Part X
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to Disney.
AN: We've made it guys! It's been a long journey full of highs, lows, and misused commas (I don't think I'll ever get them right). As a surprise, this post contains the official ending, and a bonus (the original) ending! I couldn't find it in myself to let go of the one I wrote first, so it's here for you to read if you wish.
I doubt I will be venturing back into the realm of Zootopia after this, but keep an eye out for updates on my Star Wars story! If you haven't taken a look at it yet, feel free to swing by and give it a whirl (shameless self-advertisement, I know)!
I love you all, and every single one of you is amazing! ( / ^ 3^)/ ~
Without further ado, the final post!
=-.-=
"Gillman smiles, in the cold manner of an assassin. It's like looking in the mirror."
― Irvine Welsh, Filth
Judy fought like a rabbit possessed, but she was still one against many. While she had been doing well enough when they were focused on her, due to the chaos, she wasn't able to split her focus between protecting herself and Nick successfully.
She heard the distinct sound of the gun she had given him firing rapidly amidst the sound of the pressurized serum guns, and realized that a cluster of rams had broken away from the rest to start firing at the fox. She cursed and dropped her knife in order to grab her own gun. Before she even had a chance to draw it fully she heard a high-pitched whimper, that could have only come from Nick. At the noise, her paw spasmed mid-draw, and she was tackled from behind because of her distraction. Her gun was ripped from her grasp and tossed away, with her knife following it soon after.
A ram's heavy weight settled on her, keeping her face down, and nearly smothering her against the ground as his fleece pressed down around her.
Judy tensed up and attempted to buck her body, but the size difference made the effort pointless. She grit her teeth in frustration, then went deliberately limp hoping that the ram would assume she had passed out.
A few moments passed before she was dragged out from under the ram, and held up by both arms. Another ram pulled her other weapons away from her and tossed them to the side.
She glanced around, making a show of appearing to be bleary-eyed from oxygen deprivation, and she saw Nick being held in front of her in a similar situation. Her heart sank, but she worked to keep herself together. She would have to remain level-headed if they were going to get out of the situation.
"J. Hopps!" a girlish voice squeaked irregularly, the sound putting Judy's teeth on edge. "We meet at last! I've waited for far too long dear."
"Dawn Bellwether," Judy spat out the name like it was poison.
"Aww sweetie, you shouldn't act like that. You'll make me think you don't like me," the sheep chirped cheerily.
"I don't suppose you could jump off a cliff?" Judy asked, mimicking the woman's tone.
"Oh tut tut, you shouldn't let a little difference in circumstance make you so angry you know," the sheep beamed for a moment before her face twisted into a knowing smirk. "We're so very alike after all. Two herbivores that everyone underestimates. They think we're sweet and adorable. Cute even." She shook her head, "You know better though, don't you. Predators aren't better than us just because they're born with more obvious weapons. Born predators are nothing without them!" she spat. "Mammals like us though? We're subtle, and we overcome the odds." She spread her arms wide as if she was a performer, "We could rule this world."
Judy heard a low moan and looked back toward Nick, ignoring the ewe's words as she saw her friend spasm in pain. Her eyes darted across him frantically looking for an injury that she had missed, but what she found nearly tore a wail out of her.
Blue viscous liquid was barely visible on his arm. A grazing shot, but still enough. He had probably only made it as long as he had because of the dose and the distance from his heart.
Judy snarled viciously, cutting off whatever tirade Bellwether had been going on. She bucked harshly against her captor's arms as if she were the one that had been hit with the serum, and not Nick. Her collar beeped in response.
The ewe giggled in a sickeningly girlish manner, "Oh, careful Judy. You don't want to hurt yourself!"
Nick also bucked in his captor's arms, but for reasons out of his control. This couldn't be happening. Not to Nick. She cursed herself for ever letting herself get involved with him. She knew she was bad for other mammals.
No. Focus. Judy grit her teeth as she tried to calm herself down enough to think rationally. Honey could help him. They hadn't had any luck with an antidote, but surely they could find something.
Suddenly the ewe was standing in front of her cutting off her view of Nick and waving what looked like a remote around, "Yoo hoo, I'm over here. You shouldn't ignore your hostess you know. It's quite rude."
Judy resisted the urge to crane her neck to try and see Nick, knowing that was what the other woman wanted, and tensed her jaw instead. "What do you want?" she spat harshly.
Bellwether's face split into a wicked grin, "Ah, I knew you were smarter than you acted in public. You would have to be to do what you do."
