Just like she had at the Police Academy, Judy flew through her psych evaluation. The room she had been placed in was on the south face of the building. The examiner and her sat at round stainless steel table. Judy's file was opened in front of her and various case files were spread across the smooth metal surface of the table. To her immediate right was the south side of Sahara Square and past that, the stretch of Zootopia's coastline and its many many luxurious beach homes.
The past came up just like it had last time and she had to explain why she decided to become a police officer.
"After that scuffle with Gideon, I told myself I was going to prove him wrong. I was going to prove everyone who ever told me I couldn't be a cop wrong. I was going to make the world a better place."
"Do you believe that?" The Doctor asked.
"Believe what?"
"That the world can be made better. Lately it seems like things have only been getting worse."
"Well yeah, after a day like today it seems bad. Even then, I think people will come together. This city will come together like they always do and we will heal."
"You assume their will is infinite. You assume that this city and its ideals will stand firm in the face of any crisis. You proved this belief to be false. You almost destroyed the foundation of this city single handily with nothing more than a poorly worded statement."
"Yeah it's true that I came to Zootopia with unrealistic expectations of what it was, but that doesn't change what I think it could become. I still believe in what this place stands for.
A place where animals of all spots and stripes can come to live and work together so that they can better understand each other and the world they live in. So they can try, at least try, and solve the world's problems. To try and make the world a better place. That's what I believe in, that's why I wear this uniform, because I believe I can help change the world."
The Doctor smiled softly at her.
"Your passion is admirable Officer. You see the world through a different lens than me. What I see out in the world thoroughly disproves your beliefs. The world is incapable of change. Walls come down for only a short time, good deeds are always repaid with punishment, and the ideals that Zootopia has built itself on is challenged every day. It remains a beautiful oddity in an otherwise ugly world."
Judy sighed before giving the doctor a hopeful smile.
"Well I hope, one day, I can change your mind."
"As do I, you are dismissed Miss Hopps. Please send Mr. Wilde in on your way out."
…
"Alright Mr. Wilde, we're going to start with a word association test and if we find any abnormalities we'll address those. If not, we'll just go down the checklist. Sound good?"
"Yeah, let's get started."
"Very well, Sky."
"Blue."
"Mountain."
"Tall."
"Tree."
"Green."
"City."
"Zootopia."
"Finnick."
"Accomplice."
"Clawhauser."
"Doughnut."
"Bogo."
"Boss."
"Judy."
Nick hesitated, his eyes drifting to the left where she and Audley were standing.
"Carrots." He said finally, a grin appearing on his face. The examiner made a quick note before continuing.
"Robbery."
"Monday."
"Mugging."
"Tuesday."
"Embezzlement."
"Wednesday."
"Assault."
"Thursday."
"Murder."
"Friday."
"Mother."
Nick's expression hardened.
"Gone."
"Father."
"Forgotten."
"Brother."
"Shame."
"Wolf's Glade."
Nick blinked, once, twice.
"Pardon?"
"Wolf's Glade." The Doctor said a bit louder.
Nick's ears twitched like they wanted to fall down. His eyes longed for the floor but he didn't allow them to fall away from the doctor's gaze.
"Childhood." He finally muttered.
"Very good Nick, we have a few places we could start but I think your brother would be best. As he seems the most relevant." The Doctor said, adjusting his glasses.
"Your relationship with your brother, would you call it healthy?"
"Our personalities clashed all too often. It was a working relationship, but not a healthy one." Nick began.
"Would you care to elaborate?"
"We lived under the same roof, we shared a bathroom and a bedroom. We could make small talk during a car trip or at the dinner table, but there was no love there. No genuine interest in the other's well-being. We were apathetic to the other's existence."
"Why is that?"
"We were fundamentally different. I was like Mom; he was like Dad. Dad loved him to death, they seemed to do everything together. Yet he hardly gave me the time of day. Jason was always disrespectful to Mom; he took her for granted. So when he saw that I connected with her so easily, I think it bothered him. Dad went after Mom for that, saying she was playing favorites. That she needed to do her job better. He tore her down every other night. It was hard to watch."
"Would you say your parents were to blame for the rift that grew between you two?"
Nick shook his head, taking a deep breath.
"They tried to get us to bond and reconnect. Things were too far gone by that point. We hated each other, it's sad to say but it's true. Him going after Mom one night was the last straw. We fought, and it was worse than any fight we had before. Dad had to pull us off of each other, not long after that we went our separate ways. The only thing we had in common was a last name."
The doctor jotted down a short paragraph before looking Nick dead in the eye.
"Over the course of this operation, there may come a point where you may be forced to confront Jason. If it came to this, and no other option was available to you, would you hesitate to kill him?"
"Not even for a second."
The Doctor nodded solemnly.
"You are dismissed Mr. Wilde."
Judy pulled Nick aside after his psych evaluation, her troubled expression letting him know he was in trouble. Audley gave the two a glance before continuing without them.
"Nick, why didn't you tell me about your brother?" Judy asked.
"Didn't seem important." He replied.
"Nick, I know you think you're the street smart tough guy who never needs any help but-"
He glared at her.
"You know? No you think you know but you don't. You haven't the slightest idea of who I am or what I've done. I make it a point to make sure that nobody knows everything about me."
Her ears drooped but her eyes hardened, not out of anger, but out of concern. She was determined to get her point across.
"You're my partner, my best friend and yes you're right. I don't know everything about you but I'd like to."
Nick shook his head in disbelief.
"Why? Do you really want to listen to the sob story that's my childhood?"
"Yes! I do!"
"But why, why do you care so much?"
