Chapter 19: The Paragon of Animals

We're So Screwed, Part 4

Council Complex…Elevator

Nick and Judy had made it back to the elevator and began their descent to the Wolfram core, the elevator creaked and groaned, the shaft apparently warped from the heat from the fires above. Judy hung her head, her ears drooped sadly. Nick was still holding and petting her, she couldn't take it anymore, she wanted this quest to end. Long gone was the sense of nobility, the heroic vestiges of fighting against an evil dragon. The reality of it was that like any fight, it had been bloody, brutal and draining in both physical, mental, emotional and even spiritual cost. Everyone she cared about had been touched by this darkness, even Nick for all his witty attitudes had changed.

This entire experience had bombarded her beliefs, her sensibilities even her idealism, but despite all it, she managed to keep a small mote of hope alive, and knowing Nick was with her helped. It may be unfair to put such a burden on him, but she relied on him being there, knowing he was there gave her the belief that no matter what would happen, she could see it through because she wouldn't be alone.

As they descended into the heart of the complex, she felt as though they were diving into the belly of the dragon, into the hot depths of hell, Fiery and demonic. She hoped to see the sun again, to feel it on her muzzle, to breathe the clean air and feel the wind against her fur. And as always, to have Nick there, to feel his soft gentle embrace, the warmth of his lips, and the soft texture of his fur, To enjoy the experience of that moment with her, and the moments to come.

Judy hugged him, squeezing him in fact; she looked up into his emerald eyes, and studied his features. Nick stared down into the bunny's eyes, he felt his heart ache from the look of sorrow in them. The fox caressed her cheek with his paw, tracing her features, which made her nose twitch instinctively.

"No matter what happens, please, don't leave me." She requested.

"I'm here carrots, I'm not going anywhere. Even if I have to keep reminding you for the rest of our days. they'll be our days." he replied beaming a smile down upon the small bunny.

He squeezed her back, to reassure her.

Their moment in the elevator was broken when it came to a sudden stop, they looked at the door as it opened, and it seemed as if they had arrived. The duo stepped out of the elevator and across a gantry.

They quickly walked across it before they noticed that the sphere of the reactor containment below them, they realized they hadn't arrived on the reactor level, upon realizing their mistake they turned around to go back only to be stopped by a familiar weasel. Nick seethed in anger as he saw him, and stood in front of Judy instinctively.

"You!" Nick scowled

"Yes, me." Replied Sid.

"What do you want?" Nick demanded.

"The same thing I've been wanting Nick."

"Yeah, well forget it. There is nothing you can do to me anymore."

"You absolutely sure about that?"

Nick levied his gun at Sid and was about to pull the trigger, when Sid held up a paw, causing Nick to hesitate.

"Ooo, you really need to read the signs around here." Said the weasel pointing his paw towards a nearby pipe and warning signs reading "Warning: Contents Caustic" "Extremely Flammable and Explosive" "Keep away from oxygen environments."

"One stray shot and you could kill us all, set off the Wolfram." He warned

Nick holstered his weapon, and stood not sure what to do.

"So what, fox to weasel fisticuffs?" Nick scoffed.

"Wow, you really have suppressed your killer instinct, haven't you?" replied Sid, holding up his paws and popping the claws.

"I sure hope you can muster something, otherwise when I kill your rabbit, it won't nearly be as satisfying."

Nick gritted his teeth and took a fighting stance, growling ever so slightly, he engaged his paw, claws out instead of a fist.

"You're not touching her." Nick growled.

"Good. Good! That's a start."

Nick rushed Sid, who waited for the fox to get close, Nick slashed at Sid, who like a blur side stepped and slashed Nick's cheek. Nick stumbled forward and cradled his wound and look back at Sid. The weasel simply smiled with a sinister intent and winked at him. Nick incensed came back towards him, and slashed at him again. Nick's street fighting style even with police training was no match for Sid's apparent expertise at martial arts and raw speed, yet Sid made no attempt to go on the offensive.

