Zootopia belongs to Disney. Spider-Man belongs to Sony.

"I hope she's not too mad at me when I get home since I took longer than I said I would," said Nick with a brief chuckle. "I think I'm in enough trouble already."

A part of him had dreaded leaving Lily there. The moment he'd seen her, he knew that had Judy been there, they would already be taking her home. He wanted to kick himself for not bringing her along. But he didn't because reasons. *cough* surprise

Nick pulled up to Ben's apartment complex and he got out to turn around and lean into the window. "Good luck, Nick." They shook hands briefly.

"Thanks for coming along with me, Ben."

"Hey, anything for my friends. Especially when they're thinking of making some special additions."

"But you wouldn't mind keeping this to yourself, would you? I'm certain that she would love to raise a kitten and I want to bring her there myself to show Lily to her and see if she would want to adopt her."

"Nooooo problem!"

They said bye and Nick pulled off toward his and Judy's house. He was all too eager to set up this grand scheme of his. This would be the perfect hustle. After a relatively uneventful drive home, Nick walked into the house. "Judy! I'm back! Ready to go Wilde with W-"

He was cut off by the sight of the bald lamb sitting on his couch, reading one of his comic books... that is, graphic novels. His first thought was that she had broken in, but a quick glance around proved that was not the case. Besides, she was way too small to make one think she was some intruder. But what was she doing here? Who was she? She looked really tired, maybe she needed some help?

"Uh... hello."

She shrank back fearfully.

The water buffalo snorted on the other end of the line. "Hopps, you're going against protocol by hindering McHorn in his investigation; this is his assignment."

"Sir, the assignment you gave him was the arson. I don't remember Ms. Nichelle being a part of that. I know that she's technically not my assignment, but she's at my house right now and she's shaken up. She asked me if she would have to provide a testimony, and she was not happy to hear that she would. She's in a fragile state, and I'm in a position to gather information. Protocol is a bad idea at the moment, sir."

"Sometimes I feel I need to remind you who's in charge, Hopps." He groaned and said, "Fine. But you are to continue your own investigation. If I feel she is a hindrance to you, you will hand over what you have gathered so far with regards to Arya Nichelle."

"Understood, sir," she said before he hung up with a grumble.

She turned the corner onto the street that Mewle Prison was situated on.

Judy felt a certain nervousness as the prison came into view. She hadn't been here for years, not since she watched the diminutive former mayor begin her thirty years to life sentence. The building, flanked by guard towers and barbed wire fences, did not look like it housed a sheep inmate. There were no other inmates of her small stature. No offense to her, but how she had survived this long in such a hostile environment, surrounded by some of the most dangerous criminals in Zootopia (and the world), was beyond her.

Flashing her badge to the guards posted at the front, she was scanned inside to the lobby, which was much nicer than the rot on the outside. Still, there was this sense that the lobby was as far as that reprieve went. The inside, she knew from testimony, was truly a prison from which any mammal understandably longed to escape, but were kept from doing so by iron bars and the shackles of their individual sentencing.

A yak sat at an empty booth next to another booth which was catering to another visitor at the moment. Judy stepped up to the window and cleared her throat to no response. She made the noise again, louder.

"Hello?... Hello?"

"Hey, idiot!" the hyaenidae next to her said loudly. The yak bounced in his chair. "Open your eyes! You got a visitor!" The yak then removed two wireless earbuds from his ears, which had been obscured by the copious amounts of hair covering his face.

"Sorry, sorry, how can I help you?" he asked.

Sweet cheese and crackers, yaks can be... She shook her head and got herself back on track. "Yes, I'm here as a visitor."

"Name?"

"You don't know...? Uh, Judy. Judy Wilde."

"Mm-hm," he typed on his computer. "Aaaaaand who's the lucky animal you'll be visiting today, ma'am?"

"Dawn Bellwether." All of a sudden, he sat up straight, causing his hair to swish and expose his wide eyes. For at least two seconds after this, Judy could swear that the rapid tapping of fingers on the keyboard sounded like a record scratch. He gazed down at her with his obscured eyes. Even the hyena beside her was gawking down at her. "What?"

