CHAPTER 4; BAD NEWS

Both Nick and Judy stared at the giant panda bear sitting at the other side of the doctor's table in surprise, confusion, hurt and most of all, shock. 'A-are you sure?' Judy managed to utter, being the first between the two of them to speak. Doctor Rosemary looked at her with pity in her eyes before nodding. 'Unfortunately so. The mutated Night Howler in your blood stream may have damaged and altered your DNA permanently. Tests taken of samples of your blood have yielded nothing but a change in your DNA and until we can find an appropriate amount of this mutated Night Howler to study…there is nothing we can do'

'Also, why your body adapted the biology of a fox rather than any other mammal is still unknown to us as well. But I must warn you, Ms. Hopps. While we are trying our utmost best to make sure reverse what has been done, we have very little samples to work with, To be honest, I fear we may not find anything at all'

'But what about Jackson?' Judy asked 'There must be something he knows'.

Dr Rosemary rubbed her forehead in exasperation 'Believe me we have tried to get him to talk but without success. I believe he prefers being an obstacle than a help to us' she said in mild irritation about Jackson's behavior. 'Do you think it might help if I talked to him?' Judy suggested. Dr Rosemary paused and seemed to consider that option. 'Maybe' she replied at last 'But you will see him alone. I'm sure Mr. Wilde wouldn't mind a jail term if Jackson did so much as sneer at you'.

Nick frowned at the doctor 'Hey, I can be level headed'. Dr Rosemary raised one of her thick eyebrows at him as if to say 'Really?'

'Ask any of the nurses outside to lead you to ward 347. You'll find him there' she said to Judy. 'Thank you' Judy said, flashing a weak smile at the doctor. In truth, her head was reeling with all she had learned in the past hour and the questions that had come with it. She glanced at Nick reassuringly before exiting the room.

As she did so, Dr Rosemary watched her leave before her eyes shifted to Nick who was sitting in silence with a look of deep thought on his face. 'Don't tell me you're going to throw a tantrum Mr. Wilde. I merely thought that seeing you might cause Mr. Jackson to suffer shock seeing as you are the one who broke his neck' she said to the still fox.

He turned and looked at her then pushed his hands into his pockets as if looking for the right words to say. Nick opened his mouth then closed it again in a fit of indecision. He usually did not have any problems talking with mammals regardless of their profession but he was embarrassed to say the least on what he was trying talk about to the doctor.

'You need hormone suppressants?' Dr Rosemary asked calmly looking at him square in the face. Nick raised his head and looked at her in mild shock 'How did you know?'

'I'm a doctor honey and while Judy's case is the first I've seen in my lifetime, you are not the first mammal want to miss out on the craze of mating season' Dr Rosemary winked at him 'and she is beautiful'.

Nick shook his head at her, effectively hiding the blush on his cheeks while the doctor scribbled something on a prescription sheet.

'Here' she said handing it over to him 'These should help. You can pick them from the pharmacy on your way out'.

As Nick took it from her, his expression changed from relieved embarrassment to suave and cool 'Thanks Doc. I'll see you around then'. It was when he was outside the door that Rosemary realized the ring on her middle finger was missing.

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Taking a deep breath, Judy pushed open the door of room 347 effortlessly in her new found state. The room was medium sized and air conditioned with a bed in the middle. Beside it was a stand on which a drip bag was hung and connected to a small individual who was breathing hoarsely, a carton coloured cast on his neck.

'Jackson' Judy murmured her tone filled with loath and hate. Said person turned upon hearing his name and when he saw the silver fox a huge smirk threatened to crack his face. 'Looks like you ain't much of a bunny now are you' Jackson snickered to himself 'You a damn predator now!' He began laughing hysterically at something only he found funny.

'What did you do to me?' Judy asked quietly, internally surprised at how calm she was being.

Jackson's laughter subsided at her question although he still had a giant grin on his face 'What does it look like? I changed you' he replied with a chuckle.

'How?' Judy demanded, her violet eyes flashing with holy anger. 'Why?'

At the second question, Jackson's grin turned feral and he sneered at her 'Why?' he repeated 'Because you was always sticking your nose where it don't belong! Some stupid bunny from nowhere gets it in her head that she can become a cop and when she does she doesn't stop at that, she gotta be Miss Know It All and become this city's hero. You disgust me Judy Hopps'

'I began to hate you when you began the crackdown on the underground clubs that were making the mutated Night Howler. Those people you arrested and locked up, they was my family and one by one, you was picking them up and taking them away from me. I had to get my revenge, pay you back the way you was doing to me. And the only way to do that was to take away your family just the way you were taking away mine. An eye for an eye, don't some Holy Book say that?'

Jackson paused, coughing dryly and hoarsely while Judy looked on feeling not one iota of sympathy for the deranged weasel. 'Don't you dare go near my family Jackson' she threatened and without her will, claws began to slowly extend from her paw.

'Of course I'm not going to do that. I'm greedy, not stupid. I ain't gonna hurt your family, you are. Think of it, you might have started a stupid mentality that predator and prey can get along but that mentality ends in Zootopia. Way out in the suburbs, that don't exist and now you are the predator and your family, they is the prey. It took quite some time but we finally managed to whip up something, a version of the Night Howler that could reverse biology' Jackson smiled at her.

'There was only one snag to the Night Howler; it adapted the body to the biology of whatever mammal you came in contact with immediately after. That posed a problem for me because you could be around anybody at anytime. And then you feds shows up a few days later and raid our hideout. I was the only one to escape. You took away my family, you cops did. When I saw you and that fox that night, well, I just couldn't resist!' Jackson was yelling at this point and Judy could see, feel, the madness in his tone.

'The doctors will find a cure Jackson. They did so for Bellweather's Night Howler and they can do so for yours too' Judy stated in obvious disdain for Jackson.

'You don't get it cop' Jackson was looking at her like she had no access to information only he was privy to 'A shot of that serum is supposed to take effect minutes after being administered. In ma anger, I gave you all three shots and what's more, you woke up five days later' he scoffed 'You ain't ever changing back'

Judy's face turned pale and she stared at Jackson. 'It's making sense now ain't it?' he said 'You a predator now and you can't do a damn thing'

A terrible sinking feeling descended at the bottom of Judy's stomach as she watched Jackson laugh because within her, she knew it was true.

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Ite