Disclaimer: I don't own rights to Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame or Zootopia. They belong to the mouse, who I'm convinced is a Highlander.

The Snap

In the vast expanse of the multiverse, many variants of realities suffered from a conflict that the Heroes of Earth (or Terra, depending on who you asked) referred to as The Infinity War. For some realities it was a single conflict or two, and for others it lasted years. Of the former, there's a reality in which the constant antagonist of the event, Thanos the Mad Titan, followed suit with his goal: to unite the Infinity Stones and preserve the universe's resources, by eradicating half of all life within it with but a snap of his fingers.

Far from the epicenter of The Snap, was a planet not unlike the Earth. However, on this planet instead of homosapians, homosuperior, or some other form of humanoid reigning supreme, it was the entire class of Mammalia save for primates that evolved.

Quadropedic mammals adopted bipedal postures, front paws or hooves developed carpometacarpal joints, and carnivorous mammals ceased consumption of herbivores. (For the most part, anyway. There's still one or two that haven't fully accepted how they should act in society, and indulge in behaviors that are frowned upon.)

The evolved mammals, over time, integrated into a resemblance of a humanoid's society, lacking most of the humanoid features. Predator and Prey came together to form a modern utopia in the form of a massive city, known by the inhabitants as Zootopia. Like any other society, they faced conflict within class and species, but united in times of peril. They were woefully unprepared for The Snap, and the chaos it would cause.

One individual was aware of it all, and in a last bid to save his fellow mammals, brought forth the truth in a vocal demonstration.

"The end is nigh! It's all going to crash down around us! The thunders of war bring about end of us all! Prey and Pred alike!" A pika wearing essentially what amounted to rags and nearly frothing at the mouth was forced to the ground by a duo of ZPD officers. "Argh! Police brutality! Help! Help! I'm being appraised!"

The larger of the two, a red fox, sighed as he cuffed the smaller mammal. His ears flicked as the whispers of onlookers reached them.

"Fieldson, c'mon, don't make this worse for yourself. You're already drunk."

"I am not truth, Ossifer! I spread only the drunk!"

"That only proves it." The smaller officer, a grey-furred rabbit, pulled the smaller lagomorph to his feet. "This is the fifth time this week, Morgan. We can't let it slide again. Drunk and disorderly, public drinking, you're looking at serious jail time."

The pika gave her a wet raspberry, before he started to struggle in their grip. The two police mammals wrestled the inebriated civilian into the back of their squad car, the fox recited the Miranda rights to him as they did. After the door was shut, the two officers climbed into their vehicle and drove back towards the precinct. Once the pika succumbed to a drunken daze and his raving ceased, the fox's attention fell on his partner.

"Have to admit," he said, "it's a bit unusual for Fieldson to act out so many times in a week."

"You think he knows something we don't?" The rabbit asked.

"Oh, I'm sure he knows tons of things that we don't, Fluff." A sly grin spread across his face. He leaned against the middle console as they pulled up to a stoplight. "How to cook a piece of garbage just right to settle a sick stomach, for instance."

Purple eyes rolled and the fox received a "soft" jab in the arm. He recoiled and cradled the assaulted limb.

"Cripes, Carrots, I thought after three years I'd get used to your 'love taps'! Instead, they just hurt more and more each time." A mock glower was thrown her way. "If you keep this up, that patch of fur is going to turn purple one day."

"Stop being a goofball, Slick, and tell me what you're thinking."

"Officer No-Fun Allowed…" the fox mumbled. A sidelong glare had him lifting russet paws in surrender, all signs of pain forgotten. "Relax, Carrots. I don't think it's another sheep conspiracy or another dam sabotage—"

"Language."

"I was referring to the case involving the non-royal weasel." He elaborated. "Y'know, the one we solved last year and became heroes of the city. Again."

"Oh." She felt heat rush to her ears and let them drop behind her head. Without looking at him, she knew that his lips were pulled back into a smirk. She kept her attention on the road, focused on driving and let her partner continue to speak, in order to calm down.

"As I was saying before the censor police interrupted me," she refused to rise to the bait, but sent him a look of amused warning out of the corner of her eye. "I don't think it means anything nasty is going on, but it's suspicious. Fieldson is a repeat drunk tank visitor, sure, but doing it five times before a week's out? It's fishy, and before you say anything, fish can't be offended because they're not sentient like the rest of us."

"I wasn't going to say anything, Nick."

"Sure you weren't." When she chanced a glance at him, he cracked a smile, just barely flashing his teeth. "PC Bunny."

"Foul-mouthed fox."

"Mm, not a bad comeback, but there's a few things wrong with it." Nick flicked up his index finger. "Furst of all, I don't eat fowl. Far too gamy. I'm a vegetarian."

"Since when?"

"Since I got a taste of my favorite Carrots' cake last night."

Her ears burst into two poles of fire.

"Nick!"

"What? It's an addictive taste. Must be my savage heritage rearing its head. It's in my biology, you know."

"You can't just...That isn't...Don't talk about that while we're working!" She couldn't handle this level of teasing so early in the day. Cheese and crackers, she was probably releasing all kinds of pheromones judging by the muffled thumping of what had to be the fox's wagging tail. Damned bottle brush pillow was mocking her.

"So after, then?"

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye in time to see his tongue flick out and wash over his muzzle while his attention was on her. Flashes of the night before went through her head. Memories of sensations that made her fur stand on edge and whispers that stirred up her heartbeat made her nose twitch furiously. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened. It wasn't their first tryst, that had come months ago when they were still new to their off-shift relationship. It was still recent enough to leave a lasting effect on her, though. Emotion and instinct warred with logic and reason, and—unfortunately for the fox—the latter team won the bout.

