"Sweet cheese and crackers! Look out, Nick!" Judy bounced off the floor and kicked backward, flipping the creature holding her onto its back. A wave of dizziness crashed through her, memories that weren't her own creeping in around the edges until she was half-blind with the throb of them flooding in. Tara… she'd been called Tara once… but that wasn't right at all. Judy was a little girl at a farm once too, but never as one of these humans.
"J-Judy?" Nick's voice sounded hoarse and she stumbled towards him.
Around them the strange and savage beasts that attacked them before were gone, replaced by sobbing children. All but one anyway, the blonde man with the twisted face still looked the same. Though perhaps more puzzled than triumphant.
"What's happened to us?" Judy rubbed at her aching head, a weird war of memories waging between her life and those of someone else's entirely. "W-were we… other people?"
Nick pulled her into a tight hug, hands rubbing down her back. She seemed disproportionately large, her body much heavier than it should be. Nick was bigger too, broader and taller than the wiry fox he'd been.
"I don't know," he muttered against the top of her head. "These memories. I feel like I know these people but at the same time…"
She nodded.
In front of them, the dark-haired girl who'd been a terrified companion escaping from the monsters was suddenly blonde and helpless no longer. They dodged backward as she kicked…
"Spike," Nick muttered. "Spike and- and Buffy, I know them. Really know them."
Spike was thrown halfway across the room and landed hard against some crates. He stood up swinging a pipe but the girl, Buffy, caught it and twirled it like some kind of staff. Judy was vaguely impressed, though still confused about the sudden changes around them.
"You know what? It's good to be me," the girl quipped and slammed the pipe under Spike's jaw, flipping him back onto a crate. He growled, sounding more like a big cat than a man, but it was all threat and no action. Instead, he ran, shoving through the crying children to flee the warehouse.
Buffy turned to face them, a smile on her face that faded to a frown when she saw Nick and Judy crowded together.
"You didn't change?"
"Um, what?" Judy shared a puzzled look with Nick.
"Listen, Buffy right?" Nick said. "There's some kind of crazy happening here. Because you're… well, you, and we're still us."
Cordelia, the brunette dressed in the disgusting naked leopard costume, poked at Judy's hip. "This is so weird. Do you guys still, like, have no memories?"
Judy batted her hand away and rubbed where she'd been poked, that girl had some real talons on her. "We have memories. Maybe too many actually. Does anyone here know the name 'Tara'?"
There was an assembled shaking of heads.
"Huh, well that was a waste of time," she sighed.
"Well, now, hold on there. 'Cause I think they do know Xander," Nick said. "Right?"
"Well, duh!" Cordelia replied. "That's who you were before this happened!"
She and Buffy and the man called Angel exchanged the kind of silent worried looks that Judy usually reserved for the worst kind of messes her teams got into.
"Where's Willow?" Buffy added, looking around the warehouse. "Let's just… find her and deal with everything together."
It was true, the red-haired girl who'd been kind to Judy and Nick was missing, and they were still surrounded by upset children.
"Cordelia, think you can take the kids back to high school? I'm betting there's a lot of worried parents out there," Buffy directed. Judy could appreciate the way she took charge, a cool head in a crisis wasn't a skill that came to everyone. "You two with me, let's search for Willow."
Of course, appreciating a take-charge attitude and being subject to it after a decade of running your own police force was an entirely different thing. Nick's hand on Judy's shoulder told her he'd picked up on the tension and she forced herself to nod.
"Yep, lead the way," she said.
They started with a search of the warehouse, both Judy and Nick putting they're better than average sense of smell to use. It wasn't until they headed out onto the streets that they spotted her, wandering back towards the school.
"Willow!" Buffy called, waving.
She waved back but looked puzzled at Judy and Nick's appearances.
"I thought Giles fixed everything?" She said.
Nick shrugged. "I mean, I guess it depends on whether your definition of broken includes being stuck in a different dimension. Because that would be a good starting point."
Judy nudged him in the ribs. "Uh, I think Nick just means we'd both like to get home where we're… um, normal. It's been nice to visit Sany Dale –"
"Sunnydale," Nick whispered to correct her.
"Sunnydale. But we have jobs, and friends, and family back home."
"Well, yeah. Plus you're in real people bodies, and we'd like our friend back," Buffy nodded. "Will, do you know what Giles did?"
Willow offered an apologetic half-smile.
"Uh, kinda?" she shrugged. "I do know where he was though; that creepy costume shop with the British guy. He had this alter thing all set up. Giles said he was taking care of it and then, pop, back in my body. All fixed."
She winced. "I mean, not all fixed. Obviously. 'cause, you know, animal people."
"No, it's okay," Judy waved away the apology, her foot tapping impatiently. "Let's just find this Giles person."
"Sounds like a plan," Buffy nodded, wrapping her arm around her boyfriend's waist. "Lead on! Man, I can't wait for this to be over, my one quiet night of the year."
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There was a light flickering in the costume shop still when they arrived and a middle-aged man dressed in a shirt with rolled-up sleeves was leafing through a pile of paperwork at the counter. He looked up sharply when they entered, pleased to see Buffy at least.
"Buffy, the spell breaking worked," he said, shuffling a handkerchief into his pocket.
"Uh, not entirely," she stepped aside to reveal Judy and Xander, larger than life as anthropomorphic animals. "Yeah. We've got a problem."
Giles blinked hard and took off his glasses, wiping frantically at the lenses before he stared at the pair. "Good lord."
"I mean, I don't know about that," Nick joked. It was neither the right time nor place but for some reason it made Judy relax a little. She wasn't alone here, in this strange world, she was together with Nick. And they were an unbeatable team.
"Xander!" Willow scolded him, then seem to realize what she'd said. "Um, sorry."
He winked at her. "We'll figure it out, get me and Judy outta here in no time."
"Perhaps, this is truly odd. I've never heard of a spell only partially breaking before," Giles said, stepping closer to examine them both. "Quite extraordinary. Was there anything that changed for you at all?"
Judy tapped her foot anxiously. "Uh, some extra memories? I think I was a girl called Tara before the transformation. Runaway, not quite seventeen, and fleeing an abusive family situation. She got the, well, the bunny cop costume as a disguise."