"You're visiting her?"

"Yyyyyeah, why?"

The hyena spoke up. "She hasn't had a single visitor for the whole time she's been here and now the cop who put her away wants to see her? Isn't that kind of... shady?"

Judy's fur bristled at the subtle accusation delivered by the hyena. She'd had enough of moral and verbal assaults on defenseless mammals for one day. Besides, how did she know whether Bellwether'd had any visitors since her arrest? Judy calmed down and formulated an answer. "You listen to me. I have my reasons for being here, you have yours. Someone wants to monitor our conversation, go right ahead; I have nothing to hide. I want to talk to Dawn Bellwether, and as a detective I have authority to do so." She showed them her badge. "So, do we have a problem here?"

The yak answered. "No, no ma'am." After typing something on his computer, he handed her a lanyard with a badge that said, "Visitor" on the front and pressed a button that caused a door to buzz and unlock. "There's someone back there who'll monitor your visit."

She smiled, doing her best to hide her receding anger. "Have a nice day." Once her back was turned, she rolled her eyes in annoyance. Yaks were rare in Zootopia, but, like sloths, she still had yet to meet one who did not delay her or make her day as maddening as possible.

"We got someone here to see Dawn Bellwether."

"Huh, that's a first."

"Bring her up."

"Heard."

Judy looked up at the hippopotamus who had been waiting around the corner for her as she stepped through the door. After closing it, the hippo tipped his hat. "Mrs. Wilde." Huh, so she was known around here.

There were no inmates here. The front hallway consisted of old, probably outmoded cells used when Zootopia was first founded. The doors were still there. For what purpose, she wasn't sure. The hippo walked silently down the corridor with a bored scowl on his face. She didn't feel much like talking, and he looked like he'd just brush her off if she tried. Oh well, didn't matter anyway. She was here strictly for information.

At the end of the hallway, there was a door. The hippo opened it and let her through before walking in himself. Inside was what Judy always saw in the movies: a row of pairs of booths separated by glass with telephones. Classic. The fact that they were built for large-sized animals may present a bit of an issue.

"She'll be here in a minute," said the guard. Judy saw that his badge read, Miles Streamhurst. "You can use the one over there." He pointed toward the very small - nearly invisible - version of the other booths. Smiling, she ran over to it and realized it was perfect size for her.

"Thank you!"

He grunted. And he leaned his back on the wall to wait for the meeting to conclude.

Well, here she was. Her hands tapped the table in anticipation of seeing her old enemy. Why it made her nervous, she didn't know. It wasn't really like her to feel that way, considering she was separated from her by a window and armored doors.

Judy saw a tuft of white just visible over the table on the other side quickly bounce its way around the chair. She then saw her form climb up into the chair with some difficulty. Judy's eyes scanned her as she situated herself. She looked exactly the same she did as when she saw her last. Save for a pair of crow's feet and mild age lines, she hadn't aged a day.

Dawn grasped the phone and put it to her ear with an eager smile.

"Oh!" said Judy, doing the same.

"Judy! Hi!" she said with a tone that matched her smile. "It's been too long! How are you?"

She hesitated to answer. There was no scenario in her mind that predicted that she would be smiling right now. What she had imagined was a dirty, wrinkly... shell of Dawn Bellwether. She thought she'd see a thug who had aged decades. But that was not the mammal who sat across from her. What she saw was a kind, gentle sheep with soft eyes. Though there was also a tilt to her eyebrows that suggested a heavy grief. It wouldn't be a stretch to think that news of her daughter had reached her. "Uh... I'm ok. I'm-I'm married now and-"

"Yes, I heard about that. I'm so happy for you, Judy. I really am."

Judy stared at the sheep, who continued smiling softly at her. What is your ploy? she thought, though she forced a smile.

She and Dawn made light conversation, most of it focused on Judy, obviously - there wasn't much to celebrate in prison. After a few awkward minutes, Judy decided to redirect the conversation to the subject that brought her here. "Well, anyway, I'm here because I have some questions for you. Not an interrogation" - she lifted her hand to quell any potential uproar from the sheep "-this is coming from me."

