(shoutout to BadgerBleak for coming up with a much better plot than mine lol)
"Judy?!" The sheep gasped with widened eyes. She seemed just as shocked as Judy was, but not nearly as fearful. In fact it didn't take long for her surprised reaction to fade into a glare.
Judy could hardly believe what she was seeing. She should've known it was the former mayor Bellwether all along. The signs were all there; the Night Howlers, the serum, the caged animals, the revenge plans. But she didn't want to think it was possible for the sheep to go at it a second time. Then again, who else would want to do this to predators?
"Wh-what are you doing here?" She asked, still in shock. "You're supposed to be in prison!"
Bellwether wasn't fazed, but now she was appearing confused. She eyed the bunny up and down, as if she was looking for something specific in her appearance. Whatever she was searching for clearly wasn't there, since she didn't seem too pleased with what she saw. "The real question is what are you doing here?" She asked, narrowing her eyes. "You're supposed to be dead!"
Now it was Judy's turn to be confused. "What are you talking about?" She asked, but then immediately realized the answer to her question.
That was the reason Nick turned savage. That was the revenge Bellwether was plotting. It all made sense now. Nick wasn't just another predator someone wanted to target. He was intended to be used as a weapon. Now Judy wished she'd never left him by himself that night she left to get food. If it weren't for the stupid awkwardness between them, none of this would've happened.
"It was you.." She said, her expression growing cold. "You used him to try and kill me."
Bellwether smirked, quite proud of what she planned. "You catch on quick." She said, slightly impressed. "Wouldn't it be poetic? The hero cop of the city being mauled to death by her partner?" She chuckled, before her confusion returned yet again. "But now I'm wondering..how are you still alive? Why didn't he kill you?"
Judy didn't have an answer, but even if she did she still wouldn't have said anything. She decided to change the subject, quickly. "So what's your plan this time?" She crossed her arms, "Do you seriously think you can just turn predators savage again? Everyone's gonna know it's you and you'll just be sent right back to prison."
The sheep laughed softly, shaking her head as she took a step further into the shed. "Oh, Judy. Dear, sweet, little Judy." She said with a raised brow, "I'm not trying to turn prey against predators. Not this time. No, this plan is just good old-fashioned revenge."
"What do you mean?" Judy asked, cautiously stepping back. She needed to keep as much distance between them as she could. Bellwether was unpredictable, getting too close might be the difference between safety and danger.
Bellwether shrugged, making her way towards the desk—while Judy slowly moved away from her. "While I was in prison, it occurred to me that predators may be more useful to me than I realized. And why go against them when I can use them to my advantage?" She stared at the wall, grabbing the list of supplies. "So I escaped, called up some old friends of mine to make a new serum; a stronger one that would get the predators to obey my every command. I wasn't able to speak to your partner before you got back, but I assumed he would just kill you on his own. I guess it was stupid of me to think I could rely on a fox to do anything right."
Judy shot her a glare, secretly wishing that looks could actually kill. "So what are you gonna do with these predators? You're just going to keep them as your slaves?"
"Close." She held up her hoof, turning around to give a sinister smile. "I'm keeping them to make an army. Once I have enough predators, you better pray you don't find out what'll happen when they're released into the city."
Judy felt her fear begin to rise. If she was actually able to send feral animals in the city, then all hell would break loose. Mammals would be attacked left and right, and no one would be able to control them all. After all, the new serum was stronger, and that was why the antidote didn't work on Nick.
"You'll never get away with this." Was all she could say in response. She was feeling a mix of emotions. Mainly she was horrified that anyone would ever think to go this far for revenge. Bellwether was even more insane than she thought.
"Oh? And who's going to stop me?" The sheep asked, tilting her head as she reached into one of the desk drawers. "It won't be you, because I'm about to complete the first part of my plan."
She pulled something out from the drawer, that was revealed to be a loaded gun. Judy's eyes went wide as she instinctively took a step back.
