The hospital, to Judy and Lex's relief was surprisingly quiet, only a few people waiting to be seen, mostly for minor injuries. Lex held his arm with his hand. It was hurting now more than it was when the wound had been inflicted. As the adrenaline rush wore off, the soreness of the injury became more and more intense and the blood was still gently flowing through his fingers. Judy had noticed him looking at the wound and occasionally probing at it with almost childlike curiosity, at which point she would gently slap his hand and tell him to stop messing with it.
After they had been seen and Lex treated, they emerged from the emergency room. Lex's wound was now sealed shut with stitches and the throbbing had been dulled by pain medication. Lex had been told to get plenty of rest but he promised Judy he'd help her get Nick back and besides, it was just a gash in his arm. As long as he was careful, nothing bad could come from exerting himself, he thought.
"Lex, if you're not feeling up to it," Judy began but was quickly interrupted by Lex.
"I'm fine, Judy." he replied with a smile. "I'm not gonna leave you alone while Butch is after you and while he still has Nick."
Judy was surprised. She'd thought that Lex's wound would change everything, but he seemed surprisingly unfazed by it. She felt guilty now. Lex was putting his own life at risk and now he'd been injured, all because she didn't want to face Butch on her own, but she told herself that she wasn't forcing him, that this was his own choice. He was certainly a brave soul. It didn't surprise her at all that this fox was a firefighter.
"Well," Judy started. "I think it's about time you got some rest." Lex remembered their agreement and, at this point, he did start to feel tired. Just the realization alone made him yawn, wich made Judy smile, finding some amount of cuteness in the tired fox. Lex nodded as his mouth was still closing and they headed out into the car park and drove back to Judy's house where Lex finally put his head down to get some rest while Judy took her shift.
Judy sat in the living room, trying to get her mind off of what was going on but stayed vigilant. After she had met Lex and he'd scared Butch away, it had only been a couple of hours before Butch appeared in front of the house and attacked Lex, then he'd attacked again almost immediately as the drove to the hospital. It wouldn't surprise her if she received another visit from him immediately upon getting back home.
"This is insane." She said as she breathed a heavy sigh, sitting back on the sofa and looking up at the ceiling. She missed Nick now more than she ever had. "What if he's already..." She stopped herself and sat up straight. "No, I can't just give up hope. Not until I know for sure."
Judy began thinking about what she'd do the next time Butch showed up. He might not even come unarmed this time. She'd have to be ready for anything.
After being lost in her thoughts for fifteen minutes or so, she jumped up out of the sofa when she heard the sound of someone banging against the door. One thump, then another, and then another. At this point, Judy's mind was able to process what was happening.
"Lex!" She cried. "Wake up! Get down here!" Within seconds, Lex was already belting down the stairs, barely dressed having only had time to put his trousers on.
"What the heck's happening?" He asked in alarm. "Is he back?"
"It sounds like it." Judy replied and a few thumps later, the door flung open, slamming against the wall and hanging on by only one hinge and three males ran into the hallway, one holding a metal pipe, one holding a crowbar and the third holding a baseball bat, each of their faces covered by ski masks.
"Listen, you two!" The one in the middle, holding the pipe barked. "A friend of ours wants to see you. Now come with us!"
"Wow," Judy smirked."He can't even come himself anymore? Has to send his scary friends because he can't handle us himself?"
"That's enough! I'm only gonna ask you once more! Come with us, if you value the use of your legs, carrots!"
"Forget it!" Judy snarled. "Tell me where my Nick is and we'll let you off easy!" She demanded and the three intruders laughed.
"For a species who's so good at multiplying, you're not very good at counting." The middle goon taunted. "There are three of us, armed and two of you, un-amred!"
Without saying anything else, the one who seemed to be in charge ran straight towards Judy and swung his pipe at her head but was surprised by her speed and agility as deftly evaded his blows as he continued to swing the pipe at her, grunting with infuriation.
