RJ

Chapter IV: Rush Power

Written by Berserker88

Edited by Mind Jack & DrummerMax64

Cover art by SaittaMicus

It took a few days to hear back from Fitwik. Those few days Judy spent in an endless cycle of irrational anxiety, self-reassurance, seeking comfort from Nick, then remembering that he was the reason she was stressed in the first place, rinse and repeat.

That was probably why Nick had suddenly become the perfect husband. He did all the cooking, all the cleaning, took care of the kits, even took over paperwork duty at the ZPD. Several officers had come to her asking if something was wrong with him, to which she could only answer honestly.

Of course, Nick taking over much of her duties only gave her less to distract herself from thoughts of PIXAR. Actually visiting the arcade was out of the question where it had once been a daily activity.

In short, by the time Fitwik called them back, both Nick and Judy looked like they had been through a war. "Are you guys okay?" he asked. "If you want, maybe we could postpone this until-"

"NO!" they shouted in unison.

"Okaaaaay then." He blinked a few times. "I guess PIXAR will be enough of a rest for your bodies, at least."

"So how did it turn out?" Judy asked hesitantly.

Stretching out in front of his computer desk, Fitwik brought up a set of data and started looking it over. "Almost perfect. PIXAR didn't have any problems reading from Nick's memory, perhaps because the system knows him so well already. From there, it was easy to build an accurate simulation."

Nick yawned. "Well, don't I feel honored?"

Judy was stuck on the first sentence. "Almost perfect?"

"With a process like this, there's bound to be some bugs here and there," Fitwik answered quickly. "You know, gaps in Nick's memory, stuff he doesn't remember so clearly, or remembered wrong entirely. The code got a little weird with all the inconsistencies, but I went through and cleaned it all up. It was a snap." He even snapped his fingers for emphasis.

"As long as it's accurate," Nick said.

"And safe," Judy added.

Fitwik sighed in exasperation. "Guys, I didn't build the Mootrix here. Even if you went and died inside PIXAR, it wouldn't do a thing to you in real life. I'm not an amateur."

"You're right," Judy admitted, despite wincing a little at the mental image of virtual death. "PIXAR has never let us down before, so I shouldn't be so hung up on it now. I'm sorry for doubting you."

"Thank you." He smiled warmly. "Now are you ready?"

"Am I ready to put my past behind me for good?" Nick asked, perking back up. "Yes, yes I am."

"Am I ready to be very grateful for how my husband turned out?" Judy joined in. "Yes, yes I am."

"Great!" Fitwik sauntered back to the curtain and pulled it open for them. "Then I will be happy to impress you yet again. Please take a seat, sir and madam."

"Don't milk it," Nick teased, sliding past him and into the seat as Judy hopped up next to him. As a custom-made simulation, their monitor displayed only a single option, and accessible only to them. "What does 'RJ' mean?"

"You don't know?" Judy asked. "Isn't this supposed to be from your memory?"

He shrugged. "Must be one of those inconsistencies."

"It was all over the code, so that's the designation I went with," Fitwik answered from outside. "Apparently, you go by 'Reynard Junior' in there. Uh...spoiler alert, I guess."

Nick's mood suddenly soured. "Wow. Don't know how bad of a mammal I am, but I sure have some bad taste."

Judy was quick to pick up on it. "What's wrong?"

"In short, I seem to have named myself after my late father." She stared blankly. "I'll explain later."

"Relax, I'm not going to judge you for anything that happens in there," Judy said, gripping his paw with her own. The irony that she was now the one reassuring him was not lost on her. "Just as long as this Nick is the one I wake up next to."

He smirked, leaning down to plant one last kiss on the top of her head. "Deal."

Leaning back in their seats, Nick and Judy pulled the helmets over their eyes and steeled themselves for what was to come. The last thing Judy heard before she went under was Nick's soothing voice.

"See you on the other side."

Manchas wasn't kidding; Aurora Park really was a considerable distance away, practically on the furthest reaches of Tundratown. Did Chief Bogo choose such a remote location to avoid causing a scene, or did he have less noble intentions? At this point, Judy almost didn't care now that a dangerous and clearly insane crime lord was gunning for her directly. If her parents caught wind of any of this, she had no doubt they would faint on the spot, lecture her, and forcibly drag her back to Bunnyburrow, hopefully in that order.

If RJ doesn't get to them first. And thoughts like that really weren't helping. Make that a dangerous and clearly insane crime lord who already knew exactly who she was and where she came from. For better or for worse, there was no turning back now. She either had to put RJ away or live in fear of him for the rest of her, probably brief, life. There was no other option.

Still...there was something about this fox that disturbed her on an even deeper level, and it didn't take her long to figure out what it was. "Hey, Manchas?"

