Chapter Five: The Reality...of JAWS
Written by LapisLucius42
Edited by Cimar
After agreeing to their plan, Nick and Judy brought out the pieces to the shark cages they would be going into. In addition to the usual pieces, the cages came with two air tanks each to keep them buoyant. Finnick and Kris grabbed the toolboxes and joined Nick and Judy in assembling them. As the cages took form, Finnick and Kris noted how they took up most of the deck space and the height stopped just above the cabin entrance.
"Is it really necessary to have the cages this large?" Finnick asked, sitting on top of the hatch.
"Mr. Big just wants us to be adequately protected," Judy said from inside the cage. "I don't blame him."
"I thought you two were only bringing one cage to save space on the boat," Kris said, leaning inside through an opening.
"We considered it," Nick said. "But it's so that we can escape easier if the shark gets aggressive. Which will most likely happen when Carrots and I stab it."
When they finished assembling, the mammals connected the cages to the stern cleats with ropes and lowered them into the water. Nick and Judy then changed into their wetsuits and filled their rods with the poison while Finnick and Kris prepared the scuba gear.
Judy rolled her eyes when seeing the color of Nick's wetsuit. "You would buy one that matches that ugly shirt of yours."
"Hey we're trying to attract the shark not hide," Nick said, pointing out her colors. "Your wetsuit would blend in with the background at the right time of day."
The bunny stuck her tongue at him and resumed filling the rod, ignoring the chuckle from the fox. Once changed and armed, Finnick and Kris fitted the scuba tanks on Nick and Judy as they slipped on their masks. The fox and the bunny also attached underwater cameras to their masks to document the kill as evidence in case they are unable to bring the shark back to Zootopia.
"Any sign of trouble and you pull us in," Judy said.
"Will do," Kris said. "Are you nervous?"
"Nah, we're fine," Nick said. "Just going up against a creature that can swallow us whole."
"Always the jokester aren't you, Wilde," Finnick said.
With that, Nick and Judy placed the breathers in their mouths and entered the cages. Once fully in, Finnick and Kris gave them their spears, closed the hatches, and pushed them out away from the boat. The fennec and the otter chummed the waters with the remaining bucket and fish meat while keeping an eye on the monitor.
Underwater, Nick and Judy scanned their entire surroundings. With nothing but the vast and deep ocean in their sights, the shark could come from just about every angle. But having two sets of eyes on lookout decreased the chances of a surprise attack.
Judy heard the sound of metal banging and turned to see Nick giving the okay gesture. She promptly responded with the same, knowing he was just checking on her. The doe looked forward and immediately pointed in that direction for Nick to see. The fox did so and he and Judy clutched their rods tightly. Out in the distance and growing bigger by the second, the shark was swimming towards them.
Back on the boat, the monitor displayed the shark's direction and pulse rates. Finnick and Kris anxiously looked ahead and became worried for their friends when they couldn't see anything.
Underwater, Nick and Judy felt a strange feeling of awe from seeing the shark up close and personal in its natural habitat. They couldn't help admiring its magnificence and beauty. The creature circled around the cages before attacking the bait. Unfortunately for Nick and Judy, this all took place out of their range of attack and could only watch. After eating the bait, the shark swam away and seamlessly disappeared into the ocean blue background.
Nick and Judy remained on guard, knowing the shark could make a return. The only sight for miles was the vast emptiness of the ocean. The only sounds were from the creaking of the cages, the bubbles released from the breathers, and the small currents. Without assistance from above, Nick and Judy only have their senses to track the shark. They were fortunate that the scuba outfit hid their tense behavior.
Judy checked on Nick when she saw him waving his paws frantically while pointing behind her.
"LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!" She heard.
Judy snapped her head in the direction Nick was frantically motioning in just in time to see the shark ram into her cage. The bunny shrieked through her breather as she felt herself losing balance and grip of the rod. Before she could recover, Judy felt and heard another ram. She was knocked her off her feet and fell to the bottom of the cage. Her ears were ringing from the loud banging.
