Judy and Nick ran off the train before the automatic doors had even fully opened. They bolted through the station as fast as their legs could carry them, and within seconds, they emerged into Savannah Central. City Hall loomed in front of them just a hundred yards away, surrounded by an enormous crowd of cops, media, and curious onlookers. The sun was just beginning to set, but the skyscraper's external lighting system was already turned on, illuminating the building brilliantly against the cloudless sky.
The two of them wasted no time. Judy led the way, running at top speed toward the crowd gathered on the front lawn. Nick followed close behind, a bunny-sized backpack strapped to his back, nearly bursting at the seams with all the evidence the two of them had gathered—and probably a lot of other, unnecessary stuff. After Sara had dropped the Night Howlers bombshell on them, they had grabbed everything they could find in the house that belonged to Judy, stuffed it all inside this backpack, and made it to the train station just in time to catch the high-speed evening line to Zootopia with minutes to spare. Even on the high-speed train, however, it still took over an hour and a half to reach Zootopia.
The whole ride, they had watched the news unfold on the ZNN app on Judy's phone. While Judy's emergency call to Chief Bogo had saved Rolfe from going savage, it seemed Wood—and his fellow conspirators—had decided to move on to the next step in their ultimate plan. They had kidnapped Rolfe, and were now holding him hostage inside the mayor's office at the top of City Hall. Chief Bogo had rounded up every available officer in the entire city, as well as backup from nearby suburbs, and was currently formulating a plan to rescue Rolfe and bring Wood and his cronies to justice. In fact, some of them had already been arrested, thanks to the list of names Judy and Nick had provided of mammals they had seen in the Trunk Hotel; she had texted the names to Bogo on the train.
The crowd now gathered outside of City Hall was a mix of cops, media, and curious onlookers. A wall of police vehicles lined the steps leading up to City Hall's main entrance, behind which a team of special operations mammals were taking cover. They wore all kinds of body armor, and were currently training their guns on the front doors, ready to shoot if the situation called for it. A few feet behind them were most of the rest of Zootopia's police force, lingering among themselves. Some of them seemed to be trying to brainstorm ideas of how to get inside the building and safely rescue Rolfe, while others were standing still and staring at the ground, weary from standing around for hours under such a stressful situation. The few officers left were busy with crowd control, maintaining a clear line between the cops near City Hall and the civilians kept at bay on the front lawn. So far, everyone seemed to be cooperating—perhaps the only thing to be thankful for in the current circumstances.
A dozen or more news vans were parked nearby, and countless reporters of various shapes and sizes were speaking into microphones in front of their respective camera crews. Two or three of the more high-profile news groups were interviewing some of the police mammals who were willing to talk, while the rest stayed back a safe distance, able to keep their viewers up to date on what was going on while keeping out of harm's way.
The crowd of civilians, however, outnumbered all the other groups combined. It was after business hours in Zootopia, and most of the city's mammals were done with their jobs for the day. Many of them walked past City Hall as part of their daily commute, so the sight of so many police and news stations concentrated in a single area naturally drew their curious attention. Some of them had undoubtedly come because they had seen the news themselves, and wanted to witness the event in person.
It was a lot of people, but Nick and Judy had to get through. They ran up to the crowd and began to push past the mammals. Judy slipped between the legs of a giraffe, Nick tiptoed around a pair of hamsters, the bunny hopped over a pig, the fox squeezed around a hippo. They agilely pushed themselves to the front of the crowd within just a minute or two, and finally, they came to the yellow tape that separated the crowd from the police on the other side. The tape was suspended about three feet off the ground, so neither of them had any trouble ducking underneath and making their way to the other side. The officer on duty, McHorn, was about to stop them and turn them around, but quickly recognized them and gave them a nod as permission to continue. They bolted straight to the line of cars near the building, where Bogo was just getting off the radio with Clawhauser.
"Chief!" Judy called. She and Nick closed the gap between them, and came to a stop in front of the buffalo.
Bogo stared at the two, surprised to see them. He had to study Judy for a few seconds before he recognized her past her dyed ears and casual civilian outfit. "Hopps?" He turned his attention to Nick. "Wilde?" His surprise quickly turned to frustration. "What are you doing without your collar?" he demanded.