"Same here," Nick nodded and tapped his head. "Your buddy's memories are floating around up here. You know, that poor kid could really use a girlfriend."
Giles frowned while Buffy looked vaguely embarrassed on Xander's behalf.
"Um, yes. Anyway, we shall have to gather everything of importance we can find here. There's no telling what might be the key to understand what has happened," he sighed. "Damn Ethan for his meddling in these things."
"Ethan?" Buffy questioned.
There were plenty of empty boxes stacked near the front of the shop and Judy flipped one towards Nick before handing out the rest a little more carefully. Bigger bodies were kind of fun.
"An old acquaintance and one I'd hoped would never darken my doorway again," Giles pointed to a stake of vaguely old looking books. "Take those too, and anything else that looks, um…"
"Witchy?" Willow said.
"Not quite the word I was looking for, but… yes," he nodded.
Judy had a vague idea of what 'witchy' meant and an even better one when a memory of standing over an old book and chanting floated to the front of her mind. Huh, so Tara was a 'witchy' person too. Interesting. There wasn't an even vaguely similar concept in Zootopia.
She and Nick headed towards the back of the shop, dropping into a familiar search pattern. The distinctive odor of blood grew stronger as they searched, coming across a small room hidden behind some clothing rails. Fresh blood spattered the floor and shards of some kind of white stone littered the floor.
"Be careful back there," Giles called to them. "It, um, it's the ritual space. Where the spell was broken."
"Do I want to know how you broke it?" Judy asked, staring at the mess.
"Um, I broke the focus being used to direct the spell, Ethan confessed after some… some persuading," he said.
Nick's eyebrows shot up and he pointed at the outline of some footsteps in the blood. "That's some hidden talent for persuasion you've got there, buddy."
The man looked vaguely embarrassed. "Yes, well, time was running out. Needs must in an emergency."
"Uh-huh," Judy re-evaluated her first impression. Not so by the rules after all. Just what did these people do here? "I think we should take some photographs, anyone got a phone handy?"
Nick nudged her and shook his head rapidly. "Not a thing here. No cameras on phones. You know, I bet if we talked to the right person about it we could make an absolute killing. I'm talking millions."
The long stare from Judy was enough to make him shuffle his feet and shrug. "Not that we would, of course."
"Of course," she looked around. "How about paper and a pencil, let's sketch it out before we move it. Might be something important for later."
"Good idea," Giles said. "Forgive me, I just realized that I don't seem to have been formally introduced to either of you. Rupert Giles, school librarian and watcher for the council."
"Judy Hopps, Chief of Police, ZPD," Judy shook his hand, she had no idea what a watcher was. Hopefully, Nick could explain later.
"Nick Wilde, Deputy Chief of Police, ZPD too," Nick gripped Giles' hand slightly tighter than necessary, just too see what he would do. There was a wince… definitely bruised knuckles. He tucked away the information to share with Judy later.
"Just extraordinary," Giles muttered. "Please, any ideas you may have to make some sense of this are welcome."
The pair grinned at each other, they didn't need to be asked twice.
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The last box landed on the library table with a satisfying thud and Judy marked it off her checklist.
"Unbroken chain of custody, just how you like it," Nick winked at her.
"You know I think this is the first time we've ever actually organized stuff this way, it's kind of neat," Willow said.
"Yes, I'll admit a – a certain satisfaction," Giles nodded, looking through the drawings Judy had made of the ritual room.
"Uh-huh, well I think Angel and I are going to go find… you know what, I'm just going to say it. Somewhere else. I need a break," Buffy sighed. "My one night off a year from slaying, kaput."
Giles waved her off without looking up.
"Not to rain on the parade here," Nick said, drawing a circle casually on the table. "But on the subject of resting; where exactly do Judy and I go. Hotel? Motel if we're a little on the cheap side?"
"Clothes, clothes would also be a good thing," Judy agreed, pulling at the cheap, stained imitation of her normal uniform. It smelled gross and had a rip on the shoulder she didn't want to think about. Nick looked a little better, his broader body filling out the polyester in a way that wasn't entirely terrible.
"Yes, yes of course… um, I'm afraid you may need to keep something of a low profile," Giles took off his glasses and cleaned the lenses carefully. "A five-foot-tall rabbit would cause something of a stir."
Nick tutted. "Always the outsider. I gotcha. Then where do we do the laying low thing?"
Willow and Giles looked awkwardly at each other.
"Why do I think the answer is going to be somewhere gross?" Judy sighed, crossing her arms.
"Oh, no, of course not. No. You can stay with me," Giles smiled tentatively.
Judy and Nick exchanged a quick look before nodding, they'd slept worse places than a couch.
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It took two days before they managed to find a place to hunker down in that wasn't a one-bedroom apartment with one very small couch to share. Judy did some stretching while Nick fixed breakfast, apparently, Cordelia's guest house was literally a house on its own in the vast grounds of her parent's lavish estate and it hadn't taken too much persuading to use it. Judy had a knack with people, and Cordelia really did have great hair, even if her taste in animal print was nasty.
The technology in this world was beyond ancient. So far they'd had to resort to old fashioned film cameras, dial-up computers, and using an old desktop that was so slow Nick had been forced to ban her from using it in case she smashed the keyboard. It was like working with one arm tied behind her back.
"One summer berry dinner salad, coming right up," Nick called, sliding a plate onto the table next to her.
Judy mopped herself with a towel and smiled. "Looking good, anyone would think you were adapting."
"Ah ah ah, no getting fresh with the chef," Nick teased and sat down with a plate of scrambled egg. "And so long as this isn't forever, I don't feel bad about getting comfortable. I think of it as a really weird vacation. We'll tell people stories about it when we're old and they'll tell us we've gone senile."
"If we could just get a good lead going… I hate being stuck inside like this, is it really so bad to go out?" Judy complained.
"Judy, I love you, but yes. It's really so bad to go out. We're walking, talking, person-sized animals in a world where none of those things exist. We'll end up in a lab, honey," Nick replied.
It was probably true. But there had to be away, there always was. She'd been digging in Tara's memories and found out a little bit about witchcraft in addition to a pretty sad family life with the kind of people that Judy usually locked up for a living. There's been more than one spell that worked on appearances, surely they could use it. Which reminded her.
