No one could've predicted it, with every passing minute some mammal out there was possibly getting their intestines ripped out of their body by a deranged pup with supernatural powers given to by the worlds most influential Corporation. Loose test subject or not this reeked a terrible and possibly devastating disaster for Zootopia that would not only expose the mammals responsible for this said disaster but destroy any hope of saving the one victim that would soon be the demise of millions.

Mammals feared for the loose savage pup depicted by numerous posted videos shared on various social media outlets; it was only a matter of time before the attention of the two most feared organizations took notice, but it was a question of who would notice first.

Nick sat silently next to Judy's hospital bed with a palm supporting his slumped head and another resting on her shoulder as he watched her rest. The jig was up; everyone knew their little secret and Nick only prayed the right mammals found them first. If not, he cherished this moment he had with his lifelong companion and lover even if she lay unconscious, but much to his dismay he soon found himself succumbing to fatigue as his eyelids grew heavy before eventually closing on him after a prolonged attempt to keep them open.

Nick, having had a rather long and eventful day, he came to the admittance that a much deserved restful sleep was in order. After what happened with Max turning savage on them and nearly killing Judy in process, he couldn't think of anything that Max could do for his forgiveness after what he did to Judy; he was a lost cause, and Nick just left it at that.

By now daylight had fallen and the night's darkness had once again showered over the glowing city, which emanated softly through a window in Judy's hospital room and over Nick and Judy as they slept soundly until Judy started twisting and turning in her sleep. She appeared to be having a nightmare; one in which Max turned against her followed her becoming shrouded in darkness, while she silently searched for the predator stalking its prey before a pair of glowing purple eyes penetrated the dark saying "Max isn't here" in a bloodthirsty venous voice before pouncing her.

Judy's eyes suddenly snapped open as she gasped for air, the nightmare having scared her awake and leaving her a quiet semi-dark environment which was her hospital room. Having no recollection of arriving at the hospital, she was a bit on edge at the moment but quickly seeing Nick by her side was enough to calm her down. She examined her right forearm, which not had only taken the vicious chomp from Beast's maw but was in a lightly bloody cast, she frowned wiggling her fingers and flexing her arm with it on wincing when a sharp pain shot up her arm from where her wounds were located ordering her to stop.

"Oh, Max..." Judy sighed uncovering herself so she could get up and use the provided bathroom within the room and possibly wash up a bit. After she finished relieving herself she washed her paws and wet her face by the sink, drying up she went for the door separating the bathroom for her room and stepped out turning off the lights.

A sudden gust of cold wind blew through the room causing Judy to shiver, curious; she went to investigate only to find that the single window in the room was no longer shut but wide open letting in the breeze. She could've sworn the window was closed before she went to the bathroom and Nick was still asleep, so who could've opened it...?

Judy went to close the window after getting hit with another cold breeze finally cutting off the wind from outside, but a quick glance out put her in an awed daze; she could see a good portion of downtown Zootopia from where she stood, it's mesmerizing lights bringing back old memories from when she first arrived at the city. It reminded her of the reason she came, to show that anyone even a bunny like her could do anything and be anything like a cop and make a difference in a city so massive. Although, now it all felt different like that freedom was slowly getting taken away she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Perhaps she was becoming delusional but shook away the feeling and lowered her head with a sigh.

"J-Judy?"

Judy's eye went wide to the calling of her name; she knew that voice that sweet young voice. She quickly turned towards the sound to see Max sitting in the corner with his knees to his chest. Judy had never been so happy and so relieved to see Max that she help but run over to her little pup to comfort him. "Max! Where did you run off to? I thought I lost you forever!" Judy cried hugging the pup tightly.

Max hugged her back even tighter; he felt his eyes become watery which soon followed by tears rolling down his cheeks having missed the only true family he had in this world. "I-I was gonna run away so I wouldn't hurt y-you or anyone else but I couldn't, I'm sorry J-Judy." He sobbed in her shoulder.

Judy rubbed Max's back in a comforting manner, "You didn't have to run away, Max. You don't have to be sorry for anything this wasn't your fault." Judy explained.

Max's sobbing slowly turned into snuffling as he calmed down a bit from crying. "Yes, it is! I can't control myself anymore..."

"Yes you can, you just have to try," Judy said. "you're a sweet pup."

Max gently pulled away from the embrace they were in and held up his paws to her, they smelled of blood and were drenched in it.

