Judy was bouncing up and down on her tip-toes in her large seat at the ZPD bullpen, waiting for her first assignment from Chief Bogo. She couldn't believe there was already something as important as a missing mammals case for her to sink her buck teeth into.
"And finally, Officer Hopps, our second bunny," Chief Bogo looked up from his podium with a somewhat blank look.
"Wait, second...?" Judy whispered to herself.
"The ZPD's network firewall has come under attack of late; we don't know if this has anything to do with the missing mammals, but we cannot let ourselves become compromised. Hopps, assist Technical Officer Skippel in any way you can." Judy shot a panicked look back in the room and saw an arctic hare sitting in the back of the room, who had a somewhat troubled expression on as well. "Okay everyone, dismissed!"
Judy quickly approached Chief Bogo right before he left. "Chief Bogo!"
Bogo looked down at her, adjusting his glasses but saying nothing. He also noted Technical Officer Karen Skippel walking towards him at more of a distance.
"I'm, well, sir, computers are not my specialty," Judy said carefully.
"I thought I read you graduated valedictorian," Bogo cocked up an eyebrow.
"I did, sir, I did..." Judy wrung her hands pensively. "But I don't know anything about programming."
"Ah, I assumed you bunnies were all geniuses or something, my mistake," Bogo said in an even voice. "Parking duty, then."
"Puh-parking duty? But sir there are missing-" Judy sputtered, but Chief Bogo left before she could finish. Karen walked in front of Judy, shooting her a brief look with her light blue eyes.
"I was just about to protest," Karen said in her somewhat scratchy, boyish voice. "I really do my best work alone."
"Well don't worry," Judy was trying hard not to frown, "this 'second bunny' won't get in your way."
"That'd probably be best for both of us," Karen nodded, leaving the room.
Judy seethed a bit, tapping her foot rapidly in annoyance.
Nick and Judy were both riding in a gondola in the Rainforest District. They had just determined to visit Bellwether at city hall. A lot of crazy things had happened since Judy got the opportunity to help find Emmitt Otterton. Both of their lives were put in danger more than once, and Chief Bogo nearly took Judy's badge, but everything had seemed to turn out all right. Judy's excitement at Nick figuring out to look at the traffic cameras to find out what happened to Manchas and to prove he went savage was deflating.
"I wish I had thought of that," Judy admitted.
"Hey, as a hustler, I had to make sure I knew where the traffic cameras were so I didn't do anything obviously shady on them," Nick gave a small half-smile.
"Still... ugh, I just feel like everyone's a step ahead of me in the thinking department," Judy grumbled. "I really must be a dumb bunny."
"Hey, when I said that, just know they were the words of a bitter, hollowed-out fox," Nick said carefully.
"No I mean, even among other bunnies I'm dumb," Judy murmured. "I wasn't even the first bunny on the ZPD, some arctic hare named Skippel or something got in ahead of me, and she's a technical genius. How can I compete with that?"
"Every mammal has their strong points," Nick shrugged, then chuckled, shaking his head. "Yours appears to be your arm. And... well, you're brave, loyal, helpful, and trustworthy."
"Ah Nick, c'mon," Judy gently swiped a paw in his direction. "I told you at the Mystic Springs I wasn't a Bunny Scout."
"You've got your chance right now, Carrots, so let's take it," Nick said. Judy nodded with a firm expression.
"Wait, no no no, what!?" Judy said in a panic as she and Nick approached the Cliffside Asylum building. Judy rushed towards the building with Nick closely behind, but there were police vehicles barricading the building and a helicopter circling overhead. "How are they already here?"
"I didn't have anything to do with this, I'm telling you!" Mayor Lionheart said as Officer McHorn started shoving him into a police cruiser.
"Right, and you were just visiting a bunch of crazed mammals in a remote hospital," Chief Bogo folded his arms. "Take him away, McHorn." Chief Bogo looked towards Judy. "Well, it appears I owe you an apology, Hopps. Apparently predators are going savage."
"How did you guys know to come here?" Judy asked in bewilderment. "I was just following up this lead..."