"Of course, go right ahead. I have all day," she answered with a joking roll of her eyes, throwing her off-guard for the second time in about eight minutes.

What she was about to say, she knew, would be the best news she's heard in the past seven years. A part of her relished that thought, but another part tried to get her to stay silent about it. She mentally crushed the latter; Bellwether deserved to know. "I wanted to talk about your daughter," she said, opening up her notebook to take notes. "You probably heard about her apartment being set on fire. You do know that she wasn't in the building when it burned, and that she's been found?"

A couple of glances upward told her that exactly what Judy thought would happen, did. Dawn's eyes widened considerably. "W-w-w-w-what-what do you mean?" she stammered in a tremulous voice. "Y-y-you mean sh-she's alive?"

"Yes, she is."

"I w-I-I was told that she didn't make it." Her face twisted slightly into grief. "I was told she was killed in the fire."

"Who told you that?"

"Some-some of the guards. So that isn't true? She's ok?" She covered her muzzle with her free hand and tears fell from her eyes.

Judy nodded slowly but with a soft smile to show the sheep her sympathy.

At that, she leaned forward and wracked in quiet sobs. Then, she inhaled loudly and the phone fell from her hand. She quickly grabbed it and put it back up. Judy felt a knot of anger rise in her chest, which caught her off guard. Where'd that come from? Her only guess was that despite any lingering animosity toward the sheep, Judy's conscience couldn't help but call withholding that kind of information from her a horrendous, unnecessary injustice. Cruel and unusual punishment. She'd been lied to. She had a right to know that, no matter what she did. Yeah, that was probably it.

Judy decided to tell her the rest.

"And I have her at my house," she added. Dawn looked up at her, inhaling sharply a couple times.

"What?" she sobbed.

"I have her with me. One of my neighbors found her on their porch last night and... it's a long story. But now she's staying with me for the time being."

Dawn put her damp hand to the window. "Is she ok?"

"She's fine, Dawn. She's just fine."

Dawn seemed to deflate. She covered her eyes and took a shaky deep breath. "Thank you."

Judy nodded. "She's very strong."

"Yeah, she is," she affirmed in a wistful whisper. She sat still for several moments in reflection. Judy waited for her to continue.

"...I know why she's going through all this," said Dawn in a grating tone. "It's because of me. All of it. All me."

"Dawn-"

"If I hadn't done what I did, she'd be in school, she'd have friends, SHE WOULDN'T BE THE 'DARLING' OF THE PAPARRAZI..." she practically growled. "And her cancer..."

"No, Dawn, that wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself for that."

Her shoulders relaxed. "Thanks, Judy. I've... I haven't... been doing well... at all... I know why I did it, but... when I think about it, I just..." she lowered her head and shook it sadly. "It started out small. A few anonymous deals, some compromises... I knew it was wrong, but I kept going deeper and deeper into it. And when I saw more of the underbelly of the city, how prey were often treated so harshly, I... I snapped. And Doug, when he told me about his research of this plant I'd grown up with, how they could be used against predators, finally I had a plan and it all just fell right into place." She added, "And I know prey weren't the only ones. I just didn't want to see it."

Judy didn't know what to say. Who was this sheep? How could there be no pride in her voice? No self-righteousness? The only thing Judy saw was self-loathing. She had seen none of this seven years ago...

"Why are you telling me all this?" asked Judy quietly.

Dawn took a breath and shrugged wearily. "Because I know what I did was horrible. And it's killing me, especially knowing how it's hurting my baby. And..." Dawn shrugged from a loss for words.

Judy smiled at her. "Us little guys have to-"

"-stick together," they finished simultaneously. Judy saw the sheep in a new light. After everything... her daughter was her saving grace by showing her exactly how hard the repercussions of her actions could strike. They struck Arya too.

She really had changed.

"You stopped me, Judy. You were the hero of the city. And now you're my daughter's hero. So... I can't just pretend that what I did, didn't happen. No matter how much I want to bury it. I want so much to take all of that away from her. I'd take it all if I could so she could be happy."

"You're sorry. That's what counts. I'm sure if Arya were here, she'd see that."

