Chapter 11
"What?!" Nick glanced surreptitiously at Judy. "I can't shoot Judy! Are you insane?"
"Nick. Do it."
The fox whipped his head at the rabbit. "Excuse me?"
"Maybe it's a blank."
"I'm not taking any chances." He stood up and grabbed her paw. "Let's go."
Before Judy could stand up, McHorn clicked a button on the armrest of his couch, and metal restraints instantly trapped Judy in her seat.
"Nick!"
"Let her go." Nick turned to McHorn, glaring fiercely at him. "And if you think I'm shooting her, you have another thing coming!"
The rhino just looked at him like he was a kit throwing a tantrum. "Mr. Wilde, time is money. Either you shoot her, or you both quit. Only one agent can move forward from here."
Nick looked at the gun pensively and then at Judy, who stopped struggling and watched him warily. Could he do it? No, it was his wife. His best friend. Tommy's mother. But then again, this was his dream. But was it not their dream?
"There are plenty of rabbits just like her." McHorn chortled raucously. "They multiply!"
"Nick." His paws shook as he held the gun. "Do what's right."
"I will," he promised, before facing McHorn again. "You said only one agent can go on, right? What if I shoot myself?"
"Nick! NO!" Judy wiggled in the tight restraints, even though she knew it was futile. "You can't!"
"You're the mother of our child!"
"And you're his father!"
"Think of my mom, Carrots! Think of what we could give her and Tommy!"
"You are NOT killing yourself for money!"
Nick pressed the cool metal against his temple. "But I can't shoot you." Judy just looked away and wept in response. Nick stared at her remorsefully. He hated making her cry, but he knew her pain would be over shortly. It just took one shot...
BANG!
Nick froze. That shot heard from the other room seemed to wake something sensible inside him, and he dropped the gun. Judy breathed a sign of relief, while McHorn just chuckled sonorously and shook his head at them.
"Tsk. Tsk. I expected more from you Wilde's. At least the gazelle's got guts." Judy and Nick just glowered at him. McHorn released Judy. Nick helped Judy out of her chair, and they quietly, though angrily, left the mansion.
xxx
Meanwhile, Gazelle and Benny stared curiously at Angelica, who had ordered Gazelle to shoot Benny. Gazelle hesitantly did it, hoping it was a blank, and it was.
"So..." Benny whimpered. "What's next?"
Angelica's ears perked up for a certain noise. Finding nothing, she grinned triumphantly. "Looks like there are no more tests for you kids. The rabbit and fox failed their test." She shook both hoof and paw. "Welcome to the team, agents."
xxx
Since they did not have a ride home, Judy and Nick stole a limo and drove off, scowls still intact. They only dropped their sour looks when they pulled up in front of their apartment and mustered up smiles for Charlotte.
"Nick! Judy!" Charlotte hugged them tightly. "Come! Sit!" She led them inside and started making them some tea.
"Where's the little monster, Mom?"
"Taking a nap. You two lost weight. Did they feed you enough or..." As Charlotte started to ramble and nag motherly about the importance of a healthy and balanced diet, Judy noticed something alarming.
"Charlotte, what's that?" Judy pointed Charlotte's eye, which looked poorly and hastily covered in makeup. The vixen just shrugged and turned away from her son and daughter-in-law.
"W-What's what?"
Nick growled and cupped his mother's chin, forcing her to face them again, and brushed the makeup away. A big, purple bruise was on her temple, and the eye was black.
"A black eye," Nick whispered darkly, releasing Charlotte and sharing a look of disgust with Judy. "He did that?!"
"Nicky, Judy, just calm down -"
"That son of a bitch," Judy hissed, clenching her paws into fists. Nick nodded and left wordlessly. Judy followed him, ignoring Charlotte's protests and crying.
"Nick! Judy! Wait! It's not what you think!" But it was. Dan crossed the line big time.
xxx
Dan, Gideon, and Gideon's gang members smirked as the couple drove up to them. They were drinking outside, beside their bar.
"Nice limo, freaks!" Duke barked. "Stole it?"