"Aren't they supposed to be over soon?"
Nick frowned and glanced at the clock over the microwave. "Any minute now, I think."
But any minute turned into a full thirty and Judy was practically bouncing off the walls from the wait when they finally heard a car pull up.
"I got it!" she shouted to Nick and threw the door open impatiently. "You're here!"
Giles waved uncertainly as he climbed out of the car but Willow and Buffy looked at least a little bit more enthusiastic.
"Sorry for the lateness, Buffy had a - a new friend turns up," Giles said, passing a file of paperwork over. "A few more leads on Ethan, I spoke with the watcher's council too in case there have been any disturbances the seers might have picked up. It's all in there."
Judy clutched the papers to her chest happily and scampered towards the living room wall where she'd made a tracking board of sorts.
"Well, that made her day," Nick grinned lazily and ushered everyone inside. "Now I have some kind of tea here that looks fancy or some semi-gross instant coffee. Any takers?"
All three opted for tea. They watched as Judy took different elements of the information Giles obtained and mapped it onto the tracking board.
"I'm fairly confident that even if he isn't in town, he's nearby," Giles said as she placed a pin near Bakersfield.
"Yeah," Judy nodded. "Couple of spikes that might just be bad leads but as a grouping pattern I'd say it still points right here, the only question is why."
She nibbled on the end of her pen thoughtfully.
"Got to be either a can't or a won't," Nick said, studying the pattern.
"Can't or won't?" Willow asked, frowning.
Judy nodded and sucked at her teeth. "It means there's either something trapping or tying him here – the can't – or something so amazing he's prepared to face the risk of staying – the won't."
"With Ethan, it could very well be either. He styled himself as a follower of Janus and a chaos magician… although…" Giles' voice trailed off as he frowned at one of the pins.
"Something twigged?" Buffy nudged him. "You did this whole starting to say something and then staring into space thing."
"What?" Giles came back to himself. "Oh. No, it might be nothing but I had an idea I want to follow up."
"Uh-huh," Nick eyed him suspiciously. "You know, none of Xander's memories include an Ethan. Want to share what that's about?"
The watcher looked both indignant and embarrassed before sighing.
"I haven't always been… um, this," he said, gesturing to himself. "Discovering this world and the idea that I would be a watcher wasn't easy as a teenager. I feeling I'm sure all of you can appreciate here. Ethan was, for a brief time, my friend. And I use the term very lightly. Eventually I, how do you say it? 'Got over myself'? But Ethan never changed. Still dabbling in dangerous magic without a thought to whom he might hurt."
"Wait, you were a rebel?" Buffy looked impressed. "Colour me surprised. I always imagined you were a lot more… well, like Willow. Sorry, Will."
"No, I get it," Willow nodded and raised her eyebrows at Giles. "You're like a nerd legend; you got cool then came back into the fold."
"Charming," Giles said. "Anyway, there are some people I need to, well, contact. It's been a very long time."
"But magic isn't inherently dangerous, right?" Judy asked. One of the pins seemed out of place and she nudges it slightly. Something was weird about the pattern. "Tara was practicing before she came here to get away from her family. I, uh, I kind of wanted to ask about that too actually. Is there anything we can do about how we look?"
Giles didn't reply, he too was staring at the shape on the wall. His skin had taken on a slightly grey pallor. He breathed a word so quietly that Judy wasn't sure that even her rabbit levels of hearing picked it right. "Eyghon…"
"Giles?" Buffy shared a concerned look with the rest of the group. "That's the second time you've spaced. What's going on?"
"Um, yes. Try looking into glamour or transformation potions," he answered distractedly. "I- I really must go and make those telephone calls."
Willow and Buffy shot apologetic looks at Nick and Judy and followed him out of the house. Nick waved them off sadly.
"I miss dealing with normal stuff, like that weasel raiding team that dressed up like deer. That was fun," Nick told Judy, who nodded.
"Hey, want to try out a little magic?" she said, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Judy…" Nick groaned.
"It'll be fine!"
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Tongue sticking from the side of her mouth, Judy sprinkled the last herb on the bubbling pot and stood back quickly. There was a faint popping noise, like a vacuum had formed and then collapsed on itself over the top of the potion, and a pinkish colored smoke rose from the bubbling surface.
She grinned at Nick, arms raised excitedly. "I did it!"
"Uh-huh," he sniffed suspiciously at the air and wrinkled his nose. "It smells like Fru Fru's custom perfume. Did you do that on purpose?"
"No," Judy rolled her eyes. "And that doesn't mean it's bad. Look, we're just testing it out. What's the worst thing that could happen?"
Nick stared at her pointedly. "Remember the Polar Crime Crew?"
She tutted. Was he going to hold that against her forever? It had been five years already, and so maybe there had been a few bears waiting for them than she planned for. They'd still shut down a major robbery gang. The broken leg was worth it.
"This isn't the Polar Crime Crew, and I'm not going to get crushed by a digger," Judy said. "We just… huh, you know I think we do spray it on."
She frowned down at the notes she'd made from Tara's memories. How could they spray it? A quick search in the little kitchenette revealed a few different bottles of cleaning products, and one stray scent mister.
"Perfect!"
Nick looked like he wanted no part in the experiment so she was left to clean and fill it alone, thinking very carefully about the appearance she was supposed to have before very quickly spritzing her body down.
"Okay… how do I look?" she asked.
Nick frowned. "I don't see anything different. Maybe it didn't work."
"Really? Darn it," she looked down at the pot of pink liquid she'd spent a whole day working on, disappointed. But the reflection looking back at her wasn't a face she recognized. "Wait, Nick! It worked!"
She dashed into the little bathroom and examined herself in the mirror. The face staring back it her was human; pale-skinned with brownish-grey hair and purple eyes just like her own. It even had a similarity to Tara. There was only one problem.
Nick, following behind her, burst out laughing. "Judy, honey, I think you're a little too attached to those ears."
Judy shoved his shoulder and frowned at herself. The spray worked in principle, it seemed, but was only as good as the imagination of the person using it.
"You should try," she told Nick. "See what happens."
