"Police have reported that Dawn Bellwether, the one responsible for wrecking havoc on Zootopia not long ago with the night-howler incident has escaped" said the reporter on the television. "Warnings have already been issued and a dragnet has already been set in hopes of finding Bellwether. Citizens of Zootopia are advised that if they see the fugitive not to approach her and contact authorities immediately. She has the potential of being extremely dangerous."
"And that's why we're on the case!" said Nick to himself as he watched the screen. The very next night after Nick received word from Bogo, the news began putting out the reports with the headline "Bellwether Escaped". But he knew that when it came to receiving word about what might be lurking in the city, he and the other members of the ZJL always had information first. He felt that it was about time to perhaps call Judy and let her know that they needed to run to headquarters to discuss this matter. He turned on his watch phone and dialed her number as quick as he could. After about ten seconds, he started to assume that it was ringing on her end when suddenly... Zip!
Right before Nick's eyes, Judy abruptly appeared right inside of his living room, startling him in a way.
"Nick, I came as soon as I got the call!" she said in a very rapid voice. He simply sat there still in a little bit of shock and clicked off the call from his phone.
While Judy's main power was super speed, she also received the power of teleportation as well. That gave her the advantage of getting where she needed to go as quickly as possible.
"Y'know" he replied "if you're gonna teleport your way over, at least give me a head's up! That about scared the life outta me!"
"Yeah, that look on your face was pretty funny. Remember that one time I pranked you with this? If I remember correctly I-"
"Oh come on, Fluff! You're never gonna let me live that one down, are ya?"
"Alright, sorry for bringin' it up again. But you have to admit, your reaction that day was unforgettable."
"This isn't the time for that, Carrots! We need to get down to headquarters as soon as possible, Bogo gave me some very crazy news the other night. I assume you're aware that-"
"Bellwether escaped?" she interrupted "Yeah, Bogo already informed me on that one too."
"I mean, out of all the things we've taken on, it had to be Bellwether to make the comeback? Heaven knows what she's up to this time!"
Meanwhile...
"I haven't seen this place in so long" Dawn was saying to herself. "I almost didn't recognize it."
The building inside looked completely run-down and abandoned. It was as if the entire place was quarantined because there was nothing but a few chairs remaining. Dawn took a deep breath in as she followed Doug and Jesse inside. Now that she was free, it felt good to take in the view of this place. This was her headquarters, and even though she was partially angry at how the place was completely tarnished from when she was caught, it was still great to be back. Because for her, this was not the end. A new plot was unraveling in her mind, and today was going to be the day she unleashes it.
"Geez, this place is a dump!" Doug cried.
"Yeah" chimed in Jesse. "What ever happened to this place? I mean it's your headquarters after all so-"
"What do you two imbeciles think happened to it?" she interrupted as she kicked something that was laying on the floor. She set herself on one of the abandoned chairs that were still in the building and made herself comfortable. After what previously happened, it made her feel good to be in charge once again
"It's all thanks to that stupid Zootopia Justice League!" she continued "When they caught me for the night-howlers, about everything that I had going for me was confiscated."
"Wait" Jesse asked abruptly "You said 'about everything' was gone. What do you mean? From what it looks like, there's not a single thing in here. Thought for sure they removed every little thing"
"And that is where they were wrong, Jesse. Check this out for yourself!"
He walked over with Bellwether to where a counter stood in the middle of the space. "Wow!" he joked "It's a counter! Can't believe they actually kept that when they confiscated everything."
"It's not the counter, you idiot!" she snapped, sending a slap to Jesse's face. "It's what is hidden by the counter that makes all the difference."
"I'm not following" he replied, seeming a little confused at how she was putting things.
"Of course you don't! That's the reason you guys are just my minions, and why I'm in charge around here. Anyway, during the night-howler incidents, I got word from Doug that Judy and that dumb fox were causing trouble in the lab. So that's when I alerted you and Woolter for back-up, you do remember that, don't you?"
"The memories of that are still kinda fuzzy."
It was true, in that moment when Nick and Judy were taking over the train, something happened to Jesse. While he could not really remember anything from that time, he remembered brawling with the heroes to prevent the night-howlers from getting it into their paws. But the last thing his brain acknowledged was Judy kicking him from behind, being flung to back of the train car and bumping his head very badly. From there, everything was a blur. Woolter escaped the moving train with Jesse, who of course was in no condition to acknowledge that anything was happening. If anything else went down beyond that point, Jesse was not around to see it. In the end, it was only Doug that came with Bellwether to attempt at settling things. While it did not go according to plan, Jesse still wished he was there to witness it and not unconscious.
"Anyhow," Dawn carried on "several moments later Doug and I arrived at the Natural History Museum, thinking that things were going my way for once. I thought for sure I could make that fox go savage and attack Judy, but those idiots fooled me! So after that, the whole crew of the Zootopia Justice League was on our tails."
"And then?"
"Well, what do you think happens next? The ZJL saved the day, I'm defeated and my plans are foiled. Or so they think!"
"W-what do you mean? There's more to that?"