Judy realized that Sid was simply playing with him. Though she didn't have any claws, she did have the combat knife, she unsheathed it and attempted to stab him from behind, normally a move she wouldn't consider, but in her anger and concern for Nick, she wasn't concerned about her normal ethics. Sid's awareness was seemingly paranormal, right as she was about to strike, reached back, grabbed Judy's wrist, pulled her off her feet and threw her into Nick, kicking the both of them with a powerful side kick. Nick and Judy slid along the gantry to a stop

"Come now, even with the two of you, I'm not even breaking a sweat," taunted Sid

"Come on Nicholas, even to defend your mate, show me some kind of fierceness." the weasel goaded.

Judy looked at Nick with confidence.

"Nick…..do what you need to do. It's ok to embrace it."

Nick understood what Judy meant; we each have our light and dark sides. But it's what we do with those impulses that makes them good or bad, and now Nick needed to use that dark side to win. They stood to their feet Nick, ferocious but resolute, Judy ever at his side. They charged Sid again. Nick's furiously slashes with Judy's combined thrusts and parries, Sid was having to fight on two fronts, his calm focus and fighting style being tested against the two resolute in his defeat, united to stand against the darkness, and the evil it represents.

Sid had to step back a few paces, or else endure Nick's claws or Judy's knife. His calm demeanor took a darker tone, he closed his eyes and breathed deep as if centering himself, and the colors around him seem to mute as if summoning darkness from the deep recesses of his soul. He opened his eyes, and they took an almost demonic sense of ice cold focus to them, he crossed his arms, and unsheathed two knives in his paws, the sleight of paw made them seemingly appear from no where, focusing his gaze with deadly intent on Nick and Judy.

"I see now that I was wrong, Nicholas. You have made your choice, it was just the wrong one."

Sid gritted his teeth, his mind echoing, a scream in his mind "Sidney, No!" screamed a voice from his past, his rage, his hate seethed and boiled over, his fur standing up on end, almost looking savage, but with clear murderous intent behind his eyes.

He roared at them and moved with vicious movement, his calm demeanor and fighting style replaced by intense and vicious attacks, violent, strong and committed. One slash caught Judy in the chest and sent her flying, another caught Nick in stomach, he winced in pain as his fur under his suit was cut. He screamed for Judy as she hit the gantry, she didn't seem to be moving. Sid turned his attention to Nick, who tried to stab him in the chest with both knives, Nick managed to catch the weasel's wrists.

Sidney pushed against Nick's weight and tried to drive the knives in, Nick batted one of the knives away, but Sidney stabbed the other into Nick's shoulder. Nick let out a scream as he instinctively grabbed his wrist with both paws and pulled the knife back out. Sid moved the knife over Nick's heart and pushed, Nick pushing back, he leaned over the gantry's safety bars to get away from the weasel. Sid climbed onto him and pommeled the knife with both paws, trying to put all his weight on it. He bared his teeth, his blood thirst evident on his face

In positioning themselves the way they did the two combatants were dangerously close to falling off and into the expanse below to the lower core.

"Sid! We'll both fall!" Nick screamed

"So?" Sid replied.

"We'll die!" Nick concluded

"Then we die…together. As it should be." The weasel spat.

Nick's grip was slipping, he could feel the tip of the knife dancing on his chest, one slip and it would be over.

"Hey!" came a voice from next to them.

Sid turned his gaze to see a pair of rabbit feet hit him in the face, throwing him off Nick, Sid stumbled back, while Judy grabbed Nick to keep him from falling over. She pulled Nick up on his feet and looked at him.

"I think it's your turn to be saved for once." She said with a wink.

Judy pointed her gun at Sidney.

"You stupid rabbit bitch, you'll kill us all!" he screamed.

"I guess you don't know." She said confidently

"Know what?" he inquired

"I was top of my class." She admitted.

Judy took precise aim and shot Sidney in the chest, which pushed him back, she shot again and again, each time pushing him further to the other side of the gantry. He stumbled back and fell back against a pipe, bleeding. Nick and Judy walked up to him, and the fox knelt down to talk to him.

"Why? Why are you so obsessed with me?" he demanded.