"I don't know if both of us should get stuck looking like… well, you know what. I'm not going to say," Nick said.
"It's not permanent," Judy told him, poking at the mirror reflection for anything else she'd messed up. "We get maybe an hour, two at a push unless it rains. Then you either reapply or lose the glamour totally."
"… You're not going to take a 'no' are you?"
"Absolutely not," Judy grinned at her husband. "It's not so bad, we're not going anywhere. Not right now, anyway."
Nick held out his hand for the spray, resigned to his fate, and screwed up his face as the sickly sweet liquid misted all over his body.
"Remember to concentrate on what you want to look like," Judy reminded him.
Finally, Nick opened one eye and glanced in the mirror. "Huh, not too shabby."
He looked human, red-headed, and green-eyed with freckled skin, but still human. Also vaguely like his memory of Xander, despite the difference in coloring. Until he turned around anyway.
"How's that tail working for you?" Judy smirked.
"You know, I think we've both learned something about ourselves today," Nick reasoned. "So let's call this a win and watch some TV in bed. They have the weirdest TV shows here. Did you know there's an entire channel of naked animals? And you don't have to pay for it. At all."
Laughing, Judy pulled Nick towards the bedroom. "Free huh. Guess we should check on it."
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With no word from Giles or any of the others, Judy woke up impatient the next morning and eyed the spray bottle of potion on the bathroom counter. Her foot tapped continually until finally her irritation caught up with her.
"We're going in," she announced to Nick, who was still lounging on the bed.
"Judy…" Nick said warningly. "You know how you get about these things."
"So? That's how I get," Judy argued. "I want to go home, Nick. I want to go see my family and get ice cream from that great place down on Glacier Road."
He sighed and rubbed his face. "Okay, we try it out. Just for today."
She grinned. "Knew you'd have my back, come on. Human high school, how bad could it be?"
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Bad, it seemed. Or at least kind of confusing. Both Judy and Nick managed to get their glamour thing working and snuck out the side gate at Cordelia's house. They just hadn't thought about money, and how to find the high school, which was actually a really long way away. Apparently the rich people in Sunnydale lived down very long roads.
Despite setting out extra early, the walk into town took about an hour through unfamiliar streets and buildings. It reminded Judy a lot of her first day in Zootopia, and they ended up having to ask directions four times before they found the massive high school building.
The steps were teaming with students as they arrived, morning classes hadn't started yet, but Nick was already worried about the spray.
"I think we should reapply," he whispered to Judy.
"Relax, we can do it at the library… when we find the library anyway," she shrugged.
"Now, see that's not reassuring at all," Nick said and turned to a nearby group of girls. "Excuse me ladies, but my friend and I are new here. How do we get to the library again?"
One pointed them deeper into the school and Nick thanked her.
"Isn't this the kind of stuff you have memories of?" Judy asked as they strolled through the halls trying their best to look like actual teenage humans.
"Eh, I don't like diving too deep with my guy," Nick spotted a sign and jerked his head towards the double doors. "It feels a little spooky, having someone else's life in my head."
Judy could understand that. She followed Nick into the library, a large room with a mezzanine level filled with book stacks. It kind of reminded her of the library at the police academy. There was even an old fashioned checkout desk and book cage.
"Uh, can we help you?" Buffy was sat at one of the tables, books laid out in front of her while Willow sat at her side pointing to something on one of the pages.
"Only if you found new leads on Ethan Rayne," Judy wiggled her eyebrows at them.
Willow glanced back and forth between Judy and Nick, a frown just beginning to crease her forehead. There was no way she was going to recognize Judy, of course, she only just resembled Tara and they'd never met the girl as a human. But Nick had more than a little of their friend in his looks.
"Excuse me?" Giles appeared from a door to what Judy assumed was an office. "You mentioned Ethan Rayne."
"Well of course I did, he's got to send us back to Zootopia, after all," she grinned widely at them, the realization causing the glamour to break for them one by one.
"Judy? Nick? What are you doing here? It isn't safe, what if you get taken away?" Buffy jumped up.
"Oh come on, you totally saw the glamour. It worked, right? We looked like people?" Judy bounced excitedly in place while Nick slid an embarrassed hand down his face.
"Good lord, you really did it," Giles came over to inspect them and Judy happily took out the spray bottle.
"Yup, it doesn't last all that long but we didn't get noticed at all," she said.
"Unless you mean by the literal dozens of people we had to stop to get directions from," Nick added. "None of whom noticed we weren't human."
He might think the glamour spray thing smelled terrible and was an all-round awful idea, but if it was Judy's thing then he was going to back her all the way.
"Uh, am I the only one wigged?" Buffy frowned. "This is definitely on the scale of strange."
Shrugging, Judy gave herself a Nick a top-up spray. "Sitting at home wasn't getting us anywhere, and we didn't hear anything after you all left so fast the other day."
Giles had the grace to look embarrassed. "Yes, that's… that's somewhat on me, I'm afraid. I – I've had a rather strange few days."
He sighed. "I think it's best if you both sit down."
Nick raised his eyebrows at Judy and pulled a chair out for her. Willow was looking at him strangely and he wasn't entirely sure why.
"I spoke with some old friends and, to be blunt, we – or perhaps I should say I – have a problem," he swallowed uncomfortably. "I mentioned a little of my past with Ethan the other day. What I failed to tell you all was some of the repercussions of my actions. There was a –a demon, Eyghon, an unpleasant character but one my friends and I, in our arrogance, thought we would be able to control. With the proper conditions, the possession created pleasure, euphoria. It was better than any drug."
"And what about the improper conditions?" Judy asked.
Giles' jaw worked and he took a deep breath. "Death. One of us, Randall, was overcome. We did everything we could think of to drive Eyghon from his body. Everything. But by the time we managed it, it was… too late. We thought we were free of him afterward."
"And it turns out you're not," Nick guessed. "Like owing a shady guy a favor."
"Yes," Giles snorted. "A rather apt comparison. I saw it in the pattern of Ethan's appearances and disappearances. The Mark of Eyghon. As a demon, he is a master of dreams and nightmares, born from possessing the bodies of his initiates. Living or dead."
"So what, he's getting chased around by this thing?" Buffy asked. "Why the cryptic clue?"