"Hey, pick on someone your own size!" He heard Lex shout and looked in his direction only in time to receive a stern kick to his stomach. He lurched forward as Lex's foot slugged him in the gut and staggered backwards a few feet, cradling his stomach with his arms. During his vulnerability and before the other two intruders could interfere, Lex grabbed a hold of the other male by the back of his jacket and forced him forward, slamming his head sharply against the radiator. With a loud and painful pang, the thug slumped to the floor, unconscious.
"Adam!" The male with the crowbar yelled and cautiously advanced, foolishly not waiting for his colleague to advance with him and began to rush across the hall to Lex, brandishing his weapon. "You're dead, fox!" the thug yelled and Judy quickly commanded Lex to toss her upwards, which he did without hesitation. The masked male stopped in his tracks and gawked up at Judy in slight awe as she touched her feet against the ceiling and sprung herself downwards, leaving the goon almost no time at all to react before she performed a summersault and planted both of her feet firmly against his cheek with almost jaw-shattering impact. If the kick itself didn't knock him unconscious, then the job certainly would have been done by the impact against the back of his skull as he flew back into the wall next to the front door.
The last remaining intruder stared in disbelief as his last ally slumped to the floor and lay motionless. The fox and rabbit smiled confidently at the unknown male who wielded his wooden bat hesitantly. "Alright," he said, the confidence rapidly ebbing from his voice. "You're d-dead meat!" He began to make his advance but before he could take three steps, Lex swiftly moved his foot under the pipe which had been dropped on the floor by the male who lay at his feet and lifted his foot swiftly, flipping the pipe into the air before spinning around on one foot and roundhouse kicking the pipe across the room with a metallic whistle. Before the thug could even scream at the blunt metal instrument careening towards his face, it bashed him between the eyes with a terrible thunk, launching him backwards, out the door and into the street.
Judy looked around at the two hoodlums who lay in her hallway and smiled up at Lex. "Y'know, you really should have become an officer." Lex smiled, looking out of the door into the street. "I do fine as a firefighter. I think the ZPD is strong enough with officers like you." Judy could barely restrain a light blush at the fox's words. "That's not true. The city could really use more officers like me." She paused for a moment. "...More officers like you."
Before anything else could be said, their attention was caught by a sound coming from the jacket of the first male to be knocked out. It was Butch's voice, communicating with them through a walkie talkie. "Hey, come in. I expected to have heard from you by now. What's going on?" Judy snarled as she recognized the voice and Lex reached into the unconscious hoodlum's jacket and pulled out the radio. He took a deep breath and spoke back to Butch, attempting to disguise his voice with an American accent.
"Uhh, yeah. Nothing to worry about, boss. We got 'em." Lex quickly stepped outside and to confirm what kind of vehicle they had arrived in and saw a large red van that wasn't there when they got back to the house. "We're just loading 'em into the van." Butch laughed, which Lex initially took as a good sign but then, he taunted. "You need to work on that accent, Lex." The young fox sighed in slight frustration. "I knew you two would take care of those three. They were just to get your attention really."
"Where are you, you coward? And where's my Nick?" Judy demanded in a loud and harsh tone.
"Now Ms. Hopps, what did we say about that temper of yours?" Lex looked at Judy with calm and understanding eyes.
"Judy, please try and keep it together. For Nick's sake." Judy closed her eyes and sighed heavily with a nod of agreement.
"I know, I know. Sorry, Lex." Judy responded and Lex turned his attention to Butch again.
"Alright, you have our ears. What do you have to say?"
"I'm so glad you asked." came the bat's reply. "Bellwether feels it's about time for this game of ours to end. If you want to see your precious Nick one last time, come and meet us at the old disused factory just outside Sahara Square. Lex knows the one." The bat gave an evil chuckle and continued. "Feel free to take your time. I'm getting plenty of entertainment out of this lovely fox of yours." Butch left them with an evil chuckle and Judy's following curses received no response. "Let's get going. There's no telling how much time we've got." Judy nodded her agreement and looked at the two goons lying on the floor. ""Yeah, but we can't just leave these guys in my house."