At the sign of the first attack, Finnick and Kris were trying to pull in Judy's cage but the shark prevented them from doing so.
The bunny finally recovered her bearings, only to shriek at the massive shark ramming her cage again and again. In the brief intervals, Judy frantically searched for the rod only to find it gone, realizing she must have lost it in the first attack. To her increasing horror, Judy saw the cage bars being bent slowly under the assault.
"LOOK OUT!" Nick cried, clutching the bars to his cage dangerously.
Judy had backed herself in one of the cage corners as the shark continued its assault and its mouth was slowly reaching for the bunny. It was so close that Judy could touch the snout if so desired. Seeing the rows of sharp teeth sent the bunny's primal instincts into a frenzy, forcing Judy to fight two battles. She knew fish weren't evolved as mammals, but the doe could never imagine them being this primal.
"GET OUT! GET OUT OF THERE!" Nick could only watch helplessly as he was out of range to stab the shark with his rod.
Judy was running out of time to escape as her defenses continued to weaken. After she finally regained control of her instincts, the bunny started formulating a plan. The only way out was through the top hatch. But in order to successfully escape immediate danger, Judy needed to coordinate her escape with the shark's next assault to buy precious time to swim to the boat. Gripping the metal bars, the bunny slowly moved upwards to the hatch.
Her plans were suddenly derailed when the shark swam over the hatch and got entangled in the ropes, effectively blocking off the hatch. The creature thrashed around violently to free itself. Judy frantically searched for an alternative and saw that the attacks had created an opening through the deformed bars. In mere moments, the bunny took one last deep breath before removing the breather and the air tank. She then managed to slip through the opening and breach the surface.
On the boat, Finnick and Kris had seen the shark entangle itself above the cage and pulled with all their strength until they saw Judy appear outside the cage. The two immediately stopped their current task and jumped aboard the transom. They brought out their paws and shouted as Judy removed her mask and made a break for the boat.
"Finnick! Kris!"
"Come Judy! Come girl! Swim for it!" The fennec shouted.
"Swim Judy! Faster!" Kris cried.
Judy swam for her life, knowing she only had seconds before the shark broke free and pursued her. The loud and frequent sounds coming from the monitor on the boat only increased her panic. The shark disappeared below the surface with the cage moments after Judy escaped. Having no sight of the creature despite its prevalent presence only increased the terror.
"Help me! Get me out of here!" The bunny screamed.
"You're almost there, girl!" Finnick yelled.
"Hurry, grab our paws!" Kris exclaimed.
Judy successfully reached the boat and Finnick and Kris wasted no time grabbing her arms and pulling her aboard, fearing the shark was in striking distance. All three mammals lay on the deck and were breathing heavily in the aftermath.
When Judy recovered, she looked around and her eyes widened in horror. "Wait, where's Nick?"
Finnick and Kris gasped when they realized they had forgotten about Nick. The three heard the sounds of metal banging and looked to see it bobbing up and down in the water. They quickly jumped to their feet and started pulling on the rope.
Nick felt an overwhelming relief at seeing Judy escape. But that feeling was short lived when the shark broke free from the cage and targeted the bunny. Desperate to distract the shark, the fox banged his rod and free paw against the cage, hoping that the sounds would attract its attention. When that appeared to fail, Nick could only slink down and hope that Judy reached the boat in time.
He let out a huge sigh and closed his eyes when seeing the bunny disappear above the surface. That feeling of relief returned, only for it to go away when he opened his eyes and saw the shark swimming straight for him. With only seconds before impact, Nick brought forward the rod to where the pointed edge can enter the mouth.
The last thing he saw was the rod connecting with the shark before his world rocked from the impact. The fox lost possession of the rod and fell on his back. Nick struggled to regain balance from the ongoing assault. Not taking a chance, he ditched his scuba tank and swam up. He quickly opened the hatch and removes his mask before scurrying to the boat.
Judy, Finnick, and Kris saw this and abandoned the ropes. The three reached over the stern with their paws out to pull up Nick when he came close. Without the shark being stuck in the cage, the fox only had seconds before the creature caught up to him.