"Oh Judy, please, can you bring her here? If she wants to? I want to see her so badly!" Dawn asked her with a degree of fervency.

"If she wants to, then... I would be happy to." At that, another tear, one Judy could tell came from longing, flowed down her cheek. Judy put her thoughts back on track. She had a job to do. "But right now, I need to get some information."

"Of course," she nodded profusely.

"I know you don't want to talk about this, but you're doing this for Arya. So let's make sure she stays safe." Dawn nodded determinedly. "There's something that doesn't make sense here. Now, don't take this the wrong way, but have there been any death threats on you over the past seven years?"

Dawn shook her head. "No."

"Ok, so that means that as far as we can tell... every death threat that would or could be targeted toward you is aimed at your daughter. I want to know why. Is there one mammal, or a group of mammals behind all this? Is someone feeding the general public wrong information? Do you remember anything that might have suggested that during your time in office?"

"I haven't really thought about it much. There were a few things, but I never looked into them much. I was too focused on making sure I stayed..." a look of realization came over her face. "Oid..."

"Oid?" Judy repeated. "The comic book superhero? What about him?"

Dawn looked at her with a fearful look in her eyes, but her wheels were definitely turning.

She snapped her fingers into the receiver. "Dawn, think! What about Oid? What does he have to do with this? Who is he?"

"Judy, what have you heard about him?"

"Nick has comic books about him. He's a new superhero fad, I guess-"

"He's not a superhero, he's a god."

"A god? I don't... I don't understand what you mean..."

Dawn sighed uncomfortably. "On some of the runs that I sent Weaselton on, he told me he encountered some mammals who stole some of the Nighthowler bulbs from his bag and let him go. At first, he didn't say anything about it because they never took much, and he was afraid of retribution for losing some of the bulbs. I didn't find out until I was mayor. When I did, I paid Zsander Lukagi under the table to investigate the issue. During the investigation, he told me that the thieves were part of a religion that was forming in the city, called Oid's Restorers. I did quite a bit of light reading about them after I found out."

"What are they all about?"

"Their central belief is that Oid is the Apex Predator, the god of predatorial strength and power, the most powerful animal who ever lived. Usually he took the form of a jaguar in ancient cites of worship. Once predators and prey began to coexist peacefully after Zootopia was established, Oidism waned dramatically. It didn't go out of existence, but it was very hard to find historically for hundreds of years. And the general public wasn't aware of it until just before I was arrested. They believe that Oid demands complete and total perfection in body and mind, and they only have three chances to prove that. If they don't, they're executed gladiator style. But prey... they only get one chance, and they don't get to fight back."

Judy's eyes widened. Who, in their right mind, would subscribe to that? That's a mean god right there.

"I went with Lukagi once to a gathering. I stayed hidden so they didn't know I was there. And they showed him..." she looked around for a second. Then she exhaled on the glass to generate condensation but it faded very quickly. "Do you have a pen and paper?"

"Oh, here," she said, inserting her notebook through the slot below the window and pushing the tray toward her. Dawn took the notebook and carefully drew something that she couldn't see. Moments later, she ferried it back through the slot with the pen.

"They showed him this. It was drawn into the concrete of the building." Judy examined the remarkably detailed drawing. It was of a pentagram, a star with five vertices. A line was drawn from one vertex horizontally to the other vertex below the topmost vertex, like a stick being held from hand to hand. On the topmost vertex was the drawing of a black cat. On the bottom two were a bunny and a lamb. Just like Judy and Dawn.

"So..." Judy closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm trying to make the connection here, but I don't know how they relate to your daughter."

"Judy!" she leaned in. "Oid's Restorers started around the same time as I took office, and I saw them growing! In fact, I actually..." she looked embarrassed "...I darted some of them to try to slow them down. But when I was arrested, I heard that Oid's Restorers were going to go after her instead of me. They're targeting her because I ran out of strikes. They want to punish me... through her! They think that by killing her, they'll satiate Oid's wrath!"

"That's... just not right," said Judy. Hearing all of this, how all this had been growing in the city for the past several years... that was alarming. "They must not be very competent; there have only been two attempts on her life, but she's still alive." Dawn nodded with a grateful sigh. "But something still doesn't make sense. How does this circle back to Lukagi and Nighthowlers?"