Judy's expression went flat, "What I do."
Bellwether wiggled in excitement, "Like you don't know what I'm talking about!" She gestured widely then pointed at Judy, "I'm so jealous of you! You get to go around doing whatever you want to whoever you want directly, while I'm stuck delegating from the shadows," she scoffed. "Oh, if I had your kind of freedom-"
A deep snarl twisted across the room, cutting Judy to the bone as she studiously focused on the ewe. If she didn't, her concentration would break and she wouldn't be able to get them out of this. She glared darkly at the other woman, "You know nothing about me."
Bellwether's laugh broke midway, pitching it up, "Nothing? Oh sweetie, I know all about you. I practically made you!"
Judy's brow wrinkled uncertainly, her focus on the woman suddenly much easier, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, who do you think rigged your trial girl? Who could have possibly been whispering in the right ears all those years ago to get the collar laws passed in your little backwater town?" The ewe's crooked smile painted itself across Judy's vision, "Who left you in isolated administrative segregation at the juvenile detention centre? All. That. Time?" A perversion of a childish giggle slipped from her, "I held up the production on herbivore collars for months just to let you stew in your own juices. I couldn't have sweet, innocent, Judy Hopps leave the prison system. I went to too much trouble to ruin her image… isn't that right, J?"
Everything clicked together and Judy snarled and lunged, "You! It's always been you!"
Bellwether cackled, the sound completely unhinged, as the whimpers and snarls increased from the other side of the room, "Of course it was!" She paused and tilted her head, "Only, I don't really see why you're so mad at me," she pouted, "I freed you! This is who you were always meant to be, no matter what those other weaklings may think!" She breathed in deeply, to calm herself and smiled, "Here, let me help you. We are friends after all." She pressed a button on the remote that Judy had nearly forgotten about, and a barely audible whine issued from Judy's collar as it deactivated. "This is a little something I had the science division make for me," she wiggled the remote, "It's a deactivation field for those collars. They'll turn back on if you leave the field of course, but if you stay with me, you won't have to worry about that! I can help you J! We could work together to take everything back. Sure, the public may know the truth now, but we hold the real power. That bomb you had made was ingenious! If we could just use that, then no one would fight us!"
Judy felt the rams behind her shift uncomfortably, and the analytical part of her realized that Nick was coming to the end of the infection process. Soon, nothing made of flesh and blood would be able to hold him, and the mad woman had completely forgotten, too high on her own power.
Judy grinned, her large teeth glinting in the lighting, "Maybe you're right. Maybe this is who I'm meant to be." Her heart thudded wildly in her chest, and for the first time in years it wasn't accompanied by an ominous beep, "Maybe I became like this so I can stop you."
Nick burst free from his captors in a completely uncontrolled rush, and in moments Judy had freed herself as well, to add herself to the growing chaos. Her eyes darted around the room for her weapons, but they were all too far away. She cursed, then her eyes zeroed in on the almost glowing blue sludge that dotted the floor. She looked up at Nick, who was living up to his surname as he wildly attacked the rams with a viciousness he had never been capable of, then closed her eyes and steeled herself.
Without any more hesitation she swiped her paw through the nearest blue splattered smear, and then dove into the fray, ducking, dodging, and sliding between the various bodies until she reached her goal. Judy smiled grimly, her eyes hollowed out by determination, as she shoved her blue-tainted paw into Bellwether's mouth. "Payback, you mother hubbard," she spat as the ewe's eyes widened in horror.
She yanked her paw free, and with a sigh she collapsed back on the floor before she began to laugh hysterically. Nick was done. Bellwether was done. She was done. They were all done. She laughed, and sobbed as Bellwether began to convulse. Then she wiped the remainder of the Night Howler serum across her face.
No sense drawing it out.
She laughed. She cried. She wheezed. And then the convulsions started.
She joined them.
Instincts overriding reason.
"We always see our worst selves. Our most vulnerable selves. We need someone else to get close enough to tell us we're wrong. Someone we trust."
― David Levithan, Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List
Despite not really expecting it, Judy woke up.
She stared at the ceiling blearily, trying to decide if it was afterlife white, or hospital white. Her eyes flicked to the side and she saw a heart monitor. She stared at it blankly, and after a moment the beeping sound filtered in, along with the rustle of sheets at the end of the bed.
Hospital then.
"J? Judy?! Oh, cripes, I gotta let the nurses know!" a startled voice exclaimed.
