Chapter Eight: The Truth Hurts

A/N: I SWEAR this was going to be the final chapter, but now that I'm back to work, my mind tends to wander, and often, I think about the next chapter I'm writing. I thought of a great climax and solution during this time. I even thought about a throwaway line from chapter two and how I could incorporate it into the ending. While this is not the full ending just yet, we do get our climax here where things go from bad to worse before things get better. So stay tuned for one more chapter to wrap things all up.

While this particular canon doesn't have room to go into everyone's backstory, I did want to go into Jack and Skye's backgrounds to show how they fit into this canon.

JACK SAVAGE: Jack retired from his dangerous life as a master spy and settled as an agent for the Zootopia branch of the FBI (Feral Bureau of Investigations). While in Zootopia, he met Judy who had recently broken off her romantic relationship with Nick, while still remaining close friends. The two started dating and soon realized that they had a lot in common and struck up a romance from there.

Jack's friendship with Nick was tepid at first. He didn't like the fact that he was Judy's ex, but he was surprised to see that Nick held no grudges as it was a mutual breakup. The two went from rivals to frenemies to eventually close friends with a bit of a rival streak in them. Outside of Judy and Jack's best friend, Skye, Nick is the only male he feels he can confide in.

Jack has a new rival in Finnick. The two absolutely hate each other. Finnick is jealous of Jack's friendship with Nick and the two tend to have nothing in common.

SKYE (CHASER) WILDE: When Jack was in the spy game, Skye was his main gadget maker/personal mechanic for his favorite car, the Aston Moleton. Skye was smitten by Jack and had a huge crush on him, but it was one-sided. Jack saw her as a close friend and nothing more. When Jack retired from the spy life, Skye followed him and retired from making gadgets and instead, just focused on car repairs at her own auto body shop. She ended up meeting Nick Wilde through Jack, and the two foxes eventually fell in love. Skye still calls Jack her "ex" despite the fact that Jack was never in a romantic relationship with her.

With her father being overseas and her mother having passed away when she was a pup, Skye has formed a strong bond with Nick's mother. She considers her the mother she never got to have. Skye also has a strong bond with Judy Hopps who she loves like a little sister.

9:35 am The next day...

"Hurry up!" Dawn yelled. "She'll be here any minute!"

Dawn was panicking as Crabby Huntsmice would soon be here with her camera crew in tow. Both her and Duke were getting ready for their sit-down interview in the kitchen. She was very nervous and wanted to make sure she and Duke looked their best.

"Would you relax?!" Duke said. "We'll be fine!"

"This interview HAS to go well! My livelihood could be at stake!"

Duke went over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You'll do great. How do I look?"

"Perfect! It's a nice, blue-collar shirt. I'm glad Millie went shopping for me and picked it out."

"Yeah. I'm glad she and Doug are our new friends. Well, my new friends. You knew Doug fer a while. You look like a million bucks!"

"Thanks. I'm so nervous!"

"You're gonna do great, Lambchop. I'm more worried about me screwin' things up."

"I'm sure you'll be fine, my little, bug-eyed beauty." Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "She's here!"

They did a double-check that they were presentable and answered the door. Crabby Huntsmice was there with three cameramen and a lighting crew. Crabby introduced herself. "Hi, Miss Bellwether! Crabby Huntsmice. May we come in?"

"Oh, sure! Sure!"

"We'll set up the interview at the kitchen table if that's fine."

"That would be wonderful."

As the lighting crew was setting up in the living room, Duke had a question. "Hey, is 'dis live or pre-recorded?"

"Live, but with a ten-second delay."

"Good, cuz my curse filter ain't so great. I don't wanna accidentally say somethin' like 'udderfuck' on 'da air."

Dawn was upset. "Duke!"

"What?! I'm not sayin' I'm gonna say it! I mean, I did fuck yer udders last night, so it might be brought up in conversation, but I wanna keep it clean."

Crabby chuckled. "Don't worry, Mr. Weaselton. We have a censor on hand. I won't pry too much into your private affairs. Due to my strong sniffer, I can smell that you two do get a bit kinky."

