Ch. 27: Rattling Hope

Judy could remember blistering air, frigid water, blackness and pain, a lot of pain.

She smacked into the water, it felt like being slammed into a brick wall. It had made her black out but the frigid cold of the water instantly brought her back to conscious as she fell over the water fall.

When she had reached the bottom of the waterfall she forced herself to stay under water, she had to make Ronno and those canines think she had perished in the fall. She swam away, her arms flailing exhaustingly as she tried to see through the murky water, a fierce pain on her side as she bled into the water.

Finally she couldn't hold her breath any longer, her lungs aching fire, and rose to the surface, taking a loud gasp as she broke through, desperately sucking in breaths. She had gotten farther into the lake than she thought she would have, she noticed a piece of driftwood and hurried over to it, crawling onto the debris and letting out a relieved breath, her limbs feeling like liquid as she tried to catch her breath, breathing through her pain.

She looked up at the blurry gray shape of the asylum, she couldn't think about what had happened in that terrible building, all she could do was try to block out the agony of her three claw marks that had at least stopped bleeding.

At first she thought it was just her imagination but then she realized the building was getting smaller, a current was dragging her and the driftwood across the lake, toward the branches of rivers that were connected to the large lake.

Exhaustion weighed down her body and she tried to keep her consciousness from slipping but eventually she stopped fighting.

At this point losing her consciousness would be the best thing to happen to her, so she closed her eyes and let the darkness take her mind far away from it all.

.

Judy was back in Bunnyburrow. The sounds of hyperactive children and snoring elders just a little too loud for her ears, she was standing out in one of her family's carrot fields. Far off she could see the silhouettes of the Hopps family, her younger siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews were running around, playing. She could just make out the shape of her parents, their arms wrapped around each other as they watched their litters. A strong wave of homesickness washed over Judy and she took a step toward them, her pace increasing until she was running across the fields, the dirt dark and damp beneath her paws and Bunnyburrow turned into a blur.

When she finally stopped she gasped, her old home was gone along with her family, and instead she was standing in a large swath of trees unrecognizable to her. She turned a 360 arc, doing so she spotted a flash of brown and stared at it.

"Suzy," she breathed, recognizing the small sugar glider still shaking her rattler like mad. "What are you doing here?"

Suzy whirled around and disappeared into the forest's foliage, Judy hurried to catch up with her. "Wait, don't run off!"

She chased after the baby, with her paws stretched out as the trees started to thin. Her paws grabbed at the baby's soft brown fur, but the moment she touched it the fur morphed into coarse, bluish black hair.

Judy jumped back in fright as suddenly she wasn't looking at Suzy, but instead a face she hadn't seen in over a year: Arachnid, the spider monkey hypnotist. Instinct had her glancing at the monkey's tail but it was bare of any medallions.

The monkey looked up at her with apathetic eyes before snorting and running ahead. He had led her out of the trees to a watering hole, where he crawled up a large rock to join a figure sitting there.

Even with the mammal's back to her Judy immediately knew who it was and her heart rate increased dramatically. She just managed to breath out the name: "Ironclaw?"

The lioness was still dressed in the black outfit she had died in. She was watching the sunset, her posture calm and casual, her tail flicking lazily back and forth.

The lioness spoke, her voice dry and throaty, "I don't know if I should be laughing or offended. You managed to 'solve' my case with only a few scratches and it's a deer that makes you a sniffling helpless whelp."

Arachnid, who had been sitting by Ironclaw, scooted closer to her and the lioness ran her paw over the monkey's head in an almost tender way.

"He…he didn't beat me," Judy insisted.

Ironclaw let out a rasp chuckle, "Beating someone doesn't always mean killing them, bunny. At least not in the literal sense, killing them is ruining, destroying, taking the reason their heart beats, killing them from the inside. And he's done that."

When Judy didn't reply she elaborated: "He took your fox, Officer Hopps."

Judy flinched at the awful, awful truth. "I will save him," she replied, trying to sound more determined than she felt.