"Because he doesn't know he's doing it," Judy said, and Giles nodded. "He's a 'can't leave'. The demon thing has probably been herding him around for weeks."
"Yes, that was my thought too. And he's not the only one," he continued. "I spoke with Philip, one of. Well, one of the others. Deidre died a few days ago, and she'd been exhibiting the same pattern. He'd already booked flights to come and find me. We… we're certain it's hunting us, to gain freedom."
"The trap closes," Judy sighed. "Okay, so we know this is where the showdown is going to take place. This really is the weirdest town."
"You have no idea. Literal Hellmouth right under the school," Buffy quipped.
"It's got its good points though," Willow added. "Like the, um, affordable homes?"
"Yeah, people must just be dying to live here," Nick laughed and nudged Judy. "Get it!"
No one else in the room thought it was funny, but Nick was pretty pleased with himself.
"Anyway, if Ethan is trapped for now and skulking around, then it sounds like we've got a chance to get to him," Judy continued as if Nick hadn't spoken. "Where do you think he'll turn up?"
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The answer, they discovered, was amongst the paperwork they'd taken from the costume shop. The lease was still good through the end of the year and included an upstairs apartment they hadn't known to check, since it was accessed from outside of the building.
Judy looked critically at the whitewashed windows.
"Just another perp to take in," she muttered to herself.
"You want to take point?" Nick offered, passing Judy a coffee to sip at. Giles had gracefully offered them a little cash to keep them going until the big switch back to their own reality.
"Sure, you take the fire escape then," Judy nodded. She finished off the last of the coffee and dropped the cup in the trash. Apparently recycling wasn't a thing in this world either.
They strolled to the nearby crossing, but as Judy stepped out a truck swerved to a stop in front of her. A guy, maybe in his late teens, jumped out.
"Tara!" he grabbed for Judy, who hopped back and out of the way. Nick grabbed his arms, pulling away from her.
"Woah, buddy, what's going on?"
"Tara, you think I wouldn't know you even with that- that disguise?" the kid insisted, struggling against Nick. "Let me go, asshole!"
"Oh I don't think so," Nick replied. He pushed the kid back against his truck. "I don't know who you're looking for but they aren't here."
"I-I'm not 'Tara'," Judy chimed in, she would feel guilty lying to Donald if she didn't remember exactly what he and his father had done to the real Tara before she made a run for it. She also hadn't realized just how close to the original in terms of features her glamour was. Something to fix for the future maybe. "My name is Judy, I really don't know who you're talking about."
"Liar! You're Tara McClay. I'd know my sister anywhere, and don't think I don't know that you – you've used those demon gifts to change," Donald spat at her. "You gotta come home. I'm tellin' everyone I found you!"
"Listen, little man," Nick pressed his arm across Donald's chest threateningly, face so close that he could smell the old sweat and cheap body spray. "You've got the wrong person. That's my wife, Judy, standing there. And if you think you're going to threaten her then you're going to have a whole world of problems coming your way. Now, what do you think of that? Time to be a little more reasonable, huh?"
Donald's lip shook as he stared between Nick's snarl and Judy's indifferent face. She shrugged sympathetically at him. "I'm really not this Tara person."
His face crumpled into confusion and he stopped struggling against Nick.
"There you are buddy, that's a lot better," Nick stepped back and brushed imaginary dust off the kid's shoulders. "Best of luck finding your sister and all, but we've got places to be."
Donald climbed back into his truck, then paused with a frown on his face. "How'd you know I'm looking for my sister?"
Nick sighed. "Really? You literally just shouted it at us. There's no conspiracy here. Get moving."
The kid looked like he was going to say something else.
"Listen, I'm not this Tara person. You seem like an… okay, kinda guy… maybe think about why she wouldn't want to be found," Judy told him, shutting the truck door. "And don't hang around town."
Donald glared at her, his eyes still suspicious, but he put the truck in gear and pulled away. The tires squealed and Judy waved the exhaust out of her eyes. She committed the license plate number to memory just in case, maybe there's be a chance to check on it later a figure out where Donald was hanging around in the town.
"He's going to be trouble," Nick noted.
"Yup," Judy smiled wryly. "It's a messy family. The memories tell me that the witch thing seems to run in the blood on Tara's mom's side. The dad couldn't deal with it. I'm actually a little bit suspicious that Tara's mother was killed by her father, way too many secrets on that farm."
She glanced over at the empty costume shop.
"We should get moving, that was a whole lot of attention we didn't need. Also…" she grinned teasingly at Nick. "Where'd that macho thing come from? 'She's my wife', you know, I don't think I've ever seen you go all threatening like that."
Nick rubbed the back of his neck as they crossed the street, a little embarrassed. "Well, you know, I think my guy, Xander, is rubbing off on me a bit. Definitely, some unresolved teenage hormone rage happening."
Judy nodded her head towards the back of the shop. "Welp. We've got an evil wizard to take it out on now… you know, that's not something I ever thought I'd say?"
She held up a carefully shaped wire pick and wiggled her eyebrows at Nick. "Remember that case at the Meerkat Motel?"
He chuckled and headed towards the fire escape. Judy turned her attention to the little door that led to the upstairs apartment. The lock was old fashioned and flimsy, it gave the illusion of security but didn't take much more than a minute for the pick to catch just right. She smiled in satisfaction as it clicked over and the handle turned under her hand.
"Ready or not," she whispered and whistled softly to alert Nick that she was going in.
A few letters were scattered on the landing floor in front of a narrow staircase that led upwards. The stairs looked fairly sturdy but Judy crept up them slowly and deliberately, spreading her weight to avoid tell-tale creaking. Her ears twitched as she listens for signs of life. Footsteps, she grinned, sure of it.
It was overconfidence or impatience maybe, but she stepped just a little too centrally on one of the top steps. A long, low whine of shifting wood squeaked out and the footsteps in the room just beyond paused. Judy winced and looked down at the offending foot, cursing inwardly. Stealth was out of the question. She abandons slow and careful and ran for the top door, landing feet first to burst through in a single bounce.
"ZPD! Hands up!" Judy shouted without thinking.