"Hmm?" The panther turned away from the window, to which he had been glancing out every few seconds for the past twenty minutes. At least she wasn't the only one on-edge here.

"You heard what that fennec fox said back in the mansion, right? About what happened to him and RJ during the Missing Mammal Case. From what you told me before, that kind of thing was going on all over the city, wasn't it?"

"Yes…" he said, in a tone that openly questioned where this conversation was heading.

Judy nodded solemnly. "I had no idea. Sure, the crisis was all over the news, but it was all about the prey side. The attacks, the fear, the calls for action. No one said anything about how much the predators were suffering."

"By Bellwether's design," Manchas reminded her.

"It doesn't matter. I still should've done something about it. When I vowed to make the world a better place, I meant all of it, not just my own kind. And yet, innocent predators were being oppressed and subjugated all around me while I was too busy wallowing in my own failures to even notice." She laughed humorlessly. "Some cop I would've turned out to be. Maybe if I'd been less obsessed with proving my own worth, none of this would've even happened."

"Wait, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying, what if this is my fault? If I had just been able to solve that case back then, an entire year of pain and suffering could've been avoided, countless lives could've been saved, and then maybe RJ...Nick wouldn't have become such a monster. He might have even become a better mammal because of it." She looked at him, almost pleadingly. "How am I supposed to handle that?"

Manchas looked distinctly uncomfortable. Despite the looming danger, she half-expected him to throw himself from the vehicle any second. "I...don't think this is something you should be dwelling on now."

"Why not? I'm the one trying to blackmail my way back into the ZPD. I think it's pretty relevant to know if I even deserve it," she said stubbornly.

Once again failing to divert her, Manchas tried his best to reason. "You can't blame yourself for something you had no control over. No one on the ZPD could solve that case, remember?"

"Sure wasn't a problem for RJ though."

"RJ is...different," he argued, struggling to put words to his wisdom. "So what if you didn't find those missing mammals a year ago? You saved me, didn't you? And you're trying to save the city now. I'd say you've more than proven your worth as a cop, Judy."

Her expression didn't change, but her ears betrayed her as they lifted back up again. Seeing this, she was forced to admit defeat. "I guess you have a point. Maybe when this is all said and done, I can talk to Chief Bogo about getting you a generous settlement. Or even a job if you're...wait a minute."

Judy's ears went rigid now as she stared suspiciously at the panther. "I never told you my first name."

He flinched, backing away as much as the seat would allow. "W-What? Of course you did! Don't be silly!"

Maybe he'd heard of her before this all started. Maybe he'd listened in on her conversation with RJ. But the fact that he gave her neither of those very plausible explanations only made her more suspicious. She couldn't afford to take chances anymore. "Manchas, I'm going to need you to explain exactly where you heard-"

The entire van was suddenly rocked by a violent impact, not unlike the one they'd caused to steal it in the first place. Judy's first, horrified thought was that she'd hit someone until she looked out the window.

No, someone had hit them. Multiple someones, in fact.

Outside Mancha's window was an even larger van occupied by two familiar, and very ticked-off polar bears. "Raymond and Kevin!" he shouted.

Outside Judy's came a chorus of giggles both cute and somehow threatening. Sharing a single skidoo and waving cheerfully at her were Pearl, Opal, and Crystal. "The vixens!" she hissed.

To complete the set, a sleek, black limousine pulled up behind them. RJ popped out of the sun roof, wielding a megaphone. "Hope everyone's hungry, because it is now officially Rabbit Season! I'm just being coy, by the way, don't actually eat her. Yet."

Manchas was wide-eyed, gripping the wheel so tightly that his claws dug into the leather. "Don't suppose you have a plan for this?"

"Turn right."

"What?"

"Turn right!" Judy promptly grabbed the wheel and did it herself. The van careened to the right, directly towards the vixens and their skidoo. Their reflexes proved better than expected and they immediately braked out of the way, moving perfectly in sync with each other to keep the small vehicle balanced.

From his comfortable position in the limo, RJ could only smirk. "The prey tries to escape the net through the weakest knot. So predictable."

The van continued to veer to the right, enough that part of it was now driving on the sidewalk and scaring away local pedestrians. But then it abruptly reversed direction and flew back to the left, slamming into the bears' van with enough momentum to send it crashing into a building. Judy's van broke away and sped ahead, all of their pursuers now behind them.

RJ's smirk dampened only slightly. "You do know how to keep things interesting, Twitchy."

Meanwhile, Manchas was still trying to fight down the urge to tuck and roll out of here. "Didn't you used to be a meter maid?"

"Yes," Judy said, her gaze firm. "I used to be."