Judy was surprised; she didn't even notice the blood, but then again she was too surprised to see Max; it was when she got a good glimpse of his body that she did understand the full extent of his deteriorating condition. Blood covered his muzzle all the way down to his jaw and chest, and a single smeared bloody paw print was pressed around his right eye as if someone attempted to push him away but seemingly failed to do so resulting in a possibly fatal outcome for whomever it was.

"I-I did bad..." Max whimpered wanting to cry again but briefly stopped by Judy hushing to him.

"It's okay; it's okay, there no need for crying. Let's get you washed up." Judy said helping Max up from the floor and leading him to the bathroom to use the shower. She helped him undress from his blood-soaked clothes, which were some of the clothing she and Nick bought him, and toss them in the sink for scrubbing, but upon seeing Max's bare chest, she saw that he had a scar over his heart and couldn't help but run a paw over it curiously. "What happened here, Max?" She questioned.

Max looked down where Judy was touching him and shrugged. "I-I don't know..." He stuttered, he'd had that scar for as long as he could remember, but its origin was still a mystery to him, maybe it was the reason behind his condition. He would probably never know.

Judy sighed making a mental note to do a little more digging into the scar and turned on the shower to begin washing away the blood from Max; she made sure the water was nice and warm for him before she started aiding in rinsing away all the blood stains from his soft fur and scrubbing whatever was left tainting the water draining below in crimson red.

Max wasn't embarrassed at all by the fact that Judy was bathing him or even seeing him naked for that matter; he didn't see it as unusual at all in fact; it all felt normal to him maybe even safe with having her watchful eyes over him making sure he didn't do wrong again by hurting someone.

Once Judy was done rinsing all of the soap off of Max's fur, she checked for any stains still left on his body and once certain his fur was spotless, as it should be, she turned off the shower and left him to grab a clean white towel from a nearby rack to dry him off. Max, on the other hand, followed his natural instincts to shake the water from his fur sending a mini shower of it towards Judy, who used the towel she grabbed to block it getting a laugh from her while Max stood there embarrassed. "I didn't mean to do that, I'm sorry." He quickly apologized blushing sheepishly.

Judy gave Max a heartwarming smile and a pat on the head. "It's alright, but next time give me a warning first, okay?" She said placing the towel over his head making a hood before wrapping it around him like a burrito to completely cover his wet exposed body while she went on her to scrub his close at the sink.

Max had nodded to Judy promising to give her a warning beforehand next time he decided to follow his instincts and hugged the towel wrapped around him as he watched Judy clean his clothes, which he adored greatly just because Nick and Judy bought them for him and thought it would be a shame if they got ruined.

Although Max desired to keep his clothes from getting ruined and hoped that Judy could successfully clean them, she wasn't very sincere when it came to her ability to clean them finding it incredibly difficult to scrub the blood stains away. She was using hand soap for crying out loud, but she wasn't about to dash Max's hopes of her getting them clean and one disappointed pup was the last thing she wanted to see. "I think this is as clean as it's gonna get for now until we get back home." Judy said spreading out Max's shirt out, which still had the stain but was faded. "Now let's get you new clothes..." Judy said leading Max out of the bathroom with him still wrapped like a burrito only to soon realize that Nick may have not thought of packing any clothes whatsoever which left Max in quite the predicament since his only pair of clothes are still soaked.

"Well, it would seem that, um; well, you have no clothes," Judy explained to Max, who was still hugging the towel. "What are we to do?" She thought aloud searching the hospital room in the hope that Nick may have brought some extra clothing even it wasn't Max's. Despite searching everywhere, Judy was disappointed to find that her attempts were all in vain when she came up empty-handed, she faced Max to give him the unfortunate news only to catch him in the process of yawning and rubbing his eyes with the towel providing clear signals that he ready for bed. So instead of telling him, Judy led him over to her hospital bed and helped up onto it before she did the same tucking herself and Max in, she gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead something she has never done except to her siblings and wished good night and sweet dreams.

Max felt himself melt into the bed scooting in closer to Judy for better comfort not letting the fact that he was technically sleeping naked next to Judy with only a towel to cover him up ruin the moment. He has never felt so safe falling asleep next to someone before, maybe in the past with Nick but after the horrors of today he needed this and was glad he came back to them even if Nick may not approve of it, he still loved him with all his heart and would do anything to protect them...

Even if it meant giving his life.

...