"We'll stick 'em in the van." Lex replied readily and they dragged the two henchmen outside with the other and Lex tried the handle on the back door of the van. It had been left unlocked and they came open. One by one, Lex lifted the goons over his shoulder and loaded them into the back of the van and closed the doors and they hastily jumped in Judy's patrol car again and made for their final destination.
By this point, the city streets had gotten more chaotic as there seemed to be many more savage animals running rampant than a few hours ago. Lex had even noticed a few small fires, probably started by people defending themselves from savages using improvised weapons. But Judy barely batted an eyelid at the chaos. She only payed attention to the numerous savage animals that she nearly ran over or bounded towards the car from the footpath. She seemed to be thinking only of Nick and Lex was beginning to worry that he'd have to stop her from doing something too drastic when he had finally guided her to Butch's location.
"You okay, Judy?" He asked, almost afraid that she'd bite his head off from the fiery look of rage in her eyes.
"Yeah, don't worry about me" Came her reply. Her voice sounded just as calm and collected as ever. "Worry about Butch. If he's hurt my Nick I'll-"
"I'm sure Nick's fine. He'll be back in your arms in no time. You won't have to give Butch brain damage." Of course, Lex had no idea if Nick would be left alive or not. He was sure that Bellwether and her new lackey had no further use for the poor fox now that they had used him to lure the two into their final death trap.
"I hope you're right, Lex. I hope to the heavens that you're right."
So do I, Lex thought to himself, not sure how confident he was in his own words and after only nearly mowing down a savage badger and two savage weasels, they turned the last corner and Lex pointed out the factory on the right and Judy parked the car right outside the building.
As they stepped out of the car, Judy noticed Lex gazing up at the roof and when she directed he own vision to the top of the industrial structure, she saw immediately what he was looking at. It was Butch, smiling wickedly down at them. He beckoned them with a finger as Judy stared back at him with a gaze even more terrifying. Even though his mental instability wasn't his own fault it was going to be tough for Judy to forgive him after all this. The building wasn't too big, couldn't have been more than a couple of flights of stairs to climb. The main door to the factory was left wide open, as if inviting them in. They walked through the door and poked around the dimly lit interior, checking behind several doors until they found the stairwell.
"Be ready as soon as we reach the roof." Judy said in a stern but rather hushed tone. Lex nodded with agreement and the two began their ascent but just before they began to approach the doorway to the roof, they noticed a dark brown oil drum resting on its side right at the top of the stairs as Butch stood over it, resting one foot on top of it.
"Oh darn." Lex said as he and Judy knew instantly what was about to happen and an evil glint shon in the bat's evil eyes as he pushed the drum and sent it tumbling down the stairs at them. Judy's small size and high dexterity granted her an easy safe passage through the situation as she leapt over the bounding cylinder and landed just a couple of steps before the top while Lex leapt over the banister and back onto the flight of stairs below to avoid the drum as it crashed into the wall at the bottom of the top flight, spilling a dark slippery substance onto the floor. Lex finished his ascent, being careful not to slip on the spillage as he made his way to the top. Judy was waiting for him and Butch had already disappeared through the door.
"You okay?" Judy asked, almost unphased by the attack.
"Don't worry, I'm still in perfect shape." He replied and they cautiously walked out onto the roof, swiftly looking left and right, expecting Butch to attack from the side before they could see him but no such savagery ensued.
The evil bat stood quite a ways out on the roof, near one of the building's edges. On the one side of him sat a chair with a rather worn out-looking fox. He smiled and gasped with relief as he looked over at Judy. Judy's reaction was mostly identical.
"Nick!" She exclaimed. "Don't you worry, sweetie, you're going to be okay!" Nick opened his mouth to shout back to her but then caught an evil glance from Butch who starred viciously at him and suddenly changed his mind and stayed silent. "Well well, it's certainly nice to see you again, Judy." Said a figure on the other side of Butch. Judy was so distracted by the sight of her beloved Nick that she didn't even notice them at first.
"Bellwether!" Judy snapped. "You're going back to your cell and this time I'll see to it that you stay there until doomsday!" The sheep chuckled.