Sid stared at Nick with a weak but stern gaze, too weak to muster any kind of attack.

"The sins…of the father…." Sid went slack, and seemingly drifted away, he was still and motionless.

Nick stood up and looked at Judy with absolute confusion; his reply didn't seem to mean anything to him, having no idea to what he was referring.

They were interrupted by static over their comm line, it was indistinct at first then came through.

"…..Are you there?" came a voice.

"Who is this? Kaiden?" Judy asked in hope.

"No, this….Clawhauser…Wolfram…overloading...reactor damaged…must get to…core…" said Clawhauser through the static.

The sound from below, a deep rumble, the Wolfram was overloading, several conduits connected to it began to sputter and sizzle, something was very wrong. Nick and Judy realized they didn't have much time. They immediately ran across the gantry back to the elevator and started their final decent once again.

Sid's body was slowly exsanguinating, when a shadow cast across it, a figure standing still for a moment as if waiting for something. Sid unconsciously gasped and twitched as the figure moved upon him.

Council Complex…..Computer Core Level…..Adjacent Room.

Having watched Nick and Judy leave, Kaiden laid back putting his head against the glass, and stared at Jarod's corpse still mounted to the wall by his combat blade.

"Well Jarod, those two are the final hope, and very soon, your ilk will be defeated, the darkness will end, and you will be beaten."

Kaiden waited for a moment almost half expecting him to answer, he shook it off. "the low oxygen must be making me loopy" he thought.

Kaiden sat and was waiting for the inevitable, his eyes getting droopy, he became aware of his breathing, the raspy sound of it, he could feel his heart beating, it was quiet in the room, a stillness he had not expected to find in this place, blinking, each one lasting longer than the last. Exhaustion, his tired body desiring rest, he counted the breaths, expecting each one to be his last. He got very still, then like that, black, endless black.

The next thing he knew, he was laying down in a field of endless white, he sat up and looked around. "I must be dead" he concluded. "This must be…."

He stood up, and looked around, at first he didn't know what to think, he looked at his paws, they were normal, his legs, normal. He felt his face and muzzle, the scars gone. "This must be…..heaven?" he thought.

But he was alone…It seemed odd, he thought there would be others, certainly everything he was taught would mean others would be here, fan fair, angelic horns, something, yet all there seemed to be was an endless void of white. For a moment, he considered that he might actually be in hell, but no fire or smell of brimstone in the air, in fact, there seemed to be a pleasant smell in the air, like flowers, he couldn't place it at first, it seemed strangely familiar. He thought for a moment and remembered

"Lily blossoms" he muttered.

Kaiden lost in thought didn't sense it but then felt a soft paw caressing his shoulder; he spun around in surprise, and was in shock at who he saw.

"Li….Lily?" he asked.

Standing before him was a rabbit, white as the driven snow, her eyes a radiant lapis. He stood dumbstruck.

"Kaiden." she whispered.

She came forward and held him, caressing his fur.

"Is this real? Are you really here?" she asked.

"I…think….I'm dead." He replied.

Kaiden snapped out of his shock and stared into Lily's eyes, it was her. He could never forget those eyes. He kissed her passionately on the lips, wrapped his arms around her small form and twirled her around. He broke the kiss and stared into her eyes again.

"Lily….I'm….sorry." Kaiden apologized.

"I'm sorry that I didn't die with you." He nuzzled her cheek, breaking down in tears.

"Kaiden." She replied, petting his cheek.

"I never wanted you to live in pain like this; I didn't want you to suffer because of me." She teared up.

"I love you, and I always will."

Kaiden held her paw and caressed it against his muzzle, he took a deep breath of her scent, letting the perfume of it fill his lungs, how he missed her scent.

"I got him Lily, I got him….the lynx….that killed you."

"I am ready to be with you."

Lily nuzzled Kaiden.

"But it's not your time, sweetheart, it's not your time."

"I want to…. I want to die, I want to stay here with you."

"What about your friends, what about Nick and Judy?"

Kaiden couldn't believe how he seemed to forget everything that came before so quickly, like his life before was a distant memory or a dream.