"Come on, Nick!" Finnick yelled. "For crying out loud, swim faster!"
"Guys!"
"Come on!" Kris exclaimed.
"Get me out of here!"
"It's coming at you!" Judy cried. "Come on swim!"
Nick did not slow down to grab their paws, expecting the action to cost him fatally. As soon as he touched the stern, his friends wasted no time pulling him aboard. Nick laid on his belly and the others on their backs as they hear the monitor go silent from the shark swimming away.
"Did you manage to get it?" Kris asked, hoping their plan was not a total failure.
"I lost my rod when the shark surprised me," Judy said regretfully.
"I did," Nick said. "But I think it was in the wrong spot and only made it angrier."
"That's just great," Finnick said. "You got a plan C?"
"We do have sticks of dynamite," Judy said. "But the problem is the cages are damaged and without them for protection, there's no guarantee the explosives will kill it."
Nick and Judy slowly sat up.
"So instead," The fox said. "We're heading back to Zootopia and regroup."
"About time you said that, give me a few minutes to check if the engines are dry." Finnick got up and headed inside the cabin.
"Kris," Judy said. "Will you help us bring in the cages?"
The otter nodded. "Sure."
Nick went to one cleat and the girls went to the other. The three grabbed the ropes and pulled in the cages. They brought aboard the cages one at a time and saw the damage done to them.
"Cripes!" Kris exclaimed. "A great white did that?"
"Yep, saw it with our own two eyes." Nick answered.
"But I have to admit," Judy said. "It was exhilarating to see the great white up close."
"And we managed to get good footage to review," Nick continued, tapping at the camera.
"That will definitely help," Kris said.
At that moment, Finnick returned and gave the report, "Good news, the engines are dry. Now we can get our tails back to Zootopia." The fennec didn't give them a chance to respond as he climbed up to the wheel, raised the anchor, and started the engine.
Nick and Judy removed the air tanks from the cages and discovered the gauges were half-full. They decided to store them for a later dive. The two and Kris then disassembled the cages and moved the pieces inside before the otter joined Finnick at the wheel. After changing out of their wetsuits and drying off, Nick and Judy joined their friends as they headed back to Zootopia.
"You two upset about not catching the shark today?" Kris asked.
"Not one bit," Judy said. "We just underestimated its strength."
"Next time we'll get the creature for sure." Nick proclaimed.
"That's if it doesn't kill us first," Finnick said.
Nick and Judy had been expecting an average size great white, but now they had seen its true size, the two knew what to bring on the next trip. Kris and a reluctant Finnick agreed to come along when asked. Eventually, the mammals saw land over the horizon.
"Finally!" Finnick said. "I thought we would never make it."
At that moment, a haunting familiar sound rang out. Nick and Judy crowded the monitor and saw the pulse waves and direction.
"Guys," Kris said. "You all need to see this."
Nick and Judy followed her gaze to a terrifying sight. Finnick glanced back and quickly focused back on the controls. The others felt the boat suddenly sped up. Just a short distance away and maintaining speed, the dorsal and tail fins were slicing through the water in their direction.
"You have got to be kidding me," Judy said, exasperated.
"He's chasing us," Nick said.
Kris grew worried about the situation. "Have either of you seen something like this before?"
Nick and Judy looked at the otter and shook their heads together. "No."
"You two must have really provoked the shark that bad for it to respond like this," Finnick said.
"This actually might be a good thing," Nick said. "We draw the thing into Zootopia and if the hunters are still there, that will be the end of it."
"And you don't mind letting others taking credit for the kill?" Kris asked.
"After everything we've been through today, we just want it dead," Judy said.
Finnick remained focused on bringing them safely to Zootopia as his friends kept watch on the shark. Their main concern was it catching them before they could enter Zootopia. Those concerns were justified as the fins slowly became less visible until they fully disappeared under the surface. But the monitor continued to transmit the signals.
"He's gone under!" Kris shouted.