After a moment of processing she connected the voice with the retreating form of a rotund cheetah. "Claw-" her voice broke, and she coughed weakly.
He returned in moments, with his usual speed that defied his physical frame, "Oh sugar biscuits," he cursed. "Here let me get you some water." He poured some from a pitcher into a too-large cup and poked a small straw into it carefully before holding it out to her.
She sipped at it feebly and then huffed in frustration, "So… weak."
"Mmmm," he hummed to himself, "Well that's not really surprising. You got hit on the head pretty hard down there. Think they said you got stepped on too."
Judy grimaced, unable to remember anything that might have injured her head, then her heart sped up in realization, "I was… infected."
He grit his teeth, "I reaaaaaally should get the nurse I think." He placed the cup back on the table, "Hold on, I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail." He hesitated a moment, "Ooh, bad turn of phrase. Um, yeah. Just, uh, gimme a minute."
He darted off and Judy snorted, "Can't move... anyway."
She sank further back into the mountain of pillows that were supporting her, trying not to let memories swamp her. She had been infected. Hadn't she?
She stiffened. Did this mean there was a cure?
Clawhauser scrambled back in leading an antelope wearing nurse's scrubs, "She woke up a couple minutes ago. I gave her some water, I hope that's okay-" he trailed off and fidgeted.
Judy cut in, her voice still scratchy, but gaining strength, "There's a cure… isn't there? Where's Nick? Is he okay?"
"The fox lad is just fine dear, he's been visiting you while you've been recovering," the middle-aged woman replied. "In fact, you've had quite a few visitors. Mister Clawhauser just happened to be the one today."
"Wait…" Judy swallowed dryly, "How long was I out?"
"A little over a month dear. You were comatose. You took quite the hit to your head, on top of your other injuries. I can have the doctor come in and explain later, I just need to take some vitals and see how you're doing," the antelope shifted and began to check Judy.
"A month?!" Judy exclaimed raggedly. "What did I miss?!"
"Well, Honey and some others figured out an antidote, and the collaring laws have been repealed among other things," Clawhauser grinned and showed off his collarless neck.
Judy reached up and felt her own neck, then sighed in relief, "Thank goodness."
The cheetah sobered slightly, "Unfortunately, with it being a neurotoxin, the cure can only prevent further deterioration." He seemed to collapse on himself, "All the mammals with long-term infection have permanent damage."
Judy felt like the ground had given out under her. Of course everything had been too perfect. She knew better than to expect things to work out like she wanted. That had never been her life.
Her eyes burned, and she bit her lip until she was sure they would remain dry, "Is there anything that can be done for them?"
Clawhauser slumped into the chair beside the bed, "There's a bill waiting to be passed to open caregiving facilities for the ones that deteriorated too far to be helped. Now that the neurotoxin has been neutralized they're not violent at least…" He sighed gloomily, "But they're not really intelligent either. It's like they've devolved."
Judy heaved in a deep breath and settled her emotions like she had done so many times in the past, "Anything is better than before. At least they can be treated fairly now."
Clawhauser nodded, "Yeah."
They sat lost in thought as the nurse finished her check-up and left the room before Clawhauser spoke again, "The others will be thrilled that you're up. Even Finnick has been visiting, and you know how he is about being sentimental."
Judy's lips quirked into a smile on their own, "He's a tough one alright. Nick though," she gulped dryly and Clawhauser offered her the cup of water again, which she drank from gratefully. "Is Nick really alright?"
"Nick was cured and out of here two weeks ago, he's just been waiting on you," Clawhauser smiled, and then his gaze shifted to something darker. "He's different though, I think. I don't know if it's the neurotoxin, or what happened that day, but he doesn't talk as much. I really hope you can help him Judy, if anyone can understand what happened in that building, it's you."
Judy bit the inside of her lip harshly as a wave of despair threatened to swallow her, then whispered, "Yeah. Maybe."
She was pestilence. Everything good she ever touched was ruined.
They didn't talk about much else, before it was time for visitation hours to end. They were both lost in their own thoughts.
=-.-=
Judy had fallen back into the habit of napping to pass the time - something she hadn't done since her years in prison. There just wasn't anything better to do, and if she were honest with herself, she felt tired all the time now.
The doctor told her it was a normal part of the recovery process, and Judy hoped that was the case, because the only times she truly felt awake was when she had visitors.