"How do you?..."

"Where ever you go, I go" she replied

"They will be fine, they are going to shut down the core, it will be over."

"Kaiden, they need you now more them ever."

"They need you."

Kaiden couldn't help but stare at her. To be gone for so long only to have her right there, in his arms, to see her, to smell her, to touch her.

"There is something I want to ask….."

"And I don't think I could go on without knowing, but I have to know….."

"Lily, do you…do you blame me?" Kaiden asked through his tears.

Lily held Kaiden's head in her arms, and continued to pet him.

"When I asked you what was more important, me or the job…."

"….you chose me Kaiden, you chose to be with me."

"Jarod, took that from you."

"No my love, I don't blame you. You were a victim in all of this, just like me."

"But you have to forgive yourself."

"I know you blame yourself for what happened. I know you carry this burden and it hurts you."

"I love you more than life itself and I don't want to see you living this way."

Kaiden stood and looked at Lily, she cradles his head in her soft delicate paws and dried Kaiden's eyes with her thumbs. Lily studied the fox's face taking in his vision, a world weary expression of a fox who had seen and done so much.

"Lily, I love you, I want you to know that I miss you so very much."

"I wanted a better life for you, and our child."

Lily waited a moment, not sure if she should ask, not wanting to pain him anymore. But she realized that he deserved to see.

"Would you like to see him?"

"Him?"

"You have a son, a beautiful son." Lily smiled and cries at the same time.

Kaiden turned his head to see an impossible scene; it was Lily, himself and a small kit with features of a fox and rabbit, scampering towards his father. They seemed to be in a field, near bunny burrow, a lone apple tree a top the nearby hill. It seemed to be a family picnic, with a sheet on the ground and basket nearby. The family laughing and enjoying life the small kit picked up by his father and tossed joyously in the air and caught. Then the other Kaiden sensed as if he was being watched and turned to look around, making eye contact with himself. Kaiden stood dumbstruck, staring at what, another life? Another existence, this was no memory, this didn't happen. He could only gasp in shock at the scene, tears running down his face.

He snapped out of his thoughts, he looked at himself again, he was augmented again, the scars returned, in his Bureau 13 assault gear, the same one that he entered the complex with.

He turned back to Lily, as if needing guidance.

"They need you, Kaiden, I need you. You have to go back."

Kaiden saw a distance point of light, oscillating colors, the distant hushed tones of reality.

"Where will you be?"

"I have always been here." Replied Lily pointing to his heart.

Lily floats over to Kaiden and kisses him sweetly and passionately. He tries to burn the memory of that moment into his mind, to remember her taste, her scent, her touch. He breaks the kiss and stares into his bunny wife's eyes one last time.

"I have to go, don't I? I have to do the right thing."

"You always do, that is why you are a good man and why I love you."

Kaiden stepped back and started to walk toward that point of light, he turned and look back at her one last time.

"I shall see you again, in the place where no shadows fall." She said to him.

Kaiden turned and walked into the light.

Kaiden, suddenly awoke in a cold sweat, he was still in the room, his heads up display showed the oxygen levels dangerous low, read outs of medical information read in his eyes, the medical implants managed to saturate enough ambient oxygen in the air to preserve his brain function and finally awaken him.

He wondered what he experienced, which was quickly fading away, a dream, an oxygen deprived hallucination, altered state, or had he truly died. Kaiden didn't have the time to ponder, he had a task to do, and he wasn't going to get it done from the inside of this room.

He looked around the room, taking stock in the situation. He saw sparks that were flying around the room, the wires, the broken tiles, vent hatch, pipes, and the computer towers. His awareness sprung up "vent hatch?!" he thought.

He did a double take when he in fact saw a vent hatch just above where his arm was mounted to the wall; all of a sudden his hope sprang. He stood to his feet, feeling wobbly, the low oxygen levels taking their toll. He realized he had one chance, but that window of opportunity was closing and fast.