Nick opened his mouth to give a impudent reply, but Judy spoke up before he could let it out. "I took it off him, sir." When Bogo glared at her, she stood straight and stomped her foot in defiance. "And I don't think that's really all that important right now, do you?"
For a second, the buffalo looked like he was about to unleash an angry tirade against the bunny, but to the relief of them both, he opted instead to swallow hard and nod in agreement. "You're right. Let's talk business." He crossed his arms. "How much do you already know?"
"Only what ZNN has reported," Judy responded. "Dr. Wood took Assistant Mayor Rolfe hostage and is keeping him on the top floor of City Hall. He has not released any demands and refuses to talk to a negotiator."
Bogo nodded. "Then you know about all that we know. He's also got an accomplice. A skunk." Bogo's voice lowered as he recollected his unpleasant encounter inside the lobby hours prior. "He had a raspy voice."
Judy clenched her fists. "Logan Puer," she growled.
Bogo blinked in surprise. "You know him?"
"We've…met." Judy looked up into the sky, her gaze settling on the top floor of City Hall. The setting sun reflected brightly off the windows, nearly blinding her, and she returned her attention to the chief. "He's conniving. And dangerous. He's the one who made a threat against Nick's life."
Nick turned to her, eyes wide open in surprise. "Wait, he did?" This was news to him; Judy had only told him that someone had made a threat against his life, and had never specifically said who it was. Judy's cheeks began to turn red in embarrassment, but before she could explain, he quickly brushed it off nonchalantly. "Eh, he's not the first to make a threat against me, and he won't be the last. Why, if you only heard the stories I have to tell about…"
Bogo's scowl in his direction quickly convinced him to once again close his mouth. The chief took a breath, exhaled slowly, and returned to the original topic. "Regardless, he has decided to send us a little 'message' of his own." He uncrossed his arms and presented his hoof for the two of them to examine.
He held a paper note about the size of a postcard. A message was written on it, hastily written, in big bold letters.
The two froze upon reading it. "'We have a bomb'," Judy read out loud.
Bogo nodded gravely. "And we have no reason to believe it's a bluff." He withdrew the note and crossed his arms once more. "So. They have Zootopia's interim mayor. We have no idea what they want, or even if they want anything at all. They have a bomb of who-knows-what size. If we're not careful, they can kill their hostage, blow up City Hall, and destroy half the city in the process." He paused, allowing the enormity of the situation to settle on them, then uncrossed his arms and sighed. "I welcome any suggestions at this time."
The three of them stood still for several long seconds, silently contemplating their options. The situation was delicate; they couldn't leave Rolfe at the mercy of his kidnappers, obviously, but they also couldn't storm City Hall all at once either. And even if one or two mammals sneaked inside, the only way to get into the mayor's office was by taking the elevator, which would undoubtedly prematurely alert Wood and Puer and ruin any chance of slipping inside unnoticed.
They were at a stalemate. But, since Bogo had said that he was open to suggestions, Nick decided to start offering them, no matter how outrageous they seemed. "Can you send a team in on a helicopter?"
Bogo snorted. "Yes, how inconspicuous," he mumbled sarcastically. When Nick continued staring at him expectantly, he gave a more serious response. "No, there's no access to the mayor's office from the roof. And," he added, waving his arm behind him, "they would absolutely see and hear that coming from a mile away. It's out of the question."
"Okay, bad idea," Nick agreed. "Have you considered using the escape tunnel?"
"No, we haven't considered using the escape…" Bogo raised an eyebrow. "What escape tunnel?"
Nick looked surprised. "Oh, you don't know about it?" He turned to Judy. "Do you know about…" When she shook her head, he adopted his usual half-lidded grin. "Well, well, well, look at me. I know something about City Hall that you two don't." He brought a paw to his chin. "I wonder what else I know about this city that even its most prestigious officers don't have a clue about."
"You're going to give us a lesson on Zootopia's waste management if you're not careful," Bogo warned. "Now, what's this about an escape tunnel?"
