"Among those turned savage in this horrific turn of events is believed to be Peter Bisoniing, though his psychical condition is reported to be stable. So far the number of casualties is not yet known, but judging from this footage the damages caused to the hotel is worth hundreds of thousands at least…"

Nick watched the shaky footage of what had become of the Palm Hotel's famous lobby with the feeling of having been recently rammed in the chest by a savage bison. When he'd initially learned of what the unknown terrorist group had done to those prey mammals, sparing their lives just to give them a taste of their own medicine, he'd felt very irrationally satisfied. The collars were horseshit, and so was the society that made them exist. As cruel as the notion was, those bastards had had it coming. That was until the fox came across the army of televisions filling a shop window all displaying the same breaking news; contrary to what both the authorities and the civilian population had believed, the new collars did far worse than give the wearer a nasty shock.

Nick watched the report until Peter Moosebridge moved on to something else, but he heard nothing to indicate what had happened to Alyssa or her rabbit ally from the ZIA. He continued on down the street, stopping again beside a lamppost.

Speaking of rabbits, Nick suddenly heard one thumping her foot right in front of him with the pattering sound of a woodpecker. He sighed and looked down to see her glowering up at him. She looked as cold and disheveled as he felt, as expected from someone who had been literally catapulted into a river.

"I swear to Gods, Wilde." She threatened. "If you stall again I will stick a dart in you and drag you back to the station by the tail."

Nick put on his best smirk. "If you were going to stick a dart in me, you'd have done it by now, Carrots. Besides…" He held up his paw just enough to avoid lifting the bunny by the other end of the cuffs she'd latched between them. "You already have a liable, less painful means of dragging."

"Stop calling me Carrots!" Judy snapped and jabbed his chest. "I'm getting tired of you running your mouth off, Wilde. Is this seriously the thanks I get for saving your life?"

"In case you forgot, I returned the favor!" Nick retorted.

"And then you nearly drowned us both!"

"For the last time, I had no idea this thing was a grappling hook!" Nick thrust out the arm the Mag-Ryder was still fixed to.

"Where did you even get that thing?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

Judy pursed her lips. "Yeah, just like Wild Times. That was for you to know and me to find out and I carrot-picking did, didn't I?"

Nick had no answer to that other than a deep, exasperated sigh. "… I wasn't stalling. I was looking for a payphone, same as you."

Judy pointed up ahead. "That payphone?"

Nick turned and saw the booth further down the empty street. "Yeah, that payphone. Your own phone's definitely bust, huh?"

Judy twirled the ruined phone in her paw. "Yep."

"Radio, too?"

"That's what happens when it gets dunked in a freezing river."

"Give it a rest will, ya, rabbit? I said it was an accident!" Nick led the way to the booth and opened the door. "Ladies, first?"

Judy stepped inside, pulled Nick's arm into the booth with her. Nick sighed deeply, his shoulder pressed against the frosted metal doorframe, hating his situation.

She's still taking me into custody, after her own people tried to kill us both! She probably thinks it was all a simple misunderstanding, and here I am, paying the price for saving her life again! And why did I? Good question!

Nick felt a tug, heard the rabbit tell him to get in here, and reluctantly joined her inside the booth.

He saw the problem soon enough: the lowest payphone in the booth had been vandalized to the point of having the cable half-yanked out the receiver. The next phone up was impossible to reach. "Perfect." Judy muttered.

Nick tilted himself sideways, bringing his smirk into the bunny's view. "Yes, it is."

Judy jabbed up at the phone. "Give me a hand, will you?"

"Wait, what? Can't you hop, skip and jump or something?"

"There's nothing to hold onto. If you give me a boost, I can-"

"Woah, woah, woah. How do I know you won't shoot me for 'cuppin' a feel?'"

He expected Judy would get worked up at that. She didn't. "I can't blame you for not trusting me. I wouldn't trust me either. If you go back on the streets, you'll be in even more danger than you would be at the station."

"Excuse me for not buying that for a second."

"Look, you know Koslov wants your pelt, and that means everyone in his gang will want it as well."

