The worst part about their collars were the itches. Sure, the PMD (Predator Managing Department) watching their every move was rather unsettling. But having their heart rate monitored and their brain activity registered was something all predators had gotten used to.

Ever since the savage outbreaks had started about a year ago, the city had slowly begun to spiral into chaos. He and Judy never found the reason behind the attacks, but the police were still searching. Some speculated that it was an animal who had a grudge against predators and was drugging them to turn them vicious. Others believed that it was a predatory instinct that had finally woken up after centuries of being asleep that started to drive animals to kill.

Regardless of the reason, no one felt safe anymore. The prey were worried they could be killed, and the predators were worried they would kill. So as a solution, the government suggested MBC's or Mandatory Behavioral Collars on all predatory civilians. These collars would monitor the predator population and incapacitate any animal that was detected to be savage. Within the next month or so, every predator had been equipped with an MBC.

Fortunately, the MBC's did their job and stopped a lot of dangers. The animals were paralyzed when they went savage, the police picked them up, and they spent the rest of their lives in a laboratory where they were monitored in an attempt to find a cure. Unfortunately, the devices raised bigger problems, like the itching.

"I almost have it." Nick said as he clawed viciously at the back of his neck, trying to get in behind the collar. "I swear I'm so close."

He and Judy were on break from a patrol route in the rainforest district. They sat on a bench overlooking a city block while they talked and ate their lunch. The bench was pushed up against a massive tree, so they had shelter from the light rain that fell down over the city.

Judy, who was sitting beside him, began giggling at her partner's struggle. She hated it when she laughed at Nick because of his collar, but it was just so funny.

"You want some help with that?" She asked with a grin.

"Nope, I don't need help." Nick quickly denied. But after struggling with the gadget for far too long, he finally admitted defeat. Nick sighed and looked at Judy with disappointment in his eyes.

"I need your help." He said shyly. "Please."

"Ok. If you insist." Judy replied with a smile as she hopped up on Nick's shoulders and used her small paws to get underneath the metal. Once she started scratching at Nick's neck, she felt him shudder, and let out soft 'ooooh's and 'aaaah's.

"What would you do without me?" Judy asked as she fell off of Nick's shoulders and into his lap.

"Probably buy a decent back scratcher." He answered jokingly, picking his lunch back up.

Judy chuckled and took her own food. They sat in silence, eating their meals and enjoying each others company. Once Nick finished his sandwich, he looked down in his lap at Judy. She was munching on a bunch of berries, looking at the animals going about their day in the rain. Some had umbrellas, others risked it and ran to their destination. As she ate, she grabbed Nick's tail and brought it close to her chest to snuggle it. He loved it when she grabbed his tail.

But he wasn't enjoying the moment as much as he should have. He was still thinking about the piece of junk around his neck. His MBD. Sure, it helped save a few animals, but was it really that necessary? Collars were humiliating. It was a message that told everyone that predators couldn't control themselves.

And why didn't any prey have any? There was no proof that they could control themselves any better than predators, they had just never been on the edge of going savage. And if a prey suddenly did go crazy and attack, would MBDs be mandatory on all animals? Nick didn't want his tax money to go to such a stupid cause.

But that wasn't all. The worst part was the fact that the collars didn't come off. Only a select few animals had the necessary key card to remove collars, and none of them were predators. All predators had that clump of garbage strapped around their necks for the rest of their lives. Their skin couldn't breath, the weight caused constant pain and the blinking light always caught attention. And it never came off.

The city saw MBCs as devices that kept predators sane all the time, and that without them, all hell would break lose. They've forgotten the time before collars, when animals lived together happily. Now all predators were stereotyped as being crazy and uncontrollable.

But he couldn't change any of it. He had to keep his collar on, and there was nothing he could do. He pushed the thought aside after realizing how he was acting. He just ate amazing food with the love of his life in his lap. He needed to learn to enjoy what he had.

"Hey, you look down today. What's wrong?" Judy asked, looking up at Nick with wide eyes.

"Just thinking about how much easier life would be without this... thing." He said, tugging at his collar.

"Yeah," She agreed. "It must really suck"

Nick slowly brought his head down onto Judy's shoulder and whispered something into her ear. "You know you could make all that suck go away if you just, I don't know, took it off for me."

She gasped and looked up at Nick, her jaw almost dropped to the ground. "Nick, no! That's illegal." She squealed.

"Not for you, it's not." It was true. After being offered to represent the ZPD, Judy got access to removing MBCs. Now, she had the key to take off any collar she wanted. She never imagined she would ever need to use it, but it came as a perk in case she did.

"Still." She admitted. "It's not safe."

Nick paused for a bit, rethinking about what Judy had said. Not safe? Did she think he could be dangerous?

"What?" He asked in annoyance. "Not safe? What do you mean not safe?"

Judy caught herself, after realizing what she had said. "It's nothing, you'd be fine." She waved at Nick, trying to silence him.

"You don't think I can control myself, do you?" Nick asked with a low anger growing inside him. "If I didn't have the collar, would you be scared of me?"

"No. That's not what I meant, Nick." Judy defended herself as she slid off of Nick's lap and scooted further down the bench. Nick's tone was scaring her though.

"But you were implying it." Nick growled deeply. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I heard you say 'it wouldn't be safe.'" He told Judy as he scratched his chin, buiding Judy's words against her. "And if I'm not safe, I must be dangerous."

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Judy repeated with a shaky voice.

"Do you know how much these suck?" He asked Judy as he raised his voice. "To have this hunk of crap permanently strapped to your neck!?"

"Nick stop." She said with tears building behind her eyes. "I'm sorry, just stop."

Judy slid further from Nick until she was on the edge of the bench. She leaned on the armrest and covered her face in her paws, trying to hide from Nick.

After realizing what he had done, Nick's anger fell away from him and he was instantly flooded with regret. How could he have gotten so furious at Judy? How could he let himself do that to her?

"Ju-Judy?" He quietly called out to his friend as he slowly started to pull himself towards her. The sadness was killing him.

"What?" She answered in between sobs, now obviously angry at Nick.

He opened his mouth to apologize, but his words got stuck in his throat. "I... I'm so, sor-" Before he could finish, he was cut off by the sound of his walkie-talkie. On the other end of the line, he heard the police station's dispatch officer, Benjamin Clawhauser.

"Alert to all officers. We have a code three-ninety-four in progress. Location 22 Cherrywood Drive, rainforest district."

At the sound of his friend's voice, Nick turned and reached for the walkie-talkie, but Judy was faster and snatch it from him. She jumped up and speed off to their police car.

Nick quickly stood up and ran after Judy. "Judy, I know I got mad at you. I'm sor-"

"We don't have time to apologize right now." She said in an attempt to hide the hurt Nick caused her. "We have work to do. Clawhauser said three-ninety-four, right? On Cherrywood drive?"

Nick was in awe. Judy didn't want to help fix their problems. Usually she fell into Nick's arms, they had a short talk about how much they loved each other, and then they got icecream. But now, she completely threw him off.

"Yeah, that's what he said." Nick finally answered with a quiet voice, still dumbfounded at Judy's lack of love.

"Ok." She said in between sniffles as the two officers got into their squad car and sped off towards the scene of the crime. "That means we have a savage animal on the loose."