"The only way to save a savage animal is to put him down," the lioness replied, still not looking at her.

"He's not savage!"

"He attacked you," Ironclaw's voice remained even, "His claws were covered in your blood."
As if on cue pain pulsed in Judy's side and she looked down, letting out a horrified cry as she saw the blood running down her body like rivulets, pooling at her feet and rising up her legs. She fought back a wave of nausea.

"But then again," Ironclaw still continued calm as day. "We're animals; we're all savage deep inside. We have to accept that, rabbit." The lioness finally turned to look at Judy over her shoulder, her face was melted away revealing a skull; two red pinpricks glinted in the empty sockets of her eyes. "But we don't have to fear it."

Ironclaw jumped off the rock, landing into the water and stalking toward Judy whose feet were stuck in the rising pool of blood. The lioness didn't hesitate to move through the crimson liquid and the rabbit watched as it coursed up her fur, staining it russet, all the while the lion's limbs were thinning, shrinking as she grew smaller and her muzzle lengthened before fur covered her face.

And then Ironclaw was gone, in her place snarled Nick, his eyes blood shot as if he had been crying. Judy couldn't breathe or budge.

The fox lunged at her; Judy's world went black as the teeth pressed down on her throat.

.

She woke up with a loud gasp, jumping into a sitting position. Her entire body ached; especially her scratches and she realized she was in a soft bed, in a room she didn't recognize.

"Judy?"

Finnick was sitting at the edge of the bed, looking relieved to see her up. "You're awake."

Finnick wasn't alone; his two friends Perry and Agent shared a rocking chair in the corner of the room, the platypus holding a first aid kit in his lap.

"Finnick…" her throat felt like sandpaper as she croaked out her words. "What happened?"

"You got washed up in a river somehow," he answered, his voice uncharacteristically quiet. "You were hurt too and didn't want a hospital, so we brought you here and Perry sewed you up."

Judy pulled up her wrinkled, stained uniform to see the three claw marks had been sewn shut, the edges still a nasty red.

"But you still need to go to the hospital," the platypus spoke up, "I don't have the proper medicines to keep that wound from getting infected."

Judy didn't reply, instead looking around the room. It was quaint, awash with bright tan colors and handmade quilts along with a bookshelf. It reminded her of a room you'd find in Bunnyburrow.

"Where's here?" she asked the fennec fox.

Before he could answer the bedroom door opened and the mammal that walked in had Judy's eyes bulging.

"It's my house," Bellwether replied, her arms crossed as she leaned against the door frame. "Or to put it in better terms, it's my new prison." Judy noticed the plastic anklet around her ankle, recognizing it as the kind they made animals wear when they were under house arrest.

"Bellwether…" Judy didn't know what to say. What did you say when you ended up in the house of the mammal you put behind bars.

"We were lucky that she and her housemates didn't kick us out when we broke in," Fidget spoke up while Finnick eyed the sheep warily (understandably of course).

"How long was I asleep?" Judy asked Finnick.

"Only a few hours," the fox replied.

"Speaking of hours that reminds me the cop that comes to check on us will be here soon," Bellwether spoke up. "You can hitch a ride to the hospital with him and share the no doubt very interesting tale of how you got those wounds. They're going to be ecstatic to see you're alive."

"No, don't!" Judy's voice raised an octave as she spoke. She forced herself out of the bed, nearly falling down as she did so. Finnick jumped off the mattress and stood beside her, ready to catch her if she fell.

Judy sent a beseeching look to the sheep, "You can't tell anyone I'm here."
Bellwether's brow knit, her expression both confused and intrigued, "Why not?"

"Because if Ronno finds out I'm alive he'll kill me," Judy explained, "And my family."

Bellwether's brow didn't un-knit, "He's that transfer cop they just brought in. I saw it on the news. What did he do?"