"I should've just done this in the first place."
Before she could fire the weapon, Judy was quick to find a good distraction. She picked up an old hammer she found on the floor and threw it directly at her enemy—which she had to duck to avoid being hit in the face.
Judy seized her chance and made a run for it out the door. Bellwether followed her, firing one bullet in her direction. But it missed by a few inches, since the bunny was swift to dodge it.
However, running in the dark didn't make her escape any easier. Sure, there was some moonlight reflecting through the trees, but it wasn't enough for her to see where she was going. Inevitably she tripped on a broken branch and fell straight to the ground. Normally she would've been able to hop right back up and continue running. But lately whenever she was on the ground she wasn't able to pick herself up so easily and she didn't know why. But now it was going to be the reason she didn't survive.
She crawled away as fast as she could, only making it to a nearby tree before Bellwether caught up to her. The gun remained pointed right at her, with her enemy's hoof ready at the trigger. "Any last words, bunny-bun?"
Judy tried to pull herself up by holding onto the tree bark, but it was no use. She nervously stared at the gun, trying to think of a way out of this. But right now she was starting to panic, since it didn't seem likely that she would live much longer. She was at literal gunpoint, what could she do that wouldn't end with her getting pumped with lead?
And that's when they were both alerted by the sound of growling. They turned their attention towards where the noise was coming from, seeing a certain fox running toward them at lightning speed.
"Nick?!" Judy exclaimed just as he jumped in front of her, standing between her and the sheep, shielding her from any further harm.
Bellwether was more surprised than Judy was, since she wasn't aware of his presence until now. She gasped and stepped back, knowing to be cautious when in his view, especially since he was staring at her like he wanted her dead. "You brought your partner here?!" She asked, "And why is he protecting you?!"
She lowered her gun and used her other hoof to use a gesture, testing out her ability to command him. Maybe then he wouldn't be so useless to her plan, and he might actually do what he was supposed to in the first place. "Sit down."
Nick did nothing but continue glaring at her, as if his eyes were daggers that could kill her.
Bellwether groaned, pointing behind him. "Go kill her!"
The fox let out a louder growl, threatening to bite her if she raised her hoof again. She was taken aback by his response. All the other predators she turned savage were able to understand her and do exactly as she said in an instant. Why was Nick not even listening to her? And why was he so dead set on defending Judy?
"What did you do to him?!" She asked the bunny in frustration, stomping her foot. "You did something to make him protect you! How did you do it?!"
Judy finally pulled herself up from the ground, but still held onto the tree for support. "I— I don't know." She answered honestly, glancing at the fox.
"Yes you do! You obviously did something, otherwise he wouldn't be ignoring my orders!" The sheep declared angrily.
"I swear I don't know!" Judy fired back. "He started to attack me but then he..stopped. And then he sorta just got used to me, I guess."
Bellwether shook her head, completely lost at what she was being told. "It doesn't make any sense. Why would he just stop attacking you? You're his prey!"
This wasn't supposed to happen. The predators were only able to understand Bellwether and recognize her commands. Sure, she knew that Nick and Judy were close (how could she not after spying on them for months?) but she didn't think their bond would overpower the affects of her serum. There must've been another reason, a more logical one.
Bellwether stared at the bunny for a minute, noticing how she looked a little..different. She wasn't quite as thin as she remembered. Even through the sweatshirt, she noticed Judy seemed to be gaining weight in her torso. That was probably why she wasn't able to get up from the ground a moment ago.
But this confused the sheep. She knew Judy was extremely healthy. She always went for jogs on the weekend mornings and she was no stranger to exercises at the gym. Why would she suddenly be gaining a ton of pounds? Was it stress? No, it wouldn't be that noticeable in a short period of time.
It could only mean one thing...
"Judy.." She spoke, cocking a brow. "Are you pregnant?"
Judy's face dropped. That was a very random and personal question for her to be asking, especially right now. "Excuse me?" She scoffed, shaking her head. "No, of course not! Why would you even think that?!"