The bears were back on their tail in short order, but now they were stuck behind them. Still co-manning the wheel, Judy steered the vehicle back and forth, blocking their every attempt to pass. Their growls of frustration told her this was a good plan, which was very fortunate because it was the only one she had left. It was equally so that the roads weren't too busy today, as if the forecast had predicted a chance of car chases, leaving Judy a bit more room to maneuver. It might cause her some trouble getting into the ZPD later, but she chose to stay focused on living long enough to worry about that.

She was less able to keep the vixens at bay and their smaller and faster vehicle soon slipped past her, approaching from the right. "Incoming!" Manchas said fearfully.

Judy spared them only the briefest of glances, far more concerned with the giant van still harassing their bumper. "Really? What are they going to do? Bat their eyelashes at us?"

Something whizzed through the space between her ears and embedded itself in the dashboard. It was a small, silver knife. Judy stared at it in shock. Manchas stared at her. "Did...you not know that they're professional killers?"

The vixens' voices chorused outside.

"You are so gonna die tonight!"

"We'll, like, skin you alive and stuff!"

"You'll literally be pushing up daisies!"

"It would've been nice to know earlier, yes." Judy took the news remarkably well, probably because nothing else could surprise her at this point. It did alter her strategy, however, and she immediately steered the van back towards the vixens, hoping to scare them off again.

It worked, but not without consequence. They heard a sharp, puncturing sound followed by the van shuddering unnervingly. "I think they just took out one of our tires!" Manchas yelled. Which was another way of saying it had been pierced by three simultaneous throwing knives.

"Where are they even keeping those?!" Judy tried to reign in control of the vehicle as it began to swerve. It was this opening that finally allowed the other van to catch up, slamming into their left once again.

"Ju-Detective Hopps, help me!" Manchas cried out as he was suddenly jerked away from the wheel by a strong paw. Kevin had reached in and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck in a very feline fashion, already trying to pull him into their van.

Looking back on it, Judy felt a little bad about her instinctual first reaction. With one paw still on the wheel, she yanked the knife out of the dashboard and stabbed it into Kevin's arm. The bear roared in pain and withdrew his arm, but this only served to piss him off further. As he glared viciously at them, Judy and Manchas shot him sheepish grins in return.

"How's she doing up there?" RJ asked, casually typing into his phone.

"Well, she ain't dead yet, so okay I guess," said Finnick, craning his tiny neck to catch the action as best he could. "She won't stand a chance once the vixens get ahold of her though."

He looked up. "Yeah, about that, they did get the memo not to kill her, right?"

"I think so, but they're acting kinda…"

"Better make peace with your long-eared god!" Opal screamed.

"...aggressive."

RJ nodded. "Can't fault their determination."

"Pretty sure they're only determined to get some 'full-time benefits' if you catch my drift."

"Been there, tapped that."

"Excuse me?" Finnick turned back to stare at him in disbelief. "When was this?! And more importantly, where was I?!"

He wasn't even paying attention anymore. "Don't remember. Eyes on the road."

Grumbling obscenities under his breath, Finnick turned back to the action, where not much had happened in those few, missing seconds. Except for one thing. "Hey, where'd the girls go?"

Judy was confused too. One second, the knife-wielding vulpines were hot in pursuit. The next, they were gone. Not that she was disappointed, or even focusing on that with the bears still very much on the chase.

Clutching his wounded arm, Kevin could do little more than growl menacingly at them. Raymond, however, decided to be a little more direct. He turned the wheel and rammed into their van again, but he didn't stop there. Using its greater size, he continued to push the smaller vehicle until it was forced onto the sidewalk and then into the walls. Not only was the scraping sound it caused very unpleasant to Judy's ears, it also effectively trapped them between an almost-literal rock and a hard place.

That might not have been so bad had the vixens not chosen that moment to reappear. The skidoo emerged from an alleyway several blocks ahead of them and turned to face the van, the vixens all grinning sadistically as they charged.

The sight made Judy's blood run cold. "Are they insane?!" In a head-on collision, the van could very well be totaled, but that was nothing compared to what would happen to the skidoo and its occupants. Nevertheless, they didn't show any sign of slowing down. Chuckling darkly, the bears were more than happy to go along with this plan as they kept the van pinned against the walls.

Judy's brain went into panic mode, searching desperately for a solution. They could go neither left nor right and backwards was right out. That left only one, incredibly reckless, possibility. Staring straight ahead, she slammed her foot on the gas pedal.

Manchas had long been in panic mode himself as the van now began to speed up dangerously. "What are you doing?!"

"Not knowing when to quit."

The bears were so stunned they barely managed to keep up, while the vixens were only shocked for a second before continuing dauntlessly forward. Judy honestly wasn't sure where she was going with this, only that it felt marginally better than just rolling over and dying. Her only regret was dragging Manchas into this.