Chief Bogo nodded. "Someone at the station believed your crazy report about the savage jaguar attack and checked the traffic cameras to confirm what you were saying. Then, we traced the vehicle that took away Manchas to this facility."
Judy's ears fell. "All right..."
"I should thank you, though," Chief Bogo smirked. "Without your wild adventure, we probably wouldn't have gotten this lead." Judy nodded, and wandered off toward the rear of the building. Nick, confused, followed her. Judy stared out over the cliff. She sneered suddenly, and pulled the carrot pen out of her pocket.
"Rhh!" Judy grunted, tossing the carrot pen out over the waterfall. Nick's eyes widened.
"Carrots?" He blurted in shock.
"That was my chance, the chance you helped buy me," Judy's voice was a bit shaky. "And now it's gone. Just like everything I have on you. Just like all of my dreams." She closed her eyes and tried not to sniffle.
From the fringe of the throng of police officers, Karen Skippel emerged and walked toward the two.
"It was you, wasn't it, Skippel?" Judy frowned, sadness and anger gnawing at her.
"I was the only one at the station that believed your story, Hopps," Karen shrugged. "The thought of predators randomly going savage was somewhat... disheartening to me, so I wanted to confirm it myself. Things led to here. Looks like you figured it out too, huh?"
"Too late, apparently. I got here second, just like at the ZPD proper," Judy sneered.
"Hopps!" Karen had a somewhat disgusted face. "Justice isn't a contest. You think I'm going to ever get to do anything important sitting behind a desk? Looking up those traffic cameras might be the only exciting thing I do in my life."
"Yeah, but it might have cost me the one chance I had to stay on the force," Judy grit her teeth. "Not that that's your fault but... just... just go."
"Okay...?" Karen seemed confused, but she left. Judy gave another shuddering sigh. She looked up to her left, and Nick was still there.
"You waiting for something?" Judy muttered. "I don't have anything on you anymore."
"Listen, Judy..." Nick said slowly. Judy blinked; she hadn't recalled him using her first name yet. "I'll... I'll see you around, okay?" Judy winced, but nodded. "If you feel like you need me, just come hunt me down again, and this Junior Detective will do what he can to help." Nick flicked the sticker on his chest. Judy didn't say anything at first, but he lingered there.
"Okay, Nick," Judy said finally. "Thank you."
"Officer Toot-toot!" Nick waved, rushing over to Judy, who was writing a ticket for a car in the Downtown area in her meter maid outfit. It was one week later. "Good to see you're still on the force!"
"Barely, I guess," Judy chuckled. "But yeah, it could be worse. Hey, where's your little friend?"
Nick gestured towards an ice cream store on the corner. "He's already in there. Today's hustle."
"Oh, of course," Judy chuckled. She folded her arms. "You think I'm just going to let you do that?"
"You're welcome to follow me," Nick smirked. "But I'm very good about not doing anything overtly illeg-uh!"
"Huh?" Judy blinked, seeing Nick flinch. Nick grabbed at his neck; there was a blue substance on it.
"Oh God," Nick sputtered. "Someone hh-hit me with something... grrgh... rrr..." Nick hunched over onto all fours.
"No! Nick, no!" Judy said in a panic, grabbing at her radio. "Fight it!" Judy began to slowly retreat backwards, bringing her radio up to her face. "This is Officer Hopps! Savage fox on 7th and Hoof! I repeat-!"
Nick's eyes started to glow and he made a terrifying growl, the likes of which Judy had never heard before. She began to run, trying to keep to the sidewalks. Looking behind her, she saw Nick chasing after her on all fours. "T-that's right, Nick, just keep chasing me! Don't go into the street, or divert to any other mammals! Police! Clear the sidewalk!" Mammals gasped and cars swerved. Accidents were just waiting to happen.
Judy hoped the ZPD would get there before one did.
"I've had enough of this!" Judy furiously stormed her way toward Karen's desk, making her cringe. "What's going on here? How are the predators going savage!?"
"Buh-beats me!" Karen cowered. "I've been doing some research... but..."
