This was a quick little rendition of what could have happened to Nick and Judy in the museum. If you have a chance please review, and I hope you enjoy!
You saved me.
Nick felt as if his heart was going to blow out of his chest, but he played it cool. Even with the ringing in his ear from the explosion he could still hear the whisper of the bunny right next to him. Judy had a horrified expression to her face sitting on the ground next to him.
"Everything is gone, we lost it all." He could sense the defeat settling into Judy's tone. Nick gave a sly grin.
"Yeah… oh except for this." Nick held up the black case and let out a laugh as he looked at Judy.
"Oo yes!" Judy punched Nick in the arm, which hurt more than he expected. "Come on!" Judy hopped up and pulled Nick towards the entrance. "We can cut through the natural history museum it'll be faster! We have to get this to Bogo and the ZPD!" Judy's natural excitement had officially been restored. She was ready for more action!
The two ran up the stairs into the closed museum. It was being remodeled and there were crates everywhere.
They were cutting through the museum's main hall when an all too familiar voice rang out over the empty space.
"Judy! Wait!" Mayor Bellwether walked out from behind them. Judy stopped and ran towards her, Nick had this deep feeling in his heart that something wasn't right, but continued towards the sheep anyway.
"Mayor Bellwether! We found out what has been happening to all of the predators! Someone is targeting them using this serum that makes them go savage!" Judy explained quickly, Nick bobbing his head to confirm what she had said.
"Oh Judy! I am so proud of you! Here give me the case and I will take it to the ZPD!" Bellwether extended her hoofs towards the case. Judy however brought it closer to her chest instead. Nick was right, something was terribly off.
"H-How did you know where to find us?" Nick looked at Judy as she put together what Nick had felt all along.
"Oh it doesn't matter! Now give me the case! And we'll…"
"No, I think we'll just take it ourselves." Nick grabbed Judy's arm and pulled her back towards the doors behind them, only to be greeted by a big, mangy looking sheep.
"Run" they both said in unison. Nick lead the way still firmly grasping Judy's arm as they navigated their way through the museum, Nick let go of Judy as the space became tighter. He began to urge her when...
THUD! Crrshhhh! Nick turned to see Judy lying on the ground clutching her side. Just above her was a tusk with blood on it. The case had skittered across the floor, but Nick scooped both the case and Judy into his arms, running a little further before ducking behind a wall.
"Are you ok?" Judy's face contorted in pain as she revealed to him her side. "Oh no." what Nick saw sent his heart into his stomach. Judy's shirt was torn, and there was a large, gaping hole where the tusk had punctured her abdomen. Blood flowed profusely from the wound. Nick tossed the case aside and pulled out the handkerchief in his pocket, effectively spilling the blueberries he had gotten from Judy's truck on the floor. As he was fastening his makeshift bandage, he could hear Bellwether who was speaking in the background.
"… Prey outnumber predators 10 to 1! ..." her voice faded again as Nick ignored her, more focused on taking care of Judy. Judy looked at him and opened the case that was nearby, pulling out the gun and a strange vial. She opened the gun, removed the shiny ball of night-howler serum, handing it to Nick just as her head rolled back in unconsciousness.
As Bellwether continued her rant about the superiority of prey, Nick brought over a rabbit-like figure in hopes of distracting Bellwether's henchmen. Nick picked up Judy, taking care that the vial and serum stayed in her lap, pushed the mannequin into position, and ran further into the storage room.
Nick heard the familiar buzz of the standard issue Taser guns. Small puffs, and a dart flew past Nicks head. That was close! Nick's heart sped up.
The storage room was pitch black, any other animal wouldn't have been able to see, but as a fox, Nick had excellent night vision, which proved quite useful while navigating the maze of crates. The storage room they found themselves in was huge! The crates were stacked almost as tall as a giraffe, there were thousands of them. Finally, somewhere in the back, Nick found a sheltered area with an opening that he tucked himself and Judy into. The area seemed to be inside some kind of container, the walls and edges were made of a rusting metal. Nicks attention was drawn back by a faint wheezing.
Judy was in bad condition.
She had regained consciousness a little. Nick could see Judy was in a tremendous amount of pain, her ears where flattened against her head. He looked around hearing hoof-steps enter the room. He couldn't risk moving Judy again, it could kill her.
CRASH!
One of the henchmen knocked over a crate or something, they were closer then Nick had thought.
"They're here somewhere, a fox carrying a wounded bunny couldn't have gotten far." Bellwethers antagonizing voice cleared the silence. Her cohort chimed in…
"I'd think the filthy fox would just ditch the bunny…" wow, they really think that lowly of me? Nicks thoughts filled his head for a moment.
"Hey fox! I know you can hear me! Why don't you just give up?" Bellwethers voice was almost sing-songy as she taunted him. "Think about it, we are going to find you eventually. We will get it anyways, but, I don't know, you could just leave the bunny, give us the antidote and serum, and we could turn a blind eye and let you walk free!" Bellwether's words dragged out as she tried to bargain with Nick.