"Those Nighthowlers stolen from Duke I mentioned? Nighthowlers that contain an analgesic and psychotropic neurotransmitter? That turns predators into savages? Oid is the personification of the belief that predators are meant to be exactly that - predators."

One piece of the puzzle in place: NH-Plus. "They want to find a way to infect all predators."

"Worse. They want to give predators the power the Nighthowlers give them, while remaining lucid."

"But... that's not possible, Dawn. Nighthowlers make predators stronger by inhibiting logical reasoning and enhancing their latent aggression. And plus - I'm not quite sure how that would be worse."

"Regardless, it's true that Nighthowlers can't be used to do that, but it's out on the streets now, if I've heard correctly."

"What about when Duke lost some of the bulbs? Does he know where they were taken?"

"Lukagi suggested that the Nighthowlers were being taken somewhere in Eastern Savannah Central, near the border of Sahara Square."

Judy listened carefully, writing down notes as detailed as possible. She realized... the same area where John and Harry's last stakeout was...

"What were they used for?"

"I don't know. My guess is they wanted to replicate what I was doing."

"And they did, unfortunately. You heard correctly. There's a variant of your - uh, your serum being used on the streets called NH-Plus. It's caused us a lot of heartache."

Dawn nodded ruefully. "I wish I'd never..."

"Ok, Dawn, don't think that way. What happened before, that was then and this is now. Help me now. Do you have any idea where I might find them? You said close to the Eastern border of the Savannah. Can you be more specific?"

"I'm sorry, that's all I have. That's exactly what Lukagi told me. He didn't elaborate."

Judy sat back. "Lukagi is the distributor of NH-Plus. I think it's clear now that he and whoever is behind this are working together. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one behind it."

"If that is the case, then I can't trust the information he gave me. Especially if he's targeting Arya."

"At least I know where to start," she said as she folded her notebook and put it back in her pocket. "Oh thank you, Dawn, this is a lot of good information."

"Judy!" She looked up at her. Dawn pushed her hand up to the glass. "Thank you." Her smile showed the depth of her gratefulness for her visit and for the news.

Judy pressed her hand up to Dawn's on the other side of the glass. "You're welcome. I'll take care of your daughter, I promise."

Dawn nodded. Judy hung up and walked back to the front with the hippo behind her. She had work to do.

"Uh... hello. What's your name?" he asked the tiny lamb as he walked into the living room.

Arya's eyes widened at the sight of the predator. "A-Arya."

Nick suddenly recognized her as the same lamb who had been declared missing just yesterday. Judy must have found her. Of course, only Judy could find someone that fast. He thought back to the Missing Mammals case. But still, that took two days. How long was he gone? Did he go through a time warp or something?

"Well, Arya, how did you get in here? Are you waiting for someone?" He walked over to sit beside her.

She shook her head. "Do you know where Judy is? She likes to crash here too, it seems. I've been trying to get rid of her but she just can't help herself."

Arya smiled and laughed quietly. Her body language put her timidity on display. It wasn't surprising that even that laugh showed how sad she was - she had quite a story to tell. While Nick had reacted to his trauma by shutting himself out with charisma and deception, Arya seemed to be the type who just shut down altogether. Not everyone handled their pain the same way.

Or, come to think of it, it could just be recent events. They were pretty jarring for everyone. No telling how bad it was for her.

"She's really nice," she said quietly.

"Yeah, she is... She's my wife." Arya looked at him in surprise. "I know, I know, not every day you see a fox and a rabbit together. But it just kinda happened. I'm still debating with myself how much I remember when it did and how much I'd had to drink." She laughed again.

Nick spent the next who-knew-how-long cheering her up. He played with her, told her jokes, made her a snack, and ended by tucking her into bed for a nap once evening started to roll around. She had looked so tired. How long had it been since she'd gotten a decent night's sleep? Well, she'd feel better after tonight.

Judy sang to the music as she sat at the ridiculously long stop light. Like she needed any more frustration. Today had been a stressful day. She was ready for a good night's sleep.