Dawn was embarrassed. "That was an accident! He didn't understand what 'marking' meant. I was scared of being bitten so I wanted it out of the way first."

"It wasn't an accident in 'da shower," Duke argued.

"Honey, please!"

Crabby chuckled. "It's fine. There's nothing wrong with having a healthy sex life."

Duke rubbed his head. "Some of 'da stuff we were don' wasn't 'dat healthy."

"We'll be ready in five minutes."

Within moments, everyone was sitting down and ready to go. Duke quickly had a request for Dawn. "Hey, Honey? If ya don't mind, I'd rather you do most of 'da talkin'. I ain't exactly 'da best with words. Y'know?"

Dawn agreed. "That's a good idea, Dear."

Crabby's director signaled it was about to start. "Okay, in 3… 2… 1…"

Crabby started the interview. "Good Morning, Zootopia! This is Crabby Huntsmice and we are here LIVE with the former mayor, turned jailbird, now domestic prisoner, Dawn Bellwether, and her live-in boyfriend, Duke Weaselton. How are you today, Dawn, and what's with the new look?"

"I'm doing great, Crabby," Dawn replied. "I still can't go very far, but it's nice to be in a more comfortable environment. Duke reminded me that ewes are beautiful just the way they are. I don't need fake contacts for that. I'd rather the world see me for how I truly am."

"Inspirational! And Duke… How are you feeling today?"

"A bit nervous," Duke replied. "I gotta admit, a second ago I was a bit gassy and was worried about lettin' out a loud, wicked fart on 'da air, but thankfully it was one-a 'dose silent ones."

"Yes. I could smell that, I just didn't want to say anything. I guess my first question is for you, Duke. How long have you known Dawn?"

Duke was getting nervous. She was asking him questions instead of Dawn. "Well, technically, I worked for her way back when. Doin' odd jobs and such."

"And now, you two are a romantic couple. How long has that been going on?"

"Umm…. Well…"

Before he could finish, Dawn interrupted him. "Only two days."

Crabby was surprised. "But you said on 'The Mew' that…"

"I lied! I only said those things to help improve my public image. But the truth is, I'm tired of lying! I do love Duke, but I've only known him personally for three days."

There was a moment of silence in the room, then Dawn spoke further. "Duke is a squatter. Because he inadvertently helped me in my actions which helped damage the city, he was chased out by his fellow predators. He found this house empty as my mother left when I was disgraced, so he moved in and found work. He was a thief, but when he got free room and board, he stopped stealing and worked for a living. When I first met him, I freaked out. I mean, there was a stranger in my home! The home my mother left for me! However, due to him living here rent-free for five years he fell under squatter's rights and I couldn't kick him out. So, I was stuck with him."

Dawn chuckled. "I was scared to death. Here was a predator living in my house! With me! I'd be more scared if I wasn't twice his size. I never told Duke, but I slept with my bedroom door locked and furniture blocking it. I gotta say though, the longer I was with him, the more I learned about him. We both watch 'The Alpha', we like tap dancing, he can be funny when he's not being gross. The more I learned about him, the more I realized I had no reason to fear him."

"What did you learn about him?" Crabby asked. "What made you fall in love with a weasel in just two days?"

"I learned just what the consequences of my horrible actions had on others. Duke may have been living rent-free, but he didn't have a friend in the world. The store that hired him was paying him under the table due to laws I had put in place during my time as mayor. Despite his hard work, they were severely underpaying him. Then there's HERPES."

Crabby backed away/ "Oh my God! You two have herpes?!"

"What?! No! It was the local neighborhood organization. They were basically a hate group led by this camel by the name of Harriet. We found out later she was Woo from Woo-Anon. They were sending Duke threatening letters for years, telling him to move out or else! I can only imagine what it must be like feeling so unloved."

"Wait. She was arrested yesterday. It was all over the news!"

"Yes. I told officer Wilde about her and he told the FBI who then promptly arrested her."

"Wow! I-I'm surprised. No offense, but it sounds like someone you would normally have gotten along with."