He stumbled over to Jarod and connected the blade to the forearm mount and retrieved it, then proceeded over to his arm still mounted on the wall and yanked it off the wall. He looked up at the vent, it was only a few feet off the floor, an easy task for a fully abled and two armed Kaiden, but with one arm and damaged servo motors it was going to be a bit of a challenge, however he resolved himself.

"What would Lily do?" he thought to himself.

He looked at the arm he was holding and clamped his jaw on the forearm, holding it, and he started to climb on the nearby computer tower. He grunted and groaned, as he tried to find a grip on the smooth tower. It took him several tries but he managed to get to the top of the computer tower, he stood up but low, he felt his sense of balance was disrupted, the vertigo still making him wobble. Normally the implants in his brain would take care of things like disorientation, vertigo, etc but they must have been damaged, so he felt off balance, something he hadn't felt in a long time.

Kaiden focused on the goal in front of him, he stepped across the gap between the computer tower and the piping that ran just underneath the vent. With a foot one on the pipe and the other on the tower, he grabbed the vent cover with his good paw and tugged it, it was straining and deforming under his grip, the question was could he pull it off without losing his balance and falling to the floor.

"I wish somebody could give me a paw." He thought.

Kaiden busted out a chuckle in his throat while keeping his muzzle clipped around his severed arm.

"That was a good one old fox." he complimented himself.

"It's the lowered oxygen, it's making you goofy, must hurry." He reminded himself.

Kaiden's oxygen readout was reading 10% and falling, but the atmospheric pressure was actually increasing the breathable air being replaced by gasses from the burning circuits and the halon system, he had to get out soon, if he was going to survive.

The vent cover popped off, and Kaiden almost lost his balance; he tossed the cover away and climbed into the vent. He slid along the vent till he came to a pressure cap.

"Of course, he thought, to disconnect it from the rest of the ventilation system."

He tapped it with his good paw, trying to gauge its thickness, it seemed thin enough, but he couldn't get a pawhold on it to tear it, then he had an idea.

Taking his severed arm, he reached into its structure looking for the release, he pressed it and the combat blade popped out, Kaiden hoped there was just enough power left in the arm to fire the blade, otherwise, he would have to use the one on his good forearm, and he wanted to save it if possible.

Kaiden aimed the arm toward the pressure hatch and took stock for a moment at how much of a pressure difference had built up by now. It didn't matter, the alternative was death and he wasn't going to accept that.

He reached for the firing release; he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pressed the button. With the pop of the hatch, the rush of air, and the sound of his body being forced through the vents like a money carrier through a pipe at the bank, Kaiden didn't realize what direction he was heading or how far from the room he was ejected, he remembered being forced out of the vent and the sting of hitting a wall. He stood up, coughing and breathing in fresh air trying to get his bearings. He stumbled down a nearby ledge and saw a gantry, an elevator on the other side. He looked down and saw the Wolfram core, He must have been ejected downwards. He had to make it across the gantry and down to the core using the elevator.

Meanwhile…

Nick and Judy made it to the Wolfram core, they stepped out into the circular hallway that ran around the core, there was some kind of transparent material acting as a window into the core, but it didn't feel like glass, it almost felt like metal to Judy's paws. It even sounded like metal when she tapped it. The central core was shown with a brilliant almost blinding light, It was a gold spherical-shaped object about the size of a beach ball with rings around it and metal petals around that, connected at the base below it. The petals open appearing to almost cup the sphere and rings. The entire thing resembled some kind of technological flower with a golden orb at its heart. The orb itself was ethereal, otherworldly, not entirely solid, shifting and moving like it was made of liquid metal but keeping its shape and cohesion.

"Clawhauser, what do we do?" asked Judy.

"There is a control room at the far end of this hallway; you will be able to access reactor control from there."

Nick and Judy bolted around the reactor room's access corridor, quickly getting into the control room; they stood in front of a bank of complicated control systems.

"Oh, I hope you don't expect us to know what to do." quipped Nick.

"Judy, do you still have the flashdrive?" asked Clawhauser.

Judy pulled out the flash drive and held it in her paw.

"In my paw, I've got it right here in my paw." she replied shaking it for emphasis.

