Part 7 – Close Encounters

Judy steadily approached the apartment complex with the tracker in paw. The light flashing a dull green more and more often as she approached the building, she was on the right track. According to the files on the Lyonsmane family name, Scar's heritage had a rough reputation with the law over the generations, but his most recent descendant had yet to tarnish his records. The ZPD still kept the file open out of habit, though.
Scar's lineage was quite small, his current descendants only numbering at a pawful, and only a couple of them were currently staying in Zootopia. Judy had checked up on the first an hour earlier with nothing happening on the tracker, but her hopes rose as she could feel her deal with Lucy coming close to ending.
Just as the bunny was about to climb the steps, the door to the complex opened and out walked a dark-maned lion. Dressed in a simple button up shirt and slacks, the lion walked passed Judy without a speck of interest for her. The light of the tracker came to a steady halt before flashing again as he passed and walked down the street; it was him, Scar's soul had attached itself to Kovu Lyonsmane, his great-grandson.

…

Kovu was walking in the dead of the night on what seemed like a whim to him. He couldn't explain it, but something in the back of his mind was telling him that he needed to get out and go… Somewhere. For the last fifteen minutes he was walking up and down the streets of his neighbourhood with no particular destination, only the slight nudge in the back of his thoughts was pushing him forward.
As the lion stood under a crosswalk light, he couldn't help but scratch his head as he wondered where he was headed.
"Are you okay, sir?"
Kovu looked down to find a bunny looking up at him, dressed in police attire.
"I'm fine… Just a little lost, I think," he admitted, unsure.
"Where are you going?"
"Umm… I think I'm looking for…"
Knowledge…
"Knowledge?" Kovu asked to himself.
"Knowledge?" The bunny repeated, cocking an eyebrow.
The lion concentrated on the voice that gave the hint and fell into darkness.

As the lion opened his eyes, Judy noticed that they were glowing an eerie green. They stared down at the bunny with an utmost disdain for her.
"I'm looking for the library," the lion sneered.
"Oh, uh, I think I saw one a few blocks back that way," Judy shared, unconsciously taking a step back at the menacing presence. "But I don't think their open at this hour."
"They'll open for me," he growled as he walked past her.
The bunny steeled herself and put herself in Kovu's path.
"Sir, are you implying that you're going to break into a library?"
"And what if I am?" The lion glared with his glowing eyes.
"Then I'm going to have to put you under arrest."
Kovu laughed.
"That's funny, for a moment you had me fooled in believing you were a police officer."
"I am a police officer."
The glow in his eyes shone brighter as his glare intensified.
"You above all Prey shouldn't be a police officer. You're weak. A waste of resources."
"I'll have you know that I'm the best cop on the force," Judy defended.
The glow flared bright in Kovu's eyes and the lion picked up Judy in one swoop of his paw, pinning her to the nearby lamppost by the neck.
"All the more reason to kill you and then remold this disgusting excuse for a city into a proper display of power," he snarled as the bunny clung onto his paw.

"Hey buddy! Let her go!"
Judy looked over to find Nick glaring daggers at the lion. Kovu only looked at the fox in annoyance.
"Stay out of this, Fox. This doesn't concern you."
"I would say that you holding my girlfriend by the throat one-hundred percent concerns me," Nick shot back.
"Nick… I've got… This," Judy managed to say.
The lion steeled his gaze on Nick.
"Are you saying that this lowly Prey is your Mate?"
"Yes, very much so. Now let her go."
Kovu frowned.
"And this is what society has come to… I'm going to have to teach you a very painful lesson to put you back in line."
"Oh no you DON'T!" Judy exclaimed as she gave her best kick to the lion's jaw.
A loud crack was heard as Kovu's head spun around from the force of the blow. But the lion simply twisted his head back into place, and focused his entire attention on Judy. The flare in his eyes sprouted into green flames as his anger rose.
"You're right. I was going to take care of you first."
His grip tightened around the bunny's throat, and with a sharp snap, her body went limp.
"NOOOOO!" Nick cried as he fell to his knees.
Kovu tossed the bunny to the side and made his way to the sobbing fox.
"Utterly pathetic," the lion commented as he picked him up by the neck. "Another waste."
"Hey! Nobody calls my boyfriend a waste!"

The lion dropped Nick as he whirled around in disbelief. Standing there, as if nothing had happened, was Judy. She pounced on Kovu while he was still stunned and placed the tracker on his neck, activating the collar.
"You should be dead!" He stated as the metal encircled his neck.
"Well here's a newsflash! I've been dead the whole time!" Judy admitted as she punched the now yellow light on the collar.
A shockwave blew the bunny back as red lightning sparked off the lion. The tendrils of energy webbed across the ground into an intricately decorated circle before exploding into a pillar of dark light.
As the event subsided, the lion was now accompanied by a stunning vixen.
"Aaah, it's so nice to see Zootopia again!" Lucy declared.

AN: Lucy loves her eccentric entrances... Say THAT ten times fast.