Judy stood their with the phone still in her paw as she watched Nick crying on the ground. She could hear him muttering how he failed his mother and is a failure. She could also hear Micheal calling out for her, she had to choose, and soon. But who? Who will she risk and who will she save. So much pressure rested on her shoulders, the likes she has never felt before. She held the lives of two mammals, maybe even more if she did this wrong, in her paws. The thought of letting someone die to save another was overwhelming. She couldn't make this decision, could she? The sound of mammals working underneath her feet could be heard as she stood there for what felt like an eternity.

"If I go and save Nick's mom then the killer will catch up to him during the time it will take us to save her, but if I go after Michael, the killer will…" Judy stopped in mid-thought as it just dawned on her. "I CAN SAVE THEM BOTH!" screamed Judy as she leaned over and picked Nick up off the ground.

"Nick, you're mother will live! Both will live! The killer has lost!" shouted Judy with joy as she jumped up and down.

In between sniffles was Nick able to ask for her plan. "What, really? How has he lost?"

"Nick the last place is obviously the Cliffside Asylum, where we found the missing mammals, that's a hour's drive from here! Micheal said he was near our apartment, that's nearly double the travel time, the killer can't get there before us! He doesn't know we got here hours ahead of time!" Judy tried to explain as quickly as possible, stumbling over her words a couple of times

"Nick I can go to Michael and lead him and the killer to a trap while you and some of the other officers rescue your mother! He is focused on me more than you, if anything the fact he sees me alone will urge him to follow me and Micheal and try to wait for an opportunity to get to me, but he will never have that chance as I will be in a public area. While he follows us I could lead him to an ambush! Nick it's over, he is going down!" Judy finally finished her plan to Nick just as he finally managed to gather himself.

"Judy that's brilliant, I'll get a ride from one of the officers nearby. The killer will have to fight with traffic while we can use the sirens to get by, we will get there first! Judy go get Micheal, I'll call for a ride right now and explain everything!" Nick pushed Judy towards the door as he pulled his radio close to his muzzle, "Oh Judy, please be careful!" Nick called out just as Judy ran out the door with her phone to her ear, telling Michael to keep driving.

Nick sat impatiently for nearly five minutes alone on the stairway out front before Officer McHorn and Officer Pennington pulled up. Nick didn't hesitate as he quickly ran up to the massive cruiser and jumped in the backseat, before he could even buckle up the vehicle was screaming down the street with sirens and lights blaring. From his conversation with the precinct just minutes ago, he knew that nearly half a dozen other cruiser were already heading towards Cliffside. He wasn't sure why so many but it was better to be safe than sorry. Judy on the other paw was on her way to Michael and the chief had just as many cruisers on standby, waiting for Judy's instructions and signal to go in on her position.

He sat quietly as he put on a rather large bulletproof vest and loaded his gun. He quickly realized that the vest was meant for wolves and didn't fit him all the way. He tightened it down as best he could and stared down at his paws just as he finished loading his weapon. The knot forming in his gut was growing tighter and tighter as he sat in the silence of the backseat. He prefered it this way as dark thoughts formulated in his mind. Thoughts of violence, vengeance and murder. He tossed them to the side as realized that he would risk everything if he acted on these, he couldn't lose this job or Judy, he couldn't lose her over something so trivial.

But the urge to fight was burning in his blood and it was a feeling hard to keep down. "Cliffside again, will that place always show up? Show up and cause problems?" Nick's thoughts ran wild as the sun was beaming onto his face. He couldn't help but look up at the sky and watch as the clouds flew by and the sun shine brightly. With a quick glance at his phone he could see Judy and him hugging, with their faces pressed against each other. Judy was positively ecstatic in the picture while Nick had a look of annoyance. The clock on his phone told him it was closing in on ten in the morning. "Has is been an hour already?" asked Nick mentally as he looked out the window.

Sure enough he could see the sign of Cliffside and a few cruisers already parked in front of the building. Nick could see well over seven officers standing in full gear and weapons, waiting for the last of their backup to arrive. Nick's face went stone cold as the final minute of the drive consisted of them driving up to the rest of the cars, getting out and gathering with the mammal in charge, Captain Wolford.

"Ok listen up, we are going to sweep the building in groups of two, everyone has a partner already except you, Wilde. You will be with Officers McHorn and Pennington. That means there will be seven teams in all, and last time I checked this place had nine floors and a basement. Team's one and two will have floors one through four, teams three through five will have floors five through seven. My team will handle floors eight and nine, Wilde's team will have the basement. Now let's get this done, go, go, go!" Captain Wolford barked out orders quickly and before anyone could say anything they were storming the building with everyone heading towards the stairs. Only Wilde's team and team one didn't follow them up. Nick began to go down the stairs along with McHorn and Pennington while the other team was staying on the floor to search it before moving up.

