It had not taken long for the young mind of April Hopps to realize what was going on. She was stuck in the backseat of a car after being ripped straight out of her own backyard. April was being kidnapped. Next to her grown captor, she was puny. She was fearful. No, she was absolutely terrified.

It was all silent. The fox hadn't spoken ever since they entered the car, but neither had the little rabbit. There was nothing she could do now, this was all out of her power. She looked back longingly as the Burrows grew farther and farther away. She started to feel panic, but she somehow managed to push it down. If she acted out or seemed scared, she might end up not getting out of this unscathed.

Was her family looking for her right now? Were they scared too? These and other related thoughts seemed to swarm April.

"Interesting," she perked up at the driver's voice, and she slowly looked up, "I would have expected you to be bouncing off these walls by now."

"N-no ma'am." April replied uneasily.

"Is this scary for you?"

"Yes," she said nervously. There was a sigh, and the rabbit straightened a little.

"I could only imagine. . ."

"U-um, do you feel bad or something?" April asked. The fox's head turned slightly, but she did not make eye contact.

"I'm not doing this because I want to. I'm doing it because I have to."

"Why?"

"You see this?" At a red light, one paw wandered over into a compartment where a collar was laying. April had noticed she wasn't wearing one, and tried to understand where she was getting at. "This thing is an injustice to the name of predators. I don't have to wear it if I do as I'm told."

The young rabbit wasn't getting it at all, most likely from the look on her face. The predator closed the compartment and looked back ahead.

"It'll make sense soon."

April did not understand, obviously, what she was trying to say. So she stayed quiet in hopes that maybe she would be let go. What would any of that collar business have to do with her?

For some time they had been driving when they came to a stop. April didn't recognize where they were. She knew it was part of Downtown, but this seemed like the more wealthy area which was unfamiliar to her. Her kidnapper exited the vehicle and opened the door, staring at her grimly. She prompted for her to come out. The rabbit simply listened to reason, knowing if she were to step out of line something bad might happen.

She got out of the car and looked up at the massive house in front of her. A three-story mansion stood in front of her. Little did she know that it would be her prison for years to come.

Outside by the front door was the tall figure of a zebra. She gulped, suddenly feeling nervous. What was going to happen to her?

"So I see you followed through, Shelby."

He spoke not to April, but to the fox beside her as they walked up to the front door. April glanced to see her only nod in response. "Good. Might want to start covering your neck in public, then."

The fox's eyes brightened a little. April realized her kidnapper had gained freedom from her restraining collar by doing the dirty deed.

"Thank you, Mr. Zeel."

April flinched when one hoof moved toward her roughly, grasping her wrist. She felt a chill run down her spine as a sudden fear gripped her more tightly than this Zeel guy was. She looked back to the fox in fear. But her kidnapper didn't look at her, she focused on the ground.

"Oh, no, thank you." The zebra responded, flashing a slick grin before opening the front door.

"W-why do you want me?" April asked, suddenly terrified. She was pulled into the doorframe. Again she looked over her shoulder desperately for the help of Shelby, but the fox was already leaving. Wistfully she looked back ahead as the door closed behind her.

In awe she looked around the room. The first room was a massive living room. On the right, there were stairs that lead to the second and third floor. On the left was a fireplace and multiple couches and chairs sitting around it. A chandelier hung from the ceiling. But she didn't have enough time to take in all the features.

"Take a seat."

It was more of an order than an invitation. April had stayed calm externally for all this time, she could still try and pull it off. She swallowed roughly and headed over to one of the chairs that were definitely too big for her. She sat straight as the zebra sat in front of her. He stared for a few moments as though to fully take her in, then, started talking.

"I know you must be confused on why you're here, but there's good reason. It just so turns out that you, inside of you, is the key to fixing Zootopia once and for all."

April felt her ears flatten a little.

"Inside me?" she echoed.

"Oddly enough, you were born with a specific bloodtype that's extremely rare, also known as AB negative. Are you at all familiar with this knowledge?"

"How do you know if I didn't know that myself?" she automatically asked, feeling a bit creeped out.