"So does everyone at the ZPD." Nick sneered.

They heard a jingling above their heads. The phone Judy had been trying to convince Nick to help her reach was ringing. They ignored what was obviously a wrong number.

Judy's large eyes hardened, almost completely shrouding their purple glint. "Not everyone. I don't want you dead. Neither does Captain Bogo, and he returned to duty earlier tonight. He can protect you."

Nick turned away just as the phone stopped ringing. "You don't get it. To them, I'm public enemy number one, and there's no telling how many of those bastards are dirty." He locked eyes with her to make sure she was listening. "You take me back, you're taking me to my death."

Judy blinked, no longer looking so sure of herself. She pulled out her useless phone and stared at its black screen. She looked up briefly when the public payphone started ringing again. "Savage said the same thing."

"What?" Nick asked, trying to ignore the irritating jingle in his ears.

With a face like a deer in headlights, Judy shook her head. "Nothing. Just nothing."

"If you're talking about the spy bunny, then that sure as hell isn't just nothing!"

Judy gaped. "You know?"

"I nearly died six times saving his tail, so yes, I know!"

The rabbit groaned and rubbed her forehead. "You know what, I'm going to refrain from interrogating you until after I find an aspirin."

"I feel your pain." Nick said, nodding. "I'm getting a migraine myself. Must be an allergy to handcuffs."

"Okay, enough!" Judy snapped and waved her paws in front of his face. "The point is, I need to contact Precinct One and at least let them know I'm ok."

Nick shook his head. How was she not getting it? "You do that, you're leading the rest of the TUSKs right to us."

"We don't know the rest of them are involved." Judy looked up for a moment at the phone when it stopped ringing.

"Yes, we do! Tell me, did you hear back from the squad that was sent up Founder's Mountain?"
"What're you talking about? We didn't send anyone up there."

Nick raised a brow at her. "You seriously don't know? You work in the same building as them."

"It must have been a covert op." Judy explained. "They'll be doing that more often with a gang war going on."

"So if, say, the entire squad was massacred by unknown hostiles just as they were about to kill a fugitive fox and his friends, you wouldn't know about that either?"

Before the stunned Judy could articulate a response, the payphone started its jingle for the third time. The rabbit groaned. "Ugh, help me reach that thing!"

"Ugh, cuffs?" Nick jangled them in front of her.

Judy rolled her eyes and pulled out a key. "Try anything and you're carrot pulp."

"Sure, sure."

Once the cuffs were off, Nick had no problem giving the rabbit a boost to shut that phone up once and for all. Once she was on his shoulders an intended jab died in his throat. "You're lighter than you look, you know that?"

"Oh shush." An charmed smile crossed her face as she grabbed the phone, which was so large she had to hold it with both paws. "Hello?"

"About fucking time! I was just about to send my bishop to catch your bloody attention!"

Nick felt Judy's legs stiffen on either side of his head at the same time he froze up himself. All this time, the caller had been after them? And where had he heard her voice before?

"You again!" Judy exclaimed.

"Yes, me again, White Queen." It was eerie how quickly the fiery voice turned cool as frost.

Nick's ears picked. "You know her?'
"She's the anonymous caller who told me where to find you." Judy hissed down at him before returning to the receiver. "Who are you? And no wonderland quotes!"

There was a soft chuckle. "I am the Red Queen. You may be wondering why I orchestrated Nicholas's 'freedom.'" The word positively dripped sarcasm, and Nick felt his face twisting in anger. Ever since he'd escaped the convoy, his freedom had consisted of one struggle for survival after another.

"It was you who crashed Wilde's convoy taking him to prison." The rabbit whispered. "First off I'm more interested in how you knew which phone to call." She turned her head left and right, looking through the phone booth windows. She stopped and pointed. Nick saw a traffic camera above a nearby crosswalk pointing in their direction.

"Jesus." He whispered.

Judy looked down at the large black receiver. "Well? Are you going to explain yourself, 'your highness?'"

