"One!" Bellwether says, and I fix her with a look that tells her that I won't give in, and then I hear the whirr of the prongs and then searing, searing, searing, sending sparks across my vision, leaving me panting but still standing, and oh gods does my neck hurt…
"How are you still standing, Nicholas?" Bellwether asks, and I can see the anger in her eyes, almost like a literal fire in her pupils. I see her hoof shake, and my god does my neck hurt!
"Just lucky, I guess," I manage to wheeze out before I feel my throat starting to close up, and I don't get to flail in panic and fear for very long before I pass out…
...and thankfully, I get to wake up again, throat raw as all flocking getout. Only problem is that I'm now chained in Bellwether's office, and I'm still seething… probably the damn Night Howler in the system…
"Oh, thank goodness, finally, I was wondering...I see you're finally awake, Nicholas, how'd you sleep?" Bellwether asks, cooing at me, and if my paws weren't chained together around one of the furnace stacks (which, by the way, is searing my paw pads raw), I'd go right for her. Not for the throat, though, just for something that would scare her. I don't need to be the villain here, that's her job.
"Very well, Mayor Bellwether, thanks so much for asking, how about you?" I manage to get out, my voice harsh and low, almost like a growl…
"Oh, I'm great, Nicholas, very well, thanks for asking, but there's just one problem," the ewe says, rubbing her hooves together and fixing me with a nasty, sinister, evil grin.
"And what's that?" I ask, even though I already know the answer… me. I'm the problem, I'm the slave, I'm the enemy. Kinda reminds me of Little Clop of Horrors…
"You, Nicholas, you and your kind, the scourge of Zootopia, your parents more than anything, you know the truth now, so why don't you give it up? You've lost anyways," she taunts, getting up into my face and spitting on my nose, making it twitch.
Stay calm, Nick, you've got this…
"And what's in it for me?" I ask, trying to stall, hoping that, back wherever I've been dragged from, my family, well, families, both of them- are still alive and well.
"Money, power, fame, tell me, Nicholas, whatever you want and you can have it." Cutting me off as I'm about to answer her, she adds, pushing up her glasses, "Except for your family, they're staying here. Consider them all dead to you from now on, except they're not actually, of course, if you don't give me what I want.
"A- a- a- and w- wh- what- what do you w- want, B- Bellwether?" I ask, starting to stutter and I have no darn clue why… and I hate it. Of course, I kinda have a reason, but that's not going to help me survive here.
"Look, your parents-"
"My mother is Bonnie Hopps, Mayor Bellwether, the Wildes aren't my parents."
"You know what I mean, you insolent pelt!" Bellwether says, her voice nearly a scream- or a bleat, you know, I'm not really sure.
"Do I?" I ask, knowing I'll tick her off even more and relishing it.
"Yes, you do," Bellwether says, seemingly unperturbed… damn. "Anyways," Bellwether continues, I need a right-paw mammal, and I think you'd be the perfect fox for the job, what do you say?"
"If I say no, does my family die?"
"Slowly and painfully, yes, they would, and I would personally see to it that that would happen, so what do you say, Nicholas, do we have a deal?"
"Let me think about it," I say, knowing that wheedling and hemming and hawing (no offense meant to any horse), along with burning as much time as I possibly can, isn't going to get me anywheres productive.
"No, I don't think I'll let you, I need a decision now, or all of you can bite it, and don't think," Bellwether says, and I hear a gun clicking behind me, loading a bullet into its chamber and then flinching and jumping sky high backwards as she fires that shell right at my feet, sending splinters flying, digging into my skin and making me smell copper, dam it, I'm bleeding, "I won't make good on that promise, am I understood?"
I don't give her any answer for a second, and this time, another bullet goes whizzing right over the top of my head, so close that it parts the fur between my ears
"Well, what's it going to be, Nick? Next shot's going to hurt less, if you get what I mean… you won't be able to feel anymore, and believe you me, I'm not going to miss. Your parents- yes, those parents, they killed my family, and they killed my wingmammals, and I need your help to get them back…"
"That's impossible, Dawn, you're not going to be able to get them back!" I say, my voice a harsh scream, but she doesn't even flinch, not a millimeter.
"Oh, I don't need them back like that, I need to pay my respects, get revenge, if you will, that's what I need, Nicholas, so what's it going to be, them or me? Your choice, I do believe in freedom of choice, after all. Them or me, them or me, them or me, your choice. There's a right decision and a wrong decision, and I know that you know what each of those decisions would be…"
"Yes, yes I do, Mayor Bellwether," I say, hating that I'm going to do this but knowing that I need to in order to get everyone I care for out of here alive and well, and sticking out my paw for her to shake. "You have yourself a deal, Ma'am."
"Thank you, Nicholas, I'm sure we're going to make some great progress here in the city…"
Hey everybody! Disturbing developments aside, my new side-fic is up, entitled More Than. I'd really appreciate it if you'd take a look and see what you think!
-WP