"I have connections," was Mr. Zeel's response. "However, that's besides the point. There is a specific chemical in your blood that I need."

"Uh. . . why?"

"How I know the effects of your bloodtype is unnecessary for you to know. What you should know is that if your blood is to be injected into somebody else. . . let's say a predator, there's something about it that is able to numb the senses of said predator."

"I don't understand. . ." April admitted.

"The chemicals of your blood, if injected into another animal, has a temporary effect on them which will numb their senses. It's as though they're asleep when they aren't, and you can get them to do things. As if they were robots."

April uneasily understood now. She wasn't quite sure where this was going, or why her blood was so special.

"S-so why do you need me?"

"I'm currently in the development of a new type of collar. If you didn't know, I'm the CEO of Collars Incorporated."

"But you're going to make a collar that brainwashes predators?" April asked.

"You could say that. I look at it more as. . . a bigger picture. A world of Zootopia where I have control of all the predators, just because of a little chemical. So that's where you come in."

April tried not to look shaky. She felt scared because of what he was telling her. If what he was saying was true, that he could easily have mind control over all of the predators of Zootopia, then what would he do with that power?

"And how do you feel about that?" The zebra questioned.

"I-I just want to go home," she admitted, "I don't really know why I'm here to begin with. If you wanted my blood, you could've asked. . ."

"No. We needed you here permanently. I'm sorry to say that you probably will never be able to see your parents again, until the predators of Zootopia are taken care of."

April felt her heart skip a beat. An undeniable anger began to rise out of her, but she forced it down. "For now, you'll have to wear this at all times. It will shock and paralyze you if you try to escape and trigger an alarm. Seeing as there'll be someone here at all times watching over the house, there's no point in trying to escape."

April had no time to squirm away as he'd gotten up, placing a collar around her neck, snapping it shut. She felt herself grow more fearful than angry.

"For now, I'll leave you to get accustomed here. But soon, I'll have to be drawing blood from you. In order to make Zootopia right again, I will need your assistance."

The rabbit trembled a little. She didn't want the predators of Zootopia to be brainwashed. That would be terrible! She looked up, seeing from the staircase a pair of bright blue eyes watching her.

"You'll be better acquainted with my daughter. We are the only ones in this house aside from you."

"Who is that?"

April turned her head a little to see that the pair of bright eyes belonged to a much smaller zebra, who was wearing a quaint blue dress. She stared at April from the bottom of the staircase.

"This is our new guest. Her name is April Hopps. She will, more or less, become good friends with you considering you are her age. Hopps, you're free to go. Tomorrow we start our blood drawing."

April watched as he exited the room, and she felt complete horror consume her. She pushed herself off the chair, glancing at the girl she'd been left with. April tried to keep a straight face, because in that moment she was very scared and very lonely. She didn't know what was to come in the future, but she didn't like it.

"Hi! I'm Trine! I hope you like it here."

April was a little surprised at this friendliness.

"Y-yeah, me too," she stammered.

"Come on, I'll show you around the house!"

Years had gone by, and despite that, April could still not get past the wooziness she always felt after having so much blood taken from her. She had crashed pretty badly after her last drawing, fainting during the process. For that, she felt ridiculous. She'd been awake a few minutes, curled up in her bed and not wanting to leave it. She looked down and rubbed her forearm, the place where the needle had been still leaving a twinging pain behind.

Her sleep left her feeling more drained than refreshed. It was then however that her door opened, and in popped a very familiar face.

"Hey, you awake?"

"What's it look like?" she responded to her best friend.

"Wow, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. You should be happy!"

"Nah, I should still be asleep."

"April, it's your sixteenth birthday for crying out loud! Happy Birthday! Now get out of your bed!"

"Wait, what?" April sat up, genuinely in shock. "I thought that was tomorrow."

"Way to forget something so important," Trine rolled her eyes. "You know what we had planned!" There was no way April would've forgotten. They had planned a movie marathon, which the rabbit gladly agreed to. But she felt uneasy.

"And do you know what your dad had planned?" April asked, unamused.

"He never tells me anything. . . so not really." Trine shrugged. April sighed.