Bellwether glanced back and forth between her and Nick, trying to figure out if that was actually the case. "Because that would explain why he's protecting you." She said, putting her hoof to her hip. "Are you sure you're not pregnant?"
Judy wanted to say no, but she didn't think she could. She wasn't so sure, now that she was slowly starting to put the pieces together. It wasn't a possibility to rule out. After all, it would explain the nausea, the cravings, the weight gain, etc. That night she and Nick hooked up, they were too drunk to even think about protection. So it must've been true...
She cleared her throat, feeling much less certain about herself now. "I— I don't think so..maybe?"
"I think you are." The sheep said, an amused smirk spreading across her face. "And I think it's his kid."
Adding to Judy's discomfort, she suddenly burst into a fit of laughter, as if it was the most hilarious thing she ever witnessed. She bent over and held her stomach, gasping for breath a few times between laughs. "Oh, god, that's just priceless!" She exclaimed, "You, Judy Hopps, actually slept with a fox!"
Nick snarled at her, while Judy just frowned. Her mind wasn't so focused on the sheep and her revenge plans at the moment. In her defense, she was distracted by the fact she might actually be pregnant. Again, she should've known from the start.
Once Bellwether calmed down, she stood back up properly and wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh, that's rich." She sighed, "No wonder he's so defensive. He doesn't care about you, he's just protecting his child!"
Judy glanced at the fox, secretly hoping that wasn't the truth. But what if it was? If she wasn't pregnant, would he have actually killed her?
"Well then, this just got a hell of a lot more interesting." Bellwether said, lifting up her gun once again. "I think I'll just kill both of you, since he's no longer useful to me."
She aimed the weapon right at Nick, who didn't seem that scared of it.
Judy held out her paw, "Wait, no!"
Nick growled again, showing all his teeth to the sheep. She wasn't intimidated, though. He might've been a savage animal, but he could still be easily killed with a single bullet.
She looked at Judy, placing her finger right on the trigger. "Contain your fox, or I will."
Judy swallowed, keeping her eyes focused on Nick, rather than the gun being pointed at him. She wasn't sure how to get him to back down, though. Communication between them was getting better, but it was still tricky sometimes. And Nick almost never listened to her when her safety was on the line. But she had to try. His life depended on it.
"Nick." She spoke softly, gently snapping her fingers to get his attention. "Nick, come on. It's okay. Just come here."
Nick's ears twitched upon hearing her voice, as if he was being pulled out of a trance. His growling ceased and he took a small step back, still scowling at the sheep. He kept his focus on her for a while. He needed to make sure to wait for the right moment for what he was about to do. No way he was going to surrender to this psychopath.
Just when it seemed like he calmed down, he let out an aggressive bark and leapt toward the sheep, pouncing her to the ground. Judy gasped and yelled at him to stop, since Bellwether was carrying a loaded weapon that she could use any second if she wanted to. But apparently his sudden attack caused her to drop it.
Nick didn't remain on top of her though. His ambush was actually just a distraction. After making a mark on her face with his claws, her got off of her and hurried back to Judy. Quickly, he grabbed her shirt's sleeve with his teeth and yanked her toward him, pulling her right on top of his back.
"Nick?! What are you—" She asked anxiously, just as the fox began to make a run for it. She held onto him for security, which wasn't easy since he was going pretty fast and it was hard not to fall off of him with every step he took.
She turned around, seeing them getting farther and farther from Bellwether. But that didn't stop the sheep from angrily getting back on her feet and grabbing the gun.
Judy gasped and turned back to her partner, patting his neck to get his attention. "Run in zigzags! Hurry!"
Nick barked in response, doing exactly as told. He didn't question it, but he didn't need to once Bellwether began firing her bullets at them. Running in a disorganized path made it harder for her to aim, he was quick to figure out.
"Okay, Nick," Judy said, gripping onto his shirt. "Let's get back to the city!"