"Yeah!?" Judy showed her teeth. "Well it doesn't seem to be helping, huh? I thought you were the smart bunny!"
"Hopps, please," Karen looked away. "I'm trying. I've been looking at the chemical compositions, everything. I think it might be a virus? It could explain how Mr. Wilde contracted it from Mr. Manchas..."
"Why'd it take so long? Why'd it hit so suddenly?" Judy started pacing behind Karen, making the arctic hare nervous and hunch over her keyboard. "What... what are 'Night Howlers'?"
"Uh, a hokey nickname for wolves?" Karen shrugged.
"That's what I thought too, but..." Judy grit her teeth. "Before Nick... turned... he said he was hit with something..."
"Let me do a search on the term," Karen nodded, looking on the internet. "It says here that 'Night Howler' is a somewhat rare colloquial term for a flower called midnicampum holicithias."
"Muh... midnicampum holicithias...!?" Judy's eyes shot wide open. "Midnicampum holicithias!?"
"Yup," Karen nodded, reading on. "Uh... uh oh. It says that it's harmful to mammals, that ingesting them has been known to cause feelings of aggression, even violent outbursts."
Judy unleashed a huge gasp. "Midnicampum holicithias!"
"Yes," Karen winced. "And you're freaking me out."
"I just busted a weasel that had stolen some of those a week ago!" Judy explained with a kind of fearful excitement.
"Oh! Well, uh..." Karen looked at the information. "But hey, it says here that the symptoms to ingesting a Night Howler flower only last for a day at most... none of the victims of this... condition have yet recovered. And they haven't been eating any flowers, as far as we know."
"And they're all predators... hm..." Judy pondered. "Whoever's doing this must be super-concentrating the Night Howler somehow... hey, where is Duke Weaselton right now?"
"Uh..." Karen looked him up. "Says he's serving a brief sentence for the theft you busted him for. He'll be out within a month."
"We've got to go visit him!" Judy hopped in place twice and gestured wildly, snapping her fingers.
"At the prison?" Karen perked an eyebrow. "And... 'we'?"
"Yeah! Let's go!" Judy said impatiently, beckoning her.
"Well, if it isn't Flopsy the Copsy," Duke Weaselton said derisively, holding onto the bars of his jail cell. "And her assistant, Officer Bunnyfur."
"I'm a hare, to be technical," Karen said evenly.
"What do you want, Fuzz?" Duke said snappily, folding his arms.
"What did you do with those Night Howlers you stole, Wesselton?" Judy folded her arms, regarding him with contempt.
"It's Weaselton, rabbit," Duke said pointedly. "And what good is it gonna do for me if I rat out to you what I was doin' with 'em? I aint talkin'."
"He's got a point," Karen said. "It's not like we have the authority to reduce his sentence, even if he helps us."
"Karen, hush!" Judy gave her a small shove. "Didn't you ever watch any of those cop shows when you were growing up?"
"Uh, no...?" Karen admitted.
"Anyway, let me show you how to interrogate," Judy smirked, thinking for a moment. She had an idea. "Duke... you're a predator, right?"
"How clever of you to notice," Duke rolled his eyes.
"So you've noticed that predators are starting to go savage?" Judy led on.
"Yeah? What's that got to do with anything?" Duke started to seem a bit worried.
"Well, did you know that Night Howlers can make mammals go savage?" Judy asked in a sing-song voice. "And since it's only predators, I think someone has a vendetta against your kind."
Duke started to look even more nervous, swallowing hard.
"So, if you're supplying them to someone..." Judy made a motion with her wrist, rotating it. "...Then that makes you a loose end, doesn't it? If that someone thinks you've outlived your usefulness then... boom! I bet you're the next one to go savage, just as SOON as we release you from jail."
"What? No! They wouldn't do that to me!" Duke sputtered, but he looked unsure.
"Talk, mustelid," Judy said dryly.
Judy crept into the abandoned subway tunnel with Karen; the latter appeared to be extremely uncomfortable.
"The weasel wasn't lying," Judy noticed. "There's a train car sitting there, the one with the grafitti. C'mon, Skip, let's go."