"That's the thing! I hate her because she reminds me too much of my old self! I know no one will ever forgive me but I now hate the woman I once was. I realize how much hurt I put others through because I got to see it through Duke and his own struggles. I-I guess that's why I fell in love with him. At first, it was just infatuation. Maybe even pity. But Duke has a good heart. He gives to the homeless even though he barely made any money himself. He's sweet, kind, an incredible shearer, and umm…. well endowed."

"I got a big wiener," Duke added.

"But mostly, despite everything I've done, he looks past all of my faults and flaws and sees the beauty in me. The reason I'm showing my true, ewe eyes was because he told me how beautiful they are. He's such a sweetheart."

Crabby shrugged her shoulders. "Well, how much does he know of your past?"

"I told him about how my actions led to him being chased out of the city. I begged for his forgiveness and he obliged."

"But your attacks on predators during your short tenure as mayor weren't the only time your bigotry was on full display."

Dawn looked confused. "Uh, pardon me?"

"Well, for instance, we have this old footage of you under your alias 'Carol Wools' at a march against William Spotter. A cheetah was proven innocent of murder. It happened just eight years ago. Let's take a look on the monitor."

Crabby brought over a monitor that was showing their interview live. It then cut to old footage of Dawn in a crowd of protesters. You could see her in the crowd. She wore her contacts, but no glasses. They fixed the audio so you could hear her loud and clear. "Give him the chair! Filthy fanger! They're all scum! Hang 'em all!"

Dawn and Duke were watching the old footage in horror.

"When you ran with mayor Lionheart, you started wearing glasses to change your image, didn't you? You didn't want people to see you in this old footage."

"Crabby. This is an attack! I wasn't expecting to be blindsided like this!"

"On the contrary. You signed a contract and told me you would be honest. That everything was off the table. Now, you might be interested in this footage, Mr. Weaselton. It's from a demonstration ten years ago. Watch what happens to one of the counter-protesters."

Duke watched as two groups of protesters shouted at each other. One group had pro-predator signs while the other side that Dawn was on was anti-predator. Eventually, they clashed and while the police held several of them back, a small group of the anti-predators got a hold of a small ferret and proceeded to beat him onscreen. The camera zoomed in to show a delighted Dawn kicking the ferret as it laid motionless only hold his head in defense.

"That's not me anymore!" Dawn cried. "It shames me that I would have ever hurt a poor weasel like that!"

A furious Duke stood up. "It was a ferret! Don't you know 'da difference?! How could you do those things?!"

"That was a different time! I was a horrible person then!"

"And you expect me 'ta believe you changed 'dat much in such a short time?! 'Dat's it. I'm outta here!" Duke then stormed off to his room.

Dawn went to chase after him but noticed that outside the front window, a large crowd had gathered on her lawn and were shouting. "Get outta here, Dawn! We don't need your kind around here!"

Dawn looked out the window. "They must be protesters against me for what I did to predators in the past."

Crabby looked out the window as well. "Look again. They're all prey! And those signs! They hate you BECAUSE you love a predator!"

Sure enough. The people outside had signs like "Leave! Filthy fang-lover!" Another said, "Mixing breeds is a sin!" They were bigots of the highest degree that were upset that one of their own went to the other side. What's worse, was that the crowd was growing.

"This is bad!" Dawn said. "This is really bad!"

Meanwhile...

Nick was sitting in his parked squad car. He was on a break and watching the events unfold live on Ewetube. "Damn! They really screwed her over. And that crowd might get violent."

He finished his soda and chips and set them on the passenger side floor. "Looks like I gotta take care of her again! I swear. She's turning this into a full-time job." He stepped on the gas and took off.

Meanwhile…

Dawn watched as the crowd around her home was growing bigger and more hostile. "This is awful!" she said.

"I know!" Crabby replied. "Our news van's out there!"

Just when things couldn't get any worse, Dawn's mother called. "Mom?! Mom! It's terrible! There's a huge crowd out for me!"

"I only have one question. Are you seriously in love with that weasel?"

"I refuse to lie anymore, mother. Yes. I love him. He sees the good in me. The true beauty in me!"