Thankfully, ever since the day after she first regained consciousness, she had had friends visiting regularly.
There was a knock on the door, waking Judy up, but before she was even cognisant enough to answer, a stampede of varying coloured fur barrelled into the room and surrounded her bed. She blinked sleepily as consciousness snagged at her mind, and dragged her to full awareness.
"Did they really let you all in at once?" she asked wryly.
"Being an honorary member of the staff has its perks," Honey grinned.
"I had a hard time convincing everyone to wait for today's visitation hours," Clawhauser winced and ruffled the fur on the back of his neck. "They were ticked when they realized I hadn't told them you were awake immediately."
"You left us hanging, you oversized cat," Fennick growled. "You should have at least let us know."
Judy smiled cheekily, despite her clinging lethargy, "Well what do you know, the little guy does care."
This immediately set off a round of irritable muttering from the small fox that made Judy laugh and cringe simultaneously, as her still healing ribs protested the action. "Owwww," she moaned.
A large white paw came down and carefully patted her on the head, "Do not stress yourself J, we just got you back."
Judy smiled crookedly at the largest predator in the room, "Glad to be back, Zoya. How has everything been?"
The bear smirked, "My Uncle has been doing quite well for himself in the fall-out, you'll be pleased to know. He's even looking at opening a chain of restaurants in Tundra Town, now that predators are able to move freely."
Judy raised her eyebrows, wondering if the mafioso was considering turning fully legitimate with the changes in the laws, or if this was just a front to help protect his assets. "Oh? Sounds like an interesting venture, I hope it turns out well for him," she commented, knowing better than to speak her thoughts aloud. She could always ask later, though some part wondered if she even wanted to. She had other options now. She glanced around the group and her eyes landed on a silent Nick that stood at the back of the group, near the door, his green eyes hollow. They all had options, but first, she needed to get a feel for Nick's mental state.
"Hey Nick," she whispered quietly in a lull in the conversation.
His ears twitched and some of the life came back into his bright green eyes. "Hey, Judy," he replied, equally quiet. "How do you feel?"
She shifted around awkwardly and sighed, "Definitely been better, how are you?"
His lips twitched into a crooked smirk, "About the same really."
Judy felt, more than saw the others gauge the situation and decide to take their leave. After a few minutes of goodbyes, and promises to be back, she and the fox were alone.
Judy shifted again, trying to find a more comfortable position before she gave up and sighed. "So what happened to Bellwether?" she asked, not bothering to be anything other than straightforward. She wouldn't treat him like he was weak. Judy hated it when people did that to her.
Nick startled slightly and seemed to refocus on her as if his thoughts had been miles away, "Oh, she's dead." He swallowed harshly as if the bluntness of his own words had surprised him.
"Oh," Judy nodded, not leaving him time to feel anything, "That's good."
He blinked at her response, obviously surprised, "Good?"
"Well, yeah," she nodded with a deliberate calm. "If she wasn't dead she could have gotten away, or found her way out of prison time. She had way too many connections. Really, it's for the best. This way we can move on."
Nick stared at her openly as she continued to talk.
"I was thinking about what I wanted to do now. You know, now that everything has changed. I definitely don't want to go into law enforcement anymore like when I was a kid, but I'm sure-"
Nick cut in, his voice rough, "Judy, I killed her."
Judy glanced at him, taking in his haggard appearance, and pained eyes, then shrugged as calmly as she could, "You weren't YOU, Nick. You would barely even contemplate killing anyone right up until the end. You're a good guy. Anything you did under the influence of that serum might as well have been someone else."
Nick ground his teeth together loudly enough for Judy to hear, "They told me I tore her up with my teeth, Judy," he spat. "I wake up tasting her blood! How am I supposed to live with that?!"
She breathed in deeply and tried to relax, even as memories of blood tainting her own mouth crawled through her mind, "Nick, if you're looking for condemnation from me, you're not going to find it. You already know what I did to be put in prison in the first place. You even know some of what I've done since then!" Bitterness rose in her uncontrollably, "I don't even understand how you can stand to be around ME!"She shook her head in frustration, "I warned you what could happen if we went through with trying to overthrow Bellwether. Did your morals break Nick? Does it hurt not to be innocent anymore? To be as monstrous as me?" Judy panted and closed her eyes, her jaw tensed as she fought down a growl. This was Nick. He didn't deserve this.