"Insert it into the console, Please."

Judy quickly found a port to plug it into and waited for Clawhauser's response.

"Accessing, Stand By. I am accessing the shutdown routine."

Clawhauser's face appeared on one of the screens and he quickly went to work accessing the console, the lights of the console danced with his activity, flickering on and off as he did his work.

Nick and Judy hugged each other in celebration and stood and waited for some change in the noise and light from the reactor.

"So…..how long will it take?" Judy inquired nervously.

"The shutdown sequence will only take a few minutes. However, we have a problem."

"What's the problem?" asked Nick not wanting to hear another difficulty or impasse.

"It seems when we detonated the computer core and the council, some of the thermo-regulation controllers were also destroyed, the wolfram has essentially been overloading since then."

"And?" asked Judy waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"The actuators for the containment petals won't activate. And I cannot dissipate the core energy without them closed."

"Okay, so how do we close them?" asked Judy.

"The petals would have to be closed using the manual controls and they are unfortunately located… within the core room itself." Clawhauser reluctantly admitted, wincing on the screen as he insinuated what had to be done.

"Woah, woah, you mean we have to go in there!?" said Nick incredulously.

"Yes." the cheetah sadly, understanding the implication

"How much radiation is in there?"

"The levels are…..lethal," Clawhauser replied with a now sullen expression.

Judy heaved a heavy sigh.

"No, we are not doing this, we will find another way." Scolded Nick.

"Nicholas the Wolfram will go off in a few minutes, and I cannot shut down the core without those petals closed."

"I don't care, we can get radiation suits or something."

"No time and the current levels exceed material protections."

"Well short out the thing, like we did the council"

"No time, the primary power conduits are deep within the superstructure."

"Then well redirect it somewhere." the fox pleasing trying to find any alternative.

"That would take a complete rewrite of the targeting software and No time."

"Nick, Stop!" shouted Judy sadly.

Clawhauser and Nick stopped their argument.

"There's no other choice Nick, the other alternative is we let everyone, EVERYONE in Zootopia die, and that is not an option."

"But Carrots, we will die."

"Two or Two million, Nick… it's easy math." She said trembling practically terrified.

The two looked into each other's eyes, they both knew it, and there really wasn't any choice.

"What do we have to do Ben?" asked Nick while still looking at Judy.

"There are several cranks under each petal on the base of the reactor, simply turn them and close the petals, once all of them are closed, I can shut off the reactor."

"What about getting out?" Nick asked.

"The radiation would take some time to dissipate to a low enough level that I could open the doors and not flood the complex."

"Which means, we would have to stay in there," Judy concluded the reality of the situation hitting her.

"Yes." Said Clawhauser sadly.

"This…..sucks." reacted Nick.

Judy walked over to Nick and petted his cheek.

"Yes…..it does."

Judy took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. Nick grabbed her paw and they walked over to the access door, their hearts were racing. They were terrified yet still resolute to finish the mission, they looked at each other.

"Clawhauser….open the door." She ordered.

Meanwhile…

Kaiden was racing across the gantry, his servos grinding and groaning with each step, he managed to overhear the comms traffic between Clawhauser, Nick, and Judy.

"Clawhauser! Clawhauser! I'm almost there, do NOT let them inside."

Kaiden frantically got to the elevator, pulled on the door, and opened it just wide enough to slip through, he looked into the shaft, saw the elevator cable, took off one of his bandoleers and held it in his muzzle and jumped across to grab the cable, wrapping his legs around it, he used his one good arm to swing the bandoleer around, using his teeth to help hold it while he created a knot. He grabbed the knot, and let go with his legs just enough to slide down the cable.

"Kit! Kit! Do you read me?! Come in, damn it!"

Static filled the line, nothing, and then more static.

"Barely…..read you…" replied Kit.

"Kit, get down to the reactor. We have to stop them!" Kaiden said in a panic.

The comms belched more static.