"Of course there is! You seriously didn't think it ended happily ever after, did you? When I knew that I was about to be defeated, I put my second plan into action. I used my communicating device that I had on me, and sneakily sent out an alert to my dear friend Gloria. From that moment on, she proceeded to put the rest of the steps into action and get things prepared for when I made my escape. And that, my friend, is what I'm about to let you both in on!"
"Wait a minute!" Doug shouted "You said something 'bout someone named Gloria. Who the heck is she?"
"Yeah!" Jesse said, also feeling a little let down at not knowing about what Bellwether was talking about. "Who is she and why did we never meet her?"
"Gloria is someone I hold dearest to me" Dawn explained. "Like me, she has plans just waiting to be unraveled on the citizens of Zootopia. She's also a supplier of some pretty cool gadgets, most of which she builds herself. However, she prefers to stay extremely private and only keeps contact with only a few trustworthy acquaintances, so that's why you've never met her. She doesn't just let anyone wander on her property, that is without consequences."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Oh trust me, she's not someone you want to mess with. If you step into her place without her consent, believe me when I say you'll be in great danger."
"So how did you ever get to make friends with Gloria, being as crazy as you say she is?"
"Easy! We were practically on the same team, having the exact same views. And I knew that I couldn't put my plans into work all by myself, so that's where she came into play."
Bellwether continued to give a brief explanation about Gloria, Doug and Jesse simply sat there and listened attentively. They were beginning to feel a little let down by the fact that she had communications with someone they never got to see. It seemed unfair to them, considering that they were all similar in their plans of domination. A hint of jealousy was forming inside the two of them, so they tried to interrupt the discussion of Gloria and go back to taking about what the plot was.
"Alright, enough with Gloria! Can we please get back to what it was that you letting us in on?"
"Oh yes, it was some time after my plans were foiled. Of course they were cleaning my headquarters, which included all of the gadgets I had in here. So that's what I made sure I said when I sent the alert out to Gloria, I let her know that-"
"Could've bet money that Gloria was there! Again, what is so special about her being on your team? Why in the world is she involved in every part of-"
"Just be quiet and let me tell the story! Now as I was saying, I used my device and sent out the message, letting her know that they were probably coming for everything. We have a secret code that only we can interpret, so I knew that it wouldn't look like anything uncanny was happening. As they were finishing up, she came in unseen and hid something that is very important."
Bellwether started to fumble through all of the compartments before finally finding what she was looking for. Although the compartment looked completely bare, it was hinted that something was hidden within it. Way in the back, an arrow pointing up was scribbled, implying that the hidden object was out of sight. She reached in until she grasped something and pulled it out. What rested in her hands was a box, the exact same color of the compartment so that it blended in. The box was small yet surprisingly weighed more than she thought it would. She opened it up and saw that there was something inside wrapped in white tissue paper, probably to keep it from getting damaged. Unwrapping all the paper, she started to see what was hidden. It looked like it was some kind of metallic pendant, completely silver with what seemed like a turquoise button in the center of it. Bellwether pulled it out of the box and realized there was more than one, underneath was two more of the exact same object. On the bottom of it all was a small piece of paper, unfolding it she read aloud what was written:
Dawn,
If you found this box, then everything is going according to what you planned. Inside this box you'll find three identical pendants. One of which you will use and the other two will serve as a back-up if anything were to happen to the other one. They look like an ordinary pendant, but make no mistake. These were actually the result of an experiment I've worked on with some of my latest technology. If you wear this, you will be able to take on any shape or form, making it possible for you to prevent any suspicion. It's amazing what modern technology can do! Now that you found this, please contact me immediately, and if you can use the pendant and make your way over to me. As I said before, these were part of an experiment, so I can't make any promises. Hope everything goes well and best of luck to you!
"Well isn't that neat?" Doug said after she got done reading the note. "You're saying that this little thing can change us?"
"Yeah, how exactly does it work?" Jesse said chiming in. "It makes you shape-shift or something? But I thought that's impossible!"
Bellwether let out a little snicker as she held the pendants. "You guys crack me up. Didn't she just say that anything is possible with modern technology?"
She put the pendant around her neck, set the two back-ups aside and stood in front of the two of them. She started to think about what animal's form she wanted to take in order to try this out. From what was written in the note, she could assume that she probably had to have something in mind. There was no given instructions on how to use, so Bellwether just began to get an idea. The first thing that entered her head was Judy, so she simply started to repeating her name in her mind over and over. It started to make her feel angry inside to be picturing her. Curse her, she thought. If it wasn't for ZipPaw and all the other fools over at the ZJL, I would have Zootopia in my clutches!
The image of the bunny was becoming more and more vivid in her mind when... Warp!
All of a sudden, the change rapidly occurred. In the matter of a few seconds, she heard a warping sound followed by the feeling of a being shorter than before. However, if she was not aware of it, she would never known that she changed shape. It was completely painless and it felt as if nothing happens. She looked around, seeing that everything got a little bit taller than it usually was. She raised a paw and looked at it strangely, looking down she got a glance of her feet as well. Woah, it's a little strange with these paws!
Doug and Jesse weren't sure what to think or say, they simply stood there dumbfounded by what just happened. They just saw their boss change shift right before their eyes.
