This is basically a Rescuers Down Under AU

Ch. 1: Not Just Any Case

Outback Island was miles away from Zootopia, resting in the ocean. It wasn't as comfortable as Zootopia, the temperature was always scalding, the land mainly desert like wastelands, and every animal there had a criminal record, ranging from shop lifting to mugging, it was savage and it was wild.

Though what probably stood out most about it was that it wasn't just home to mammals (kangaroos, koalas, dingoes, etc), the population was also made up of reptiles.

One such reptile, a frill-necked lizard by the name of Frank Frill was jogging through a small patch of woodland. He wanted to lose some weight so he could ask his old high school crush on a date. As he ran he had a set of headphones plugged into his ear holes, listening to a cheery fast paced song that encouraged his skinny scaly legs to run, even if his lungs begged him to stop.

But when the song came to an end he skidded to a halt, resting his claws on his knees as he tried to suck in air as quickly as possible; a stitch in his side.

"Jogging is the worst," he muttered to himself as he walked onward, the prickly grass tickling his feet. "I mean, I know it makes you healthy but at what cost?"

Suddenly he felt the ground shift beneath him and Frank let out a startled cry as the grass gave way beneath him and he was falling. He landed on his back, the breath momentarily knocked out of him, as he realized he had fallen into a pit.

"What the…" he winced, forcing himself up onto his feet. It was a deep hole, he tried to jump up and claw at the walls but he couldn't get a grip, his claws sinking in the dirt before he slid back down.

"Okay, this is bad," Frank started to panic, his frill spreading out. "Bad, bad, bad!" Despite that he had lived his entire life in Outback Island he wasn't tough and scrappy like most other animals that lived here. He relied on his common sense and his ability to run away from dangerous situations. You couldn't run from a hole.

"H-Hello!" he yelled up. "Can anybody here me? I need help!"

He listened to the thrum of insects and the shifting wind for a few moments, he opened his mouth to call out again but then he heard footsteps.

A face appeared at the top of the pit, it wore a mask, the elongated muzzle wrapped in gray stripes that reminded the lizard of chains, the eye holes were slits that had tear drop patterns trailing down its cheeks, he could just make out pupils that looked down at him.

"H-Hi," Frank waved lamely at them, the stranger having put him on edge more than the hole, but he didn't want to stay down here forever. "I fell down here. Can you help me up?"

The figure disappeared and Frank's jaw dropped with dismay. "Wait, come back!" He rubbed his claws together, looking around the pit with growing apprehension. Did the news say it was going to rain today? Would he drown down here, all alone?

Suddenly a rope was thrown over the rim of the hole, nearly smacking into Frank's face. He looked up in surprise to see the masked figure, the rope held between their gloved paws.

Frank's common sense evaporated in his relief that he wouldn't die in this pit and he grabbed a hold of the rope, hurryingly climbing up the dirt wall. "Thank you," he gasped, reaching the top, the stranger grabbed his elbow and helped him onto the grass. "Lucky you were around when you were."

He smiled up at the mask, the pupils looking down at him; he took in the pointed ears, the dark brown fur, the bushing tail that swayed slightly behind the stranger who was wearing oddly thick clothing considering they were in Outback Island. He was pretty sure it was a dingo.

"So uh…" Frank began awkwardly, taking a step back as his common sense kicked back in. He was alone with a masked stranger who oozed malice. "Why are you wearing a mask? It's a little early for Halloween-"

His voice was cut short as the dingo shot toward him, its paws flying to his mouth; it was holding a rag that smelled funny. Frank was pinned to the ground and tried struggling against the larger animal as he was forced to breath in the rag's strange scent his unfolded frill nearly hitting the stranger in the muzzle, his muscles started to turn to lead and he found it harder and harder to keep his eyes open until he couldn't fight anymore and his senses faded, his eyes drifted shut and his consciousness slipped away.

The masked dingo flung the lizard over its shoulder and headed out of the trees to where an old rusty truck waited, a large cage replacing the bed of the vehicle. The dingo walked forward and opened the cage, tossing the unconscious lizard inside with no kind of gentleness. It moved to close the cage when an accented voice spoke up above it: "You should probably have a less conspicuous vehicle if your profession is abduction."

The dingo's muzzle shot up to see a rabbit standing on top of the tall cage, his fur was a light gray, black stripes decorating the tips of his ears and the sides of his face, he wore a khaki outfit like he was a ranger and his paws rested on his hips. He was looking down at the dingo with unimpressed aqua blue eyes.

"Let the reptile go," the rabbit ordered, his voice quiet yet held a ferocity that could match a predator's.

The dingo's paws dropped to its side, its entire posture casual as if it hadn't just been caught stealing an innocent animal. A moment of tense silence passed and then the dingo's paw shot into its pocket and brought out a pawgun.

The rabbit ducked as a bullet whizzed a hair above his head and he lunged down to tackle into the canine. The force sending them both rolling onto the dusty ground, the gun knocked out of the dingo's paw and skidded across the dirt. The two mammals rolled across the ground, the dingo trying to wrap its paws around the rabbit but he managed to stay out of its reach, using the weight of the dingo against itself he threw it off him. He jumped up and dashed toward the weapon, reaching a paw out toward it but the dingo grabbed his leg, forcing him to the ground before he could grab it. The rabbit kicked at the dingo who let out a yelp as his foot collided with its muzzle. The paw released him and the rabbit grabbed the gun, whirling around to aim it at the dingo but it had recovered from the kick faster than he had anticipated and knocked his gun arm away, and giving his jaw a solid blow.

The rabbit spit out a glob of blood as his head rung and the dingo dashed to its truck, with a rattle it turned on and the truck started to drive away. The rabbit jumped to his feet and sprinted after it, jumping onto the cage of mesh-link, his fingers and toes digging into the metal as the truck raced over bumpy terrain. He crawled up to the top and made his way across the cage, he needed to get to the driver seat and kick that dingo directly in the face. He made it to the edge of the cage, the driver door before him. He could just make out the head of the dingo, face forward as it raced through the terrain that was quickly turning into that of a desert, the truck going so fast the wind blistered against the rabbit's fur, his ears flapping madly as he carefully placed his feet on the side of the cage and started to carefully climb down, one wrong move and he'd be thrown off the cage.

His eyes stayed down, watching where he put his feet, and then he looked up. The masked dingo was leaning out of the window, the gun aimed directly at the rabbit's head, he always preferred taking the smart way to solve his problems; he didn't like to be reckless. But sometimes reckless was the only way to get things down. He leapt, aiming for the dingo, reaching for the mask, he felt his fingers dig into the thick fabric of the mask, he heard the gun go off a hot flash of pain burned at his shoulder and then he was falling, his body slamming hard into the dusty ground.

The rabbit gritted his teeth in pain, his paw clasping his now bleeding shoulder, he forced himself unto his knees and watching in furious helplessness as the truck became a dot before vanishing all together, taking the dingo and the lizard with it.

He cursed loudly, resisting the urge to punch the ground repeatedly. This was the fifteenth reptile stolen in the past few weeks, only difference was that now he knew it wasn't them getting lost out in the country, they were being taken. He looked down at the paw that was connected to his injured shoulder, he had successfully torn the mask off, it had a thick string attached to it that had ripped into half when he had taken it. He desperately hoped this would lead to some much needed answers.

Because this was clearly more than just any ordinary case.