Kaiden got close to the bottom and let go of the bandoleer, falling the rest of the way and landing hard into the elevator platform. He managed to open the door at the bottom of the shaft and slipped into the circular hallway. The sight he saw almost made him crumble right then and here. Nick and Judy were inside the reactor room, turning some kind of wheels at the base of the reactor housing, several of the metal petals surrounding the core were up, others in various stages of closure, the duo inching them closed around the central reactor sphere.

Kaiden spotted the control room and door on the other side and ran over to it; he pulled at the door, which was locked tight.

"Clawhauser! Clawhauser! Open this door!" demanded Kaiden

"I cannot." The AI replied.

"Open this door! Now!" Kaiden ordered.

"I cannot, the control room is flooded with lethal radiation and if I open the door it will flood the complex."

"I don't give a damn, open this door now!"

"Kaiden, there is nothing you can do. It's too late."

Kaiden screamed "No!" and engaged the combat blade on his good arm, stabbing it into the door jam and used it as a pry bar to forcefully open the door.

"Kaiden stop." Clawhauser pleaded.

The cyberfox pressed his full weight and pushed with all the might of his leg augments, the servos strained, whirring and buzzing.

"Kaiden Stop!" the AI screamed.

The combat blade deformed and broke in half, the fox went tumbling as he lost his leverage, clattering on the floor.

"Just stop," Clawhauser whispered pleading with the fox to resolve himself to accept the reality.

Kaiden picked himself up and walked over to the nearby window, the fox broke down, completely hysterical.

"Oh god! Nick! Judy!"

"Nooo!" he screamed as he beat his fist into the window.

Kaiden could do nothing but watch his friends give their lives to his cause.

Meanwhile… Inside the reactor core.

Judy and Nick were coordinating the closing of the petals around the core, the last of them were almost closed. The intense heat and radiation stung their fur, and made their skin feel like it was on fire. As they were closing, the bits and pieces of the reactor's assembly were falling everywhere, nuts, bolts, and metal washers raining down on them; the whole thing seemed to be coming apart.

"Come on, Carrots, we almost got it!" Nick encouraged grunting as he was turning

"I'm trying, it just hurts so much!" She exclaimed

"I know, we are almost there!" Nick encouraged.

"Come on!" she yelled at her crank.

Finally, the last petal slammed shut, and the reactor began to shut down, the now enclosed sphere retracting into the reactor base. The heat rapidly cooled and the noise of the reactor spun down with a decreasing oscillation, eventually going silent, the sound of cooling pumps at the edge of the room, letting off a hiss intermittently, and the low rumble of coolant in the pipes below them.

Nick and Judy managed to stop the reactor; they stumbled to each other, sweaty, exhausted, catching each other in their arms, catching their breath. Nick sat down next to the reactor base and leaned against the housing, Judy sat on his left leg.

"That's it, I'm done. I want to go home." He said exhausted.

"I think we can now." She answered.

"Great, wonderful." He replied with sarcastic glee.

"Though, I think you can kiss that couch goodbye." She quipped for levity.

"What do you mean?"

"Well considering you haven't paid rent in over 3 months." She joked with a soft but exhausted chuckle.

"Oh yeah, right, same thing with you." He replied right back

"Yup." She said playfully.

The pair chuckled out loud and then smiled, looking at each other.

"Guess I'll have to get a new place." Said Nick

"Same here," she replied

"Ya know, we could always get a place together." He suggested with a playful smile.

Judy looked at him with a cock eyed expression but still kept her grin.

"It would be perfect, we would only have to pay one rent, one set of bills, it would be great," said Nick trying to remain playful.

"So a marriage of convenience then?" Judy played right back.

"Who said anything about marriage?" he quipped with his playful sarcasm.

"Why Nicholas P. Wilde, You don't expect a young wholesome bunny like me to live in sin do you?" she replied back with a smirk.

"You're absolutely right, I should make an honest bunny out of you." He replied shivering.

Nick looked around the debris from the reactor and found a titanium metal washer that had fallen off the reactor housing; he inspected it, blew on it, and cleaned it against his shirt.

"This should fit," Nick replied still smiling.

"Judith Hopps, will you marry me?" he asked playfully with a wink holding up the washer.