Nick dropped his sly smile and returned to being serious. "There's a secret door inside the mayor's office. It blends in with the wall that Lionheart loves to display all his plaques on. It leads to a tunnel that nobody else has access to—a tunnel directly between the mayor's office and the basement of City Hall."
Judy's ears shot up in excitement as Nick spoke. "We can take that tunnel! We can sneak up and catch them off-guard!" A thought crossed her mind, and her ears drooped slightly. "How do we know they haven't used it already to escape?"
"Because it only goes to the basement." Nick looked in the direction of the front doors and pointed at the ground in front of them, below the steps. "Right about there. They still would have needed to walk out of City Hall just like anyone else. So they couldn't have used it—even if they knew about it—without anyone here seeing them."
"And they probably don't know about it." Bogo closed his eyes thoughtfully. "All right. We have a way up to the office." His face turned grim. "But I don't dare send any of my officers up there. Not with a hostage and an active bomb threat."
Judy did not hesitate. "Send me, Chief." When Bogo and Nick both looked at her in bewilderment, she puffed her chest and doubled down. "I can try to reason with him. I'm the one most deeply involved in this case, and Dr. Wood knows it. Maybe he will listen to me—"
"Or maybe he'll blow you to kingdom come," Bogo countered. He gave the bunny a worried look. "Hopps, this is dangerous. If you go up there, there is a very real possibility you won't come back."
"Do you have a better idea, sir?"
Bogo thought for a moment, then let out a long, resigned sigh. "No," he admitted. He took a breath and closed his eyes, as if he dreaded what he was about to say. "Very well. Hopps, you're going up." He turned to Nick. "And Wilde, you're going with her."
Nick, who had watched the conversation as a silent observer, raised an eyebrow upon Bogo's order. "Am I allowed to do that, sir? After all, I resigned from the ZPD."
Bogo, in one of the rarest moments either of them had known the chief, smiled at the fox. "I never accepted it," he replied.
His words caused a joyful grin to spread across Nick's face. "Chief…"
Bogo's smile disappeared unceremoniously. "Don't get all sentimental on me, Wilde." He reached out his arm and opened his hoof. "Give me your bag and get out of here."
Nick blinked and shook himself out of his trance. "Oh, right! Bag!" He quickly slipped off the backpack and handed it over to Bogo. "All the evidence you need is in there!"
"And probably a few other things," Judy quipped quietly.
Bogo pointed at City Hall. "Both of you! Now!" he ordered.
The two partners quickly saluted, then turned to run inside City Hall. Judy, however, stopped in her tracks after a few steps. "Oh, wait!" She rapidly returned to Bogo and snatched the backpack out of his hooves. "I might need something!"
Bogo stared at her in disbelief. "What could possibly be so important that you—"
Judy fished something out, then thrust the bag back to Bogo. "Thanks, Chief!" She ran back to Nick, and the two of them hurried to the entrance to City Hall.
Bogo looked after them, perplexed by the rabbit's erratic behavior. After a moment, however, he shrugged it off and turned his attention back to the rest of his officers. "Cover them!" he ordered. "Don't take your eyes off those doors!"
Nick and Judy broke free from the throng of officers, ran past the cruisers lining the front steps, and arrived at the front doors seconds later. The sheer angle of the building made it impossible for anyone on the top floor to see where they were now, so they knew they were safe. Nick pushed open the giant glass door, allowed Judy to rush in before him, and then ran inside after her.
The lobby was eerily quiet—a stark contrast to the noise and commotion outside. The only sounds that greeted them were the low hum of the lights, and the echoes of their own feet as they ran to the stairs off to the right. Judy let Nick lead the way, since he was the one who knew where to go, and it wasn't long before they reached the stairwell. After a quick descent to the basement floor, Nick led them down a hallway littered with multiple identical wooden doors. He arrived at one of them, which looked no different from the others, and opened it up.
Inside was a hidden stairwell, tightly wound in on itself, and brightly lit by work lights spread out every few feet; it looked like they had been left on for years on end already. The stairwell was clearly utilitarian, with just raw cement lining the walls and stairs made out of meshed steel.