Judy took in a shuddering breath and placed a paw on the bed to keep her balance. "He did what you did. Only different…he made this collar, full of the Night Howler serum and the antidote so he could make predators savage with a flip of a switch, and with that same switch bring them back to their senses with the antidote. He's making an army of them."

Her words were greeted with a stunned silence. Fidget and Perry shared a look while Finnick kept his eyes on Judy. Bellwether's eyes dropped to the ground. "That's ingenious," she breathed in a tone that was more terrified than impressed, Judy noted.

But then the rabbit remembered something the sheep had said, "What do you mean…the ZPD will be happy to see I'm alive?"

"It's all over the news," Bellwether explained. "You and Nick have been reported dead, some savage jaguar tore at you two before you both fell into a river. Your bodies hadn't been recovered obviously."
Judy imagined her parents and Mrs. Wilde seeing the news cast and her throat tightened so painfully she had to blink away tears.

"…That's what happened to Nick," Finnick finally spoke. "He was collared, wasn't he?"

Judy couldn't turn to look at the fennec fox's expression. "Yes…" she clutched at her wounds. "That's how…" she couldn't finish the sentence.

"He did that to you?" Finnick asked; his voice was a breath of dismayed terror.

Judy's silence was answer enough.

Finnick shook his head and collected himself. "Okay, you said we couldn't go to the police. Alright, we can do it on our own." He grabbed Judy's arm and tried to lead her to the door, "Let's go, Hopps. We need to rescue Nick."

"And the other predators," Perry pointed out, jumping off the chair.

"I wanna help to," Fidget spoke up.

Judy didn't budge though, "I can't."

Finnick looked up at her, "What do you mean? Yes you can."

Judy shook her head, pulling her arm out of Finnick's paws. "No, I can't…" her vision started to blur and it became harder to speak. "Ronno won."
"Where's the real Judy Hopps?" Bellwether suddenly spoke up. "The real one didn't give up so easily. Not even when I had her surrounded she and that fox still managed to outsmart me all too easily."

"You beat Ironclaw," Finnick pointed out. "And she was one of the most dangerous criminals known."

"But I wasn't alone," she snapped at them. "I had Nick!" She had always had Nick for every case she solved, and for every case he had helped her solve them, he was her irreplaceable partner. "…I need Nick…"
Finnick gave her a sympathetic look, "Hopps you…"

Judy took several steps back, shaking her head. A horrible empty pit had swallowed her insides and what little determination she had was used for standing up. Without Nick she couldn't beat Ronno…she didn't even know if the deer had kept him alive. The sudden thought brought Judy down to her knees.

"Hopps," Finnick began, stepping toward her.

"Go away," Judy whispered to the four animals, her voice wavering as she tried to keep the tears at bay. "Please just go away."

After an agonizing second Finnick stepped away, walking past Bellwether and down the stairs, Fidget and Perry followed him. Bellwether gave Judy one more look before closing the door behind her.

Finally alone Judy burst into tears.

"Nick," she sobbed into her paws, "Nick…"

How did this happen? How had Ronno tricked them so easily? Why had she gone to that stupid asylum without backup? Why had she accused him like that and complained he didn't trust her? Her chest twisted painfully as she remembered the look on his face when he saw he had attacked her and Judy thought she was going to be sick. She moved her paw to touch her wounds when her fingers slid across her pocket and felt a shape inside. Confused she pulled out the two objects. Nick's phone and Suzy's rattle.

The phone was waterlogged and Judy wasn't surprised when she pressed the power button and nothing happened. She remembered how Nick had always had it on paw, during stake outs and random nights at home; he'd always used it to annoy her when Judy had been scolding him. Having it in her paw, ruined, was pouring salt into the wound.

She placed it on the floor and held up Suzy's rattle, the sphere was crooked to one side, showing the stick was hollow. She hadn't even managed to take care of one little rattle. But then Judy noticed a glint of black inside the hollow piece. Silently apologizing to Suzy she pulled the sphere completely off and slid the black piece out onto her palm.

It was a jump drive.

.