"Uh, boss?" Jesse finally said, breaking the awkward moment of silence. "H-how do you feel?"
"It's a bit strange in this form" she said speaking through her new form. While her shape was changed, her voice remained the same as it was. "But I'm so glad that it worked, now I don't have worry about being spotted thanks to this."
"So how do you go back to normal?"
"Just think about my normal self, I guess"
And that is exactly what she started to do. She started to picture her true form once again, and within a few seconds warped back to her natural sheep self. She took a quick breath and stumbled a little on her feet, considering that she gained a few inches from when she changed. The change in size was indeed something she would need time to adjust to.
"Well that all worked out" she said.
"So does this mean we each get one of those pendants too?" Jesse asked excitedly. "I mean, why else did Gloria give you three?"
"Don't even think about it!" she told him, much to his dismay. "For your information, she gave two extras to me as a back-up."
"Come on! You're not being fair here!"
"Look, I know you wanna be part of this. I promise that you and Doug have a part in this plan, but she told me to head over to her."
"Ugh, fine!" he huffed back like a child. His pouting was quickly interrupted by several warping sounds. The noises were coming from another side of the room, where Doug was wearing one of the spare pendants and rapidly changing shape.
He doesn't know how to work that thing! Bellwether thought. I knew leaving those on the counter was a bad idea. She ran over to Doug (who just reverted back to his normal self) and got the pendant off of his neck as quick as she could. "What the heck, Doug?" she yelled.
"I-I just wanted to see how that thing works. And let me tell ya something, I don't know what you call it but I do know that it's an awesome little gadget."
She let out a big sigh, knowing inside it was not going to be easy with these gadgets around. If they were ever to get into the grasp of Doug or Jesse, they would just play with it as if it were a toy.
Later at ZJL Headquarters...
Nick and Judy were trying to make their way over to headquarters, running as quick as their paws could carry them. Rushing through the parking garage of the apartment complex, they made their way over to the far left of the perimeter. While it never seemed as if anything extraordinary would ever be in an area like this, that was the original point in why the secret entrance was within here. If there was one thing that Nick and Judy both knew about being superheroes, it was that headquarters had to be in a very secret location.
Once they reached the far left of the parking space, they came across a metallic gray door with what looked like a security system. The kind that read a fob key in order to let people in a building. Nick and Judy knew that this was the place they needed to be, it was such a familiar yet wonderful sight to them every time they arrived. Nick stepped ahead and placed a paw over the light of the security system, it scanned it up and down before blinking a green light and letting out a beep. Judy scanned her into the system as well with the same result, this was how security was in order to get to the headquarters. Once she was done, she heard the sound of the blank gray door unlock. Nick turned the knob and let them into an even more blank and innocent-looking space. The only thing that occupied this space was what looked like an unused elevator on the left side. But of course no mistake could be made, there was another step before getting into the headquarters. The two of them walked over to the right corner of the room, where another similar security system sat. It was similar to the other one except that this one had several keys on it. Nick waved a paw over it and the screen lit up a dim green. He started to type in several numbers on the keypad. The system beeped twice, saying to them that access was granted.
"Ready, Carrots?" Nick said.
"Oh yeah," Judy replied "You know I'm ready!"
While they did this many times before, it never seemed to get old to them. Coming back to headquarters was no matter what an amazing experience for them, considering that they always had something new to look forward to each time. After a hesitation that lasted for a few seconds, the elevator dinged and opened up for them. They stepped inside and pressed the only button that was inside.
"Going down?" Judy joked.
Nick let out a little snicker as the elevator doors closed them inside. "Okay, here we go. Better hold on, Fluff!"
The elevator dinged and they felt it go down, but it was going at a slower speed than it usually did. Nick and Judy knew from experience that every time they took this down, it dropped at a very fast speed. But at the moment it was just going the speed of any ordinary elevator.
"I don't get what's going on here!" Nick said feeling a little bit concerned. "I thought for sure that right after the door close this thing was supposed to-"
Right before he could finish what he was saying, he was interrupted by the complete drop of the elevator. While it was typical for them to go at this speed, it always felt as if they were going down the first drop of a roller-coaster. Nick look completely scared when the drop unexpectedly happened, Judy stood there on the opposite lightly laughing at his reaction. A little bit of time had passed before they felt the elevator hit the bottom, the doors opened slowly and another ding sounded. They got into a dark hall where another door stood in the distance. This was where they got off and got to work. They both exited the elevator, Nick still trying to catch his breath.
"That just came outta nowhere!" he said in between some of his panting. "You know, someone outta fix that thing!"
Judy let out a little laugh and gave Nick a nudge on his shoulder. "That got ya good, didn't it? Anyway we better get going, Scaredy Pants"
Finally, they made their way to this door and slightly opened it up. Once they stepped inside to headquarters, the familiar yet awe-striking sights filled their eyes once again. Only this was not the time for simply hanging out, they all had seriously business to attend to
"Alright everybody" called out the voice of Bogo. "I think it's time we get to work!"
Author's Note: And here we are! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I've got more coming up real soon. Please let me know what you all think about it and I'll see you again real soon!