Nick held the door open and waved her inside. "Officer Hopps."
Judy nodded and walked past him, taking the lead. "Okay." She let out a sigh of determination. "Let's do this."
They remained quiet as they climbed the stairs, doing their best to not make a sound. They both fell back on their police training: they controlled their breathing, stepped in unison, walked by rolling along the heels of their feet, and kept their arms close to their bodies. For this plan to succeed, they could not afford to give themselves away, so they dared not make conversation as they made their way up the dozens of flights of stairs. They could not contemplate what might happen to them if things went wrong, and they could not encourage each other on the job that lay ahead of them.
All they could do was trudge forward, focus on the mission, and silently trust that it would all work out.
After several long, exhausting minutes, Judy and Nick reached the hidden door. It was a large wooden door, and from their perspective, it looked the same as any other wooden door, but inside the mayor's office, it blended in perfectly with one of the interior walls. Beside the door was a light switch, which Nick flicked as soon as he walked up to it; instantly, the lights in the tunnel flicked off, leaving them in complete darkness.
They had to rest from the climb up the stairs, so they simply stayed still and strained their ears, listening to the conversation inside.
"They just arrested Sanchez!" Puer's scratchy voice sounded from the other side. His tone of voice was panicked—the first time Judy or Nick had ever heard him sound anything other than in complete control. "What are we going to do? There's nobody left but us!"
"I know!" Wood's voice abruptly overpowered Puer's. "That blasted chief of police must have gotten security footage from the Trunk Hotel. It's the only explanation."
"Or that rabbit isn't as dead as your sources led you to believe," Puer growled in response. "I warned you about her! Her and that fox—they've been on our scent since the beginning, and you've done nothing!"
"I did everything I could," Wood responded dismissively. "There's only so much I could do in my position, you know. And as I recall, it was your job to—"
"Don't get started with that again!" Puer snapped. "I knew my job. Everyone knew their job. And now everyone is locked up." His voice dropped, as if he dreaded the next words to come out of his mouth. "Sanchez is going to squeal. You know he'll squeal, he's a squealer. The whole world is going to know our plan, beaver—"
"The world already knows our plan!" Wood barked, cutting him off. "It was always the plan that the world would know, we just had to accelerate it."
"We did this too fast," Puer lamented. "What are we going to do, Wood? We can't possibly get out of this alive."
"Shut up!" Wood snapped. "Just shut up! I'll think of something!"
Puer groaned in response. "Yes, I can see just how much good your 'thinking' has done so far."
The sound of chuckling interrupted their quarrel. Rolfe's voice sounded, weaker than usual, giving Nick and Judy a sense of relief that he was still alive. "I must say, I never would have expected the two masterminds of this conspiracy to be nothing more than two bickering old hens." He chuckled again, this time a bit louder. "Whatever was I scared of?"
A sharp sound stopped the wolf's laugh, and Puer responded in a low voice. "Just as a reminder, wolf, nothing would make me happier than sending you downstairs in a thousand tiny pieces."
Rolfe paused before responding, this time in a less amused tone of voice. "I can't believe you both used me like this. I wanted to make Zootopia a better place. I wanted to help people! I wanted to become mayor so I could—"
It was Wood's turn to interrupt him this time. "Yes, I'm sure the press will be very interested to hear what lengths you went to, to keep your involvement in this a secret. If you manage to get out of this alive, that is."
"You think I care about my political career?" Rolfe's voice was defiant, and the two officers had to admire his courage to speak up even in his present, dangerous situation. "I'd just as soon go to the press myself and tell them everything I know. After all, I don't know who to trust anymore. I trusted both of you, and, well, we can all see where that got me."
Judy decided that she had rested long enough. She set down the item in her paw, grabbed the doorknob and, as slowly and quietly as she could, pulled the door open just a crack.
The conversation inside continued on, indicating that nobody had seen them yet. Judy pressed her head up against the crack and peeked inside. Rolfe was in the center of the room, tied to one of the mayor's desk chairs with a few layers of rope. He was facing their direction right now; Puer and Wood were both standing in front of him, backs to her, still having to look up slightly in order to meet the wolf's gaze. Puer was holding a jagged knife in one paw, twirling it thoughtfully as they talked.