Judy chucked her body trembling from the radiation.

"Hmm, maybe I should think about it…" she pretended.

"Times up." He said with his eternal smile.

"Of course you silly fox." She replied batting a paw at him.

Nick slid the washer on her finger and she wiggled her finger playfully pretending it was a big rock, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him sweetly, They could feel each other trembling, the radiation taking its toll.

"Is IS a pretty shade of silver, actually" commented Judy.

"So what do we tell your parents?" Nick continues the banter.

"Oh, they'll be happy; they just want some grandkids to spoil." She smirked.

Nick chuckled out loud again.

"Really, kids, that could be 'fun'." He replied giving her a flirty nuzzle.

"So naughty."

"Hey, you brought it up."

"I guess I did."

"So what would we call them, Boxes or Funnies?" he asked.

Nick and Judy chuckled, Nick coughed, both sounding and feeling wet, he ignored it and went back to maintain his smile, Judy caught that he was trying to hide it; she too kept up the pretense. The mood shifted becoming more somber.

"I would just call them happy," Judy replied

"Happy huh?" he smiled sweetly.

"Yeah…..I think you would make a great dad." She admitted

"I think you would make an awesome mom." He replied

Nick and Judy looked into each other's eyes.

"Have I ever told you I really love carrots?" He admitted.

"Nick, you hate the taste of carrots." She quipped.

"Not the taste, the scent, they remind me of spring, they remind me…..of you." He smiled.

Nick and Judy shared a passionate kiss; they tried to burn the memory of the sensation of each other into their minds, not wanting to forget, not willing to let go.

Nick broke the kiss and looked into Judy's eyes.

"We could have had a great life together." He said.

"I know, I'm sorry." She replied tearing up

"Hey…..I would rather have a day with you than live the next 50 years without you." He replied back running his paw through the fur on her head.

"I want to take those kids over to your parent's place, and they can spoil the heck out of them."

"Have them play with your brothers and sisters, they would be aunts and uncles, ya' know." Said Nick trying to keep the levity, his eyes tearing up.

"They would love that." She whispered, thinking of home, her tears starting to run.

"And they could play in the carrot fields…and uh….." whispered Nick trying to find words.

"We would have a big family dinner around that picnic table in my parent's yard." She finished.

Nick laid his head back against the reactor casing, and smiled back at her, resting his eyes. "Yeah, sounds perfect."

"And we could tell stories and sing songs, and tuck the little ones into bed." She continued

Nick smiled at the thought, visualizing that life. Judy rested her head on his shoulder.

"And we could stay in the guest house, and watch the stars, and…" she said her voice breaking.

"Make love." She barely whispered, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

"It would be a great life." She whispered.

Nick holding his smile softly, lost in thought, managed a weak and distant "Mhmm." As a tear escaped his eye and ran down his cheek.

Nick suddenly relaxed, his entire body went slack, and his smile changed to a relaxed expression, and suddenly seemed very still.

"Nick?" Judy asked quietly.

"Nick?!" she asked a little louder, shaking him slightly.

"Nick!" she called.

Judy suddenly realized what happened, her face winced in sorrow, her breathing ragged; she held her paw to her mouth, trying to hold back from sobbing as she didn't want that to be the last sound he heard. Trembling she reached a paw in front of his nose; she didn't feel anything, no hot breath or air moving.

"Oh Nick." She said breaking up, she nuzzled his cheek.

Judy held his head into her paws, and kissed him one last time, she whispered softly into his ear.

"I love you."

Judy rested her head on his shoulder, and she closed her eyes. She stopped trying to fight the inevitable, she let the exhaustion overtake her, her breathing got shallow, her pulse slowed, her vision blurred, and she felt her body getting light.

She took one last look at Nick.

"I'll see you on the other side." She whispered, as a tear left her eye, and streamed down her cheek.

She closed her eyes for the last time and drifted into endless white….

"The harsh exteriors from the traumatic events melted away, and they were couched in one another, like the Ying and Yang of two souls hurting for the unity of the other. No matter what cruelty they experienced the only true cruelty would be keeping them apart."