"Because you listened to mine, you dumb fox!"
The answer caught Nick by surprise, and his expression softened. His guard had been lowered, not by much, but it was something Judy knew she could work with.
"So now I intend to return the favor, not because I feel like I have to. It's because I want to."
She reached out to him, gently putting a paw on his arm .
"Look, I don't expect you to tell me everything. I know that there are somethings that you might not feel comfortable sharing with me, for whatever reason. That being said, I hope you know you can tell me anything. I'll always be here for you."
"Always is a long time Carrots."
"Well a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. I have to keep an eye on you, you know too much."
Her playful smirk calmed him down some more and a silence fell over their discussion for a few minutes before she looked at him with a worry.
"Do you really hate your brother that much?"
"Yeah…afraid so." He said with a sigh.
"Did you two try and reconcile at all?"
Nick shook his head.
"I haven't seen him since I- "
He paused, choosing his words carefully.
"-I left home, and that was a long time ago."
"Why didn't you ever tell me about him, if you don't mind my asking?"
"I just didn't see any reason to, and deep down I didn't want you to think less of me. You get along so well with your siblings; it seems like everyone else does too."
"I doubt it's as perfect as it seems, in my case I know it's not perfect. Besides, I'm sure there are others who've lost touch with their siblings."
"Yeah, probably…" Nick said, casting his gaze towards the ground.
"You know…its days like today and yesterday that make me want to give up. "
"Really?"
Judy nodded, looking almost ashamed for admitting it.
"It's a constant uphill battle when you set out thinking you can change the world. It's worse when the whole city idolizes you. It's hard after a day like today to look somebody in the eye and say: I'm sorry your son got killed today, but don't worry, it'll be ok. We're going to catch the guy who did it. If they knew how exhausted I am, trying to be their hero all the time, do you think they would they think less of me?"
"You save a lot of lives when you cracked the Nighthowler case. You'll save many more before your time is up. I know it's hard to have faith all the time, I couldn't do it. That's why I was the way I was when you met me and yeah I've been getting better, little by little, every day since then. But the cynicism is still there, and I don't think it'll ever go away…but I want it to go away because I want to see the world how you see it. Your amazing Judy, and if you came out and said you were tired, I don't think they would hold it against you. To wake up every day with that optimism, that energy, it's incredible. That's why people love you, that's why I love you."
Judy blinked away a few tears.
"Nick…thank you…I really needed to hear that."
"No problem. Come on, Audley's been waiting long enough."
…
A gecko was chained to a rickety old bed. He couldn't see much of anything around him, aside from the two IV lines running from his arm into the shadows that surrounded him on all sides. Above his IV's was a black armband with a symbol. An eclipsed sun with a white aura in the shape of a stylized snake, its head directly over the top of the sun. Its jaws opened, ready to devour the darkened star. The armband was a demonstration of his loyalty, why was this happening? Had he done something wrong?
Then an elegant voice slithered its way into his ears.
"Heroes, this world loves them. We love to watch movies about them, read their life stories and compare our struggles to theirs in hopes that because we are similar, we'll turn out just like them. Professor Wade was my hero at one time. I was young chemist when he published the Wade Report, working hard in the University laboratories. What I saw in the pages of that report amazed me. All my life, I thought that my kind would always be seen as outcasts. Creepy, ugly, cold and unfeeling. That's what people thought I was. I didn't try to change their minds, how could I? They were already made up."
A sickly yellow ichor began making its way up the IV lines.
"The Wade Report made me realize I wasn't alone in these feelings. Other reptiles were being suppressed as well. The world hated us and when the Wade Report made us realize it, they tried to take it away from us. They pulled it from our University's website, academic magazines, even the hard copies in the labs were confiscated. They thought the truth was a fabrication when the only fabrication was their control of this planet. We tried to rally against them, but we were only met with more disdain. Harassed at our gatherings, esteemed members of our community arrested on flimsy charges, hated by everyone for wanting to be treated fairly."
The Gecko whimpered as the ichor began flowing into his arm. He started to shake uncontrollably he felt the toxin flow through his veins.
"They even took my hero from me, getting him to destroy his life's work in one fell swoop. So I had him killed, by a Fox no less, so that his image would be preserved in the eyes of those who looked up to him. You helped ensure that this plan succeeded, but for that you had to know the truth. That Professor Wade really believed his study was a lie. If this were to get out, it would destroy us. So, in order to ensure our victory, I had to kill you. I'm sorry."
The Gecko's began to thrash as his skin began to bubble and his eyes turned red as they were filled with blood. He tried to speak but could only gargle in protest.
"Your death will serve a purpose, the first test of my new toxin. The tool that will bring about the end of the mammalian oppression. A few days from now your brothers and sisters will strike at the heart of their world, filling them with the fear that found a home in our hearts long ago. On that day, we will take from them their heroes. We will force them to their knees and make them renounce everything that ever made them who they are. Their legend will be destroyed and when the dust settles they will be mere mortals. Then, death will come for them. A death that you are experiencing right now. Savor it, every burning nerve, every gasp for air, every ounce of agony. Savor it and know it is a death that our enemies be forced to endure, know that it is all thanks to you. Thank you Peter and goodbye."
The Gecko went limp as cloudy white foam rose from the back of his throat and spilled from his mouth, mixing with thick strands of coagulated blood and saliva. With an almost content sigh, Peter expired.
…
A.N-Well I hope I didn't butcher psychology too much! The psych evaluation and talk afterwards were originally two separate chapters, but i decided to combine them for flow. The final scene was something I was a bit nervous about. I may bump the rating up just to be safe. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
Until next time,
Sky signing off!