RJ threw a pawful of popcorn into his mouth. "Ooooooh, this is gonna be good!"

"Where did you get that?" Finnick asked, more confused than ever. And after tonight, that was saying something.

"I was hungry." RJ held the bag towards him. "Want some?"

Judy closed her eyes. It was too late to stop now even if she wanted to. Above her, Manchas took a deep breath and sighed in resignation. "Hold on."

She didn't get the chance to ask why. Manchas abruptly took hold of the wheel and turned hard to the right. She was certain that would result either in an immediate crash or nothing at all, so she was especially surprised to feel the van passing through empty air. Her eyes opened instantly to view their surroundings. They were on the road again...a different road.

Her ears shook from the force of a nearby explosion. Its source was unmistakable, yet nowhere in sight. "What...just...happened?"

"I spotted an opening to the right ahead," Manchas explained, panting from exertion. "I sped us through it onto the next road over."

"At that speed?" Judy asked skeptically.

He smiled. "I'm a professional driver for a reason."

Finnick's eyes practically bulged out of his head. "Wha-how-where did they go?!"

RJ smiled faintly. "It's about time."

Judy's van had slipped away. The bears were not so lucky. When their prey suddenly veered to the right, they ended up doing the same, bringing them right into the path of the incoming skidoo. The giant van heaved and toppled over onto its side, the engine somewhere between "ruptured" and "blown to kingdom come". Raymond and Kevin slowly climbed out of the wreckage, charred and groaning. "They don't look too good," Finnick said, concerned. "Should we stop?"

RJ nodded rapidly. "Sure! Let's forget all about our target and go help two idiot henchmammals!" He stopped abruptly. "Actually, how about we don't do that? Keep going. We're still tracking them."

"Alright." Finnick steered the limo carefully around the toppled van and the scattered remains of the skidoo. "Those poor girls though...:"

"I wouldn't mourn them too soon." RJ smirked. "Do you see their bodies in there?"

Judy's heart rate was just starting to come back down to normal levels when her ears shot upwards. "Do you hear something?"

Manchas didn't, not until the voices started.

"How did we, like, get here?"

"Who cares? We have so got a job to do!

"Shush! You're literally gonna blow our cover!"

Judy wasn't sure if she should be worried or amazed. "Are they on the roof?" At least now their jousting tactic made sense, assuming they originally planned to leap to the bears' van. Whatever kind of sense any of this made, that is.

She naturally started to jostle the van around in hopes of shaking their stowaways, but they proved as clingy to vehicles as they were to random strangers. "See? They totally heard us!"

"You can keep the wheel," Judy said to Manchas as she hopped back to her own seat and readied herself as best she could.

Opal flung herself athletically through the window a moment later, scattering glass and brandishing a knife. "Round 2, skank!"

"Did you seriously just call me-?!" Judy dodged to the side as the knife flew over her head, only slightly nicking one of her ears. Wincing in pain, her leg lashed out to kick her in the chin.

To her surprise, she caught it. "Not gonna sucker punch me this time! Or kick. Whatever!"

Opal yanked her off her other foot and tried to stab the knife down into her. Only through rabbit reflexes did she manage to turn her head to the right in time to avoid it. The knife plunged into the leather seat and Judy's arm shot out to keep it there, twisting herself out of Opal's grip in the process and delivering that promised kick.

The vixen's head rocked against the windowsill. Judy took the chance to leap forward and land another, double kick to her abdomen. The force was enough to propel Opal through the door, out of the van, and into some poor fishermammal's daily haul.

"Ewwwww! I am literally covered in fish guts! Wait, I think I used that word wrong."

"One down." Judy let out a breath as she pulled the door closed. She wasn't about to relax yet though, not with two more deadly assassins still lurking above. With only slight hesitation, she grabbed Opal's dropped knife, hoping she wouldn't have to use it.

There was a loud knocking on the opposite window. Judy instantly whirled around, seeing a terrified Manchas and Crystal, waving to them cheerfully from outside. Judy felt two manicured paws grab her by the ears and realized, to her great shame, that the vixens had just outsmarted her.

The rabbit was pulled roughly out of the car and practically slammed onto the roof. Pearl was quick to confiscate her knife and step onto her chest to pin her down while Crystal took up position behind her. Manchas had noticeably slowed down now to avoid throwing her off, which unfortunately allowed the limo to catch up. "Heeeeeeey, RJ!" Crystal cooed, waving her arms to get his attention.

Not that he could possibly miss them. "You know, seeing them all up on the roof like that kinda makes me want to join them."

"Really?" Finnick asked.

"Heck no, that's dangerous!" He had no problem popping out of his sunroof again though. "Good job, girls! Just knock her out and bring me the kitty cat!"