Give up? Ever since I was young, everyone has hated foxes. They saw me as a liar, a cheat, a thief. Nothing more than a shifty lowlife, no matter what I did to prove them wrong. Has nothing changed? Even these wool brained criminals look down on me. Is there any point in being anything else?... As the bad thoughts flooded Nicks mind, he couldn't believe he was actually considering leaving.
A small groan brought Nick's attention back. Judy had regained consciousness. She looked up at him and gave a weak smile.
She held out her paw to Nick. He wrapped both of his paws around hers and felt her drop something into it. He let go and opened his paw.
The serum and antidote? Nick couldn't believe what Judy was doing.
"Run." Her voice was low, weak, trembling. "Nick, I'll never make it. So just-just take it and run. Get it to Bogo, and if I don't make it…" Nick cut Judy off with a horrified expression and the wave of a paw.
Nobody is dying. The thought seemed so loud that Nick was sure the sheep could hear it.
He grabbed both of her forearms and pulled her into a hug before walking past her and out the opening. He stopped once he was just outside of the metal box, taking notice of the propped lid.
"I'll distract them. Nick, go!" Judy became serious as she tried to stand. She waved at him to run. Nick turned around and looked down, before swiftly closing the barred lid and locking Judy inside.
Judy's eyes grew huge with confusion and surprise. Nick leaned towards the bars with the fiendish smile Judy knew so well.
"Nick? Wh-What are you doing?" Judy was startled and confused.
Nick stuck his snout between the bars, whispering "It's called a hustle sweetheart."
"Nicholas Wilde open this cage right now!" Nick responded to her command by shaking his head. A tear ran down his face. He stuck his arm through the bars and handed Judy the antidote.
"Nick… where is the serum… don't you dare!" Judy began to panic. She was scared He looked at her. his eye reflected the one thing that he hadn't had for a long time, love. Not the kind of romantic love, but the kind of love that gives you the strength to run 1,000 miles to reach that person. The love that would make you do anything to save them.
Nick didn't know how, but he felt like he had known Judy for a lot longer than he did. They had an instant and deep connection. He was sure she felt the same way.
"Carrots, remember a couple hours ago under the bridge. You showed up and apologized, at first I thought you were hurt, but in truth I was wounded and you helped me." Nick ran the backside of his paw across his face.
"Judy, I want you to know, that no matter what happens here, or to me, that you gave me the opportunity to be something more than a sly, untrustworthy fox. You gave me the opportunity to be a hero. You saved me Judy Hopps. Now, you're wounded, and it's time to return the favor."
As Nick threw the serum in his mouth, he ran his paw over Judy's head, another single tear run down the side of his face.
Nick stood and rolled the orb of serum between two of his sharp teeth.
With one last look at Judy he turned and saw the two woolly bodyguards at the other side of the room. One of them yelled and pointed in Nick direction.
I wonder what it feels like to be savage. Does any part of me stay? Or does the darkness take you whole? No matter what happens I will always remember the face of the bunny who believed in me, who helped free me. Nicks thoughts slowed as he prepared himself.
Crunch.
The serum ran down Nick's throat, it was bitter, it burned. He could feel its effects almost immediately. Nick hunched over, bracing himself with his arm on the crates next to him, a paw on his forehead. Nick took his last breath before he blacked out and let the darkness consume him.
It was raining. Judy normally loved the smell of rain, but she couldn't enjoy anything today. Today marked the five year anniversary.
Judy sunk to her knees in front of a large tombstone that read:
Nicholas P. Wilde
March 4th 1984- July 11th 2016
Nick had saved her life in that storage room, he locked her away and kept her safe.
He killed two of the guards before they…
A tear rolled down Judy's face. It was still so hard thinking about Nick's death. She still had nightmares of the other criminals that had killed Nick. They beat him to death. Even after he was unconscious, the just kept hitting him. Another tear. She still dreams about holding Nicks lifeless head, begging the universe to bring him back.
Judy laid her flowers on the grass just before the tombstone.
"I miss you Nick. So much." The tears continued to run down her cheek. "I didn't know what to do and I guess you showed me the way. I found this awesome guy, and guess what, I'm pregnant! I haven't told anyone else so... keep it on the DL ok?" Judy gave a halfhearted smile to the stone. She was trying to keep from crying too much.
Judy reached into her pocket and pulled out a bloodstained handkerchief. Wrapped inside was a carrot pen. Judy looked at the pen, closed her eyes and pushed the button.
Judy, I want you to know, that no matter what happens here, or to me, that you gave me the opportunity to be something more than a sly, untrustworthy fox. You gave me the opportunity to be a hero. You saved me Judy Hopps.
The words rung in the air, as Nick's voice played over the tiny speaker. Judy sobbed silently and wiped the tears off her cheek with the back of her paw.
After a little while Judy ran a paw over the name on the stone before standing up, looking at the grave one last time. As she turned to leave, Judy faced the stone, raised a flattened paw in a salute.
"It would have been an honor serving with you Nick Wilde. You would have made a good cop."
Judy turned and began walking from the cemetery with the odd feeling that a paw was on her shoulder and an old friend was walking with her.