Later that morning, Judy awoke to morning's sunshine beaming through the window blanketing her in its rays, but apparently, the sun's rays didn't affect the boys in the room when she found everyone still asleep, go figure. Nonetheless, she woke feeling like her usual self, overly confident as always ready to take on the world once again and once Nick woke up they'd leave back home and forget this whole thing happened - but what of Max? Judy had to face the hard fact that Max turning on her wasn't your average Predator becoming feral, or savage as some may call it. This was something far more sinister, she's never heard or seen a savage retain such intelligence, being able to communicate through speech, act on free will, and move with such ferocious agility that no mammal could have.

Judy sighed glancing at the still sleeping pup next to her still wrapped in his bath towel, which reminded her. She rolled out of the hospital bed with a grunt planting her bare feet firmly on the carpet and made her way to the bathroom to see if Max's clothes were dry enough for him to wear. Fortunately, they were, having patted them down with her paws to make sure, but unfortunately faint blood stains still lingered below the collar, or should she say ketchup stains. At least they smelled like lemony fresh hand soap.

With the perfect cover-up set in mind, anyone who asked about the stains, Judy would explain that they were merely ketchup stains from the night prior. She smiled to herself as she brought Max's clothes from the bathroom feeling ever so confident in her excuse even if the excuse seemed rather childish.

Not a minute later after Judy finished folding the clothes on the hospital bed, Max began shifting in his sleep indicating he was awakening from his slumber letting out a monstrous yawn baring all of his teeth and rubbing his watery eyes.

"Morning sleepy head," Judy said cheerfully moving to his side.

Max, still half asleep, blinked his eyes as they adjusted to the morning light shining through from outside. He glanced around the room not remembering much from last night except when Judy bathed him. "Judy-" He said softly, rubbing his sore eyes once more as he sat up in bed.

"Your clothes are dry if you'd like to put them back on already," Judy said moving his folded clothes to his side. "I wasn't able to get all of the stains out," Judy frowned. "But when we get back home, I'll get them looking good as new."

Max seemed grateful for her effort nonetheless and took the clothes noticing a strong smell of lemons emitting from them from when Judy scrubbed them down with hand soap. "Thank you, Judy." He smiled hugging the bunny tightly in appreciation.

Judy laughed and patted his head, "You can go change in the bathroom if you prefer having privacy." She suggested, which Max nodded to, before he got up from the bed and went on his way with clothes at paw.

Judy watched him go and when he disappeared into the bathroom, she sighed turning to face Nick, who still slept with a palm supporting his chin, and silently expressed how fortunate she was to have a companion such as him. The only real person who always had faith in what she believed and always willing to help her accomplish those goals no matter the dangers they encountered along the way. Judy wondered if there was anyone Nick couldn't stop.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

Judy's ears perked to the sound of gentle rapping on the room's front door before a female deer wearing a nurse outfit entered with a tray of food. "Oh good, you're awake Miss Hopps, I brought you breakfast if you're hungry." The female deer smiled warmly, as she set down the tray on the bed.

Although Judy wasn't feeling hungry at the moment, she knew someone else who might be and thanked the nurse for the food returning the same warm smile to her.

"Hows your forearm feeling? Any stinging or burning sensations? And if so, I could run and quickly get you some painkillers if you wish." The nurse asked.

"I'm fine, thank you though," Judy replied rubbing her cast. "But I do have a question, when could I be discharged?"

"That's up to the doctor; your forearm was mauled pretty severely and chances of infection are still prevalent without the right antibiotics." The nurse answered.

Judy nodded her head biting her lower lip; she was hoping they could be on their way once Nick woke up but that seemed out of the question now. "Oh, okay."

"Now, do you have any more questions?"

"No, that's all I think. Thank you." Judy replied.

"My pleasure- oh!" The nurse jumped in surprise when Max accidentally bumped into her on his way out of the bathroom. "My bad little guy." She laughed.

Max seemed embarrassed and apologized quickly himself. "O-Oh, my bad."

The nurse didn't seem to notice the reddish stains covering Max's clothes, fortunately, but did raise an eyebrow when Max looked up her. "Now why do you seem so familiar- oh shit." She gasped.

"Is everything alright?" Judy asked the nurse, who laughed nervously taking a slight step towards the front door.

"N-Nothing at all, Miss. I have to go see the the doctor now..." With that said the nurse left the room closing the door behind her and rushed towards the nearest phone and dialing an unknown number.