Nick, Judy, and Kris frantically search around for the shark as Finnick pushed the boat's speed to the limit. A loud thud suddenly rocked the vessel and causing the four mammals to stumble dangerously and nearly overboard. The boat slowed down momentarily before picking up speed. Another impact occurred followed by a loud boom coming from below.
"He's trying to sink us!" Kris yelled.
Finnick immediately stopped the boat. "Someone needs to go check if we've been breached! We'll lose the engine if we're taking water!"
"I'll go!" Nick volunteered.
"Then I'm going too!" Judy said and quickly continued before Nick could protest. "And don't even try arguing with me!"
Knowing they had no time for disagreement, Nick sighed and conceded, "Fine."
He and Judy climbed down the ladder and hurried inside. The first sign of trouble was when the water line reached Judy's ankle and Nick's feet. They hurried to the engine to assess the flooding and damages. The sounds of water rushing and the growing presence of smoke increased their panic.
"Nick wait!" Judy exclaimed before going off in a search.
"What are you doing?!" Nick yelled.
Judy returned with a pair of fire extinguishers and their scuba gear. "We need to be prepared."
"Smart bunny." Nick took an extinguisher and the two prepped them for use. They then slipped on their scuba gear. There was no time to change into the wetsuits so they settled for the masks and breathers.
At the entrance, Nick placed his paw on the knob and he and Judy were ready to jump back in case the worst happened. The fox flung the door open and like with Finnick, the two were engulfed in a plume of smoke. But the air tanks and masks helped minimized the smoke's effects. Nick and Judy rushed inside and sprayed down the machinery. While fortunate that a fire didn't break out, it was now certain they would need to radio for help.
"Finnick's not going to be happy when he sees this," Nick said through his breather.
"He can bite all the faces off when we get back to Zootopia," Judy said.
In their assessment, the two heard a loud crash from behind and felt a sudden increase of water. When they turned to investigate, Nick yelped and Judy shrieked at the horrifying sight of the shark successfully breaching through the hull. The two scrambled away and stayed as far as they could as the shark thrashed its head sideways and chomped its teeth.
"Judy! Nick!"
Kris and Finnick came down to the engine room after hearing their friends' screams and made the terrifying discovery.
"Oh my gosh!" Kris screamed.
"Holy cripes!" Finnick shouted.
"Help!" Judy cried.
"Do something!" Nick yelled. "We're trapped."
After recovering from the shock, Finnick and Kris scrambled away in search for weapons. Meanwhile, Nick and Judy remained pressed against the wall in a case of déjà vu. Except this time they didn't have cages and weapons to protect them. The only comfort was that they were not separated from each other. Judy hugged Nick tightly as he protectively wrapped his arms and tail around her.
Finnick and Kris soon arrived with Nick and Judy's fishing gear. The fennec had also brought his bat along with him. They were about to enter the water when they saw how high it came.
"The water's too high!" Finnick shouted. "We can't get to you without the shark eating us!"
"What about the explosives?" Judy asked.
"But you'll die too!" Kris yelled.
"Try something!" Nick cried. "We don't know how long we can hold out!"
Finnick and Kris searched through the supplies for anything to kill the shark long range, but nothing else was useful aside from the harpoon guns and explosives. With the boat sinking from the flooding, they were running out of time. The shark became more aggressive as it tried to free itself from the hull. Finnick and Kris tried throwing the useless items to force the creature back but only further provoked it.
"It's no good!" Judy cried.
"Just give us our weapons and get out of here!" Nick ordered. "We'll figure something out!"
"But!" Kris cried.
"Hold on!" Finnick yelled.
The fennec left briefly and returned with an undamaged side of the shark cage.
"Grab the gear, Kris!"
With Finnick holding up the metal bars and the bat and Kris towing the fishing gear, the two carefully approached their friends and halted a few inches away from the shark. Finnick exposed himself a little so he can retaliate if the shark went for them. Kris carefully timed her throws when the creature moved its head away from them, and she successfully supplied their friends after a few close calls.
Seeing this, Finnick grabbed Kris' arm and yanked the otter much to her protest out of the engine room as it completely submerged. The two retreated up to the controls as the boat slowly sank. The monitor's readings were off the chart with the great white just below them.