"What'd he say?!" Pearl yelled over the roaring winds.

"I think it was, like, knife her out and get all killy with that!"

He used the megaphone this time. "I said, knock her out and bring me the cat!"

"Cave her skull in and disembowel the cat? Got it!"

Judy would have found it terribly ironic to die as a result of poor hearing, so this distraction was very welcomed. She reached up and grabbed ahold of Pearl's ankle, throwing the vixen off, then sprung to her feet and swept Crystal's legs out from under her. In the process, she snatched yet another knife out of the air, idly wondering if she'd taken one from all three sisters now.

RJ sighed, falling back into his seat. "I'm starting to think we should've just hired that bat. She was affordable, efficient, even cleans up her own blood splatter. That's what I get for being suckered into a three-for-one deal."

"She wasn't as cute though."

"Well duh."

Amazingly, both vixens maintained their balance, better than Judy could at this point. They sprung forward almost in tandem, swiping at her with their blades. Judy deflected both attacks with her own and turned the knife to catch theirs as they pressed the attack. Pushing back hard with her hind legs, Judy managed to shove them away again. She could be doing worse, but her lack of experience with a knife, and with standing on a moving vehicle, was going to get her killed sooner rather than later.

She scooted around to the front of the van, considering just jumping back in...if she could. Pearl laughed. "Aww, what's wrong? Is the cute widdle bunny gonna hop away?"

Judy kicked off the roof...and into her face. Perhaps she was a bit too sensitive to that word for her own good, but the sheer kinetic energy from that movement in this circumstance made her headbutt hit a lot harder than it had any right to. Pearl staggered back, nearly going over the side, but just barely managing to hold on.

The same could not be said for Crystal, who happened to be behind her. The vixen squealed as she flew backwards and landed on the limo's windshield, cracking it. Finnick whistled appreciatively. "Wow, what a view!"

"Eyes on the road, Finn," RJ reminded him.

"Dang. Sorry, girl."

"It's...like...no biggie…" It still took a moment for the windshield wipers to shove her off.

Pearl looked back, just now realizing that she was alone. Her fangs bared dangerously. "You are so gonna pay for that!"

But she was indeed alone, no bunny in sight. "Wait, whaaaaaaaaat?"

Back inside the van, Judy almost casually slammed on the brakes.

Pearl's scream echoed across Tundratown. The vixen spun through the air, flipped over a few times, and finally crashed face first through a billboard advertising "Shiverman's Bail Bonds". An image of a muscular arctic fox getting his mugshot taken now had a new, very disproportionate head. Many kits were scarred that day.

The limo didn't have much luck either, the sudden stop causing it to slam into the back of the van. "Hey, stop wrecking our ride!" Finnick yelled after them as it took off again. Snarling in fury, he stepped on the gas and chased after them.

Judy couldn't help but laugh. "Now that felt good! Are we almost there, Manchas?"

She turned to the panther, who had been shaking like a leaf pretty much ever since Judy got grabbed. He pointed a shaky finger forward, towards a tacky sign that read, "Aurora Park: The Icy Retreat to Melt Your Heart!"

"Okay, good!"

Finnick saw the sign as well, beginning to lose his bluster. "Is that where they're heading? We're not driving into a police ambush, are we?"

"Don't worry about that," RJ said with his usual, infuriating confidence. "Just activate the grappling hook."

Finnick grit his teeth. "We don't have a grappling hook."

He pointed at the console. "Then explain the grappling hook button."

"I think I would've noticed a..." Finnick looked down, dumbfounded at the sight of a big, red button in front of him. "...grappling hook button."

"Told you so."

"When did you install this?"

"Before."

"And is there a reason you keep responding to my questions with complete non-answers?"

"Yes."

He nearly slammed his head against the steering wheel in frustration. "...I'll just press the button now."

"Please do."

A small slot opened in the front of the limousine and out came a grappling hook, snagging onto the back of the van's bumper. The end result was the limo essentially being pulled along for the ride as it passed under a large, overhanging gate that marked the entrance to Aurora Park.

"I think we have a problem," Manchas said, taking note of their new passengers.

Judy glanced back, with a raised eyebrow. "Doesn't seem so bad to me. Now we're just dragging RJ straight to the cops with us."

"Sure, but what about that?"

RJ had popped out of the limo once again, but this time he was carrying something significantly more dangerous than a megaphone. "I've always wanted one of these," the fox said, shutting one eye as he leveled an RPG at the back of his now captive target.

"Okay, I know we didn't bring that!" Finnick was barely audible over the winds and what Judy was pretty sure was her own, hammering heartbeat.

But we're so close! No way am I giving up now! As they entered the park, a circular walkway greeted them, with trees and benches surrounding a water fountain that appeared to be intentionally frozen into a heart-like shape.