The room inside looked barely lived in, a messy bed tucked in a corner with some kind of alter dominating the rest of the space. It reminded Judy of a drug bust; paraphernalia and strange equipment covered every surface of a long table. It was just crystals and cauldrons rather than chemicals and beakers.
A wiry man with dark hair looked back at her from the window, already halfway onto the fire escape. He grinned and waved jauntily before ducking under the frame. Judy grinned back and waited for the yelp that came when he ran straight into Nick.
"Uh oh, looks like Mr. Rayne here doesn't want to talk with us, Judy," Nick said as he pushed Ethan back into the room. He'd got the man in a tight arm lock behind his back. Judy saw Ethan's lips begin to move and looked around. There was a napkin waded on the tabletop that she grabbed and shoved into his mouth.
"Chew on that if you want to get sneaky," she scolded him. "We've already had enough of your tricks."
Nick pulled a couple of zip ties out of his pocket to secure Ethan's hands. He paused suddenly. "You know, I didn't think; how do we get him back?"
"Ooh, good point," Judy tapped her foot while she thought. "Think you could carry him?"
Nick sized Ethan up. "Maybe, I'm a lot bigger. But it's a long way, honey. Maybe we should just call a cab?"
Judy nodded, a cab would work. And while they waited they could get him wrapped up nicely. Like a perp burrito. This was going to be fun.
Ethan made a noise of distress and Nick pulled the napkin out of his mouth.
"This goes back in at the first sign of trouble," he warned. The man spat and nodded.
"I'll walk if you really want me to get somewhere," Ethan said. "You've caught me, haven't you? Whoever you are?"
"Fair enough, but you're gagged the whole time. Take it or leave it," Judy agreed. It was clearly not the response Ethan wanted. But Judy knew his type, insisting on a fair play while cheating in the background. She hadn't left the police academy yesterday. "Yeah, I thought not."
Nick shoved the gag back into Ethan's mouth. Now all they had to do was figure out how cabs worked in this world.
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It was late in the afternoon by the time they got back, but smuggling a whole person into a school was shockingly easy. Almost disturbingly so, was crime not a thing in Sunnydale? That seemed unlikely considering the whole Hellmouth thing. Judy felt a little worried about the whole student body as she and Nick shoved Ethan through the back door of the library building.
He grunted around the napkin and made a face when he saw Giles waiting for him, eyes-rolling.
"Ethan, you've never looked better," Giles remarked dryly as Nick sat him down in a waiting chair.
Ethan Rayne was a particularly oily kind of man, he oozed the sort of greasy charm that Judy associated with some of Nick's less respectable friends. The fact that she had to rely on his honesty left a bad taste in her mouth. Nick looked unhappy too, though it was better hidden behind his easy-going façade.
Buffy pulled the gag out of his mouth and he sneered. "Oh look, the pretty one. You really do look marvelous in that dress."
She rolled her eyes.
"And you Ripper, how stuffy you've become in your old age."
"Enough with the provocation," Judy sighed and sat opposite him. "You have a problem. We have a problem. Let's work things out."
"I haven't the faintest idea of what you could be talking about," Ethan said, turning his nose into the air.
"Oh really," Nick checked his watch. "Well in about ten minutes you'll see it. I think we've got time to wait you out."
The pair sat together, arms crossed, and stared him down. Within a minute he was squirming and in one more he broke.
"Fine, this is about our friend," he looked at Giles. "Eyghon. Though why it would have anything to do with you two, I don't know. Been marking initiates, old chum?"
"Almost there," Nick checked his watch again and looked up. "But not quite. How are we doing now?"
Ethan's face paled as the glamour began to fade out. Judy wondered what it looked like, the spell didn't work on people who already knew the truth it covered. Maybe she could get one of the kids to check it out and show her some time, as a surprise. Whatever the case, soon their reflections in Ethan's eyes washed from teenage kids to a grey rabbit and red fox both sat in badly fitting but comfortable clothes.
"Wh-what are you?" he leaned forward in his chair.
"I guess it would be a lot to expect you to recognize your own handiwork," Judy said. "And Halloween was already almost a week ago. I bet your memory just isn't what it used to be. You did remember Buffy though, maybe I should be hurt."
"I don't know, honey, he obviously spends a lot of time snatching people from their realities and dumping them in other people's bodies," Nick added. "We probably just think we're special. Two dumb teenage kids turned into two… well, not dumb, that's for sure, cops from Zootopia."
His eyes narrowed as Ethan examined them both, squinting to be certain it wasn't some form of trickery. "The transformation ritual?"
"Got it in one," Buffy shot a wry smile at Judy. "I could use some advice on interrogation techniques."
"Interesting, it's the first time I've seen a side effect quite like this one," his eyes lingered on Judy particularly in a way that neither she nor Nick liked very much. "An exchange then. You seem to be somewhat aware already but dear old Ripper and I have a something of a problem."
"They know about Eyghon, Ethan. And if you weren't already aware, Deidre is already dead. Passed away in her sleep after weeks of violent nightmares," Giles informed his former friend. "Philip is already on his way."
"And that's the deal. You help us get back to our own lives in Zootopia and get their friends back in their rightful bodies if we stop the Eyghon person-"
"Demon," Nick corrected.
"Demon possessing and… eating you?" she asked.
"Not eating, just the possession part. And the death too of course. He has a nasty habit of killing off his followers in order to gain access to this plane of existence, I for one do not relish the idea of birthing the next incarnate on earth," Ethan smiled, but not one bit of happiness was reflected in his eyes. "Not an unacceptable deal. Though I'd be more inclined if you sweetened the pot a little."
"And how exactly do you see that going down. 'Cause I'm finding that one hard to picture," Nick said.
"I was rather more hopping on Ripper and his ever so attractive slayer friend," Ethan smirked at Buffy, who stood up threateningly. She was substantially slower than Giles though, who had slammed a fist into the side of Ethan's face almost before he finished speaking.
"Woah!" Judy yanked him back. "We do not beat suspects! That isn't the kind of team I run!"
Nick pulled at Judy's arm, whispering frantically. "Honey, not the time or place, okay?"
She shrugged him away, furious and indignant. Judy ran a clean precinct and great team because while she could be happy in the occasional grey area, there were some lines that might as well have been set in stone. The treatment of prisoners was one of them.