"I was afraid of that. I'm sorry dear, but I'm afraid I have to disown you. I have an image to maintain and I can't let my social circle think I support your filthy pred-loving ways. I can't legally kick you out of my old home, but I did realize I had the bills on autopay. I fixed that problem. Good luck with that."

With that, Dawn's mother hung up the phone. "Mother?! Mother!" The lights went off in the house. Only the sunlight breaking in from the curtains illuminated the inside now that the lighting crew had no power. "Oh, no…. No!"

Crabby was loving it. "Keep filming!" She whispered to the cameraman. "This is great drama!"

Dawn was on her knees sobbing. "Oh, no! Nononono! Mother, why?!"

Dawn was then confronted with Duke wearing a backpack. "I'm leaving."

"What?! No! I love you! My mother cut me off of everything because I want to be with you!"

"Do you REALLY love me?! Because 'da Dawn I saw in 'dat footage says otherwise! I know people can change, but not 'dis fast and not fer an ugly loser like me. 'Dis town hates me anyways. I'm better off somewhere else. I really hope 'da best fer you, Dawn. Goodbye."

Dawn was sobbing. "You can't just walk out the front door and leave me!"

"Yer right. 'Dere's a mob out 'dere. I'll sneak out 'da back!"

Duke ran out the back and Dawn tried to pursue. "Duke come back!"

Duke jumped over the bushes. And ran across the street. Dawn desperately tried to get over the bushes, but it was too high. "Duke! DUUKE! BAW-HAWW-HAAAW!""

The camera crew followed behind Dawn who was now on her knees, weeping. "Miss Bellwether. What's it like having everyone abandon you? Do you think you deserve it?"

Meanwhile, Duke went around the corner. Away from the sight of the crowd. He sat on the concrete and started to sob. His crushing sadness was quickly interrupted by a police siren. "WHOOP!"

Duke looked up to see Nick in the driver's seat. Nick parked on the sidewalk and got out of the vehicle. "Duke Weaselton! You're under arrest!"

"Leave me alone!" he sobbed. "You got no charges on me!"

"I charge you with being a big doofus who has left behind a nice lady who's trying her hardest to change her ways, and for abandoning her when she needs you the most."

Duke looked up at Nick. His eyes were a pool of tears. "Sh-She doesn't really love me! It's all a scam! N-Nobody loves me! A-Am I 'dat bad, Wilde?! I'm just a guy tryin' 'ta get by in 'da world. I'm tryin' 'da do right. Why does everyone hate me?! Why did my own mudder abandon me when I turned 18?! Don't I deserve love too?"

Nick got down on his knees and embraced Duke in his arms. "You do. I'm sorry I let Mr. Big scare you like that for the information we needed five years ago. Truth is, we were never gonna kill you, but you deserved better than that. When I found out you stopped stealing and got a job, I was so proud of you. I should have told you that. But Duke, take it from a former hustler. I know when people are faking it. She's changed. I couldn't believe it myself, but I see it in her eyes. I hear it in her voice. I smell it when she's around you. She's in love with you. She's mad about you! For a while, I refused to believe it because she hurt me and Judy just like she hurt you, but it's true. She's not the same Bellwether from that old footage. That Bellwether is dead."

"She's dead?! Oh my God…. She's one-a 'dem pod people!"

Nick laughed. "No! She's just changed for the better. Like Judy before her, she's not quite there, but I can tell she's trying really hard. I hate to admit it, but she's a good woman now. She's also… got her anklet going off again and is covered in sticks and leaves."

"What?!"

Duke turned her head to see Dawn coming across the street. She had managed to destroy one of the bushes to get past it and over to Duke. She was covered in leaves, sticks, and dirt. "Duke, I'm sorry for…"

Duke stood up and ran to her. "No! I'm sorry! I abandoned you in yer time 'a need. Nick set me straight. You have changed. 'Dat old footage ain't you no more. He told me yer a good person now. 'Dat you are workin' hard at bein' a better person."

Dawn looked over at Nick. "Mr. Wilde! You said that to him? You said that about me?"

Nick smiled. "Call me 'Nick'. That's what my friends call me."

Dawn got tears in her eyes. "I… I'm your friend?!"