That'll have to do. As they began to circle the fountain, Judy turned the wheel as hard as she could. Instead of continuing past the fountain, the van took a sharp bank all the way around it, back to where it started.

And where the limo was currently.

The van plowed hard into the limo's side, detaching the hook and sending the car spinning in circles across the icy field until it finally crashed into a tree. The resulting impact shook several pounds of snow from the treetops that covered the vehicle, and RJ, in a blanket of white. The fox's eyes poked out from his new snow casing, watching the van speed past them to freedom. "Welp. I had a good time. How about you, Finn?"

Finnick groaned through the air bag enveloping his face. "Could be better."

It was a shame they couldn't enjoy the scenery more. Judy had to admit, Aurora Park was a very nice place. Tall trees, glistening snow, tranquil lakes, and a perfect view of the sky that showed off the stars. There was even a special lighting effect added to cast an image of the park's namesake across the sky. Cheesy, but romantic. She could already see a young couple here and there just bathing in each other's company, completely oblivious to the chaos that had ensued just outside.

She tried not to let it bother her. A significant other was just one of many sacrifices she'd had to make to get this far. Instead, she prepared herself for what truly mattered: the meeting with the ZPD. Once all this RJ business was dealt with, then she could finally relax a bit. But only for a bit. Zootopia still needed protecting, after all.

"There's the pickup squad!" she said excitedly, pointing out a Precinct 1 patrol car concealed under the shade of a tree. They were coming into a forested clearing, one devoid of any other passerby, making for the perfect rendezvous point. She pulled over to the side and hopped out. "Let's go say hi, Manchas." The panther didn't say a word as he followed after her.

As soon as they began to approach, two officers emerged from the car, a white wolf and a polar bear who Judy recognized from the brief time she'd worked in Precinct 1. The wolf stepped forward and introduced himself. "I'm Officer Fangmeyer and this is Officer Grizzoli." The bear just nodded in greeting. "It's good to see you again, Judy." He exchanged his paw to shake hers.

"Likewise!" She shook the wolf's paw energetically. "Let me tell you, it has been one crazy night. Oh! This is the witness I mentioned, Mr. Manchas." She gestured to the feline, who was still keeping his distance. "He was being held captive and tortured by RJ. Trust me, he's got a lot of information on him."

Grizzoli nodded again. "Good to hear. Then let's get you both back to the precinct." He opened the back seat of the car for them.

Judy almost jumped right in, but Manchas still had not budged. "Come on, it's okay. They're friends."

Manchas remained where he was, his gaze steeled at the two officers. "Then what was her first assignment?"

"What?" Fangmeyer asked, caught off-guard.

"I know it's been a while, but if you're really her friends, then you should at least know her background. What was her first assignment?"

"Manchas, that's really not necessary," Judy said quickly. "I'm sorry, guys, he's just a little skittish after being captured like that. You can go ahead and tell him if it'll make him feel better."

But the officers did not respond. Judy turned around to make sure they'd heard, only to find a ZPD tranq pistol pointed at her. "You're under arrest," the wolf said coldly. The bear cracked his knuckles.

Judy took a step back, unsure how to even react. Manchas merely growled. "I knew it. He cheated."

On cue, RJ's limo pulled up behind them, now with a giant dent in its side. The fox stepped out slowly, giving his best of slow, sarcastic claps. "Long time, no see, Twitchy. I guess 'Operation: Trojan Oates' didn't go so well, but I can't argue with the results." He shot a thumbs up at the wolf. "Good work on the quick draw, 'Officer Grizzoli'."

The wolf tilted his head in confusion. "Wait, I thought I was supposed to be Fangmeyer."

"What? No, Fangmeyer is a tigress. Don't know how you mixed that up."

"Then who am I?" Not-Grizzoli asked.

"You're the guy who's not gonna get that raise I promised you unless you get these perps in some cuffs."

Judy grunted as she was shoved to the ground and placed in pawcuffs. False Fangmeyer then walked over and did the same to Manchas, who had spent this entire exchange glaring daggers at RJ.

The fox finally picked up on it. "What's that look for, Sour Puss? Don't tell me you of all mammals are surprised by this. I'm just doing my job, right?"

"Where's the real officers?" Judy asked, glaring up at him as well.

"They turned tail and aborted the mission as soon as they saw a bunch of my guys starting to move around this place. Didn't you get a call about that?" He slapped his forehead comically. "Oh right, the dumb bunny went and destroyed her phone! I bet Chief Bogo wouldn't approve of such a reckless decision, but hey, it's not like he was expecting much from you anyway."

"This isn't over!" she growled, as threateningly as she could manage from her position.