"I am. It's time you learned the truth, Officer Hopps." The Red Queen spoke. "It was I who administered the antidote to Nick after the first Jabberwock shot him. Then I caused his convoy to crash so he could escape, just as you deduced. Finally, I sent some pawns to provide the headset that enabled Nick to assist in his own rescue."

"Antidote…" Judy repeated. "So the savage attacks were planned. All of them. And Wild Times was just a…" She propped herself against the payphone box. Nick could feel her deflating on his shoulders. Everything about this case, the savage attacks, Nick's culpability, all of it, had been a lie, a lie that she had naïvely contributed to preserving.

Feeling a mix of snide satisfaction and pity, Nick decided to take the questioning from there. "Who's doing this? And what do you mean the first Jabberwock?"

"Carlton Woolton, the Queen of Hearts' right-hand ram. He assumed the role of the false wolf so he could target predators and make them go savage. The purpose was to prove that the collars were needed in spite of their growing notoriety. My Red Knight dealt with him, but the Queen has since summoned a new Jabberwock, far more dangerous than his cousin. He's already come close to killing you both."

"Mark II." Judy muttered quietly. She noticed Nick's confused look. "Remember? That's the codename that sniper used." She looked back to the receiver. "Who killed Dr. Lemming? Sedor?"

"Nope, that was all me." Nick shivered at the hint of cheerful glee in the Red Queen's confession. "The little termite spent years digging into our minds like blocks of rotten wood. I like to think he lived long enough to know how that feels."

Judy's eyes became haunted. She raised a paw to cover her mouth. Nick looked up at her sickened reaction, feeling glad that ZNN never let the details of Lemming's death go public. With the terrible knowledge of what kind of mammal they were speaking to, Judy responded with a tremble in her voice. "Why? Why are you doing all this?"

"We both want the same thing. Satisfaction."

"Revenge?" Nick asked.

"Hmmm, good guess, but no. To call terrorizing hundreds of innocent people revenge is just plain silly. Besides, that's not why I'm calling. No, I'm here to inform you that you are playing a game."

"I have no interest in playing games with terrorists." Judy retorted.

"And I'm already working with superspies, so sorry." Nick added.

"I'm taking Wilde in and I'm going to solve this case my own way." Judy said. "You will face justice for what you've done to this city, I'll see to it myself!"

"Due to the fact that you have up to now been unaware of the game you are partaking in, I will give you some advice before your next move is played. Taking on the Court of Hearts alone is a fool's errand. But I'll be happy to stay out your way and let you try. You know what? I'll call Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee! They can give you a lift to the precinct, free of charge."

"No, don't!" Judy held the receiver with one arm and pulled out her dart gun.

"You're watching us right now. How do I know you won't just kill us all the second we step out this booth?" Nick asked, not liking the idea of any more than the rabbit did.

"Now that would just be a complete waste. I didn't walk in front of a moving convoy just so I could put you down later. And I have better things to do than silencing the ignorant twaddle and archaic opinions of tri-burrow fluff-butts."

Nick felt Judy tense. "Skip the monologue! The only one ignorant here is you!" She snapped.

"And what is it that I'm ignorant about?" The Red Queen asked with a hint of amusement.

Judy huffed. "You terrorists are all the same. You bomb buildings and shoot up schools and play your sick games, but you never really get what you want. You're nothing but insane murderers with an impossible cause."

"I am insane, true, but anyone can murder. Wasn't it a rhino commander who almost murdered your captain? Wasn't it an savage elephant that almost killed him five years ago? Wasn't it a pair of TUSK razorbacks that tried to kill you?"

"This isn't about predators, this is about you!"

"Interesting. You immediately assume that I'm talking about predators. Just like this shifty fox and that innocent cheetah. Criminals just one step away from revealing their true colors. Perhaps you're right. Perhaps I am a fool to believe that my extreme methods will get the results I want. That would make me no different than a dumb bunny."

Judy gritted her teeth. "I am not a dumb bunny."

"When you were ordered to not follow that weasel into Little Rodentia, did you obey? Think about the potential consequences of your insubordination? Consider an alternate course of action?"

