a full-on foot chase. Hopps, being the faster of the two mammals, went ahead of her partner to catch the culprit. They both agreed that on wild foot chases such as this that Judy go ahead as they could lose their target. Nick would always catch up. He always does.

And while Judy preferred a direct chase, Nick knew the city more than his partner. "Carrots, go on. I know a shortcut. I can surprise him on the other end." He radioes in. At this point, Nick was no longer within ear shot. He was still visible, but a little way back. And soon enough, he takes a detour and disappears in the trees and vines.

"Right Nick. Take care." Judy radioes while sprinting to his target.

"I should be the one telling you that. You're the one just behind the criminal." Nick answers.

"I can take care of myself, Nick, but thanks." She answered.

Judy continued to chase, her eyes locked on the escaping fugitive. Despite her best efforts, however, the suspicious feline is fast. She forms a list of fast feline predators from the back of her mind, but the yellow spotted tail of the feline narrowed it down to a cheetah. Oh great, she thought. She is chasing the fastest land-mammal in the world. She had been so used to that overweight cheetah at the precinct one reception area, she had forgotten that Clawhauser is an exception, not the norm. A slight burst of laughter escaped her lips at the thought of the cheetah. Although, in her time in the ZPD, she had never had to chase down a cheetah.

There's a first in everything I suppose, she thought.

Yet she cannot help but feel something from the back of her mind that something was out of place. This supposed cheetah was running from her, probably on the presumption of being arrested, but can she? Despite her suspicions, the mammal has done no wrong. She cannot just simply arrest her. She probably may not need to arrest the mammal, but she does need an explanation from whoever he or she is.

She was right on the behind the cheetah's tail when something blocks the mammal's path. True to his word, Nick catches up and manages to block the cheetah's path causing him or her to stop.

"Not so fast!" Nick yells out. He follows it with taking out his tranquilizer gun and aims it toward the mammal. It was surrounded. The sides is part of a cliff-edge, the left going downhill, while the right going uphill. There are only two ways to escape: forward and backward. The mammal looks behind to see that the rabbit bunny was now just behind her.

"What took you so long, Fluff?" Nick replies with his half-lidded eyes and that annoying grin.

"Shut up, Nick." Her attention focuses on the trapped cheetah. Judy takes a good look at the feline before her. Based on the cheetah's build, he is in fact male. "Sir… Stand down. We just want to talk."

The cheetah, seeing as he was surrounded, raised his paws in the air. Satisfied with his cooperation, Judy approaches the mammal closer.

Just then, the cheetah runs to the side which led to the cliff edge and simply jumps. Nick and Judy run after the cheetah, just stopping before the edge.

To their surprise, the cheetah managed to land at the ground, although the fall had taken a toll on him. They can see the mammal limping away towards some abandoned warehouses.

"Well, Carrots. Proof that cats land on their feet." Nick looks at his partner only to see her backing away from the cliff. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She began stretching her joints.

"Whoa whoa whoa! You're not seriously considering jumping, are you? You saw that cheetah. He broke his leg."

"Makes for an easy catch. Just make sure to call the station for back-up." She begins sprinting.

"Carrots! Wait."

But it was too late. The bunny had made the jump. Using a technique taught in the academy to dissipate energy, she begins to make rolls mid-air. She landed on the ground rolling sideways, translating some of the downward energy horizontally until all her momentum dissipates. She made it and without a scratch.

"See you on the other side, Slick!" She yells before disappearing in the bushes.

It was the last he'll ever hear from her again.

Judy continues her sprint to reach an abandoned warehouse complex. She had lost her trail of the cheetah, though considering his injuries, she knows she is not far off. She was getting close.

Perhaps too close.

It was not until she is way in the complex that she realized that she was truly alone… with a criminal… a predator.

"Stop that." She says to herself. "Just remember your training and everything will be alright." She assures herself. And she knows back-up is on her way. Nick has never let her down.

Judy.

Her fur stood on ends at the mention of her name. She had not expected that. She was not expecting back-up to arrive so soon. And yet, no sirens are blaring from the distant. There was no chatter on her radio.

Could Nick have come and followed?

