I hope you guys enjoy this. I'm sorry about not updating second chances, but I've come to realize I'm kind of still burnt out from Second Chances, but luckily I've got some ideas in my head.
Take the "I've got ideas" comment as you will.
Judy was dead.
Nick was sure of it, because honestly, a bomb going off inside of already weakened convenience store doesn't help when you've been shot twice with bullets longer than your fingers.
And to put it in the most simple way;
He wasn't wrong.
The funeral was a police affair, which meant that there would be many officers, many mammals, many faces to ask the fox if he was doing ok, and at this point the fox just wanted to be alone to mourn his wife. It was just basic instinct. Foxes mated for life, which basically meant that he'd be depressed and moody for a few months, and then he'd just get over it.
But just "getting over it" was hard when his mind kept on trying to convince him that it was his fault, and damn did it sound convincing.
Like everyone expected, he was depressed and moody for a few months, and eventually he appeared to have dealt with the depression and the moodiness. So everything seemed to go back to normal. Nick got a new partner, a hyena. Nobody ever really brought up Judy, and the only remaining signs she'd ever worked at the ZPD's Precinct 1 were a single photo of him and Judy on their wedding day, her named chiseled into the memorial of fallen officers, and stories from her coworkers.
And then, as a complete surprise to everyone at the precinct, Nick showed the same signs of mourning as he had over 4 years earlier. Moodiness and depression appeared to hit the fox harder than ever. He talked less than he had ever before, being nearly silent during almost all of the day.
Everyone who worked with him-including Bogo, of course, were (unsurprisingly) worried about him.
"How is the assignment going?"
"Its going great, Bogo. I'm in their ranks, and I've got plenty of intel to bring them down." The female voice sighed in relief to hide her apprehensive tone, but she failed to distract him.
"Are you ok?"
"Well, the thing is, " The voice took a breath in. "I've seem him. And he doesn't look good. I'm worried about him."
"I've noticed too. I'm sure he'll be fine."
"But doesn't it worry you, that he's depressed again? Its been nearly 5 years. What if he does something drastic?"
"I guess you're right. I'll make sure to do something with him later."
"Not drinking, right?"
"Definitely not. I've learned from my mistakes on that one."
"122 Out."
"Good luck. And don't worry. You'll be back with him soon."
"Thanks."
Bogo's words were assuring, but deep down she couldn't help but worry.
Bogo did make plans to do something with him. He had hoped to comfort him, and tell him it was ok.
But he never got that chance.
Bogo had been looking for Nick for twenty minutes, but he couldn't find him anywhere in the precinct. His desk, the break room, the holding cells, out back where he'd find him usually taking his break or smoking.
"Clawhauser, have you seen Wilde? I wanted to speak with him." The buffalo looked around. "Personally."
"Nick? He just left. Said something about having to get something important done." Clawhauser leaned in. "Honestly, I'm kind of worried. I told him if he needs help we're always here and he told me he's fine."
"You don't think he'd..." Bogo trailed off.
"I hope not. But he did seem better today-" The cheetah was cut off by the light on his dispatch receiver blinking. A panicked voice was eager to reply.
"This is Wolford! We've got a 10-34S in progress in Sahara Square! Suspect is a red fox, he's got a hoodie and a mask on so I don't have a visual on his face-Holy shit!" Wolford's panicked calls were cut short by the sound of bullets hitting glass.
Clawhauser and Bogo looked at each other in equal confusion and fear.
"Do you think..." The cheetah's voice trailed off.
"I hope not." Bogo was hoping that it was just a coincidence, that Nick was just on his break to eat. He didn't want to lose another good officer, but a thought at the back of his head was telling him that Nick had gone completely nuts.
Bogo watched the CCTV recording again. Even though the voice at the back of his head had told him, the buffalo couldn't believe it.
He watched as the figure walked into the bank. He watched as he pulled the handgun as the security guard tried to stop him. He watched as the figure began shot the guard and 10 other completely innocent mammals. He watched as the fox-shaped figure took off his mask to reveal the grinning face of-who but-Nicholas Wilde.
As the buffalo sat there, he realized what he'd need to do;
End Operation: JID early.
The fox walked through the empty hallways of Cliffside asylum, once bustling with mammals with problems galore. Just like me. He thought, smiling as he found the room he was looking for.
As he entered the room he began to hear sirens blaring from the front entrance. He knew what was going to happen, he knew that the officers would try to talk him down, to keep him from escaping everything.
He sniffed the air to see if anyone was around, and he couldn't help but be baffled at what he smelt:
Rabbit.
Or in particular, female rabbit, with some male rabbit mixed in. He knew there were male rabbits who'd be out to get him for the fact that he'd killed 20 innocent mammals, but he only knew one female rabbit that would be out to get him. He smiled at the thought of her.
Her amethyst eyes,
Her strong, but small body,
The way her nose would twitch and how her ears would droop when she knew she was about to die.