Judy paused. "Getting the bad guy was my-"

The Red Queen cut her off sharply. "No, you didn't listen. And you nearly lost your badge because of it. And when Nick told you about the false wolf responsible for the savage attacks, did you listen?"

"He gave me every reason to distrust him!"

"And you gave the Jabberwock free reign to continue attacking innocent people" The Red Queen cut her off again, with increased ferocity. "And we mustn't forget your dear father. If it weren't for Nick, he and Bonnie would be receiving news of your death right now because you didn't listen! You promised them you wouldn't put yourself in unnecessary danger, and you lied!"

"I didn't lie!" Judy cried. "I just… told them what they wanted to hear."

"And what do you think the Court of Hearts has being doing all this time? For decades they have spread their lies throughout the city, telling the ignorant masses want they want to hear, doing all in their power to maintain their false utopia and keep the savage predators under their heel. But what if you could tell them what they need to hear?"

Judy didn't respond. Nick felt the silence pressing in all around them, like the damp clothes chilling their bodies.

"That is the impossible cause we're striving for: we're giving the people of Zootopia a wake-up call. They've spent so long fearing our claws and fangs, they've forgotten what their own kind are capable of."

"While at the same time putting the squeeze on the mammals behind the savage predator conspiracy." Nick said. "With prey being turned savage as well, it's only a matter of time before people realize what was really going on."

There was a pause, then a slow tapping sound coming from the receiver. Nick realized he was hearing the sound of clapping. "Well. Done. You'd make a pretty good cop."

"When hell freezes over." Nick said with false bravado. "So kudos to you for trying to open their eyes, but I'm more interested in what you want with me."

"We both want the truth. We want to know why they did what they did to us. Then we can use that truth to make them pay for what they've done. Well, at least I do. You just want your freedom."

"Ok, now I'm listening."

"Now that's more like it." The Red Queen said happily. "To find the truth, you need the Vorpal Blade."

Nick frowned. "Vorpal… what?"

"Just a code name that I came up with, for a computer disk that eluded me several months ago. It contains everything you need to destroy this Wonderland the Court of Hearts has created. I think one of you has already found it for me."

Nick realized what the Red Queen was talking about as soon as she said it. "And if we find this disk and make its contents public, would that prove my innocence?"

"You are most assuredly guilty of building Wild Times, but you will be absolved of causing the savage attacks."

Nick almost told her then and there. Almost. Then Judy suddenly shouted. "No! We're not doing anything you say! I'm taking Wilde in and that's that!"

"That would be one of the stupidest moves you've made."

"Why?" Judy asked.

"Because he's seen too much. You both have. He has been in contact with one of the escaped test subjects. He's seen the false wolf. He knows about the serum. His testimony is not something Swinton will want to appear in court, fox or not. What you really should be doing is finding the Vorpal Blade, exposing the truth, and making the world a better place."

"Look at what you've done! You can't seriously think I'll believe that you care about making the world a better place!" Judy accused.

"Wrong, I care about bringing the world back to reality. I am not asking you to work with us. I am giving you some tips on how to play the game. You've seen the true nature of TUSK, and that is one more truth that the Queen of Hearts cannot allow to be revealed. Precinct One is no longer safe for you."

"Bogo will protect us!" Judy fired back.

"And likely get the rest of this throat slit for his trouble. The Tweedles are almost here. If you can persuade them, they will take you anywhere you want. I suggest you play your next move wisely."

Nick heard the engine of an approaching car. A lemon from the sounds of it. He turned his head to see headlines coming around the street corner. It was a small blue car. Judy gasped when she saw the two rabbits through the windshield.

"How did you get my parents' number?!" She yelled.

"It wasn't that hard, really. You'll be on your own for the rest of the game, White Queen, so I will advise you one last time. With the Vorpal Blade you can claim the King of Hearts and save this city. Or you can follow protocol and take this fox back to the station. Put him in a cell where he can cause no more trouble. Become the hero of Precinct One. But it will be on your head when Nick is shot dead in his cell, and you and your friends become loose ends to tie up, because you didn't listen. Again."