"Nick?" She calls out on her radio, only to get no response.

She stops for a moment, contemplating if she should wait here until back-up arrives. The suspect was within the perimeter and would probably be hiding here. Just then, a thought occurred to her, could it be possible she heard the cheetah.

Of course not! She never met him until moments ago. "M-must've been the wind."

Ahhh!

She heard a blood-curling scream that startles her out of her wits. It sounded feminine.

Yet, the cheetah is a male. Odder still, was that the scream seemed faintly familiar.

Her legs trembled, realizing that she should not have gone solo. "Pull yourself together, Judy." Being a mammal of law, she had to pursue the source of this scream, which was not the suspect, yet it was oddly familiar.

She slowly came inside the abandoned warehouse. True enough, the place was abandoned to the point the inside is almost vacant. Almost.

A lightbulb shines in the middle of the warehouse, its light casting its glow on what appeared to be a young fox facing against her. He has a rather large build for his age and a hair style that seems like his bangs were combed from the middle to the side and wearing overalls like a familiar… fox?

"Gideon?"

The kid turns around to face Judy with malice in his eyes. "Well look who's come back for seconds."

"T-that's not possible." Judy muttered.

"I know what you did, Gideon Grey!" Judy looked back only to see a younger version of herself. "I saw you beat Sharla outside of school! Quit being a bully and pick on someone your own size!" The younger bunny replies with confidence.

The fox laughs as he approaches the small bunny. "Are you still playing the hero cop, dumb bunny?"

"Why don't you come a little closer and I'll show you who's dumb?"

"No. Run away!" Judy screams. "He's gonna pummel you!"

Judy's warnings fall on deft ears as a swipe of the fox's paw seemed to catch the bunny out of surprise. Soon enough, she was on the ground, her head pinned down by the fox's paw. "Nice try, bunny, but I'm not falling for that again."

"Let go! Let me go, Gideon Grey!"

"Not until I'm done with you, bunny." Gideon unsheathes his claws. "It's time to turn the other cheek, little missy."

"Let me go! Let me go!" The young bunny yelled, struggling to be free from Gideon's grip. "Help!"

"No use cryin' for help now. You gonna git what you deserve!"

Little Judy tries her hardest. She focuses hard on her head to scream. "I said. Let… me… GO…!"

"What the?" Without warning, Gideon is pushed away from the little bunny, pulled by an unseen force. Gideon Grey disappeared to where ever.

Judy's legs trembles, paralyzed in fear. This is not real. This is not possible. Incomprehensible. All these things she said in her mind. Spooked out by this vision, Judy realized she'd had enough. "That's it! I gotta get out of here."

She quickly turns the other way, not wanting to listen to any more of this, but not before she was stopped by something.

Come with me… Judy Hopps.

The lone lightbulb flickers on the inside. It continued on for about a minute until light goes back to glowing continuously. Meanwhile the faint sound of sirens can be heard approaching the warehouse complex. Soon enough, forces of the ZPD arrives at the scene with Chief Bogo and Nick in the lead.

"Fan out! I want every room to be checked and cleared. We won't leave until we find the suspect and Judy Hopps!" Chief Bogo yells. The chief looked his side, the fox beside him tense.

"I don't get it, Chief. She's not responding to our hails." Nick replies, holding the radio on his paw.

"Don't get tense, Wilde. We just got here. I'm sure she's alright. She's probably apprehended this suspect already."

"Sir!" Officer Wolford yells on the other end of the warehouse. "We found something."

The two wastes no time to approach the wolf. Once they were near him, Wolford lifts a few items that sends chills down Nick's spine.

"Her radio." Bogo answers.

"And her tranq gun!" Nick calls out.

"Let's not make any assumptions yet, Wilde. We still haven't check- Wilde! Come back here!" Chief Bogo orders as the fox officer made his way outside.

"Carrots?" He calls out, searching for his friend outside the warehouse. "Hopps!"

The fox overheard that the entire facility had been searched clear. There was no sign of the cheetah nor the bunny. His bunny.

It was official. Officer Judy Hopps, the hero of the Nighthowler case, the woman he had just shared a relationship with, is missing.

"JUDY!"