"Not until I get that password, no," he replied, idly checking his claws. "Don't suppose you guys wanna save me the trouble of dragging you all the way back to the compound?"

"If you couldn't get it before, I don't think your chances are any better now. I'll do everything I can to make sure you never see the inside of that vault!"

RJ's smug demeanor vanished, but not because he was especially impressed by her courage. Rather, he was so completely baffled that it just took him a second to register it. "Oh wow. Oh wow. Is that what you think this is about?" He shook his head, his expression somewhere between amusement and pity. "Now I kinda feel bad. This is like playing Blackjack against someone who thinks it's Go Fish. But to be fair, the deck was pretty stacked in my favor to begin with."

Dread began to well within Judy's chest again. What was it about this guy that let him rattle her so easily? "What are you talking about?"

"I couldn't care less about some stupid vault, Twitchy. The only one who knew that password was Koslov and I offed him pretty much immediately." His steely gaze turned to Manchas. "Your new friend here has one that's much more valuable, isn't that right?"

Manchas looked away, refusing to meet her eyes. So he really had lied to her. Not just that, he'd never explained how he knew her name, or for that matter, her first assignment in the ZPD. If this was how their journey was going to end, she'd never get any of the answers she was looking for, right back to square one as if she'd never left her cushy little office in the first place.

Unacceptable. While everyone was looking at Manchas, Judy managed to shift her cuffed arms from the back of her head to the front. She wasn't sure what she would do after that, but the polar bear made that decision for her. Roaring in surprise, he attempted to stomp her back into the ground. Judy rolled to the side, hooking her chained wrists around the bear's ankle and pulling tight.

"And now this is happening again," RJ said, more bored than concerned about this literal chain of events. He looked pointedly at Finnick, who groaned in derision as he finally got out of the car.

The bear was too late to stop his forward movement, losing his balance and falling like a log towards his lupine partner. The wolf screamed in terror and reflexively fired a tranq dart into him, which didn't stop him from getting flattened under the massive bulk anyway, except now they were both out of commission. Judy rubbed at her wrists, the bear's weight proving more than enough to break the chain and free them. "By the way, the answer was 'parking duty'. Looks like I still have a knack for it."

"You also have a knack for losing focus." A feline yowl brought her attention back to Manchas, who was now in a sitting position with RJ's arm firmly around his chest. His other arm held a very special pen to his throat, its blade fully extended and eager to draw more blood. "Now, about that password…"

Judy's ear twitched and she dodged away from Finnick as he lunged for her. Seeing the wolf's dropped tranq pistol, she quickly kicked it up into her paw and then wrapped her own arm around Finnick's neck, pointing the gun to the side of his head. "Now, about your surrender…"

RJ grinned widely, not exactly the reaction she was expecting. "Oh ho, a Mexicown standoff! Glad to see you still fighting until the end, Twitchy."

Finnick scoffed. "You're tryin' to threaten me with a tranq gun?"

"A dart from this gun just took down a polar bear. What do you think it's going to do to a fennec fox?" Judy answered in kind.

"I may have gone a little overboard on the formula," RJ admitted.

Finnick's face fell. "Nick, do something."

"RJ."

"Whoever you are, do something!"

"I wouldn't worry." And indeed, he didn't look worried at all, as per usual. "She talks a big game, but I don't think she has it in her to pull that trigger."

Judy forced herself to stand her ground, mainly because it was the only ground she had left. "You forget that only one of us explicitly needs our hostage alive. I don't think you're going to kill him either."

"Good point. Or at least it would be, except that you clearly don't know me as well as I know you." He brought the knife just a little bit closer to the panther's neck. "Go ahead and shoot if you have the guts."

"What?!" Finnick shouted, trying to break free. Judy stepped on his back and pulled him in closer, if only out of necessity. "Is this part of some big gambit of yours or have you completely lost your mind?!"

"Neither. It's just that anything that happens right now, outside of getting that password, means nothing to me. That's all."

He said it so casually that both Judy and Finnick were speechless. "How could you say that?" Judy finally asked.

"I get it now…" Finnick muttered, so low even she barely heard him. "I knew there was something off about you, ever since you took over. At first, I thought it was just the power getting to your head or something. That's why I just sat back and watched you do whatever you wanted, kill whoever you wanted, turned a blind eye to all the weirdness that seems to follow you around. But now I understand." He glared accusingly at RJ, filled with more rage than ever, but showing much less. "You ain't Nick."

"How many times do I have to tell you?" He stared back, smiling in the most non-mammalian fashion she'd ever seen. "I'm RJ."

Without warning, Finnick broke out of Judy's grip, stumbling away with a choked gasp. It was a strange reaction to be sure. She'd half-expected him to attack RJ after what he just heard.

