Nick lay down in the middle of the dirt road, he wasn't asleep, but it felt good to relax. This dirt road was the only way in and out of this secluded area for a good thirty minutes worth of driving. The sun beat down on him, and he didn't mind it actually, after a whole night of cold, dark and damp surroundings he took solace in the warm and comforting embrace given by the hot afternoon sun. He scooped up a handful of dirt and let the sand run out through the bottom of his closed fist, the thousands of individual grains could have easily representing the many thoughts going through his mind as he lay there waiting for his latest plan to kick into action.

Seeing some of the dirt clinging to the fur on his hand caused him to dust it off with his other. When suddenly from his resting position he heard something that caused his ears to flex. "It's time." He said to himself while carefully sitting up to avoid the pain from his wounds. For the last five minutes the fox had heard sounds in the distance, echoes coming from sound amplifiers, although it was too muffled and distant for him to properly make out what it actually was. What had caused him to sit up was the fact that the sound was becoming clearer and quickly, which could only mean that a car was headed down the winding dirt road.

Sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him, his hands out behind him in the dirt to hold himself upright and his tail swishing behind him to cool his back; the fox waited as in the distance a vehicle could be seen coming towards him.

As it grew closer, Nick could start to make out some of the features on the vehicle. It was a standard all-terrain vehicle and black in colour; much like the many he had seen and run passed back at the warehouse. There was a long pole; easily two meters tall, extending from the back of it and attached to this pole were two fairly large speakers. They were now close enough that Nick could hear exactly what was being amplified on the speakers, which caused the fox to clench his fists in the dirt behind him. They had just crossed a final line with Nick, and something within him snapped. It was like he had been stacking boxes of secrets and obscurities about his past for almost two years, every day adding another box to the stack, and as the stack grew taller he had gotten a little better at hiding his past self from Judy and everyone he cared about. But within the last fifteen hours; the stack of boxes in his mind had become very unstable and now…

They just pulled the very bottom box free from the stack.

Nick kept a straight face.

The car came to a halt a few meters ahead of Nick. A tiger stepped out of the driver's side and a jaguar from the passenger side.

Their steps towards Nick flicking up small clouds of dust as they approached the smaller fox.

"Well, well, will you look at that, isn't it so much easier when…" The jaguar has started, but his voice faded out as Nick's ears were tuning into the sound of Judy being attacked on the speaker. The sound of the jungle around the fox faded out until he felt as though he were floating through a black void with only the sound of Judy being assaulted surrounding and flooding his mind.

"… So I think we've earned ourselves a little punching party before we turn the scoundrel in." The jaguar finished as both of the mercenaries closed in on Nick with readied fists. Most of what the larger predator had been saying was lost on Nick as his mind was in a very dark place, but with the incoming attack he suddenly snapped out of it and was once more aware of his surroundings.

As soon as the mercenaries were within punching range of Nick, as fast as his worn arms could; he flung his arms forward and opened his fists, thus releasing clouds of dirt in his opponents eyes causing them to cower back and regain themselves. It took Nick what felt like an eternity to get back on his feet, but the second he was up; his whole body had a new found energy.

He quickly assessed the task before himself, and caught a glimpse of the tiger regaining himself and reaching for a holstered pistol. Thinking fast Nick took out his own empty pistol and threw it at the large and striped animal, causing it to stumble and fall back onto its rear and raise both of its hands to its head in pain from where the empty gun had struck him. At this point the jaguar had recovered and was shouting in sheer rage as it charged full speed at Nick, the fox then jumped and spun himself around three hundred and sixty degrees, before landing low in a crouch, buffing his shoulder in his opponent's direction. This move achieved two things, his tail struck the jaguar in the face, and a whole bunch of lodged dirt in Nick's tail's fur landed right in his enemies eyes; blinding him once more. Secondly; while blinded and still running forward at full speed, the jaguar tumbled right over Nick and wound up catching a face full of dirt as well as dropping his guard and his pride.