"Shut your trap, Duke!" Judy looked so furious that Duke listened to her and closed his mouth. For being a cute little bunny, she looked frightening when pissed.
Nick, although appearing calmer, was steaming inside. "We'd like a word with you two." He nodded to Dan and Gideon.
Dan just rolled his eyes and downed his drink. "A word? What's that supposed to mean, Mamma's boy?"
Nick and Judy cracked their knuckles. "Why don't you send your posse inside and find out, boys?"
Gideon was about to retort, but Dan cut him off and nodded at the others, who gave the married couple glares and obediently went inside.
"Alright, freaks." Gideon smirked and cracked his own knuckles. "Hop out of your stolen ride and show us how it's done." They were about to, but then the front window rolled back up on its own.
"Nick?" He was driving.
Nick shook his head as the wheel began to turn on its own. "I'm not doing it, Carrots. I'm not -" Both stiffened, struck by the same idea, and turned to each other.
"Bogo - OW!" The cried out in unison after their heads accidentally collided. The limo skidded away from Gideon and Dan, who looked mildly disappointed but mostly amused.
"That's right! Drive off you stupid kids! Come back when you're ready for a real brawl with the daddies of 'em!"
The limo ended up in front of Kingzoo mansion. Bogo, I-pad in hooves, was controlling the vehicle with a stern frown.
xxx
"Words cannot express how disappointed I am."
Nick and Judy just stared dully at Bogo, trying their best to hide their anger. Who was he to be disappointed? They simply could not do it. That test was insane. It was not for them. The did not sign up for it.
"Actually, they can. Care to guess how I'll begin?" He paused sarcastically before continuing to rant. "Let's start with your parents - "
"Don't you dare," Judy finally snapped crossly, "bring my mother and his father into this! Do you even know what we had to do?"
"Yes, actually I do. Because I did it myself." The couple stared at him in shock. "Don't act so naive, Wilde's. My partner was McHorn. And as you can see, he's perfectly fine and he's in tech support. Did you honestly think we'd kill our potential recruits? Yax? He was trained to scare you all. Took the fly immunization. And the rest of you? Perfectly fine! One of our oaths is only to take a life when all else fails. The only thing we cannot prevent is... an accident."
Nick just crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, we didn't know that before that sick, demented rhino told me to blow my wife's brains out!"
"Why don't you just stop thinking like an agent once?!" Judy shouted. "Our parents probably wanted what normal parents want for their children: a nice spouse, a home, not this hullabaloo!"
Bogo stared down at Judy so threateningly that Nick pulled her back. "You wanna know what's a bunch of hullabaloo, Judith Hopps? Listening to you two complain about some stupid test! I've done so much for you two and this is how you show your gratitude, failing a simple test and stealing one of our limos. Therefore, you have failed and embarrassed me."
Nick laughed humorlessly. "Who do you think you are? Our father? What you say means nothing to us!"
"Why don't you just leave?!" Terrible memories overwhelmed Judy as Bogo loomed over her, and she found herself burying her face in Nick's chest. "Please..."
She remembered the slashing, the hitting, the pleading... He had towered over her, too, deriding her, mocking her, saying how much of a failure she was...
Bogo and Nick stared at her wordlessly, Nick with concern, Bogo with guilt, until Bogo knelt down to their level and tried to comfort her.
"Judy, I'm - "
"Get out," Nick whispered, his eyes glowing slightly red. Bogo shivered but tried again.
"Judy - "
"Do you bastards ever listen?! GET OUT!" Bogo gave a slight nod, gave Nick his laptop computer, and walked away.
"I will be on a mission concerning Bellwether," Bogo elucidated as he reached the door. "You'll get footage from my and Gazelle's and Benny's cameras."
They watched him leave solemnly. Then, Judy patted Nick's arm and turned to the laptop.
"Carrots?"
"We have to make sure they're okay, don't we?" Nick shrugged and sat beside Judy. Sometimes his dumb bunny was too quick to forgive. She turned on the computer, and three live videos began.