"Apparently today we were going to do the first test on a predator using one of his new collars."

The zebra's excited expression seemed to falter.

"Oh," she muttered.

"But it's fine. I'm sure it won't take long, right?" April said hopefully as she got up. Her head ached a bit, but other than that, she felt better than she did before she passed out.

Over the years she had learned more about what Mr. Zeel had planned to do with her blood. She wasn't very educated in terms of science things, as she never went to school, but she did understand the concepts brought to her.

She learned that, if someone were to have her blood injected into them, that it could potentially kill them, as most bloodtypes were not compatible with hers. That wasn't what her captor's goal was, he didn't want to kill them. He was developing part two of his plan to slowly build up the immune's blood system of the other predators without making it obvious to them.

Once a year, the predators would have a change of collars. Each collar would contain some of this medicine that was placed into it that would, somehow, build up the blood's immunity. While the animal is asleep, two small rods will poke through their skin and inject said medicine.

April didn't like it, she never did like it from the day she was brought to this house. She knew something bad was coming out of this whole entire thing. All she wanted to do was go home. If they even remembered she existed. . .

She pushed the thought far away from her and got ready for the day. Once done, her and Trine descended the stairs, unexpectedly finding a guest in the living room. Both stopped at the base of the staircase, the two teens both sharing a feeling of sudden uneasiness.

"Just in time, Hopps."

There was the gruff voice of Mr. Zeel. The head of the mysterious person sitting on the couch turned. April did not want to ever see this face ever again. It was the face of the fox who had kidnapped her all those years ago. She seemed to be shocked when she saw April, but she didn't speak.

The rabbit couldn't determine if she hated her or not for being the cause of her being prisoner. April at this point wouldn't really consider herself a prisoner. She was best friends with Trine and could live around the house like normal, but she had never advanced in any relationship with Trine's father. He only treated her as a living bundle of information and potential experiments.

"Why is she here?" April asked, not realizing she was balling her fists.

"Because she'll be the first to try our new collar. So come and take a seat."

April didn't like the way he said it. 'Our' collar. April wanted nothing to do with his work.

The two walked over to sit on the other couch across from the fox.

"Could we make this quick? I've got someone waiting in the car outside." The fox glanced up, sounding just as uneasy as Trine and April felt.

"It won't take more than a minute." Mr. Zeel said, wearing some kind of grin. April guessed he was pretty excited considering this collar had been an experiment in the making for years now.

He walked over to her, placing the collar around her neck. It locked into place a moment later. The zebra walked back, looking down at a button he was holding. With no warning, he pressed it.

The fox cursed under her breath, trying to rub at her neck as the two little rods pricked into her skin. April's stomach began to twist when the effects were almost immediate. Her eyes dilated, and her paw dropped to her side. It was just as Zeel had described all those years ago. April's face twisted with horror, unable to accept the fact that this was all of her fault because of some chemical. It terrified her to see that empty look in her eyes.

There was laughter of success that filled the house, Zeel looking completely overjoyed at this. April shakily looked toward her friend to see she looked shocked, but not horrified. The rabbit tried to keep herself calm. It was a few minutes of this, Zeel closely examining the fox's distant-mindedness until slowly, she started to come back.

Her eyes turned to normal, but she gasped for breath as though she'd been suffocating. April was frozen in place, still terrified of what something inside of her could be so capable of doing.

"And how was it?" Zeel asked cheekily, still happy over his success.

"It was terrible!" the fox spluttered, attempting to rip off the collar. "It didn't even feel like I was there! I couldn't do anything. . . how is that okay at all?"

"That's the point! That's what I've been working on all these years."

"B-but why? Why would you do this?"

Zeel's expression seemed to instantly turn dark at the question.

"Because I'm avenging my wife."

"B-by having control over all predators?" the fox asked, taken aback. "You know, I don't even want to know. You're not going to get away with this! Once the ZPD hears about this, I-"

There was one swift motion from Mr. Zeel upon hearing this. He'd been standing a few feet away, but what he did next neither of the girls expected.

Both of them stared in absolute horror, April's paws clasping over her mouth to hold back a scream.