She opened her eyes and saw his stricken expression. Immediately guilt swamped her, "Oh hells Nick, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." She felt her eyes water, "I'm so sorry. Please, Nick, please-"
He spoke, his voice gravelly, "No, you're right. I knew what I was getting into." He closed his eyes and heaved in a breath, then opened them, "Neither of us are monsters Judy. We did what we had to, and even if I wasn't savage I may have had to-" he hesitated, then plowed on, "- to kill Bellwether. So I'm going to try not to regret what happened, and so should you." His jaw firmed, and some of the old spark came back to his eyes, "I won't let you regret what you've had to do to survive."
Judy stared at him, her eyes burning with unshed tears, and laughed tiredly, "We're so messed up."
He grinned crookedly, "Yeah." He chuckled dryly, "We really are."
He sighed and settled down on the bed beside her. After a moment he curled up next to her and they sat in a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
When it was time for Nick to go he cringed, "Ah, cripes I forgot."
"Hmm?" she canted her head curiously.
"This is such bad timing," he muttered and rubbed his forehead, then sighed. "Your parents had been visiting you some while you were out of it."
"My… parents?" Judy gulped dryly.
"Yeah," he huffed an empty laugh, "And they were planning to visit tomorrow. I doubt that's changed, though I don't know if they know you're awake. We didn't really talk much."
For a moment Judy thought she was going to be sick, but she fought her way past it stubbornly, "Thanks for warning me." She smiled, though gauging from Nick's expression it probably looked more like a grimace.
He nodded, "Yeah, good luck."
"Scars are not injuries, Tanner Sack. A scar is a healing. After injury, a scar is what makes you whole." ― China Miéville, The Scar
The first time her parents visited Judy pretended to be asleep. Nick offered to stay with her the next time they visited, but she declined. She would have to face them on her own, she knew.
The next time they knocked on the door at their usual time, she nearly did the same thing. Instead she firmed up her jaw and shuffled her emotions to the side as best she could.
Then she was looking at them. Her mother rushed across the room, weeping openly as she fussed over her. Her father remained frozen near the door as if he didn't know what to do. Judy couldn't blame him; she was at a complete loss herself.
Finally she couldn't take it anymore, "Mom, I'm fine," she huffed.
"Oh, whoops," the older rabbit fidgeted and backed away from the bed shifting from foot to foot. "It's just; we've been so worried is all."
Judy felt her gaze harden, and years' worth of twisted, bitter emotions welled within her in moments, "Funny you should say that," she grit out.
Her mother's ears drooped, and her father shuffled forward to stand by his wife. After a moment he spoke, "I don't expect you to forgive us. Your mother, well, you know how her brother bit her when they were younger after he went savage. What you did to that pig really messed with her, and well…" he shrugged helplessly, "I was never very good with predators in the first place." He sighed and ruffled his ears, "We made a terrible mistake Judy, and we wanted to apologize. I know that can never make up for the years that we left you, but we wanted to at least do that."
Bonnie hesitated then spoke up quietly, "I don't know if you'd ever want to come home, but just know that you can if you want to."
Stu shifted back and forth from foot to foot, "And we're willing to help support you financially if you'll accept it. We've been learning about how hard predators had it, trying to get jobs and find housing."
Judy closed her eyes, and breathed in slowly before opening them, forcing herself to remain strong. "You're right. I don't think I can ever forgive you for what you did," her voice broke slightly, and she grimaced. She took another deep breath, then whispered, "But I'll think about the rest."
=-.-=
Judy sighed as she paged through a newspaper in the shared dining area of the house she, Clawhauser, Honey, Finnick, and Nick shared. It had been months, and still there was no sign of everything settling down. Laws were still being argued over, and cases were being reviewed to release inmates, as well as to expunge the records of those that had already been released. Hers had been one of the first, she had found out not long after leaving the hospital.
"A clear case of self-defense."
As she sipped from a mug of lukewarm tea and turned the page, her ears picked up the shuffle of paws entering the room. She looked up as they drew to a stop beside her. "Hey sleepy-head," she teased, and green eyes sparkled in response. She turned back to the paper with a private smile. He had managed to sleep through the night for over a week. Maybe that meant his nightmares had finally stopped for good.
The thought filled her with warmth.
"You know foxes are supposed to be nocturnal," Nick said with a yawn that made his jaw crack. "Got any more of that tea?"
She nodded and gestured toward the stove, "Yep, though you may want to make some more, it's probably steeped too long now."
He sniffed at the tea and wrinkled his nose, "I'll say. Did you make this an hour ago?"