Judy was left dumbfounded but shrugged it off and called Max over so he could eat her tray of breakfast, which consisted of eggs, oatmeal, strawberry Jello, and a carton of chocolate milk to top it off.

Max happily obliged and sat next to her once again to eat off the tray the nurse left. He first picked up a plastic spoon provided and gently poked at the jello curious to its strange properties having never seen anything like it, or maybe he has but couldn't find it in himself to remember. "Why is this so... jiggly?" He asked taking a scoop to better observe it.

"Its Jello and its supposed to be jiggly," Judy giggled. "Its sweet, try it."

Max brought it up to his nose and took a sniff noting the lovely scent of strawberries coming from it and brought the spoon to his mouth humming in satisfaction once the Jello touched his tongue. "Its tastes like strawberries!"

"That's because it's strawberry Jello. Now, eat your eggs and oatmeal, you can eat the rest of the Jello once you're done." Judy said, which Max did reluctantly after taking another scoop of Jello. He was really hoping to finish the Jello first.

"Oh my aching back!" Came Nick's voice rather abruptly. "I need'a take a whiz..." Judy watched as Nick lazily got up from his chair stretched and tiredly shuffled towards the bathroom with his eyes half open.

Judy laughed with a paw over her mouth but was surprised when Max lowered his posture and moving to hide his head behind Judy. "Whats wrong, Max?" She asked twisting her body to look at him.

"Nicks mad at me..." Max said into Judy's back muffling it slighty.

"What do you he's mad at you? Why would he ever be mad at- oh." Judy quickly realized why Nick would be angry towards Max, and she couldn't blame him; if she saw him getting mauled by a savage citizen, she'd freak out. Although, he had to understand that this whole situation isn't Max's fault and he had to accept it. "Don't worry; I'll fix this," Judy assured the pup. "Now eat."

For the next few seconds Judy sat waiting for Nick to finish his business, while Max ate breakfast. Nick wasn't one to go against Judy unless absolutely necessary but seeing they weren't in no real danger at the moment, she knew he had no other choice.

"Now that was relieving! So how you feeling Judy-" Nick had just exited with his arms resting over his head when he suddenly came to a screeching halt when his emerald eyes locked with Max's then Judy's and back to Max, which left them all in silence.

Judy decided she'd be the first to break the silence and speak in Max's defense. "Now Nick, I know what happened yesterday was serious and possibly life threatening but that's all a thing of past. That wasn't Max's fault, you gotta understand."

"How'd he get in?" Nick simply replied with a hint of anger in his tone

"Nick-"

"Seriously, how'd he get in?" Nick interrupted.

Judy was unsure of how to answer to Nicks's question. "Through the... window?" Judy answered.

"Alright... First off, we're eight stories high. Second, he tried to kill you. And lastly, we've been exposed, Judy." Nick explained.

"What do you mean exposed?"

"Everyone knows, Judy; it's all over the news, social media, hell it's probably on the newspaper. The city is in fear of him, which means the jig is up, we're criminals, and you know who hunts after criminals like us and I can guarantee you it isn't going to be the ZPD." Nick elaborated.

"You're absolutely right, Mr. Wilde," Everyone turned to towards the front door to see Agent Sparks leaning against the wall with a smirk while his cheetah partner next to him with his paws crossed in front of him both wearing similar clothing that Spark when he last spoke to Judy. "And not only do I smell a huge agency paycheck, but I smell a five year prison sentence. Oh, and you guys aren't criminals," Spark said moving closer to Nick. "You're felons."

"Is that all you bureau jerks care about, money? Have you no justice?" Judy snapped catching the the attention of Sparks who furrowed his brows behind his sunglasses.

"Says the one who not only lied but mislead a federal investigation by sharing false information and holding a vital piece of the evidence, which we'll be taking with us whether you like it or not," Spark retorted glancing at Max, who scurried behind Judy for safety. "Don't make this any more difficult than it has to be, you all caused us enough trouble already." He added pulling out a pair of handcuffs from his duty belt.

"Just do what he says, Judy." Nick said.

"Listen to your boyfriend, Miss Hopps." Spark said motioning for Agent Carter to arrest Nick.

Judy glared at Spark turning her paws into fists; she didn't plan on fighting her way out of this but she knew she had no another choice. That was until third gentleman entered the room wearing a fine black suit and tie with a lapel pin resembling a silver DNA strand encased in a silver atom particle.