Finnick opened a box near the wheel that contained a rope set and an orange and black roll. He first tied the rope to Kris before setting the roll down. The fennec pulled the string and a rubber raft inflated from the roll that came with an oar. He tied the line on the raft to himself and then Kris to the raft with the rope.
"What about Nick and Judy?" Kris asked, worried for her friends' survival. She had been focused anxiously on the entry while Finnick prepped their escape.
"If there's one thing you should know about those two, is that they are resourceful and extremely lucky." Finnick placed the monitor and his bat into the raft. "Come on! Get in!"
Kris reluctantly tore herself away and entered the raft. Finnick jumped in just when the water line reached the controls and grabbed the oar to start paddling away. He stopped after a couple of strokes and joined Kris in watching the mast of his boat disappear underwater. With their own survival secured for the moment, they waited anxiously for Nick and Judy to surface alive. The device continued to emit the haunting sounds of the heartbeat.
After their friends retreated, the power went out, leaving Nick and Judy alone in the dark with the shark. Their escape was slowly being cut off from by the great white trying to free itself.
With Judy impaired by the darkness, Nick frantically searched for a flare among the items thrown their way. Through his night vision, the fox successfully located the object and wasted no time activating it. The dark room instantly became illuminated in red and the two were thankful to regain their sight. But the flare also attracted the shark and caused it to focus on them.
Nick and Judy knew they had a limited amount of time before the flare burned out and exhausted their air tanks. They concluded that it was now or never for them to kill the shark. Nick gave Judy the flare and the two checked their supplies for any weapons. Judy successfully located the sticks of dynamite and knew they would do it but now the question was how to get close to the shark and have a chance for survival.
The bunny felt a tap her shoulder and she turned to see Nick holding up the harpoon gun in one paw and rope in the other. Judy immediately understood his plan and gave him the flare. Nick was confused at first until he saw her rip part of the fuse off. He then understood her intentions and returned the flare in exchange for the dynamite.
Nick watched Judy bring the flare to the fuse and the two saw it ignite. Excited and hopeful at the result, Nick tied the dynamite to the the harpoon with the rope and aimed at the shark. Judy held the flare near the fuse and the two waited for the right moment to shoot inside the shark so it can take the brunt of the explosion.
When the great white turned in their direction once again and opened its jaws, only one thought crossed their minds at that moment.
Smile you son of a fish!
Judy and Nick simultaneously lit the fuse and fired the harpoon. The dynamite entered the mouth just when the shark closed it and turned its head the other way. After seeing their plan succeed, they quickly threw the items forward and huddled as far away possible from the blast range. Judy covered her ears and closed her eyes as Nick wrapped his tail protectively around her and did the same. A loud boom was the last thing they heard before their worlds rocked.
The explosion startled Finnick and Kris and the heartbeats stopped abruptly. Moments later, bubbles and boat wreckage floated to the surface. Joy threatened to overwhelm them from seeing the area turn red and knowing the shark was finally dead. But Finnick and Kris remained cautious since Nick and Judy had not yet surfaced. As the seconds dragged on for an eternity, they started to lose hope for their friends when a familiar voice suddenly came from behind.
"Hey! Can you two give us a paw?"
Finnick and Kris' eyes widened in surprise and they turned around to see Nick and Judy floating in the water.
"You're alive!" The otter cried.
"Yep!" Nick exclaimed and raised his fist in the air. "WildeHopps lives!"
He and Judy swam to the raft and were helped aboard by their friends. The bunny and the fox removed their masks and air tanks before falling back in the raft.
"We're glad you made it," Kris said. But her cheerfulness was replaced with gloom. "But it's too bad we don't have any evidence of the kill." She felt that all their efforts in vain without proof.
Nick and Judy smiled before tapping their masks which still had their underwater cameras and revealed the remains of the upper and lower jaws of the great white they managed to recover.
Finnick and Kris released a sigh of relief that they managed to get some evidence.
"Can't wait to see the footage," Finnick said as he picked up the oar. "Let's go home." He began paddling them back to Zootopia.