Everything Dawn had told her - about Lukagi, her deals at the time of her stint in office as Assistant Mayor and as the actual Mayor, a bloodthirsty god... it was scary to think about.

She made a mental note to talk to Arya about making a visit to her mother. Maybe it would reestablish some connection-

Her ears rose at the sound from outside. She turned her music down and listened intently through the open window. Her eyes widened at the sound of loud grunting and smashing.

"Help!" a voice echoed loudly. "Is anyone there?!"

Her nose twitching, she scanned the four-way intersection. It was unusually quiet this time of day. It was only six in the evening, but there wasn't a soul to be seen. The fog made the area around her feel more lonely. Upon further reflection, she realized she'd gotten used to it. The public made every effort to get home safely. These were dangerous times. She squinted to see in the dimming light. She put the car in park and stepped out to search the area. At the same time, her phone was connecting to the police. "911, what's your emergency?"

"Detective Hopps here," she said quietly, staying alert of her surroundings, "I may need backup-"

There was another shout coming from behind her from the alley.

"Hopps?"

"I'll need backup at intersection of Keeling and Mushroom Stem, possible assault."

"Gotcha, sending help your way."

Judy ran around her car and into the long, narrow alley. There was a left turn at the end that exited onto the street. "Hello?!"

"Help!"

She immediately realized the voice was only echoing through the alley and picked up the pace to reach the mammal and see what the trouble was.

"OOF!" Something swatted at her from around the corner just as she turned. Judy was launched back several meters before crashing back onto the ground with a grunt. There was a flaring pressure on her cheek. She didn't have time to worry about what had just happened as a cougar flew around the corner and sprinted for her.

Instinct kicked in. All thoughts faded; her senses sharpened. Judy jumped onto the wall and leapt to the other wall of the alley, dodging the cougar, who immediately turned around. Her lips were pulled back, exposing her teeth as she gave a loud snarl.

Judy stood at the ready. She'd keep the cougar busy until backup arrived. The image of Nick flashed through her mind and she shook her head to clear it. The cougar swiped at her. Judy rolled forward onto the back of her neck to launch herself upward, delivering a mighty kick into her chin. She yelped and shook her head but it didn't take long for her to reengage. Fine with Judy. She was ready. Taking another swipe, the cougar only hit air. The rabbit bolted like lightning onto the wall and smashed her feet into her side, causing her to stumble. Then, she performed a front flip that brought her heel onto the top of the cougar's head. The cougar collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious.

As she dusted off her hands, Judy heard the sound of sirens approaching.

What took them so long? she huffed, leaning against the wall until the police arrived to take care of the unconscious cougar. Judy then walked around the corner of the alley to find that the potential victim had left. Honestly, she couldn't blame him.

Time for her to get home.

When Nick heard the door unlocking, he snorted at the thought that the tables had turned. They'd used up most of their day off doing their own thing. Judy saw him wave at her from the kitchen table.

"Nick, where did you go?" she asked, less annoyed than Nick would have predicted.

"Where did you go?"

"Touche."

"Hold on, hold on Judy, what happened to you?" he asked, scanning her. Judy looked down and realized her green shirt was dirty and a little torn. Nick stroked Judy's cheek. She guessed she had a bit of a scratch from that fight. "Did you get into a fight?"

"It's nothing, Nick, I had to fight off a cougar hopped up on Nighthowlers." Nick cleaned her cheek as she continued talking. But I'm fine, so case closed."

"I'm glad you're ok, Carrots. It could always be worse."

"Come on, Slick, I'm Judy Wilde. Star detective. What could happen?"

"Judy, seriously," he said, actually being serious. "If you got hurt worse than this, I don't know what I'd do."

She sighed. "Look, I'm fine, that's all that matters. So can we get past this so we can tell each other about our day?"

He sat down. "You go first," he said, leaning his chin on his fists.

"You're not going to believe this. Today I found-"

"I know, Arya's back in the guest room sleeping like a pillow."

"...Oh. That's right, you would have seen her. Ha!" Judy put her hand on her forehead in muted embarrassment. "Ok, so I guess we got that out of the way. In other news, I went to speak to Bellwether about-"

"You went to see her?!"