"Wait...!" Karen refused to move from the entrance, gesturing out to Judy. "Wh-we should call for backup."
"Karen...?" Judy seemed confused. "C'mon, this is our chance to show the ZPD what bunnies can do! We'll kick that ram's butt and-"
"This isn't about glory or anything," Karen protested. "This is serious! If we go in there, who knows what could happen? We could both come out of there savages..."
"You're... scared?" Judy seemed surprised.
"You're darn right I'm scared!" Karen nodded rapidly. "I'm terrified! I'm not like you, Judy. I'm not cut out to just boldly burst onto the scene, tranquilizer darts firing. My place is at a desk..."
"Oh..." Judy nodded. "Okay Karen, let's take cover and call for backup." So they did, both hiding behind a trash receptacle and Judy called for backup.
"Sorry to ruin your moment of glory..." Karen shut her eyes. "Maybe if I wasn't a coward..."
"I guess every mammal has their strong points and weak points, Karen..." Judy sighed.
"I could use some of that boldness you have," Karen grumbled.
"And I could use some of your smarts," Judy shot back, smirking.
"Eh, you're plenty smart, in a kind of uh... sneaky way," Karen chuckled. "It was neat how you wrung that confession out of that weasel. I almost blew that, too... I'm not good with other mammals."
"Don't resign to that," Judy shook her head. "As long as you keep working on it, I'm sure you can get somewhere."
"Maybe..." Karen nodded.
"Carrots!" Nick yelped in surprise. Judy had come to his hospital room, wearing her ZPD uniform and offering him a warm smile.
"Brought you some flowers!" Judy said happily, showing off a somewhat scraggly-looking arrangement.
"Huh..." Nick looked at them, then sucked at his teeth. "Fluff, whoever sold you that bunch of flowers pulled off a hustle of their own."
"Oh, that's my fault," Judy giggled nervously. "I got a little anxious while waiting to see you and ate a couple of them." Her ears felt warm.
"Ah, okay," Nick chuckled. Judy set the flowers down, her heart sinking a bit as it looked like she was the only one to bring him flowers thus far.
"So um... how are you feeling?" Judy asked cautiously.
"A little woozy," Nick admitted. "It's like I've been trapped in a nightmare. It's fuzzy; I can't really remember anything."
"Yeah, a nightmare..." Judy agreed in an empty voice, bowing her head and suddenly starting to sob.
"Whoa, Judy!?" Nick blinked. "What's... oh... that's right, I 'went savage' right next to you... that must have been terrifying."
"It's nuh... not that..." Judy rubbed at her eyes. "When the ZPD caught you they... you..." She choked out a few sobs. "They had to muzzle you... and as soon as th-they did..." She hiccuped. "You started making this... these terrified whining noises, and yelps... it was... it was awful..."
"Oof..." Nick groaned, instinctively rubbing at his muzzle. "I guess some part of my subconscious still worked... Good thing I don't remember that."
"I'm glad you don't either," Judy offered a tearful smile, beginning to calm down.
"So! Everything's wrapped up huh?" Nick grinned. "Thanks to a couple of shrewd bunnies?"
"I mean, I hope so," Judy frowned, giving a shaky sigh. "When we captured Doug Ramses, he refused to talk about anything, like why he was targeting predators..."
"You think there's someone behind him?" Nick's brow furrowed.
"It's just a bad, paranoid feeling I have," Judy nodded. "Karen brought it to my attention first. Doug seems... 'small time'. He doesn't have the passion or the hatred. He's too... cold... to have that type of motive. And... when I interrogated Duke Weaselton about the Night Howlers, he said 'they' rather than 'he'."
"So, someone could still be out there," Nick sighed.
"I hope not, but it's a possibility..." Judy nodded.
"At least they can't use Night Howlers anymore," Nick nodded. "Now that there's a readily available cure, that won't do anything too damaging, and it leaves an evidence trail that anyone with a good sense of smell can pick up on."
"Right..." Judy looked worriedly out of Nick's window. "But... I just hope whatever they might try next isn't worse..."