She snorted in laughter, "You can tell?"
He grumbled and started making more, the motions well practiced, "So, your parents are visiting here today with Gideon's mother, right?"
Her paws tightened on the paper, wrinkling it, before she determinedly unclenched them, "Yeah."
"Are you going to be okay?" he asked, turning to her with concern in his eyes.
She laid the newspaper down, and fingered the lip of her mug in thought as she glanced at the unobtrusive shelf in the corner of the room that held several pictures of her childhood friend.
An old photo booth picture from the movie theatre
A picture taken by Gideon's mother as the two read a book in the Grey's cramped living room
Pictures of small birthdays
A picture of the two in a kitchen with flour spread nearly everywhere as they looked at the camera in obvious embarrassment.
(The play-fight had totally been worth the clean-up.)
Her gaze finally rested on the newest picture she owned of the blue eyed fox. He stood decked out in his best baking gear, and holding a plush toy version of his bakery's mascot that looked suspiciously like her, with a grin that nearly split his face.
Judy smiled faintly, then looked up to meet concerned green eyes and nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, I think I am."
"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."
― Mother Teresa
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BONUS: Original Ending
AN: In some ways I still prefer this version. Not all stories are meant to have happy endings. That said, if you liked the official ending then I would suggest leaving it there.
You have been warned.
(Takes place after Part IX)
"Dr. Robert Hare, one of the foremost researchers on sociopathy, believes that a sociopath is four times more likely to be at the top of the corporate ladder than in the janitor's closet, due to the close match between the personality traits of sociopaths and the unusual demands of high-powered jobs."
― M.E. Thomas, Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight
Judy fought like a rabbit possessed, but she was still one against many. While she had been doing well enough when they were focused on her, due to the chaos, she wasn't able to split her focus between protecting herself and Nick successfully.
She heard him firing rapidly and realized that a cluster of rams had broken away from the rest to charge at the fox. She cursed and dropped her knife in order to draw her gun. With a smooth movement she shot several of them, but in the process she was tackled from behind due to her distraction. Her gun flew out of her grasp, and she felt her second knife wrenched from her grasp.
A ram's heavy weight settled on her, keeping her face down, and nearly smothering her against the floor with his fleece pressing against the floor around her.
Judy tensed up and attempted to buck her body, but the size difference made the effort pointless. She grit her teeth in frustration then went deliberately limp, hoping that the ram would assume she had passed out.
A few moments passed, and she was dragged out from under the ram and held up by both arms as another ram pulled her other weapons away from her and tossed them to the side.
She looked around, making a show of appearing to be bleary-eyed from oxygen deprivation, and she saw Nick being held in front of her in a similar situation, though if the blood on the side of his head was any indication he wasn't faking the bleariness. Her heart sank.
"You must be Judy Hopps," a harsh voice spoke, the timbre irregular. "Gentlemen, make sure you keep yourself out of range of those teeth. I hear she has a thing for biting." The rams readjusted their hold on Judy as Bellwether stepped forward, "I see you've brought a fox friend for me to play with."
Judy bristled, and her collar beeped again as the light returned to a bright yellow. Judy hadn't even been aware it had reset in the midst of being smothered and searched.
"Oh, tisk tisk dear," the ewe said with a sick smile. "Wouldn't want to shock yourself before things even gets good." Judy grit her teeth as the woman continued, "You certainly do have a thing for foxes don't you? First that one that scratched you, now this one? I'd say you have a bit of a 'thing' going there."
Judy lunged forward with a surprisingly authentic snarl, "Don't you dare bring Gideon into this!"
"Oh," Bellwether cooed, "His name was Gideon? How cute." She grinned as Judy's eye twitched, "I think I've touched a nerve, don't you? Does this fox remind you of your teen lover?"
Judy nearly choked on the amount of rancor she felt toward the sheep at that moment, "Shut up, you don't know anything!"
Bellwether swaggered over to Nick and knocked on his head with her hoof despite his probable concussion, "Are you hearing this fox? You're nothing but a replacement for her dead lover. Bet that feels great huh?"
"Leave him alone!" she bellowed, jerking against the arms that restrained her.
The ewe cackled, the unstable tone giving it a nightmarish quality, then she abruptly sobered and turned back to face Judy, "I hate mammals like you." She waved her hoof back and forth, "And I don't mean so called 'preydators,' I mean you vile excuses for animals that actually like predators and think they're equal to you." She stomped over to Judy and glared, "They only make up a tenth of the population, there's no way they're equal!"