All three of them has their guns and flashlights out as hey reached the bottom of the staircase and were in utter darkness. They were quiet as they moved down the hall, each taking turns to cover each other as one of them opened a door and entered it swiftly. Every time they entered a room it had a mannequin standing and pointing at them with a large "no" on it. It was starting to get under Nick's skin as he grew more and more worried over the whole situation. The only thing that kept Nick calm and collected in such an extreme situation was Judy told him earlier.

He will stay strong, for his mother and for Judy. He will find his mother and save her while Judy saved Michael. Nick stood by a door and was prepare for McHorn to kick it open like they have been doing since they started it on this floor. "Please let this be the one! Please!" Nick was screaming internally as McHorn charged the door. With one deep inhale and exhale the door was no more as he barreled through it. Nick and Francine were right behind him and followed without hesitation. The room was dark save a single light in the center of the room. Nick gaze fell upon the still form sitting in a chair, tied up and in the center of the light. It was a vixen that much he could tell. The bag was still over her face.

"Mom? Mom I'm here to save you!" Nick cried out, he didn't rush over right away as they had to make sure the room was clear. A quick look told them they were indeed all alone.

"Mom, it's going to be ok, Nicky is here, your little Nicky!" Nick was having trouble keeping his voice from cracking as he reach up to pull the bag off. Nick gripped the burlap bag firmly and slowly pulled it off of his mother's head.


Judy could hear Nick call out for her to be careful just as she ran out the door. With a quick wave she ran down the stairs in two grand leaps. Her heart was beating intensely as she ran around her car. She had no time to waste as they found out how to capture him. "He is not getting away!" growled Judy as she buckled up and started to blare her sirens and lights. Without hesitation she sped down the road, causing the vehicle to burn rubber and leave a short black trail behind her.

Just as she turned the corner and nearly turning the car over onto it's side did she look at her speedometer. With a quick glance she saw that it said ninety miles per hour, she didn't care, she needed to get to Micheal as quickly as possible so they can lure the killer to a trap. "Crap Micheal, you still there?" Judy placed the phone to her face as she had just remember he was still in the call with her.

"Yes, I am! Judy, he is still following me!" Micheal was breathing hard and in quick succession.

"Micheal calm down! Don't let him know that you know he is following you. Listen keep driving around, once I get close to you we can trick him into following us to a good place. Make sure you stay near places with cameras but don't be obvious about it! I'll call you in a few minutes," Judy ordered as she turned another corner sharply, determined to get there so she can spring the soon-to-formulated-plan on the killer.

"Alright, I hope to see you in a bit!" Micheal called out before hanging the phone up.

Judy tried her best to come up with ideas on the best places to spring a trap. "Would be helpful if I know what the killer looked like," grumbled Judy to herself as she drove onto the highway. She spent nearly ten minutes on the highway and was just turning onto a offramp when an idea came popped up.

"At least he will be safe in the camera's line of sight… Cameras!" Judy scream so suddenly and loudly she scared herself, swerving the car into a different lane. Luckily no one was next to her as she regain control of her cruiser. Without a second thought, she picked up her radio and began to speak.

"This is Officer Hopps requesting the cameras of the natural history museum be searched as soon as possible, within the hour if able! The killer may have been spotted and I need to know who to keep a lookout for, over!" demanded Judy as she passed a couple of vehicles pulling off to the side of the highway so she could pass.

"This is Officer Fangmeyer, I am currently at the site taking in a full report of the break in, I will have the killer's picture sent as soon as possible, over!" replied Fangmeyer so quickly Judy barely had the chance to put the radio back down.

"Thank god, this case is as good as closed!" Judy cheered as she passed the donut shop that was a favorite for the ZPD, "Oh I'm almost there already? Better call Micheal again," thought Judy as she reached for her phone again. Just as she flipped it open did she get a call from Michael, she didn't even think about and answered it right away.

"Michael I was just about to call you," Judy said first as she turned the car sharply down a road.

"Judy, I know where we can trap the killer!" shouted Micheal through the phone.

"What? Where?" asked Judy, she had no ideas and was open to the idea of suggestions.

"Judy, our apartment parking lot, there is only one way into that area! And with all the neighbors at work, no one will get hurt, we could set up a perimeter and surround him. Finally! I can have some closure!" proudly stated Micheal from the other side of the phone.

"That's brilliant! I'll call the station right now, I'm about fifteen minutes from the place, what about you?" asked Judy, her heart was racing as the tension was building up substantially with every second that passed by.

"I'm a little over ten minutes, if you hurry we could get there at the same time and bait him into following us! This bastard is going down!" Micheal could be heard sobbing on the other side.

"It's ok Michael, we'll see this through to the end, together!" assured Judy as she tried her best to calm him down.

"Do you really mean it?" the question had caught Judy off guard.

"After all we've been through already, how could you not think I won't be there for you when you need it most?" Judy answered him with her own question, but it calmed him down by a fair amount as he took a deep breath.

"Thank you Judy, I'll see you at home!" Micheal ended the call but Judy could imagine the grateful smile on his face.