It was as though he had prepared for her to want to tell the ZPD, because the knife he had on hand was no small knife, but a butcher knife that could cut to the slightest touch. It was no longer in his hand, but stuck through her torso.

The fox had hardly processed this herself as slowly and shakily she looked down. She wheezed for a moment before falling onto her side, tumbling off of the couch and onto the ground, becoming still.

Mr. Zeel stared down with a coldness that only a killer could have. April stared, her mouth still agape. Trine was beside her, having the exact same expression. Neither of them had fully taken it in yet.

Suddenly, the front door opened. April felt panic swamp her. She remembered the fox's words from a few minutes ago: I have somebody waiting in the car. So in walked that said somebody, total unsuspecting to what he was about to see.

"Sorry if this is rude, but we'll be running late if we take any longer-"

It was a male fox who wasn't even halfway through the door before his eyes widened at the scene in front of him.

The scene was entirely messy and terrifying to behold.

"W-what did you do to her? W-what is this?" he stammered, visibly shaking.

"Well, now you've seen too much as well. It's awful that I'll have to berid of you as well."

The fox's ears flattened, but his lips drew back as he reached into his pocket. What he pulled out stunned everybody in the room. April felt herself clinging onto her friend's arm, terrified. In his paws was a gun. Mr. Zeel's eyes widened, not expecting this at all, obviously.

"Now, we can talk about this. . ."

"No! You killed Shelby! W-why should I 'talk' about this with you?" he yelled.

"Just put the gun down. . ." Mr. Zeel insisted.

"No." The fox's shaking began to settle as he came to a decision as to what he would do with the murderer in front of him. He started to put the gun down, and there was a tension break in the room.

"Good. Wise choice, boy. I-"

But Mr. Zeel would never finish what he was saying. In one quick motion, he pulled the gun back up, firing it with no hesitance. The shot was absolutely deafening. From the force, Trine's father was blown back, slamming into the ground.

April felt herself begin to tear up, shaking so much she thought she might collapse into a billion pieces. Trine had run over to her father where he was laying, shaking him. It was as though April's hearing had failed her. She couldn't hear anything. Even though she saw Trine and the fox screaming at one another, all she could hear was her own blood rushing through her ears as she tried to stay awake. She felt as though she might pass out.

That's when she watched as Trine got up, running toward the fox. He had no time to move as she twisted the gun around in his paws and pulled the trigger herself. Even in such close range it knocked him a few feet away.

April could not believe what Trine had done just a few moments ago. She slammed the door closed, crying hysterically. April stood, her legs feeling like jelly.

"T-Trine, I'm so s-sorry. . ." she tried to force out. She was shocked when she turned to see Trine's eyes land on her. There was a darkness in them that she'd never seen before.

"This is all your fault!"

Not gonna lie, I thought so hard on what I was going to do with this chapter. I wanted go give a chapter insight on April's backstory, especially with how the last chapter had ended (because you know I just couldn't get back to Nick and Judy just yet) this chapter took so long because I had to plan it out carefully. The whole collar plot had to make sense, and Trine's motives had to make sense as well. And I kind of wanted to reveal some of the 'evil plot' that Trine seems to have. This does not give full insight, though. I did want to show a little bit of April's past though so I hope the chapter comes across well!

I'm also really happy that the last chapter got so much good feedback! :) I might write a part 2 to this chapter, but I don't know. You guys let me know if you would want to see more between these characters. I love you guys so much!

Reviews -

Shiv740; thanks so much for the kind words! I appreciate it!

Extreme Light 9; thanks so much :)! And yes, it isn't Judy.

The Pinball King; AHAHA honestly I laughed at the thought of that too. I'm grinning so hard right now at your review. We'll find out more soon in the next few chapters I'm sure ;) LOL

BlueberryCarrots; I feel the same way not gonna lie. hehe

Just Me; I feel so complimented right now! Also, that was my inspiration for this story. I really loved the whole collar concept and it made me so motivated to create a story. I pity poor Nick as well, it honestly would suck to live in a world where you're forced to wear a collar around your neck that belittles you and who you are.