Quickly getting up from his crouch; Nick's hands fumbled over the downed jaguar until he found what he was looking for. Standing up and aiming for only a second with a pistol that he had relieved the jaguar of; Nick fired a shot and hit his intended target.

The tiger's eyes went wide with horror as he stared at his hand, only a moment ago he had been holding a radio device to call for back up, and Nick had shot it right out of his hand before he could get the first word through the receiver.

Nick placed one of his feet on the jaguar that lay where he stood to discourage any movement, lest the animal desired to get shot with the same, deadly precise aim. Aiming right at the tiger, Nick prompted for him to stand and walk, which he did with the same wide eyes and utter silence he had when Nick had fired his shot. "Move." Was all Nick said; as he indicated with his gun that the tiger should move towards the fox's left and towards the forestry. The tiger obliged. Removing his foot from the jaguar and taking a step back while re-evaluating his aim downwards, Nick demanded that the animal got up and slowly walked towards the tiger. The jaguar now too obliged.

"You! Tiger! Drop your gun and kick it towards me." Nick shouted while toggling his steady aim between his two defenseless opponents. The tiger had no choice but to do as he was told.

With zero emotion Nick took a deep and aim-steadying breath as suddenly the two animals that had tried to apprehend him began to beg for their lives.

There was screaming and begging for only a moment before two gun shots rang through the air. And Nick suddenly felt colder.

It was a slow walk to the vehicle for Nick, his mind stuck in what seemed like a sort of limbo as he sat down in the driver's seat. He threw the tiger's pistol onto the chair next to him and the pistol he had just used up onto the dash board. His thoughts were as vague as the last trickle of smoke that seeped out of the end of the barrel. He started the car and turned it around, driving back from where the vehicle came. And slowly the world around him started to come back to him, now with the sound of Judy's torture being amplified over the speaker which now sat right behind him. Nick was able to push back any doubts and continue with his end goal.

Nick felt a tear run down his cheek as he heard Judy almost plea 'NO!' over the speaker.

Judy was strong, and could take a beating with ease. But it was the inconsistency of X's blows that she could not take. He would hit her in rapid repetition for a minute or so, then only hit her once or twice every few minutes, and he only targeted her gut, nowhere else, which Judy though was strange.

That was before he introduced his new tactic. "Let's play a game." X started as he made circles around Judy while rubbing his warmed up fists. She was drenched in perspiration and out of breath from trying to withstand the might of the strong and fast creature's attacks. "I want to see if I can get you to beg for Nick to come and save you, before you suffocate." And suddenly the evil creature was right in on top of her, one of his hands wrapped firmly around her grey furred neck, not restricting her breathing, but firm enough that Judy knew he could snap her neck if he desired to. With his other hand he grabbed the Microphone off of the stand and placed it flat against Judy's cheek, a physical reminder that all she had to do to get out of her discomfort was to call out to Nick for help.

But Judy was a proud bunny, "No!" She shouted as well as she could, and slowly she felt X begin to apply pressure to her neck. Her eyes began to water from the restraint and the bunny began to shake her head from side to side as well as she could with the microphone pressed up against her.

"Give in little bunny, and do as you're told." Commanded X, with his doubled voice sounding more sly than ever as his grip tightened even more and he brought the microphone around and pressed it against Judy's lips before staring into her now growing-distant eyes and whispering, "Do it."

Her ears which had been twitching above her head, flexing and un-flexing rapidly had started to go limp and the world around her started to go dark as Judy could feel the pressure getting to her throat as her mind cried for oxygen. In a final and desperate attempt she did the only thing she could do; she mustered up as much effort as she could and strained against X's crushing hand. She opened her mouth and bit down on the hand that held the microphone as hard as she could. Her long bunny teeth penetrating the flesh on one of his fingers and then a sudden taste of copper filled her mouth.

Calmly and carefully; X released his grip on her neck, so not to do any further damage, and used that hand to pat Judy on the head as he slowly forced his other, bloody hand free from her clenched jaw. Setting the microphone back on the stand and giving her head one final pat, Judy's stunned shock at his response was sent over the edge when he then smiled at her, and it was a more horrifying expression than any she had seen in her life. It was cold, clinical, factual and empty.