"Yes."

"B-But I did all those horrible things! I shot a dart at you, thinking you'd go savage and kill Judy and then the police would come and either imprison or kill you!"

"I know."

"I set the whole city against predators!"

"I know."

"I… I-I-I don't deserve this! I don't deserve forgiveness!"

"Well, maybe you do, maybe you don't. But that's the thing about forgiveness. It's up for us to decide, isn't it? You don't have to forgive yourself, but it's my choice to forgive you."

"Oh, Nick!"

The three had a long, tearful, group hug. But it was interrupted by the mob who was now going around the house and towards Nick and the others. "Filthy pred lover!" said one. "No-Good preds!" said another.

Nick got his gun out to disperse the crowd. "Everyone leave! Now!" He fired a shot in the air and the crowd scrambled and ran. He fired a few more and they all left the scene in a hurry.

Dawn was shocked. "Nick! Are you insane?! You fired your gun at a crowd!"

"Relax, Wooly girl! This was my plan all along. I replaced my magazine with blanks. I wasn't actually going to shoot at anyone."

"The magazine, yes. But what about the bullet in the chamber?"

"What?"

She pointed down at the ground and there was one used bullet casing on the pavement. Nick was horrified. "How about we never speak of this. Okay?"

"How about you call my anklet going off a defect?"

"Deal."

As they were walking back, they noticed that there was smoke coming out from the house. "Our house!" Dawn yelled.

The three ran towards the home. Nick noticed a smile on Duke's face. "Why are you smiling? Your house is on fire!"

"She said 'our' on instinct. She really does love me."

"I told you, buddy."

They broke through the bushes from the backyard and back in the house. Crabby and the news crew were busy putting out the flames. "Don't just stand there! Help us!"

"I'll get blankets!" Dawn shouted.

Duke was confused. "What? We're gonna have a campout?"

"To smother the flames!"

"Oh."

"What happened?!" Nick asked.

"Someone threw a Molotov cocktail through the front window. Caught the living room carpet on fire and we've been trying to put it out."

Dawn came back with a pile of blankets. Nick helped her smother the flames with the blankets and put out the rest of the fire. "I never knew Herdville was this bad! What am I going to do? I'm under house arrest!"

It was then that there was a knock on the door. Despite having only blanks in the magazine, Nick pointed his gun at the door. "Who is it?!" Nick yelled.

"It's Doug and Mille!" Doug yelled from outside. Is everyone okay?!

Relieved, Nick put his gun away as Dawn opened the door.

Dawn and Millie immediately hugged while Doug and Duke shook paws/hooves.

"Glad to see you two are okay," Doug said. "We saw the news and ran down. I was gonna charge at the crowd, but they scattered."

"That's true," Crabby replied. "I heard gunshots and they ran. Who was firing?"

"Some maniac," Dawn replied, looking over at Nick. "Probably in the crowd."

"Errr, yeah," Nick said. "Couldn't see who, darn it!"

Crabby just shrugged her shoulders. "Well anyway, this interview is over. We better check the damage on our van and head out. Thank you for having me over. It was definitely an eventful interview. I bet the ratings were incredible!"

Dawn had enough. "Now that we're off the air, fuck you, Crabby! You blindsided me and almost cost me my relationship with Duke! I didn't even get to promote my book! Get out!"

Crabby and the news crew left. The carpet in the living room had burned through to the wooden floor underneath. "We can't live here anymore," Dawn said.

Duke argued. "Sure we can! We can either get new carpeting or polish 'da floorboards."

"I mean, it's dangerous around here now. Harriet getting arrested stirred the other bigoted residents into attacking us! It's not safe!"

Millie hugged her friend. "I d-d-don't want you to move! W-W-We just became close friends!"

"I might have a better idea," said Nick, who was looking across the street at the house he parked in front of. "That house across the street. It's for sale, correct?"

Millie looked over. "Oh yeah! That's the house M-M-Mary Grassmuncher b-b-bought to flip! She c-c-c-couldn't sell it at all. What with Duke living here. N-N-No offense, Duke."

Duke nodded. "Nah. I understand."