By now the sun had begun to set, bathing the room in shades of orange and red. Due to the way the office overlooked Zootopia, the sunset had started to cast a long, dark shadow on the wall with the hidden door. It was the perfect opportunity to sneak in before anyone noticed.
Judy turned around and pointed at Nick, then pointed straight down at the ground. Nick realized what she was asking of him, and quickly shook his head; he pointed at himself, then at her, then gripped his paws together. Judy shook her head, again pointed at Nick and then at the ground. This time, she also tapped her wrist, then pointed at Nick again.
Finally, Nick understood. The plan now was for Judy to go ahead and distract the animals inside, then for Nick to sneak in afterward to free Rolfe. He hesitated, not quite sure if he liked the idea of Judy being all alone, but he eventually relented. He took a few steps back, nearly disappearing into the darkness, and gave a thumbs up.
Judy turned her attention back to the door and opened it a little more. By now, Wood had walked over to the giant desk by the window, where he was going through the contents of his briefcase. "To be absolutely honest, Mr. Assistant Mayor, I don't believe you'll get that far." He retrieved something from his briefcase and turned back around, dramatically presenting the item for Rolfe to see. "In fact, I'm not so sure you'll survive the night."
Wood was focused on the item in his paw, Rolfe was focused on Wood, and Puer was focused on Rolfe. The perfect opportunity. Judy silently opened the door just enough to squeeze through, and slid inside the room. The door automatically started to close behind her, but Nick grabbed the doorknob on the other side, keeping it from making any sound. Judy quickly found cover behind a nearby bookcase, where she pressed her body as flat against the side of it as possible. She peeked around the corner, waiting for the right moment to make herself known.
Whatever it was Wood was holding, Rolfe was not threatened by it. He snorted and let out a half-hearted laugh. "What are you going to do? Drown me in coffee?"
Wood stepped away from the window, giving Judy a proper look at what he was holding. It was a coffee cup—identical to the one she had shared with Apollo the night of the Gazelle concert. Right now, it seemed empty; Wood did not bother holding it upright as he walked back to Rolfe's chair. But he did not stop there. He kept walking, past Rolfe, past Puer, past Judy hiding behind the bookcase, and into the waiting room outside the office.
Judy felt her heart drop, knowing what was coming. She had to force herself to stay put; revealing herself too early might put Rolfe's life in danger, not to mention her own.
"Now that you mention it, Fred, some coffee would be nice right about now." Wood walked back into view, the cup of coffee—now filled up and steaming hot—cradled in his paws. "I have, of course, taken the liberty of adding a little extra something to this." A small smile crossed his face. "Just for you."
Rolfe glared at Wood as the beaver made his way back over to the chair. "Just like that so-called 'anti-anxiety coffee' you tried to give me downstairs? No thank you."
Wood stopped just in front of Rolfe, his smile never fading. "You misunderstand." The smile slowly turned into a scowl. "This is not optional."
He nodded at Puer, and immediately, the skunk stood behind Rolfe and grabbed the wolf on both sides of his head. Rolfe recoiled in pain, throwing his head back and yelping. Puer skillfully manipulated his pressure against Rolfe's skull, and before long, Rolfe was helplessly looking straight up, mouth wide open. His fearful eyes darted back and forth between Puer behind him, and Wood in front of him.
Wood raised the cup of coffee and let it linger close to Rolfe's face. "Allow for me to prescribe you an extra strong dosage." He brought the cup up to his own nose and took a deep sniff. He closed his eyes and exhaled, his smile only growing on his face. "Exhilarating, isn't it? The idea that something so small can have such a profound impact on one's mind." He brought the cup to the edge of Rolfe's mouth and began to tip it. The wolf struggled to move away, but Puer's firm grip kept him in place, and all he could do was eye the cup in terror as it tilted more and more. "Let's see what it does to yours, shall we?"
It was now or never.
