Chapter 21 Search for the Gun

Judy couldn't even experience the relief that came with sleep!

The rabbit officer tossed and turned in the little makeshift bed that her captor had made for her, unable to actually get sleep at all. This might be because the bed wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world. It might also be because the bed was in a giant birdcage, one that Wendy had put Judy in to ensure that she didn't escape in the middle of the night. Yeah, yeah, it was probably that.

Judy let out the most annoyed type of breath and looked up at the ceiling. Her mind raced as she thought about all that had happened over the course of this crazy, backwards, horrible day. How she wished she could go home and forget about all of it. How she wished she could forget about Wendy entirely, she thought as she stole a glance at the Koopa, sleeping away.

She turned over on her side as she sighed. Oh, but she couldn't go home. Wendy was far too obsessed with her (as well as far too evil) to even consider it. Sure, that thought had been known to Judy over the course of the day, but now that it was at a time where she wasn't nearly as active, it hit her like a ton of bricks. She actually shed a few tears as she thought about how she would never see Zootopia again, how she would never see Bogo or Clawhauser or Nick again.

Nick. He was probably worried out of his mind about her.

When she had this thought, something ignited in Judy. Call it a spark of inspiration, call it renewed determination, call it whatever. In that moment, Judy knew that she couldn't just spend the rest of her life here and rot away as Wendy's discount pet. She needed to escape. She needed to get back to Zootopia, the lovely city in the lovely dimension that she has (and always will) call home.

But how exactly was she supposed to do that? Judy sat up in bed and thought about this for a little bit. What exactly could she do to get back home? Well, the first logical step was to find out how she got into this dimension in the first place. In movies that she watched and comic books that she read, the way people traveled between dimensions was with some sort of special teleportation gun. This gun was able to rip through the very fabric of space, creating portals that would allow a person to step into an alternate reality. And sure, Judy never would have guessed that such a thing could feasibly exist. But then again, she never would've thought she'd wind up in an alternate dimension either. Maybe, if she took the time to explore and search the castle, she would be able to find a gun that fit that description.

Judy smiled when she had that thought. So, she stood up, thankfully noting the cage was big enough so that she could stand up to her full height. She studied the bars. They were pretty far apart. Not so much so that it made the cage useless, but more so just enough for someone like Judy to squeeze through them if she decided to put in the effort.

So, that's exactly what she did. She slipped through the holes without even feeling any semblance of pain. She actually did a fist pump when she got out. She looked at the cage, then at the sleeping Wendy. She soaked those sights in, thankfully feeling like this would be the last time she ever saw them. With the speed of her species and the quietness of a sloth, she snuck out of the room.

She actually breathed a sigh of relief as she closed the door behind her. She looked at the hallway that she now stood in. On some level, it looked big, foreboding. It looked like the walls towered over her, taunting her for her diminutive stature. Nevertheless, she wasn't going to let this bother her. She was a police officer who had gone through years of training; it was going to take a lot more than that to make her stop in her tracks.

So, she started moving. Her mind tried to think about what might be the best place to look first. Honestly, she had no idea what that place might be, and it made her worry a little bit. She decided that the best thing to do was to search everywhere. Search high and low, search through every single room until she found out where the gun might be.

With this thought in mind, she opened the door closest to the one she had just walked out of. This room was dark, but Judy could still see the sleeping form of the big, burly brute named Morton. Keeping the door cracked open slightly so that she could see, she began searching here. As she searched, she took notice of all the… oddities in this room. For one, there were about three plushies of a rainbow maned pegasus spread out across the floor. The carpet also had pictures of unicorns and pegasi on it, and most of the place also sported this sort of rainbow-colored decor. This struck Judy as more than a little strange. Sure, she wasn't necessarily judging Morton, she just hadn't expected to find this stuff in a room belonging to someone like him. She supposed that this only reinforced one of the lessons she had learned from Nick; not everyone was as they seemed from a first glance.

Unfortunately, she didn't find a portal gun amidst all these rainbow decorations and toys, so she snuck back out of the room. She shut the door tight and went on to the next room. She let out a breath before opening this door. She was expecting this room to be as dark and as quiet as the ones that she had previously been in, so she was a little spooked when she saw that the light was on. She only felt worse when she saw Ludwig and Lemmy, sitting up in their beds and laughing their heads off. Chills ran up and down Judy's spine as they looked back at her, blinking like she was some sort of alien (which, in a way, she kind of was).

"Hey, Judy," Lemmy said.

Judy swallowed a lump. "Uh… hey…" Oh man, what if they decided to bring her back to Wendy's room.

"What are you looking for?" asked Ludwig.

Judy scratched the back of her head. "Uh… um… I was wondering… if you would know about the location of an interdimensional portal gun?" Man, she hadn't realized how stupid that sounded until she said it out loud. She sunk into the floor, feeling like Lemmy and Ludwig were staring at her with judging eyes.

Thankfully, their response didn't seem to indicate such. "Oh, you're looking for one of those?" Lemmy asked. "Iggy is keeping one in his lab."

Judy initially blinked, both because of the nonchalant tone Lemmy used and also because… well, there's no way it could be that easy. Regardless, she was still going to look there.

"Oh, cool. Where is Iggy's lab?"

"It's the last door in this hallway on the left," Ludwig said. He smiled at her. "You're feeling a little homesick, right?"

Judy's insides squirmed. "I… well, yeah."

Ludwig chuckled. "Well, don't worry. We won't tell Wendy."

Judy put her hand to her chest as she let out the most relieved of relieved breaths, "Oh, thank you!" With a wave and a smile, she closed the door. As she did, her heart rate picked up significantly. She actually knew where to look! The way to get back home was becoming more and more concrete before her very eyes! Oh, if she could, she would jump into the air and whoop at the top of her voice!

So, with a smile, she bounded for the lab. She got there within no time at all, sneaking in without any sort of reservation. She studied the place, first and foremost. Her eyes and mind boggled at all the amazing sights in here, especially at one very large, very futuristic machine resting in the corner. Regardless, she knew that she couldn't spend too much time gawking. She had to find that gun, and she needed to find it as soon as possible.

As she searched the lab, she felt as though she was doing something naughty. This was further reinforced by the fact that there didn't seem to be one speck of dust or out of place fingerprint. It was almost like the whole place would shatter like glass if she spent too much time exploring it. However, that didn't stop her. There was no way something like this was going to stop her after she got this close. She continued searching, opening table drawers and checking every nook and cranny there was to search. It wasn't until she had opened one of the supply closets (a very stinky supply closet) that she found what she was looking for.

"YES!" Judy exclaimed out loud. She grabbed the gun, holding it in her hands as if it was some sort of priceless jewel she had stolen from a museum. She couldn't believe it! Her ticket home was literally right here! Oh, she hadn't felt this happy since before Wendy had kidnapped her!

She searched the gun, trying to find out which button was the one that would take her back to her home dimension. Unfortunately, right as she was doing this, the light came on in the lab. Judy seized up. She turned toward the door at the top of the steps, expecting the worst. And, unfortunately, the worst was what she got.

"Judy!" Wendy exclaimed. "What are you doing?"