Nick was reading the sign. "Four bedrooms, two bath. It's perfect! Millie, who lived there before?"

"A family of sh-sheep."

"Good size. I want it."

Everyone was shocked. Dawn spoke up. "You… You want to buy a house that big? Why?"

"Why? Because I've been house-hunting since yesterday. I'm about to start a family! My wife's pregnant and I currently live with my mother. Those two are inseparable, so having a house big enough for all of us to live in and for my family to grow is just what I need! Plus, I need to keep an eye on a certain jailsheep who keeps tripping her anklet alarm. What better way than to live just across the street from her?"

"And if there's a cop around…. "

"Then those cowards are less likely to make a fuss. I still can't believe the price! $60,000?!"

Millie explained. "She p-p-paid $90,000 for it, but it w-wouldn't sell. B-B-B-But Nick, this is a prey-heavy neighborhood. Mary and Harriet were close. I d-d-doubt she'd sell to a fox."

"Hmm… you're right." Then, Nick got a wicked grin across his face. "But would she sell to a bunny?"

The next day…

"SOLD!"

A happy Mary Grassmuncher finally sold her house, even though it was at a loss. The mule shook paws/hooves with the bunny she sold it to. "Thank you so much, miss..."

"It's soon to be Mrs. Savage. Judy Savage," Judy replied.

"Why do you look so familiar?"

"I'm told I look like a celebrity."

"I hope you're not planning on trying to flip the house. I had TERRIBLE luck thanks to a filthy weasel moving in across the street."

"Actually, I am going to flip it! I even found a buyer already!"

"A-A buyer?!"

"Here he comes now."

Nick parked his cop car in front of the house and got out. Mary was horrified. "A FOX!"

"Not just any fox. This is my good friend, officer Nick Wilde."

"N-Nick Wilde?! I know that name! That makes you…"

"Officer Judy Hopps. But. like I said, I'm getting married soon. Mr. Wilde, I just bought this lovely home for sixty thousand. I will sell it to you for, oh… sixty thousand… and one penny."

"Why thank you, Miss Hopps! My family will be happy to move in right away. There goes the neighborhood! Ha!-Ha!"

Mary was furious. "You didn't tell me you were selling the house to a-a predator!"

Judy smirked at the mule. "You didn't ask."

"This was all a trick!"

Nick corrected her. "Not a trick. It's called a hustle, sweetheart."

The mule stormed off. Judy then handed Nick the keys. "This is a nice size house for your family, but do you really want to live next to Bellwether?"

"I know you'll never forgive her for what she did…"

"Damn right!"

"But trust me when I say she's changed. I can hear it in her voice. Smell it when she's around Duke. She's in love with him. She's not perfect, but she really wants to change."

"You're too good-hearted for your own darn good."

"I know."

"You should also know that Herdville does not take kindly to predators living amongst their kind."

"I know. That's why I felt I HAD to do this. While change does come from within, sometimes you gotta kick it in the ass a little. They're going to have to accept predators living in this town whether they like it or not."

"What if another mob comes and attacks your family?"

"They never really bothered Duke outside of threats they had no intention of following up on. I doubt they'd have the guts to come after a cop."

"What about your children?"

"If things don't change in the next six years, I'm going to have them schooled out of town and inside the city. This is my chance to really be a great example to them. To show this whole town that there's no reason to be afraid of a predator, much less a fox."

"Still…. It sounds risky. Maybe you can have a neighbor to watch your back?"

"Judith Laverne Hopps, what are you implying?"

"Harriet's already on trial. They say she might get ten years or more for spreading false information that incited several riots that lead to injuries and deaths. If found guilty, her home will be up for auction."

"Don't bother. I hear it's only one bedroom, one bath."

"For a camel home. But these more modern homes are transformable. They have shelf liners and other neat tricks that can turn a two-room camel home into a six-bedroom, bunny home with just some minor reconstruction."

"Because of the size difference! Nice! You know, you'd be living next to Bellwether, right?"

"Well then, we can both keep an eye on her. Me on one side of the street, you on the other. A Bellwether sandwich, if you will."

"Well, that brings up nasty images in my head."