"Oh Judy, I've so missed that overconfidence of yours. You've always believed there's nothing you can't overcome but tonight is where you'll be proven wrong and I'm your defeat will be a fatal one. I look forward to reading about your death by the genius of Zootropolis's greatest mastermind in the news." Judy scoffed.
"Oh please! There are hundreds of criminals who still elude us, unlike you! I caught you once and I'm about to put you right back where you belong!" Bellwether retained her confident and evil sneer.
"Oh, sweetheart, you may have outsmarted me once but I won't make a mistake like that again and this time I have something much better than a few hench rams on my side."
Butch took a few steps toward Judy and Lex who both took defencive stances.
"Yeah, and she doesn't even need to turn me savage like she would have with that boyfriend of yours." Butch said, glaring hungrily at Judy. Bellwether cooed at him with a smile.
"Sorry honey but, like I said, I'm not taking any chances this time." She said and pointed a weapon at him that looked all too familiar to Judy and Butch looked back at Bellwether in slight confusion.
"Huh? What do you mean?" He asked and Bellwether fired the weapon, hitting Butch in the neck with a night howler pellet. Butch stumbled around for a few seconds holding his neck and Judy gasped.
"Is that what I think it is?" Lex asked and judy nodded, a look of horror on her face. "Oh god no...for the love of god, no." They stared in shock at what Bellwether had just done, watching the bat convulse as his mind succumbed to his savage ancestry. Did she realize she had just created a monster? Dealing with any other savage animal was frightening enough and so was facing Butch in his usual state but...fighting a savage Butch? The very thought was like something straight out of a nightmare.
"Don't worry, honey. I'll turn you back as soon as you rid me of these pests." She said, shaking the weapon in her hand to illustrate what she meant. Butch snarled at her angrily and grunted between words.
"You never said anything about this!" He cursed at her and in seconds, he ceased rolling around on the floor and fixed his gaze on Judy and Lex and began stalked over to them, baring his teeth in the most harrowing display that had ever haunted Judy's sight.
Butch's evil visage was terrifying enough before but even his old self paled in comparison to the monster Bellwether had just created. Even Lex seemed too shaken by the monstrous sight to think clearly.
"Lex, we can do this. We just have to get that weapon from Bellwether. I think it's loaded with the cure."
"I hope to god you're right, Judy."
The now savage vampire bat wasted no more time and launched himself at Judy and Lex, swinging his claws at them mindlessly and for a while, the two could do nothing but lead him around the roof, doing their best to keep out of his way and hope that he wouldn't turn his attention to the helpless Nick who was tied to the chair. Occasionally, Butch would have one of the two cornered or would take a glance at Nick and bound toward him and one of the others would draw his attention away from them with a firm drop kick in his back or sometimes his head. Unfortunately, Bellwether did a good job of keeping out his sight. This frantic melee went on for several minutes. Nick would occasionally shout encouragement to Judy, at the cost of being struck on the head by Bellwether's pellet gun, which only fueled Judy's rage and resolve.
Minutes later, neither combatant was showing any signs of fatigue, not even the savage bat who had been kicked around quite a lot by this point.
"It's useless, Lex!" Judy called out. "This is getting us nowhere." Lex moved closer to Judy to avoid being heard by Bellwether. Occasionally pausing his speech to avoid a swing from Butch's claws or snap from his dreadful jaws.
If that gun's loaded with the cure, we need him to clap eyes on Bellwether. If he attacks her, she'll have no choice but to change him back." Judy nodded.
"Perfect! We just need her to lose her cool." Judy thought quickly to herself for a moment, watching the fox deftly avoid Butch's savage assaults. "Lex, I know it's risky but can you subdue him for me? For a few seconds at least?" Without saying anything, he nodded and performed a spinning kick, slugging Butch square in the gut, forcing him to lurch forward and roar in pain. Wasting no time, he grabbed the bat's shoulders and vaulted himself over his head and grabbing him in a headlock, holding him in place as he flailed around futilely. Judy seized her chance delivered a barrage of lighting-fast kicks to his torso and face, landing quite a number of painful impacts before she got swatted in the face by the palm of Butch's powerful hand and knocked to the floor. KNowing he couldn't hold Butch still fore much longer, Lex heaved him into the air and suplexed him, slamming his head painfully into the concrete. Butch took a few seconds to recover now. Finally he was being worn down and as he struggled to his knees, Lex leapt towards him and slammed the soles of both of his feet into the bat's face with the most powerful drop kick he could manage and Butch rolled toward Bellwether and landed still several feet away from her. He still seemed to be unaware of her presence but that changed when she began to lose her temper at the the thought that even a savage Butch couldn't defeat the two heroes.