"YES! UGH, WHY IS EVERYONE SO... can I finish?" she asked.

"Yeah, sorry."

"I wanted to see if I could get some information as to why Arya is targeted, because so far as anyone knows, Dawn hasn't received any death threats, and no one's actually put in any effort to kill her yet."

"Yeah, that is weird," said Nick through a bit of an apple, "not that I'm complaining."

"So I asked her why that might be and she told me about this Oid character."

"What does he have to do with anything?"

Judy laughed. "That's exactly what I said! It turns out Oid isn't a superhero, he's an ancient deity."

"A god. That's new. So, what?"

Judy laid out everything Dawn had told her. He stayed still and listened carefully, mulling over the information.

"A revival surrounding Oid grew right under our noses after the Missing Mammals Case..." she finished with an incredulously wave of her arms "...and we didn't even know it. But anyway, I'm thinking Arya is being targeted by them."

"Still, Carrots, that's a pretty far-fetched theory."

"I don't think it is. Dawn told me that she encountered them before she was arrested."

"Key word: arrested, Carrots. You're telling me you trust the word of a convict?"

"It's at least worth looking into."

"It will be a lot of work, though," he muttered. Nick thought about what he'd want to do tonight... Lily... he sat still for a few seconds.

"Nick? What you thinking about?"

Mm... maybe now isn't the best time. That would be biting off more than they could chew. "Ah, I'm just thinking about what you said. Even if what you're saying is true, then that... it's... it's really serious. If they really are going after Arya like this... Carrots, can the ZPD even protect her?"

"NICK!" She stood up and swatted his head, causing him to duck and cover. "How could you even think that?!"

"It's an honest question! Honestly, we don't know anything about these guys! What if, hypothetically speaking, whoever's trying to kill her finds out she's here, and-"

"Then we'll kill them." Nick's eyes widened at what she'd just said. He'd never heard anything like that before.

Judy seemed to pick up on it and deflated. "Ok, that sounded bad."

"Yeah," he said cautiously, "I never thought I'd hear you say that."

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I've been... thinking a lot. I just don't want her to get hurt any more than she already has. It riles me up."

Hmph! You really are meant to be a mother, Judy. "So, what should we do?"

Judy sat back down and thought for a moment. "We'll talk to Bogo in the morning. In the meantime, we'll see what to do about Arya."

"You think Buffalo Butt will go for it?"

"I think he will." She shrugged haughtily. "I'm practically assistant chief."

Nick chortled and pulled her chair closer. "That's my Carrots, already taking over the world. I'm so proud of you."

She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Sorry I slapped you."

"Ah!" he waved. "I can handle little baby bunny hands." He added quickly, "And before you slap me again, I've also had a bit of a day. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to sit back, relax, and enjoy all two hours of our day off, what do you think, Fluff?"

"I think that sounds great..."

"YES! YES!"

"What! Did it work?!"

The hyena smiled widely. "Come see for yourself!"

Yvette rushed to the microscope and looked through them. She gazed in wonder at the muscle fibers - they were not the same fibers she'd prepared. The synthase really wasn't the problem. The serum didn't have any effect on nonliving tissue. How he had not thought of it was beyond him. She looked at the doctor, who sat back in that same chair in satisfaction.

"I think you may have just saved me," he said.

She found herself sitting down as well. Wow. Something in her had told her for months that what had just happened was impossible, the stuff of science fiction. But there it was. It had worked. Possibly the greatest adaptive evolutionary development since the Cambrian explosion. "What now?"

"Now... we tell the Boss."

Something I want to make clear. Oidism as described in the story is written only for story purposes. I do not intend to start a new religion. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He was raised from the dead and that we live forever through Him. Neither am I writing this as a spiritual metaphor or analogy. This is only a story in which one of the elements is a false, destructive, horrendous religion that shouldn't exist. No agendas are involved here, except to entertain and practice my writing skills, which need quite a bit of improvement.

Having said that, I do use the space down here to express my thoughts and beliefs, hopefully with the utmost respect.

Yet you say, 'Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?' When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all My statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the sins of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. Ezekiel 18:19,20