Walking over to the sink where he had placed a few items in it prior to bringing Judy into this room, X spoke out so she could hear him. "A very good try, prey. Unfortunately I have been beaten to near death so many times in my life that I no longer understand the feeling of pain other than something as common as tasting bad food or drinking something slightly foul. I've even come to understand the educational merit to pain as a methodology to get a point across." He then walked back in front of her and held up a mirror so that she could see her face. "

Judy's jaw fell open and her eyes grew wide as she saw what she could only refer to as a 'wild and savage beast' staring back at her. "Now I'll admit that my method works better on predators, but look at the master piece I have still managed to create!" X spoke with pride as he stepped forward with the mirror for Judy to catch a closer look. All over her face and head; her fur was shaggy and sticky with sweat, even standing up in patches all around her features. Her eyes were blood shot and her mouth was stained with blood… X's blood. She had gone feral. She had gone primal. Judy was suddenly very aware of her racing heart and tensing body that was overflowing with adrenaline.

"It feels good, doesn't it?" Asked X rhetorically as he lowered the mirror and she looked up at him. "Deep down we are all wild animals and when we can embrace that, then the world order shall return to the way it should be. Your primal instincts caused you to lash out in a last attempt to survive and look at you now! It will fade in a few minutes as your body calms down, but look at what can be unlocked! Imagine being this way constantly! The power… The intensity… The chaos…"

"No one can stop their base instincts, and that's the way it should be." X finished as he walked back to the sink.

"I'm not wild like you. I am civilised. I am a protector and an ambassador of the beliefs we keep in Zootopia." Judy somehow managed to state in between deep and heavy breaths as her body pulled against the restraints and the adrenaline had no way to escape her restricted body. She shivered intensely as she continued, "If you are willing to change, to live in harmony with all the other animals, then there is a place in Zootopia for you too."

There was a moment of silence as X readied something from within the sink, just beyond Judy's line of sight. "Zootopia… A blemish upon natures face. There is a natural order to things, prey. And your city defies that order. I want no part of that sick and disgusting place." He then came to stand in front of Judy once more. "You are right about one thing bunny. You are not wild; you were a minute ago but not anymore." Judy looked at his hands which now held a large 'clamping' looking device that required him to hold it in both hands. "So welcome to the rehabilitation program, number two-seven-six-nine-nine. Because if you won't give me Nick, then I'll just have to settle for you!"

X came at Judy quickly and grabbed her left ear while he moved behind her. Judy saw nothing, but heard a loud metallic crunch as metal struck metal, and within a moment of feeling the cold kiss of metal. Her ear suddenly lit up with intense pain that was indescribable. She screamed in agony. Then there was a burning sensation, and the smell of burning flesh and fur filled her nose. Feeling her heart beating through her head and most of the sound around her flooded out by a ringing sensation; Judy almost didn't hear a final clank of steel.

Her left ear flopped and dangled down in front of her face, she panted heavily as a large metal ring that pierced and weighed down her ear bobbed in front of her. Fed through an inch wide hole that had been drilled through the upper end of her ear, the seamlessly sealed ring read the numbers 'two-seven-six-nine-nine'.

Dropping the clamp on the floor behind Judy, X walked around to the front of her again and turned off the microphone before walking out of the room. He stopped at the door and turned to the weeping bunny to say, "Nick isn't coming for you, and he doesn't care. And I don't blame him. You're just a worthless piece of meat. Or rather,,, Just live stock for breeding. I haven't yet decided. I've got until today is up and I send you back to my farm to decide. Then I can put you with the others I'm rehabilitating."

And X walked out. Leaving Judy with nothing but his final words, a throbbing and branded ear, and no hope for rescue, she didn't even expect her message to have gotten through to Chief Bogo at this point.

Judy had given up.

Chief Bogo was about to give up.