"You useless predator!" She roared. "You can't even dispose of a fox and a rabbit? I practically gift wrapped them for you!" At the sound of her voice, Butch's ears pricked up and he turned to face her, staring her down hungrily. Bellwether's face dropped and her heart turned to ice. "No! Not me! Them! That's the enemy, over there!" She cried in a panic and judy and Lex smiled tauntingly as Butch stalked over to the cornered sheep.
"Well, looks like you've got yourself quite a problem there, love." Lex taunted.
"Yeah," Judy added. "Unless you happen to have something in that weapon of yours that can help you out." Bellwether looked at her weapon, hesitant to use it on Butch while her two adversaries were still alive.
"No," She stammered. "I'd rather die than give up now!" For a moment, it seemed as though she would stay true to her words and allow Butch to take her but, as Butch made his move and leapt at her with his fangs bared, she let out a panicked squeal and fired a green pellet at him which hit him directly in the face, splashing a green substance all over his snout. He recoiled immediately, rolling around on the floor, snarling like the wild beast he had become but gradually seemed to calm down until, finally, he was back to his old self. He kneeled, holding his stomach and wincing. Unable to fight any longer, he threw up on the floor and continued to kneel there, holding his stomach.
Judy and Lex walked over to Butch as Nick shouted cheers and taunts at the two villains and Bellwether cursed at them while Butch looked up at the two as they towered over him, almost trembling before them and looking truly sorry and remorseful for what he had done. He panted between his words.
"Thank you, Lex. Thank you Judy. Thank you for stopping me." Lex couldn't help but feel sorry for his old friend as he noticed tears begin to drench his cheeks. Had he finally come to understand the magnitude of the things he had done? "I won't dare to ask for your forgiveness. I don't even know how to apologize for what I've put you through." Judy kept a close eye on Bellwether as Lex crouched beside Butch.
"We know it's not your fault that your mind let go of the wheel, Butch but as long as you're willing to accept responsibility for your actions, we can help you." Judy nodded, still watching the diabolical sheep.
"That's right, we can do more for you than just throw you in a cell and watch you rot. Are you willing to face up to what you've done?" Butch nodded, still weeping quietly and Judy took out two pairs of handcuffs, stating all the crimes the two had committed and recited the Miranda rights as she cuffed them both. The two were promptly taken to the patrol car and Lex headed back up to the roof on his own to untie Nick and help the injured fox down the stairs and out to the car.
Bellwether was given an extended sentence for her crimes and wasn't expected to leave prison for many, many years. Without her and Butch on the streets to continue infecting civilians with the night howlers, the number of savage animals rapidly decreased until all victims were captured and cured, making the streets safe again.
Lex remained friends with Judy and would frequently spend time with her and Nick, with whom he got along famously. He was named a hero and was awarded a medal for bravery by the city's new mayor.
With Lex's help, Judy continued to look after Nick until his leg had fully healed and he was able to return to work at the ZPD as an officer of the law.
Butch was placed on a recovery programme at a rehabilitation centre where Lex, Judy and Nick would regularly visit him and be updated on his progress. After his course of treatment was concluded, Butch was given a clean bill of mental health and was deemed fit to resume his place in society. Wanting to pay the innocent people back for what he'd done, he joined the army, becoming one of their best soldiers and Judy and Nick were finally able to forgive him. After he had gotten over the death of his beloved Vanessa, Judy even introduced him to her twin sister Jessica with whom he really hit it off with and they soon became an item of romance.
And they all lived happily and comfortably in each other's' lives for years to come.
THE END