"Now what do we have here?" The gentleman said, who happened to be a gray fox a few centimeters taller than Nick. "Bunch of bickering children I presume."

"I'm sorry, sir, but this room in off limits-" Sparks was quickly stopped by the fox laughing.

"Off what? I'm sorry to inform you, Agent Sparks, but neither you or your partner have any authority at the moment." The fox explained moving his paws behind his back as two other mammals, wearing casual clothing, entered the room wielding pistols.

Spark growled and took a defensive stance; he recognized one of the mammals that entered, and he was sure it was said mammal. Arctic wolf, eye patch over right eye, golden eye; it was him, Feliks Novikov. The most wanted criminal in the country. "You're interfering with a federal investigation! And how do you know who I am?""

The suited fox scoffed. "Please, like I'd give two flying shits and to answer your question, we know everything about you. You have something that belongs to us."

"Its them! Don't let them take me!" Max cried when his eyes dawned upon the Arctic wolf who aimed his weapon at Sparks.

Spark had his own pistol holstered to his duty belt but didn't make any sudden movements to retrieve it as he knew this was now a life or death situation. "Who are you guys?" Spark demanded.

"I'm Agent Ayers of the Biotech Special Investigations Division, and these gentlemen," the fox motioned towards Feliks and then the other mammal who was a coyote. "Are two highly trained killers who aren't afraid of killing any of you where you stand." He explained. "And you guys just so happened to end up inside a Biotech owned medical facility."

"What?" Spark said out loud.

"I thought you knew; we own every major Hospital in the city, we SUPPLY these medical centers and YOU all just walked into our grasp," Ayers laughed. "Fortunately for you all, we need every single one of you alive. Besides," He turned to face Agent Carter. "We have something that belongs to him."

Carter appeared confused when Spark spoke out for him. "What are you talking about? And why do you need us alive?"

"Haven't you heard? Agent Carter, we have your wife, and kid and your boy is quite the resistor always threatening that 'daddy' would rescue him." Ayers smirked.

Agent Carter's confused demeanor suddenly changed to extreme rage as he snarled at the gray fox charging him.

The coyote was quick to react to the cheetah's charge, wrapping his arms around his abdomen and tackling him onto the ground pinning him down.

Sparks took initiative of the sudden distraction to charge Feliks, knocking away his weapon and attempting an elbow blow to the head, but his attack was swiftly dodged by the wolf, who in return sent a powerful punch to his gut knocking the wind out of Spark.

"Whats the matter? Out of breath already?" Feliks mocked punching him a second time in the gut causing Spark to fall on one knee.

"No, I'm just getting started." Spark chuckled, as he used all of his force to push Feliks against a counter toppling its various medical contents all over the floor.

While the fighting took place, Ayers causally walked around the rumble dusting off his suit and approached Nick, Judy, and Max, who were attempting to use the ensuing fight to sneak away. Unfortunately for them, they had their plans foiled when Ayers pulled out both a dart gun and a Glock he had holstered underneath his suit. "Where do you all think you're going? We can't have our little experiment running off again," He said aiming the dart gun towards Max. "Say night, night." Before Max could even react the dart fired by Ayers's dart gun struck him dead center in the neck, which caused a overwhelming fatigue that left him falling unconscious in Judy's arms.

"Y-You monster!" Judy blurted.

Ayers shrugged. "I get called a million things every day, sweetheart."

With Spark having regained his composure, he was busy delivering blows to Feliks's face, which seemed to cause minor damage to the resilient wolf and almost appeared to laugh it off like it was nothing. Once Feliks felt like play time was over, he grasped Spark's fist as he went in for another blow and twisted it downwards, elbowing him in back as he fell towards the ground in pain before kneeing him in the muzzle that sent blood flying from his nose and into the air.

"What a disappointment, " Feliks spat, subduing the husky and stripping him of any weapons. "I thought you'd put up more of a fight."

With everything finally under control, Ayers ordered the bagging of everyone except Max, who'd be transported separately from the rest via a special containment vehicle. He didn't answer any more questions from his prisoners; he had to make phone calls announcing his success and to make preparations to accommodate his guests for the short time they'd be staying with the corporation.

Or for the short time, they'd be alive.

Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I'm looking forward to finally bringing this fanfic to a close soon. For those who haven't noticed, I've updated the cover a couple of times, and I feel good about my final choice and I hope you all find it fitting as well.

Thanks for the continued support!