He had heard amplified sounds of torture and had been following them for what seemed life forever, but could not seem to get any closer to them. They had to be scattered sound sources throughout the forest and now they had gone quiet, pursuing them had been a useless waste of precious time and he was mentally beating himself up about it.

He signaled for his unit to fall in just as he heard some rustling just ahead of himself. And suddenly bursting from the bushes in front was a petrified pare of animals who suddenly found twenty four laser dot sights aimed down upon them. Chief Bogo lowered his weapon and regarded the two in curiosity as they now raised their hands and tried to no avail to catch their breath; they had clearly been running none stop for a while.

A tiger and a jaguar in soldier gear, but with no weapons… This day was getting stranger by the hour for the veteran chief. Taking no chances lest he is leading his own unit into a trap; Bogo ordered that they be restrained for questioning. First finding out what caused them such distress led Bogo to even more questions, some of which were rather unsettling regarding Nick. But these two foot soldiers were unable to answer most of them.

Bogo was able to pry valuable information about the location of the warehouse as well as the layout of the outdoor-guarding mercenaries and their overall numbers from the two captives. As well as some light knowledge on the leaders of this whole operation so that he knew who he was dealing with, and on that topic he noticed that the captives suddenly got very tight lipped and the chief knew immediately that he and his unit were dealing with dangerous animals out here. The names of Laurence, Greg and X were lost on him or at least he had no immediate knowledge on them. But the tiger noble that was funding this whole operation he had heard of as a cruel ruler of a rich country, built upon poor people, where there was only the extremely rich and unfathomably poor, no in between. It was a distant country and far from the province on which Zootopia lay, which again only gave him more questions than answers, which in turn was causing Bogo quite the frustrated headache.

"One final question…" Stated Chief Bogo; staring down at his cuffed captives, "What exactly is the purpose of those glowing blue bands around your wrists?" And immediately at the mention of it, both creatures growled at Bogo in an unsettling primitive fashion. Glaring tensely down at them, Bogo commanded his unit. "Bring the prisoners with us, we have a mercenary army to unravel from the inside; out."

Nick had pulled the vehicle off to the side of the road. He was close enough to the warehouse that if he drove any closer he would risk discovery. Not sure if he regretted his choice to scare the two mercenaries into running away with two warning shots was a good idea or not had Nick troubled. He shouldn't be regretting not killing anyone at all, but his thoughts were interrupted by the loud scream of absolute agony that had come from Judy over the speaker before it went quite. That was about five minutes ago and it was constantly looping through Nick's head; the sound of her agony was crushing him from the inside out.

Forcing his mind clear; Nick took a few steps back from the vehicle and took a quick stock of everything he had gathered.

Two fully loaded pistols, one on each side of his belt and three more full magazines in his back pocket. An assault rifle strapped to his back with a standard magazine, and another magazine tucked in his right front pocket. He wanted to carry more, but between pain and fatigue he didn't want to weigh himself down or hinder himself any more than he already was.

Lastly, in his right hand he held his last plundered spoil from the vehicle and looked at it with absolute doubt. A grenade, which he had gotten off of a belt of five that lay at the back of the vehicle. This was the best plan he had and it needed to work, so he could get back to Judy and fast.

Pulling the pin from the grenade and tossing it right into the front seats of the vehicle; Nick turned and ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction, right back into the forest.

Bogo was forced to turn his head at the loud sound of a nearby explosion as he and his unit marched forward. He was now torn. Continue as planned or investigate what had cause such an explosion.

Laurence, X and the others that sat around the planning table were also suddenly drawn from their discussions to the direction of the sound of an explosion and a steady rise of smoke, not too far from their warehouse. And suddenly all the outdoors units were dispatched to sort it out quickly before it drew upon too much unwanted attention.

Judy heard the explosion and her eyes raised for a moment, just for her overwhelming self-doubt and loneliness to overwhelm her once more as she again lowered her head in despair.

And having no concern with the matters of the world around it; a machine with a sole intent and purpose ticked on to ninety-five percent completion...

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