Okay, I know I have been slacking lately with all the short chapters, and I know that it's been a while since the last update, but gimme a break here. Summer is rolling around the corner and I've been busy. (Yeah, yeah, I know, what a surprise I have other stuff going on in my life, har, har, har) But that's not the point. The point is, it's the end of the year and I have a lot of stuff going on, but I try my best to update as much as I can. So anyway, I'll stop blabbering and please enjoy the longer chapter. ~(˘▾˘~)
Judy cried out as she saw Levi pull out a sharp knife from a countertop somewhere across the room. He walked over to her table, knife glistening under the dim light.
Judy panicked and started squirming under the ropes. Nick growled from his table and started thrashing at the rope holding him down. Everyone in the room dashed to hold him down. Judy couldn't hear the snarling over the sound of her pounding heart. She quickly started to break free of her ropes.
She began gnawing on the rope holding down her arms and chest. Once free, the legs. She sprang up from the table and, remembering her gun, shot each animal with a tranquilizer dart.
She darted over to where Nick lay on the table, writhing under the force holding him down. Except. Except. Except he was wearing a muzzle. They muzzled him. He started whimpering, whining, then wailing, frantically trying to break free of the ropes and, most of all, the muzzle.
"Oh, Nick…" Judy murmured as she started trying to untie the ropes. Then, having better thought through it, worked on the muzzle. He was growling as she tried to undo the muzzle, but it was held together at the back of his head, and he wouldn't stay still long enough.
Pounding could be heard from the hallway. Footsteps. Large ones. Nick was making too much noise. Without thinking, she shot him with her dart gun, silencing his wails. She stood as still as she could. The footsteps came closer, and closer, then stopped at the door. Judy held her breath. The footsteps continued. She exhaled then looked back at Nick, who was still asleep.
She untied his ropes and turned him on his side. She picked at the latch that held the muzzle together which, to her dismay, she couldn't undo. She grabbed it and started pulling it, trying to do anything to get it off of his head. She whimpered and sat down next to his table.
What was she supposed to do? Even if she did get it off, she couldn't carry or drag Nick. There were obviously other guards outside of the room. And what about when the boss and his minions woke up? She sighed and buried her face in her paws. They were going to die that day. There was no way out of- Wait!
Judy put the tranquilizer on its holster and pulled out a radio. How could she forget? She turned it on and sent out a message to Clawhauser, saying "CLAWHAUSER! PUT DOWN YOUR DONUT AND ANSWER ME!" Someone did pick up the transmitter, but it wasn't who she expected.
Chief Bogo's booming voice called out, "Hopps! This better be good!"
"Good? THIS IS NOT GOOD! Me-and-Nick-were-kidnapped-by-this-raccoon-guy-named-Leonard-Raton-and-his-minions-and-we-are-currently-being-held-hostage-in-WHO-KNOWS-WHERE-and-Nick-got-darted-and-we-figured-out-what-happened-to-the-missing-mammals-and-and-and-WE ALMOST DIED, CHIEF!" she said, gasping for breath.
"Hang on a sec, Hopps. I'm going to pretend I know everything you just said, and ask if you have any idea where you might be."
"Uh, uh" she babbled, trying to think, "OH! The house Nick and I investigated! I think we might be in the basement there!"
She gave him the address and he said, "Okay, we're on our way. Hang in there, Judy." and with that, the room was filled with silence once again.
She got up and dragged the sleeping bodies of Levi, Leonard, and Diego into a nearby closet, then locked the door, making sure they didn't get out.
Judy walked over to Nick, who still had his muzzle on, and turned him back on his side. She picked at the latch, more carefully this time, but still couldn't undo it. Screw it, she thought to herself, becoming frustrated. She grabbed the whole thing with her paws and pulled. After at least 30 seconds of pulling, the darn thing came off.
Judy let out a sigh of relief and threw the muzzle as far as she could across the room. It clattered onto the ground, and she turned back to Nick.