He grinned widely as Agent 019, more formally known as Jack Savage, pointed his gun at the fox.
"Hands up, Wilde! Its over!" Jack shouted.
Nick couldn't help but laugh. And he laughed hard. When he eventually consoled himself his expression changed from his signature smirk to a insanity-ridden smile.
"Oh come on Jack, you can do better than that. Just give me one good reason I shouldn't blow my brains out!" He gestured to the pistol in his paw.
"I think I'm a pretty good reason, Nick." A female voice interrupted, and a healthy, albeit older and hardened Judy Hopps-Oops, Judy Wilde stepped out from the doorway and into the office, a hopeful smile on her face. Nick's expression dropped, his maw dropping and eyes widening in surprise. "J-judy... You're alive!" An amazed smile spread across his muzzle. He holstered his gun and began to run towards her, as did Judy.
Nick lowered himself and hugged Judy tightly. He looked at Jack with a soft, relived smile on his face. "I missed you so much, Judy."
"I missed you too, Nick. I'm so sorry I couldn't be there. I'm so sorry." She knew she was hustling him well. She pulled out her tranq-gun to gently bring him down, and was ready to shoot when-
"Its fine Judy, I just want to tell you something I've wanted to tell you for so long." He was looking at the back of her head now.
Judy stopped pulling the trigger. "What is it, Nick?" She asked softly.
"Well, its just," His relived smile changed to a crazy one, but Judy couldn't see, but Jack could, and he had barley opened his mouth when Nick pressed a button on the floor, and the door shut silently in front of the rabbit.
"You should have stayed dead."
Before she could react, Nick pulled his gun out and pulled the trigger twice. The two bullets ripped through the rabbits stomach area, and Judy's expression froze. She doubled over in the familiar pain she had felt in the same place over 4 years ago, and Nick, now having stepped away from her, kicked her in the face, toppling her over onto her back. He kneeled down to her position. He dialed back his crazy smile into a more evil smile. "You always were a dumb bunny, you know that?" He laughed.
"Why, Nick?" The bunny croaked.
"I'm sure you know about the whole 'Foxes mate for life' thing? I'm sure you do." He stood back up and looked down on her. "Well, I'm sure you know what happens when our mate dies, right? Normally we'd just mope around, depressed for a few months, and then we'd go back to normal. But what do you think happens when you literally spend all of your day with your mate, and your mind just can't stop convincing you're the reason your mate died?"
Judy stared.
"That wasn't rhetorical, but if you don't have the answer; Just let me just put it simply," His brow furrowed and his smile disappeared.
"We go crazy. Wacko. Insane, even. I mean - even though I got all of that therapy, it didn't help, Hopps." His expression became angrier. "I still had that fire burning. So you can tell how angry I was when I found out you weren't 6 feet under, but instead undercover in the ZPD!" Nick snarled
Judy was, unsurprisingly, surprised. "H-how did you know?"
"C'mon Carrots, You know me. A little favor, a buddy with some cell tracking tech, it was easy to find you out, 'Agent 122'." He explained as if it was the weather. "What kind of undercover cop gets that name?"
The rabbit didn't answer.
"But anyways, you know I said foxes go crazy? I wasn't lying." He leaned back down to her height. "And you wanna know what happens when my walls fall down? It isn't nice." Nick aimed his gun at Judy's head. Judy's eyes widened in fear, and to her relief, he dropped the magazine out.
And then put a fresh mag in.
The fear returned.
"You fucking didn't realize, didn't you?" He snarled "You didn't realize the repercussions of faking your own death! I still don't know why you thought I could take it. Did you not think of my past, Judy? You've fucked up more than once like this, you should have known!"
Judy was going to respond when the fox cut her off. "But no, you didn't know, Judy. You forgot, again! I know you've thought of that being the end of you, and you weren't wrong!" She winced as Nick pushed her to the floor with his foot, keeping her in place. "You know what Judy?" He let pressure off of her chest, and she let out a breath. "I'm just going to end this with our favorite catchphrase."
She knew she was going to die. She could hear Jack desperately trying to break the glass door behind her. She shut her eyes in defeat and weakness.
"Its called a hustle, sweetheart." He slid the gun slide back, loading a bullet into place. Nick took a breath, and took a moment to look around. He found what he was looking for. Jack was banging on the glass door to the office, with a fire axe clearly sized for a mammal bigger than the male rabbit. He smiled, and looked down on Judy's weak body.
He pulled the trigger.
Nick had escaped it all.
Everything.
His family, his coworkers, Bogo, Zootopia, everything.
Everything.
Alias's Notes: I really hope nobody realizes the mistake I made with the guns.
(And in case you're wondering, Nick didn't kill himself. ;) )
Oh yea, I also got an Archive Of Our Own account that I'll maybe-ish put second chances and this on if I feel like it, so don't worry if my work shows up there under my name.
Anyways, Alias out!