"Everybody's equal you stupid cretin," Judy hissed before she spit in the woman's face.
Judy immediately received a surprisingly heavy slap across her face from Bellwether, "You dare?! Oh you're going to regret that, rabbit," the sheep bit out, using Judy's species like a curse, before she stormed over toward Nick again. The smile that crawled its way across Bellwether's face as she turned to face Judy from her position beside Nick looked unnatural, "Oh yes, dear. You didn't just spit on me after all. You ruined decades worth of plans, and you have to pay for what you've done."
Judy's eyes jumped to Nick and saw that he was finally aware enough to realize what was going on. As she saw the stark look of understanding light his eyes she bucked violently, but was unable to free herself, "Don't you dare touch him again! If you hurt him so help me-"
"Oh?" Bellwether cut her off, "You'll do what? Flail some more?" She shook her head, and her eyes gleamed, "Good luck with that."
And suddenly the single female sheep in the room was holding the only real gun Judy had seen in the entire herd.
Judy felt like she had been drenched in ice water, and her eyes widened, "NO! PLEASE NO!" The beep of her collar as it turned orange was loud in the sudden quiet after she yelled.
"Please, huh?" Bellwether repeated and tilted her head in mocking contemplation. "How about… no."
Judy's ears rang and Nick collapsed.
"'A fight is going on inside me,' said an old man to his son. 'It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wolf is good. He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you.'
The son thought about it for a minute and then asked, 'Which wolf will win?'
The old man replied simply, 'The one you feed.'"
― Wendy Mass, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life
For the second time in her life Judy shattered, but her rebuilt self was made of sterner stuff than the first time.
Reinforced like the bullet-proof glass she has broken so easily earlier. Shattered, but held together well enough to take a few more blows.
Instead of the near immediate devastation she was familiar with, it felt more like a slowly cascading failure. Devastating, but contained for the moment.
For several moments all she could do was focus on Nick's blank eyes. His auburn fur. His dead tame-collar.
(There was nothing left for it to tame.)
Hatred began to twist through her veins, a tantalizing cool heat that wouldn't allow her to think past the moment. Past lethal intent.
It was an odd sort of calm, this hatred-honed-to-determination.
Her heart had never felt so steady.
(So empty.)
Her training kicked in and she went limp in her captor's arms. She felt the ram's grip slacken the slightest bit with her abrupt shift in weight. They thought she was broken.
Ha.
Against any of their expectations, she exploded forward, a being of pure kinetic energy.
Judy barely had time to grab her gun off of the floor and fire off a single shot before she was bowled over and back on the ground. She snarled viciously, almost feral without even needing the serum, and within moments she was writhing uncontrollably as electricity danced through her. She distantly felt the weight of the ram roll off of her to avoid being electrocuted himself, before she lost herself to the pain.
When it finally stopped, a hoof cracked into her side, rolling her helplessly as her ears and other appendages flopped limply.
Friction brought her to a stop as she felt something on the floor stab agonizingly into her side. Judy fumbled weakly to find the source of the new pain, then understanding flashed across her frazzled mind. The knife she had dropped earlier in the melee rested squarely between her ribs as liquid pulsed from her side. She gasped for air and choked from the pain the action caused her.
Judy grit her teeth and tried to breathe in more slowly, but her breath hitched, unable to pull in any more air.
Judy slowed her attempts to breath even more as flashes of past breathing exercises with a blue eyed fox flickered across her vision. She shook her head. She needed to focus.
With a pained huff, Judy lifted her head only to see the ewe walking toward her as the sheep cradled her arm against herself.
Judy had missed.
She snarled a curse as Bellwether finished her approach, and the other woman began to laugh wildly, her unstable laughter echoing around the quiet room.
"That sure was close, hmm?" the Governor commented breezily before her expression hardened into something that looked entirely unhinged as she waved her gun at Judy with her good arm. "You really piss me off, you know that Judy Hopps? I was just going to kill you fast, but now I think I want to keep you around for a little bit." Suddenly a shot echoed around the quiet room, and Judy screamed as she curled in convulsively around her newly injured knee. The sudden movement caused the knife to shift further into her, and she coughed harshly, the taste of metal hauntingly familiar in her mouth.