Judy got up on the big table with him, and rested her chin on her chest. She could feel the steady motions of his breathing, and she matched her breaths to his. "Hang in there, Nick," she said, repeating Chief Bogo. "Hang in there." her eyes closed and she dozed off.
Judy was awoken by three things- someone shaking her, someone pounding against a wall, and a far off loud popping noise. The shaking came from her partner, Nick. He was staring at her with wide eyes. Judy sat up, still on the table with Nick, and looked up at him,
"What is going on?!" he asked, looking around the room. His eyes locked on the closet. It was shaking, and that was where the pounding was coming from.
"Uh, uh… I locked them in there." Judy said, looking from Nick to the closet. "C'mon. We gotta get out of here."
She grabbed his arm and jumped off the table, pulling him with her. She took her gun out of its holster and held it out in front of her, ready for action. "Nick," she said, looking at her partner, who just stood there, "Get your tranquilizer gun out."
"Ooh, um..." he said, patting his holster, "I don't have it."
Judy groaned and motioned towards the door. "Just come on."
They left the room and were immediately met with the sound of loud popping and booming. Gunshots. They glanced at eachother and hurried down the hallway toward the noise, one tranquilizer gun held at the ready.
They turned the corner and saw Officer Wolford, a gray timber wolf, and Officer Del gato, a tan-colored cougar, fighting against two large rhinos. And they were losing. Wolford was lying on the ground, blood oozing out of his mouth, his gun still held out in front of him, while officer Del gato stood on one leg, his other leg bent in a bad way.
Nick ran over to help the other officers. Judy shot at one of the rhinos, darting him in the back of his neck. The other rhino turned to her and roared, his eyes blazing. He charged right at her. She dodged to the right, missing his sharp horn by mere inches.
He turned around, enraged. He got ready to charge, she got ready to hop out of the way, but neither happened. The rhino stopped roaring. A gunshot went off. Judy screamed and fell onto the ground. The blue cloth of her uniform was stained with red. She had been shot in the leg.
She looked up, tears in her eyes, to see Leonard Raton. The boss. The murderer. The opossum holding a gun pointed right at her.
He grinned his evil yellow grin and pointed the gun at Nick, who had gotten up from his squatted position next to the other officers.
"Don't. Move." Leonard sneered, shifting the gun in his hand. "You get to watch your girlfriend die a slow, painful death."
Nick looked too furious to even acknowledge the fact that Leonard had just called Judy his girlfriend.
Judy shifted a little, and let out a small groan.
Leonard backed up a little so he could look at Nick and Judy at the same time. He nodded to the rhino, "Go check on Lina." The rhino then left the room and shut the door behind him.
"Who's Lina?" Nick asked, looking at Leonard, his eyes still full of rage.
"No one. Now, here's how it's gonna go down. You," he said, eyeing Officer Wolford and Del gato, "Are going to git ovah here and hold 'im down." he nodded to Nick.
They did what he said, Del gato having some trouble with his right foot, and held Nick back.
"I can't believe you two!" Nick roared, struggling to get out of the grasps of his fellow officers. "You cowards!"
Leonard chuckled and turned back to Judy, who was still on the floor, and pointed his gun at her. "As for you," he chuckled, cocking the gun, "You will just be a bit of fun."
He shot the gun and hit her in the arm, causing her to yelp in pain. Tears filled her eyes again, but she blinked them away. She wouldn't let them see that they get to her.
Leonard turned back to Nick and smiled at him.
Nick's teeth were bared, his eyes on fire, and was struggling with all his might to get away from Wolford and Del gato.
"Judy!" he cried, then murmured, "Judy. Hang in there."
"Oh, but you see, she just can't hang in there." he chuckled darkly, and pointed the gun back at Judy.
A shot was fired. But it was not at Judy. Leonard toppled over onto the floor and shouts rang out through the air. But to Judy, everything was ringing. Her vision was clouded by dark spots, and her whole body was numb. She felt arms wrap around her, then fell unconscious.