"No… no, you- you're quite right, Judy," Giles wiped his hand and adjusted his glasses. "I let my anger get the best of me, which is exactly what this cretin wants."
Ethan spat a mouthful of blood and grinned up at them, satisfied with the brief moment of chaos he'd managed to create.
The main doors of the library swung open and the group turned to see Cordelia, Willow and Angel walk inside. A stout and nervous-looking man was escorted between them. He saw Giles and a look of immediate relief washed over his face.
"Rupert!"
"Well, I guess that answers that question," Cordelia said to Willow.
"Uh, we found him outside, looking for Giles," Willow explained to everyone else. "Also, it's getting kinda late. So… Angel!"
The tall man ignored everyone else to go and greet Buffy. Judy thought it was both kinds of rude and kind of sweet.
"So I take it that this is Philip?" she asked. Ethan, it seemed, wasn't popular with any of his former friends. Philip looked even less happy with his presence than Giles did.
"Um, yes, Philip Henry," he offered a very shaky hand towards Judy as if he was afraid she might try and bite it off.
"Oh, Phil, wow. Good to finally meet you man," Nick took his hand enthusiastically and winked at Judy. He always was good at putting people at ease. "I'm Nick, Nick Wilde and this amazing lady is my wife Judy. You'll have to forgive the appearance, we didn't pack for another world."
Philip looked somewhat dazed and looked at Giles with a bewildered face.
"I'll explain later," Giles told him. "For the time being we have the same problem; Eyghon. We have to stop it somehow."
"The best we can hope for is to keep running," Ethan growled. "It's a parasitic demon preying on us. There's no stopping it."
Willow frowned. "If it's a parasite then has to have a host, right?"
"Yes – yes I suppose it must," Giles mused. "I have some books here, perhaps there's a way to trap or immobilize it…"
He passed a few copies around and Judy and Nick felt strangely out of place, even Philip was happy enough to lay down his small travel case and tentatively pick up one of the older books. "I haven't done this in years."
"Rather like riding a bicycle though, I suspect," Giles smiled at him.
Ethan rolled his eyes and shifted uncomfortably. "How touching, perhaps someone would be so kind as to untie me? I'd like a fighting chance before I'm eviscerated."
He was ignored totally, though Judy did pity him enough to fetch a glass of water eventually. Nick looked worried, and that was never a good sign.
"We'll be home soon," she said to him quietly. He nodded a kissed her lightly.
"Has anyone got The Book of Horus?" Giles asked.
"I think I saw that one in the Egypt section a couple of weeks ago," Cordelia offered, walking up to the main stacks. "Although…"
She paused, staring ahead at something concealed behind part of the shelving. "Uh, excuse you?"
There was a shuffling noise and low growling that everyone heard as they fell silent and Cordelia backed away slightly. Judy and Nick both climbed to their feet as a woman stumbled into view.
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"Deidre?" Philip cried out, tripping backward into Willow and Giles. The woman stepped out from the stacks and into the light, her face half-rotted and bloated with decay.
Cordelia shrieked and half fell down the stairs of the mezzanine, Nick caught her arm just in time and swung her to her feet. Buffy dashed for the other stairs. "I need a weapon!"
Judy had no idea what to grab, throwing the first thing that came to hand. "Here!"
Buffy caught the very small length of wood and raised an eyebrow at Judy.
"Uh, sorry?" Judy grimaced.
With a shrug, Buffy kicked hard into the belly of the moving corpse. It seems particularly affected, grabbing for her leg. She flipped her body weight and it pretty much flew over the railing. The tables below squealed under the weight and Judy looked around desperately for some way to help.
The creature rolled from the tables and saw Philip and Giles clustered near Ethan, who was frantically struggling against his bindings. Its eyes flashed yellow as it lurched for them and Nick hit it desperately with a chair. There was barely a reaction. Instead, it managed to catch Philip by one arm, throwing him against a nearby wall where he thudded sickeningly.
"Here," Judy shouted, spotting the library cage.
Buffy jumped down from the mezzanine and ran for Eyghon, she and Angel both gripping an arm and dragging it back towards the cage.
"On my count!" Judy called, ready with the door. "One… Two…. Three!"
They charged, throwing Eyghon backward. As strong as it seemed to be, it couldn't stop the force of their push and stumbled into the cage. Judy slammed the door before it could ram forwards. Nick helping her with the lock.
Grinning triumphantly, they exchanged a high five.
"Uh, is it supposed to do that?" Cordelia pointed behind them. The woman's corpse was gone, melting away into an oozing puddle of vaguely blue liquid that was left behind in a rapidly spreading pool.
Judy danced out of the way, entirely unhappy with the idea that any of it might touch her. "Ew, ew, ew."
Nick swung her out of the way and back to the counter where it seems relatively safe again.
"Deidre's body broke down I think," Giles said. He looked as disgusted as the rest of them.
"Seriously, that's what you used to have body jump into you? You don't get to lecture me about bad choices ever again," Buffy warned. Judy thought that was a pretty fair deal.
"I'd be careful, were I you," Ethan said, his eyes fixed on the puddle and how it spread. "Eyghon's power breaks down corpses, yes, but if it finds the right host it just needs them to be sleeping… or unconscious."
As he spoke, Philip, who'd already been climbing to his feet looked up sharply. A grin that had no business being on his face glinted and his eyes flashed a deep and disturbing shade of yellow.
"Ethan," he hissed. "Always too clever for your own good."
Buffy grabbed for him and was shoved back across the library tables, knocking through Angel and Willow. Judy grabbed for a chair and tried to drive it back, Nick running to find something to trap it with. But the chair was no use at all, it was ripped from Judy's hands after a few moments of struggle, and Philip's hands, already becoming more claw-like, grabbed her around the throat.
"Judy!" Nick had a baseball bat that he smacked into its side.
The bat bounced like it had hit the concrete and the demon, wearing Philip like a poorly fitting coat, flung Judy away like a rag doll. She had just enough time to lash out with one foot, catching it in the temple, before she smashed into a wall.
Both Philip and Judy were knocked out, and a puddle formed under Philip as Eyghon abandoned its current ride once again.