She almost ran the next red light, and the hard stop jerked the drunk pika into the back of their seats, evidenced by the grunt that came through the window. Miraculously he remained asleep. Or unconscious. Regardless, that was a matter best suited for later. Her attention was on the fox that was readjusting his seatbelt.

"Nicholas Piberius Wilde." His name came out as a growl. Her teeth grit together and we're bared as she spoke. "You will stop talking about that right now. We agreed to keep that out of work. Biscuits, we have a mammal in the back seat that can hear you! You remember what Bogo said about PDA, don't you!?"

She glanced at him to ensure that the message got across. His ears had turned back and his eyes were wide as he stared in her direction. It was strange to see him react so visibly to her, so she backtracked a bit. Her voice was softer and more relaxed.

"Nick, we can't—"

"Get down!"

His arms encircled her head and she found herself tucked under the fox, argument stalled in her mind as the horrible screech of metal against metal tore at her ears. The noise was so much that she lost hearing for a moment, but that was the least of her troubles. The cruiser spun and glass shattered, she felt it pelt her skin. Her vision, previously full of her partner's Kevlar, was suddenly occupied by vibrant green eyes filled with worry. Slowly, sound returned to the world. The first thing she heard was his voice.

"...rots, you alright? Are you hurt?"

"No. I-I don't think so. Are you okay?" Judy gave him a once over. Uniform tie just slightly slack, sleeves rolled up to mid-forearm, and fur mildly ruffled. No visible bleeding from the glass. Her ears were twisting around before she was. "What the heck was—?"

The airbags deployed, eliciting a squeak and a yip from them. Enough force to kill smaller mammals, but only enough to be a mild, if not startling, inconvenience. Nick deflated them with his claws, grumbling about recalls, as Judy remembered their passenger. She tore away from her partner and pressed her face into the window, seeking the apprehended drunkard.

"Fieldson! Fieldson! Are you okay?!" She looked back to see the pika still unconscious. Snoring away, as if he wasn't lying unfastened in the back of a police cruiser that was just hit by something. How much had he drank earlier? And what was it exactly?

"Carrots. Hopps! JUDY!" Nick's voice was urgent, and it was only the use of her first name that got her attention. He'd hopped out of the cruiser at some point while Judy was checking on Fieldson, but didn't take more than two steps from it. Judy hopped out after him, surveying the damage to the car before following his gaze. Her ears dropped and her paws flew up to cover her muzzle.

"Oh my gourd..."

Cars were piling into one another left and right. The small sized sport car that had slammed into them was wrapped around a light post across the lane. A plane flew into the Jackelson & Jackelsen building. The helicopter for Channel Nine was in a spiral and touched down with a bang.

Then there was the dust.

Mammals were crumbling away in front of her very eyes. A fleeing pair of timberwolves dissolved before they could round the corner. A giraffe was trying to get out of his car, but vanished as the door opened. She watched a frightened bear cub vanish from its mother's arms before her radio's chatter started to act up.

"10-78! Repeat, 10-78 at Mass. and Clemens!"

"10-4. 10-70-ei—"

"Dispatch, copy? 10-78 on Sweep St."

"Dispatch?"

"Clawhauser, say something!"

"Carrots…" Nick's paw was on her shoulder and she turned into his embrace. The tears didn't register until his other paw stroked down her ears. She felt his tail wrap around her legs and his muzzle rest on her head. "Carrots. Carrots, you need to lock it up. Don't let them see. Not yet. We've got to go help them."

It was too much. He tilted her head up and smiled down at her reassuringly, but in his eyes she saw the same thing she felt: fear. The dissolving mammals, the chaos capturing their city, how could anyone expect the ZPD's finest to hold it together?

"You can do it, Fluff." He assured her. "I'm right behind y—"

It started at the side of his head, along his muzzle. Then his shoulder. His chest and the warmth of his tail left at the same time. His eyes were gone before it started to take his feet. The breeze swept him away before she could even think of tightening her grasp. Of savoring the moment. She fell once he was gone, unbalanced by his absence.

"N-Nick?"

This wasn't real. This couldn't be happening. Mammals don't just turn to dust. It had to be a dream. She was going to wake up any minute now. Her alarm would go off and she would wake up in her bed. Or in his. Either way, he'd be there once she woke up.

…

Why hadn't she woken up yet!?

It wasn't a dream. She knew it wasn't a dream. Just like she knew that her fellow officers were making the radio explode. Like she knew that her phone was vibrating in its pouch on her hip. Like she knew the mammals around her were screaming their own duress and she was ignoring her duties.

Judy Hopps knew it wasn't a dream.

Which meant that witnessing her partner's death was no longer among her worst nightmares.

"NIIICCCKK!"

AN: So, to all who know me and are wondering why I'm starting anew again, let me explain my hiatus.

I'm stuck on a dingy in the middle of the ocean.

Er, well calling it a 'dingy' is being generous. It's more of a raft, what with it being made of sea turtles and an unfortunate bastard's glorious chest hair.

As to how I got here, some green faced Grinch swindled me out of my coffee one day and the next thing I know, there's ocean.

Everywhere.

Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out how the hell that happened.

And for those of you who don't know me, hi! Welcome to my madness. There are no refunds, the food is stale, and no, I cannot stop the moose from quacking. Believe me, I've tried.

Now I have a question for all my seafaring readers: is the big sheet supposed to be on the big pole or used as a rope to catch fish?

Please answer soon. There's a big one out there that keeps smiling at me.

(I think it winked!)