Bellwether cackled wildly, "No more of your fancy hopping, Hopps." She smiled, revealing crooked teeth, "And since I have your full attention, maybe I should tell you a little secret." She leaned in closer in a conspiratorial manner, "Your little fox friend that you loved so much? Not that one," she waved her hand dismissively toward the other side of the room, "The one that nearly ruined my collaring campaign by befriending the one he attacked."
Blue sparkling eyes. Delicious pastries. A nervous, but friendly smile, and a soft country twang.
Gideon.
"Ah, I see I have caught your interest," the other woman twittered in twisted cheer. "I'm the one that spread the rumours about his stupid little bakery." She smiled sharply, like a twist of the knife already embedded in Judy's side, "I'm the reason he failed."
For a moment Judy stared unseeing at the female sheep, then her eyes sharpened, "You."
"Yep!" the woman chirped in a mockery of merriment.
Judy growled as her vision began to tunnel in on her tormentor, "It's always been YOU!" She howled wordlessly as she tore the knife out of her side, ignoring the pain and the hot liquid that spilled out of her heavily now that nothing was stopping it, with a single-minded focus. The ewe's eyes widened in surprise as Judy lunged forward, unable to react before Judy slashed her jaggedly across the neck. The woman put her hoof up to the wound and staggered backward in bewilderment as Judy followed her doggedly at a half-crawl.
After a moment Bellwether collapsed with a gurgle, and Judy stabbed at her blindly before she yanked the blade free with the last dregs of her strength.
Judy gasped in a pained breath, "Die."
She brought the knife down one more time weakly and sobbed, finally allowing herself to break down as a chill began to overtake her, "Just die please."
A set of blue and a set of green eyes stared at her, both haunted in their own way, though neither accusing.
She would help them. She would. She was just so tired. Surely she could just take a short nap first.
Violet eyes reflected back at her, empty and foreign. She wondered briefly who they belonged to before they closed and she found herself drifting in darkness.
Drifting.
"Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, 'It might have been.'" ― Kurt Vonnegut
The air rippled with heat as Bonnie Hopps made her way down a dirt lane, her rapidly beating heart telegraphing her nerves to no one but herself as her unsteady steps kicked up a cloud of dust behind her. After several minutes she saw a cluster of rounded stones. Through force of will she managed to keep her feet moving forward instead of turning around, and finally she reached her destination. She stood stock still for several moments as the dust settled around her, before she heaved in a deep breath and stepped forward into the wild green grass and knelt down near the most recently added stones with a pained whimper. It had been a year, and she had only just gotten the nerve to return.
She lifted her paw up and gingerly traced the names as her eyes welled up with tears.
Stu Hopps
"Run Bonnie!"
A harsh shove, and she is running while holding her breath. She is knocked back and forth by other mammals that are fleeing in the same manner, then she is at the door. She turns back for a moment only to see a writhing mass of mammals violently attacking each other and anything nearby. She doesn't see Stu.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but the damage was too extensive."
Nick Wilde
"They were really good friends I think. Nick talked about her all the time when he visited me," a tired vixen said with a sad smile. "I think if they had lived they could have been more."
Bonnie looked at this woman that knew more about her own daughter than she did, and spoke without thinking, "If you want we can put him on our family plot."
The vixen's eyes brightened slightly, "I think he would like that."
Bonnie's paw stuttered on the final name.
Judy Hopps
"No Judy. We can't do this. I'm sorry, but you're on your own. I have a family I have to think about, and if you're going to attack people then we can't support you anymore."
Stu had withdrawn into himself after that for days. He had done it to protect her, Bonnie knew, even if it had broken both of their hearts.
Bonnie rubbed at the old bite-mark on her arm that she had gotten from her brother all those years ago, unease dancing up her spine even now. She had never truly gotten over what had happened, and seeing her daughter being pulled away by law enforcement with her mouth drenched in red had triggered the flashbacks to the worst part of her life. Bonnie didn't know if Judy had seen her there or not, as she had a nervous break-down, and now she would never find out.
As time passed she and Stu had tried to convince themselves they had done the right thing, and eventually they began to believe it. The guilt was still there, but most days it was muted – especially when more and more mammals began to go savage.
Surely they had done the right thing.
Midnicampum Holicithias. Night Howlers.
They had been so wrong. So completely and utterly wrong, and they had lost their daughter for it.
Fear is such a treacherous thing.
Bonnie curled in on herself and sobbed brokenly for everything she had lost.
It wasn't supposed to be this way.
"If we shadows have offended,
Think but this and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will mend."
― Puck, A Midsummer Night's Dream