"We got this Micheal, we got this!" Judy said to herself as she passed a few more cars and trucks. She sped up and quickly pulled on her radio and talked into it.

"This is Officer Hopps, I have a location for which we can capture the killer in. The location is the corner of Paw blvd and King's road, just off of highway 345, wait ten minutes and then set up a road block there. The road I will be leading him down is a one way street. Bring a chopper in case he tries to run through the houses!" Judy quickly explained and was waiting for a response when she turned down a side street, only just a little longer and the trap will be sprung for the killer.

"I hope Nick is doing alright, they should be searching the place by now. I hope she will be ok," thought Judy as leaned back into her chair and pressed down on the gas peddle a little more. She was determined to put an end to all this, the killings, the pain, the misery, all of it will end today. She sat quietly for a bit as she focused on what she would have to do. After a few minutes she turned sharply down the road towards her house. The force of which she turned caused her to be slightly dizzy and sick as she tried to regain focus on the road. It only took a second or two before she was on the right track again.

"Woah, not doing that again," chuckled Judy as she could see a green truck just down the road. She watched it carefully as it turned into the designated area. "Micheal?" Judy questioned the truck. She didn't know what he drove, but the fact that it arrived just before her gave her the strong impression that it was him. Seeing him just ahead of her and safe calmed her nerves quite a bit as she turned her sirens and lights off as she didn't want to deter the killer when he arrives.

She began to slow down quickly as she pulled into the parking lot after another minute of driving down the long road. Once she turned into the parking lot she heard a buzz from her phone and saw Michael getting out of the green truck. Judy pulled up to a spot at the far end of the parking lot so she could keep the vehicle out of sight from the road. She quickly unbuckled and got out of the car and ran over to Michael and gave him a great, big hug.

"Micheal you're ok! Thank goodness you're safe!" Judy squeezed Micheal tightly as did he to her.

"Thank you for coming to my aid! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" at this point Micheal was crying with large tears running down his face as he let go and stared her in the eyes.

"Anything for a friend! I'm here to help you!" Judy was nearly in tears too. She gave a deep sigh before she spoke back up, "Listen we need to lure him out, I hate to do this but I need you to come with me," implored Judy as she took his hand and went towards the staircase that lead to their apartments.

"When you hear the van or see it I need you to walk towards the dumpsters over there," Judy pointed to a the spot where the dumpsters were. They were in the center of the parking lot and was in an open space, "I will be hiding over there, the killer will try to go after you and that's when you give me a wink. Once I see the signal I will bring down the wrath of the ZPD onto him as I call for backup and confront him, can you do this for me?" asked Judy as she hand her paws on his shoulder and gave him an icy stare.

With a nod he agreed, seeing this Judy felt a heavy weight grow on her shoulders. If she does this poorly both Micheal and her could die, but if this succeeds then many victims will be avenged, including Gerome. Judy turned and was starting to walk over to the dumpsters when her phone buzzed once again. With a quick glance and twitch of her ears she determined she had time to glance at who was messaging her. She pulled her phone out and saw one from the ZPD forensics office, she opened it up and read it quickly.

"Officer Hopps, this is specialist Whitepaw, I found a connection between all but one of the victims from the first crime scene. They had all been failed ZPD cadets charged with attempted homicide on a fellow cadet. I'll have the name in a few minutes." Judy read the message in her mind and was disgusted at the thought of fellow ZPD members who could do such a thing.

She looked past that and saw the second message from Nick, her eyes widen in horror at what she read. As she read them two more messages popped up, one from Officer Fangmeyer and the ZPD again, "Judy, she wasn't my mother and the victim is dead!" Judy covered her mouth as she took in the news.

She opened the one from the ZPD and read it in her head once again, "The victim was nearly skinned alive in the report, he survived but wasn't allowed to continue with the academy," Judy felt a stone drop in her stomach as she finished the message. Judy had only one message left and opened it up to see a video from a camera hanging over the pit where she and Nick had tricked Bellwether. Judy watched with extreme focus as a shadow was coming into view. Closer and closer the person of interest moved towards the camera's view until finally...

"Oh god no!" Judy thought, with shaking hands she dropped her phone and reached for her tranq gun. With voice cracking and fear covering her body like a blanket she turned around, "M... MI... MICHEAL YELLOWTAIL, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!"

((((Author's Notes))))

Duh Duh Duhhhhhhh

I bet a lot of you weren't expecting that! I have been waiting for this scene for what seems like ages!

Micheal is the real killer, he has tricked everyone and is now alone with Judy Hopps, can she make it out alive?

If you do review I have one request, PLEASE DON'T REVEAL THE KILLER. :'( I would be very sad if that was the first thing someone saw as a review if they wanted

to read the story and decided to look at the reviews first.

So I have just started going back to work so there may be quite delay for the next chapter so have fun with this cliffhanger till then.

Please have a wonderful day or night! :)