There was a click, and the phone went dead. Judy slowly put the phone back just as the car skidded to a stop outside the booth. The rabbit dropped down and watched as Stu and Bonnie leapt out the truck. Nick saw her eyes harden as she made a decision. Before he knew it, she was unlocking the cuffs.

"What the hell are you doing?" Nick hissed.

"Making my move." Judy looked sickened with herself. "Pretend your name is John."

"What?!"

"Just do it!"

Stu Hopps reached the booth first and flung the door open. "Judy!" He threw his arms around her, as did Bonnie when she reached them. "Oh, sweetheart, how did you end up in a river? You must be absolutely freezing, are you alright?"

"I've got blankets in the car, stay here!" Bonnie ran right back out the booth. Stu spotted Nick over Judy's shoulder, leapt back with a cry and pulled out a fox tazer. "You!" Nick recoiled with a curse.

"No, dad, stop!" Judy restrained his tazer arm before he could thrust. "This isn't Wilde!"

"His picture's all over the news!" Stu shouted.

"Predators all look alike, dad, you said it yourself!" Judy wrenched the tazer from his paw. "This fox's name is John and his car broke down. Do you think you could give us both a lift?"

"John- car- lift?" Stu sputtered. "How do we know he's not just faking the name?"

"See this?" Judy pulled out a collar scanner. "It can also scan collars to identify the wearer. I scanned him just now and it's definitely not Nicholas Wilde."

Stu eyed the fox warily. "You're sure?"

Judy sighed. "Dad, I'm sure."

Stu reached under his hat to scratch his head, not looking entirely convinced. "Alright, I'll take your word for it. I'm still not sure about letting him in the car."

"Dad, I'll keep an eye on him. Could you go explain to mom so she doesn't freak out? I need to ask John for his address."

"Couldn't he just call a cab?" Stu pointed up at the phone.

"We couldn't get one with everything that's happening." Judy explained. "Go talk to mom."

Stu gave Nick one last suspicious look before walking out the booth and letting the door slide closed behind him. Nick stared at Judy like she'd just eaten a chicken burger. "What the hell, Carrots?"

"Is there a place where we can lay low and figure out where to find that disk she was talking about?" Judy asked.

"Seriously, what the hell?" Nick repeated. "What happened to always getting the bad guy?"

Judy rubbed her arms to warm herself. "Because I realized... as much as I didn't want to believe her, I did."

"Finally caught on to the truth, did you? Took you long enough." Nick immediately regretted how needlessly cruel he'd been, but Judy didn't look too hurt.

"I'm just sorry I had to learn the hard way. The only way I can solve this case and save Zootopia is if I find the Vorpal Blade." She rubbed an ear. "And I think I know what that is."

Nick's ears pricked. "What?"

"When I found that jeep full of bodies on Founder's Mountain, I also found this disk. I gave it to Agent Savage so he could use it as evidence against Swinton."

Nick blinked twice, then started laughing. Judy stared at him like he had just eaten something ridiculous. "What? What's so funny?"

"I'll explain once we're safe. There's a safehouse on the edge of Tundratown where we can hide until we're hypothermia-free. Your parents can take us there."

"This place wouldn't happen to have some form of communication equipment, would it? I need to contact Bogo and warn him about the Red Queen."

"The safehouse belongs to this friend of mine. She doesn't live there right now, but it should have something you could use."

Nick felt uneasy just telling Judy all this. Judy seemed to sense this. "If you want, I can also find out what happened to your friend. Finnick, wasn't it?"

"Yes. Please." Nick insisted. Worry over the unknown status of his mercurial little buddy had been gnawing at his insides like a maggot. He'd been worried about Gabe, too, but that cheetah could handle himself. Thinking about Gabe made Nick think of another cheetah. "Could you find out about Benji, too? I haven't heard anything about him since buffalo-butt almost got killed. I'll feel better know he's okay, too."

Judy blinked and swallowed, suddenly looking like she'd rather not be in this booth with him. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. At first.