"Get to Judy!" Buffy scrambled to her feet and tried to reach her in time, but the demon had already jumped hosts. It abandoned Philip's unconscious body in an instant, the blue ooze latching to Judy instead.
She jerked and writhed, screaming as her body morphed between the grotesque features of Eyghon and Judy's natural state. Fur bloomed and fell, horns rising and vanishing in a stomach-churning cycle.
Nick slid across the floor and cradled Judy, his fingers digging deep into her fur and clothes.
"Judy, honey, you can fight it! You can!" he glared up at Ethan, teeth bared in a snarl. "I've never gone savage before, buddy. Let's see if we can change that up now."
"W-wait!" Judy coughed, her eyes fluttering between purple and the demonic yellow flash of the demon. "I – I…"
She rolled to her side, chest heaving as she began to vomit out blue goo that writhed on the floor. Nick helped hold her up and patted her back.
"That's it, get it all out." He soothed her.
Judy sat back, gasping and wiping at her mouth. "That tasted really, really bad."
"Well, demon goo and all. I guess next time you could ask for a flavor. Maybe it comes in bubble gum?" Nick said, laughing more from relief than genuine humor.
He helped Judy to her feet, hands checking her head. The demon goo seemed to twitch slightly then collapsed in on itself, turning from blue to a rotten shade of brown.
"How is it even possible?" Willow asked, using the end of a stake to poke it. "I thought Eyghon was a demon. How did you beat it?"
Still shaking and spitting, Judy grinned. "No one has ever controlled me. I wasn't about to let it win if I could force it out. Plus, there's only so much room in one mind."
"Huh, and it can't survive without a host," Willow mused.
Giles looked impressed. "I must admit, it did turn out to be a rather elegant solution. Not that I'd advocate trying again, rather too risky overall, I think."
"That's my girl," Nick smiled down at her and dropped a kiss on Judy's forehead.
There was a clatter of movement near the door and a shout.
"Hold onto him," Buffy said suddenly and Nick looked up to see Ethan struggling in Angel's grasp. The guy had clearly tried to bolt and struggled pointlessly in the larger man's hands.
"Listen, there's no point even keeping me here, everything is fine now isn't it?" he insisted as Angel dragged him back into the library. He grimaced at the browning goo and stepped around it carefully.
"Sounds like someone forgot the deal," Judy coughed. "We help with Eyghon and you fix whatever brought us here!"
Nick grabbed Ethan by his shirt and pulled him close, teeth bared. "We kept our end of the deal pal. Start talking."
Ethan swallowed hard, eyes darting. "Yes, well… there might be some… issues with that. And if you remember, I didn't actually agree before all of… this happened. So really it was just a happy coincidence."
Judy's already strained and tired heart fell. She looked at Nick, who shoved Ethan to the floor and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. They hugged tightly as she tried to pull her thoughts together.
"He can't help," she whispered. "We did… all of that, and he's got nothing."
"Nothing he knows of right now," Giles interrupted, glaring at Ethan. "With his background, there must be something. I've known you get out of some much slipperier situations, Ethan."
"Listen, it's chaos magic. 'As you will' means it does just about whatever it likes, just as Janus wishes it," Ethan shrugged. "Who am I to challenge a god?"
Nick reeled back a fist and punched the smirk right off the guy's face, sending him crashing to the floor. His chest heaved as he stood there, shaking with anger.
"Then we'll do the challenging, send us home!"
"Nick!" Judy clutched at her husband, she'd never seen him lose his temper so violently before.
Ethan rubbed the bruise already blossoming on his jaw and sneered. "What home? You're copies, vague ideas pulled from the imaginings of the ether. If you ever existed in wasn't on this plane. There's no going back, not unless you're wiped out. A vague memory leaving behind empty shells."
"Ethan…" Giles warned.
"No, Ripper, you want the truth. That's it," he continued nastily. "There's nothing to help, they're parasites that consumed the host."
"That's not true!" Judy shouted she looked desperately around the people assembled, at the uneasy glances between Willow and Buffy and the frown on Angel's face. "That's not true…"
"We… we don't know the truth, not as it is," Giles said. "Let's just. Well, let's take some time to regroup."
He nodded towards Buffy, who lifted Ethan to his feet and twisted his arms behind his back.
"What are you going to do, Ripper? Keep me in your library?" Ethan rolled his eyes.
"No, but there are certainly a few desolate holes I know of you can be dropped into," Giles jerked his head outside and helped Philip stand carefully.
True to his word, there was indeed a hole for Ethan. It came in the form of what looked like an underground club with a door that could only be opened from the outside. Buffy pushed him inside with a bottle of water and a pack of crackers.
"Where did you find this place?" Nick asked, curious.
Buffy made a face. "That old friend of mine that turned up locked me for a while. Then he became a vampire. It really wasn't a fun few days while we were MIA."
"We will fix this," Giles told Judy and Nick. "No magic exists than can never be undone."
"But what if it's true? What if we don't even exist and we're just… stealing time from real people here?" Judy asked nervously.
"Yes, well. I- I find it hard to believe that two, um, people complex as you both are could be simply made up," he said. "Nothing is certain of course, but we can't allow ourselves to be beaten before we've even tried."
Nick patted Judy comfortingly.
"We'll get back," she nodded. "I've never been beaten yet."
"That's the spirit, and hey. These guys get their friends back too for a double bonus."
"At least if I'm stuck here, I'm stuck with you," Judy smiled.
"Yeah, you and me against… well, Sunnydale I guess. Could be worse," Nick wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Want to hitch a ride with Cordelia and watch some animal planet?"
Judy rolled her eyes but followed him out to the car. Buffy watched them leave, a puzzled frown on her face. She looked back at Willow.
"Why would they watch- oh, wow. I did not need to have that thought."
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Later that night Judy curled up against Nick's chest and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. They'd just woken up in these bodies, after all. There was always a chance that the next time she opened her eyes, they'd be home.
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Author's note I need to explain some things this came from something I've been pondering since I first saw the Halloween episode all those years ago what happens or what would happen if the person the costume was based on was mentally stronger the person who put on the costume the story is my interpretation of what would happen or what could happen There's going to be a lot a philosophy down the line in the story and some existential horror I hope you enjoy it