Perry scrolled through the computer's screen, it was an old model that made a loud humming noise when they had turned it on and jabbed the jump drive into its slot.

Judy stood behind him, staring at the screen over her shoulder. They were in the living room, Fidget and Finnick (the latter refusing to acknowledge her when she had traveled downstairs.

Two convicts she recognized as Wade 'Frothy' Jones and the honey shiner Casper Barret were sitting sharing a small couch. The bear was trying to not get Judy's attention, hunkering into herself while the wolf stared at her with open eyed curiosity. Bellwether leaned against a wall, staring at the floor with a thoughtful expression.

"Do you know what this is?" Perry breathed in awe suddenly, staring unblinking at the screen.

"What?" Judy asked but she had a guess.

"It's the Night Howler antidote," the platypus answered. "Why was it in a baby's rattle?"
"That's what I'd do," Frothy spoke up, his voice muffled by the muzzle he didn't seem to notice he was wearing. "Hide it somewhere no one would suspect, just in case."
"Just in case one very smart deer managed to delete all the files so when he turned animals savage…he was the only one with the antidote," Judy answered.

"This needs to be taken to a hospital," Perry turned to look at Judy.

"I know," she replied, but all she could think was how that antidote couldn't help Nick while he was stuck at the asylum. "But I can't take it, one of you need to."

"And then what?" Finnick asked, "If we tell the ZPD they have a dirty cop they'll put us behind bars. They won't listen to us."

Judy frowned sadly at him, "Finnick, there's nothing-"

"The academy," Bellwether suddenly broke in, looking at the rabbit.

Judy furrowed her brow at the sheep, "Excuse me?"

"Where was Wilde when you put yourself through the ZPD academy?" Bellwether asked, "I was there when you, a rabbit, graduated as valedictorian in a class full of wolves, tigers, rhinos, and elephants. Where was the fox to hold your paw then?"

Judy knew what the sheep was saying and she opened her mouth to say that was different, but the words didn't come because…was it really? Was it really that different? She remembered all the grueling training that had left her bone tired and unable to think straight. All the restless nights as she studied for tests, all the extra effort she had had to take to excel. Graduating from the ZPD academy had not been easy in the slightest, but she had done it, long before she had even met Nick…

"Oh, look, look," Fidget indicated to the TV that was playing the news, the volume muted. "They're talking about Gazelle's concert…that I'm starting to think we're going to miss…turn it up, turn it up!"

Someone unmated the TV and the newscaster's voice filled the room: "In other news, celebrity sensation Gazelle will be performing her latest concert at the Animalia Center. Tickets having already been sold out it will surely be an incredibly crowded event, a majority of Zootopia's citizens coming together to enjoy the music of one of our most famous icons."

Fidget started complaining that they hadn't mentioned the Unusuals but Judy was staring at the screen in horror as realization clicked: but I bet after the show I plan on putting on some higher ups will probably want to cash in on the deal.

"That's it…" she breathed, catching the attention of the rest of the animals in the room. "That's what he plans to do! He's going to release savage predators into the crowd and-and use the collared predators to fight them off, he's going to give mammals a reason to buy those awful things…"

"That's crazy," Fidget spoke up, "Wouldn't that kill innocent animals?"

"Yes," Judy replied. "But Ronno doesn't care, without Eleanor Sugar and the Night Howler antidote, it's the only thing they have and he knows that."

Something boiled in the pit of her stomach, it was a something like fire and hotter and much, much, angrier. She had been stupid, she knew that, Ronno had fooled her, she had lost Nick…but she refused, refused to sit on her tail and let the exact same thing happen to Zootopia. This is what she needed to do; this is what Nick would want her to do.

"Perry," she looked to the platypus. "You'll take the antidote to the hospital?"

He nodded and Judy turned to Finnick, "I need your van."

Finnick's brow furrowed, "Why?"

Judy glared outside the window, out at the Meadowlands, where not so far away Ronno planned to unleash an evil onto her home. "I'm going to stop this."