The mammals remained silent during the first half of the voyage as the exhaustion from the entire trip finally overcame them. Knowing that their display would certainly draw questions, the four savored every moment of their current peace. The small raft reached the last leg of the voyage and the mammals prepped themselves for the incoming inquiry as they spotted boats in the distance heading towards them.
"Kris," Finnick asked, slightly timid. "I'm sorry you had to go through all this. I know you all you wanted was to get over the breakup."
The otter surprised and silenced him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Don't be. You showed me these past ten days how much you truly cared for me. Something my last boyfriend clearly lacked. Thank you."
Her kinds words threaten to form a smile on Finnick but he was glad to help Kris move on.
"Way to impress the lady buddy," Nick shouted.
Irritated for ruining the moment, the fennec threw the oar at Nick which the red fox took the message as his turn to paddle. "And you two owe me a new boat!"
Nick waved his paw nonchalantly. "Yeah yeah. We can settle this later."
Before Finnick could respond further, Kris kissed him on the lips which calmed him down. When she broke the kiss, Finnick saw the look in her eyes. "Come on, Fin. Your girl needs some comfort right now."
Finnick relented and the two relaxed and cuddled in the raft.
While Nick paddled them towards the nearest boat, he looked down to see Judy snuggled up against him. "So uh, no more shark hunting Carrots."
Judy laughed weakly from his remark. "Yep. From now on, we're sticking to game fish."
When the simulation ended, Nick and Judy quickly sat up and removed their visors. They were breathing heavily as certain vivid details, good and bad, replayed in their heads. The two silently looked at each other before suddenly breaking out in laughter.
"That wasn't scary at all!" Judy said.
"Nope! Didn't faze me one bit!" Nick said.
Their laughter continued, albeit more forced and weak until it finally died down. While this nightmare mode was certainly different than the first time on the highest setting, the lowest setting was much more than they expected. Neither wanted to admit how much the experience had frightened them. After this, they would prefer to avoid unnecessary water or anything water-related for the time being.
Judy finally spoke after calming down. "So do you want to buy the experience? If you want to."
"Sure," Nick said, easily brushing off the emotions. "It might make a good horror movie night."
The two purchased the experience and decided to eat at the arcade afterwards. Nick and Judy would decide their future on nightmare mode later on a full stomach.
While in line for their food, Nick was checking Furbook when he noticed an interesting picture in his feed. "Carrots, check this out!"
Curious, Judy looked at his phone to see a picture of Finnick with a familiar female otter who had an arm wrapped around him. The picture was taken by the latter who tagged them both and the description read GF + BF! The photo already had a number of comments, likes, and emojis. Including Nick's.
The bunny giggled at the photo and captions. "Wow, I didn't think they'd meet and get together in real life. Didn't she try to flirt with you the first time we met?"
Nick cringed slightly from the memories. "Still an awkward moment to this day…I guess she has a thing for foxes."
AN: WildeHopps survives the mighty ocean! But it has also gained their respect. Thank you again Cimar for the invitation. Writing this has been a lot of fun! Though with how this ended, I'm not sure how the story can be continued. I never did write Nick and Judy on their own fishing boat so that's a start.
As you all know by now, the JAWS films were the inspirations. Even 3 and 4 have their moments. I do admit bias for 3 since it's the first one I watched and later 4, 1, and 2 in that order. The 1916 Jersey Shore incidents were also an inspiration. The names of the deer and polar bear and the nature of their attacks are based off the real life victims Charles Vansant and Stanley Fisher.
I'll end it here with some shameless plugging. Check out them out on my profile if you're interested in any more of my Zootopia writings.
First is a WWI AU (The Spirit series) that will span the entire war from different viewpoints with the focus mostly on WildeHopps. Second is Zootopia: the Paper Chase, a law school AU where our friends endure the three-year journey to become lawyers (No relation to Ace Attorney) Lastly, Assassin's Creed: Zootopia, my first Zootopia fic and also my first fic on FF. (Also on Archive which I still need to import)
That's all from me! I hope you enjoyed reading this!