Then she saw the dart in his neck.

Somehow, her gun had just fired, completely without her input. But that was impossible...right?

Finnick didn't seem to think so, for even in his final moments, his eyes never left RJ. "Should've...bitten...your damn face off…" Then he collapsed into the snow, never to move again.

RJ was not moved at all. "Yikes. Hate to see that happen. Your trigger finger get too itchy, Twitchy?"

She wasted no time in leveling the gun back at him, despite the clear risks in doing so. "What is wrong with you?! He was your friend!"

"No, no he wasn't. He was an insulting mockery of a friend, albeit a fairly accurate one. Though that does raise the question…" He shifted the pen knife so that it was no longer pressed against Manchas' throat; now it was pointing at it, able to easily stab him if he so much as sneezed. "...if I'm so callous about my friend, just what do you think I'm capable of doing to yours?"

"Ju...dy…" the panther gasped out.

"Doesn't sound like he's doing too well," RJ noted. "So, if you please...tell me the password."

Judy's arms began to shake. She couldn't take the shot, but she couldn't protect Manchas any other way either. "I don't know the password! He never told me!"

"I'm sure he didn't, given his obvious propensity for secrets." He patted the feline's head, almost playfully. "But you still know it. In fact, I wager you're now the only one who does."

She wasn't sure if she was more confused or frightened. "That...doesn't make any sense." So then why did Manchas look so panicked?

"Don't care. Tell me the password."

"I don't know it!"

"I'm not screwing around here, Twitchy."

She was in the verge of tears. "Please...just let him go."

"Better talk fast, I think my paw's slipping..."

"I...I can't…"

"Alrighty, have it your way." RJ pulled the knife away...and drove it back towards him.

"FuzzLightyear88!"

Judy froze, nearly dropping the gun. Where on Earth had that come from?

RJ froze as well, once again just barely missing feline flesh. But Manchas did not look pleased by this. More like horrified. "No!"

"Really? A pop-culture reference and repeating numbers? Are you sure you're not an amateur?" RJ retracted the pen's blade and stuck it back into his pocket, then roughly shoved the panther to the ground.

Even with so many questions racing through her mind, Judy didn't let this opportunity go. She immediately raised the tranq pistol and fired at RJ, not sure if she cared anymore that it could kill him.

It didn't matter anyway. Before the shot had even left the chamber, RJ was already sprinting back towards his limo. The fox threw himself over the hood as a second shot bounced off of it. "Hey now, if you wanna get mad at someone, how about the someone who's been lying to you this entire time?"

Without thinking, Judy looked back at the panther still sprawled helplessly in the snow, completely lost for a course of action.

That brief diversion was all it took for RJ to hop into the driver's seat and start the car. "As for me, I've got places to be! See you on the other side!" The limo swerved around in a circle and took off, leaving both of them behind in a matter of seconds.

But RJ was right about one thing: both he and her supposed friend knew more than they were letting on, and if she was going to do anything about it, then it was about time she got some answers.

Judy holstered the gun and advanced on the panther, a deadly gleam in her eye. "I'm going to ask you again, and this time, I expect an honest answer. How do you know so much about me?"

He looked left, then right, anywhere at all other than directly at her, but Judy did not waver. Finally, he relented. "I know because...I am Martin Fitwik, inventor of the PIXAR machine."

...And the questions just keep piling.

So remember when I said that I wanted to do something different with this What If? Well, I wasn't just talking about the main premise. In the process of planning out this idea, I started to realize that I could have some real fun with the whole virtual world concept this entire collaboration takes place in, which also happened to fit in nicely with that "Evil Nick" idea I had. It also served as a convenient way to remove the safety net of "It's just a simulation and nothing that happens in it could possibly have ramifications in the real world". Thus, the insanity you see before you was born, and it's not even done yet!

The many questions from this chapter will be answered in the finale, but just to clarify something you might be confused about now (like, more than expected), Virtual Fitwik never actually looked or sounded any different than he does in the real world, aside from having the crap beaten out of him. If you've been picturing Manchas' distinct accent coming from him, that's purely because he introduced himself as Manchas and this Judy, not knowing either of them, just took his word for it. (Note that no other character ever once calls him Manchas.) Rule of Perception can be mean sometimes, huh? ;)

Oh, and if you're wondering about that whole Fangmeyer/Grizzoli confusion, that's in reference to a problem a few of us authors faced back when we started writing stories before Disney settled on names for all the background officers. Yes, Fangmeyer used to be a (male) white wolf, and as far as my canon is concerned, he still is, dammit! #FangmeyerGate #StillBitter

Only one more chapter left to go, and if I can promise you anything, it's going to be the most action-packed and wholly-bizarre of them all. Hope you enjoy! :P