Judy stepped out of the shadows. "Dr. Wood!" she called.
The beaver stopped. The cup in his paw was touching Rolfe's lips, but no liquid had yet dropped into the wolf's mouth. He remained frozen for a moment, while Puer whirled around to see who had called out. The skunk's face transformed into shock when he saw who it was.
"The rabbit!" His hoarse voice echoed across the room. He narrowed his eyes and leaned in Wood's direction. "You want me to deal with her?" he whispered; Judy's sensitive bunny ears heard him loud and clear.
Wood ignored him. He removed the cup from Rolfe's lips, allowing the wolf a sigh of relief. The beaver turned around and greeted Judy with a warm smile. "Officer Hopps." His voice now sounded just as it had every other time the two of them had talked: welcoming, calm, and friendly. "What are you doing here?"
Judy spread her paws out, showing that she meant no harm. "What's up, Doc?" She let out a chuckle at her own pun, but nobody else laughed, so she quickly dropped it. "I just want to talk to you."
"How did you get up here?" Puer demanded. His eyes darted around the room, looking for the secret door she had come from, but he could not find it. He turned back to Wood and glared at the beaver. "I told you there was a secret passage! There's always a secret passage!"
Wood continued to ignore him. He held the coffee cup in his paws, tapping it with one finger thoughtfully. "Okay, let's talk."
Puer's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious!"
"Shut up, Logan." Wood's sudden verbal snap against the skunk came as a surprise to the other mammals in the room, but he quickly returned to his friendly demeanor when he addressed Judy again. "Let's talk, Judy." He extended a paw. "Why don't you come and share a coffee with us while we talk?"
Judy took a step to the side, beginning to slowly walk to the desk by the window. To the other three mammals, it appeared as if she was uneasily circling them to size up the situation. In reality, she was drawing their attention away from the secret door, and forcing their vision to adapt to the bright setting sun outside the window to make it even harder to spot Nick when the fox would eventually come inside.
"I don't think so." Judy frowned. "I've had bad experiences with a coffee spiked with Night Howlers."
Puer pointed his knife in Judy's direction, silently warning her to not make any sudden moves. In contrast, Wood doubled down on his cordial, genial stance, trying to make himself as welcoming to Judy as he could. "I know. I'm sorry about that. You weren't supposed to drink it." He shrugged. "No prey was. That would ruin the illusion."
Judy took another step, further drawing all three mammals' attention away from the hidden door. "I know everything. I've already told everything to Chief Bogo. We have everything we need to lock you up for the rest of your life. It'll be a lot easier for you if you turn yourself in."
Wood was quiet for a few seconds, during which time Judy continued to move closer to the desk. Puer kept shifting his attention between her and Wood and Rolfe, who was watching the scene unfold with quiet attentiveness. Off to the side, the hidden door cracked open once again, as Nick looked into the room to see how the situation was playing out.
Finally, Wood responded. He leaned down to the ground and set the coffee cup on the floor in front of his webbed feet. Then he stood back up straight and smiled at Judy. "Do you honestly expect me to surrender?" he asked. His warm voice was gone, replaced now by one that could only be described as threatening.
"Not really," Judy admitted. "But we've always got to give you the chance anyway."
Wood smirked. "Indeed." He turned around and began to walk back to the waiting room in the opposite direction. "You know, I expected someone from the ZPD to make a sudden appearance today. I just didn't expect it to be you."
Judy could only watch him go helplessly. If she made any attempt to catch up to him, or if Nick jumped out of the escape tunnel too early, Puer might attack one of them with his knife—or, worse, he might attack Rolfe. So she resigned herself to simply wait and see what it was Wood was about to do.
Wood entered the waiting room outside and disappeared behind the corner. "It's a shame, Officer Hopps," he called. "You really were the best cop in Zootopia. I admired you very much." He emerged back into view and began his return walk to Rolfe. "Too bad there won't be much of you left."
Judy's heart stopped when she saw what the beaver was holding. Cradled in both paws, about the size of a brick, was the bomb. It was littered with wires and tape, and there was a clock display on the top.
The display was counting down. It currently read 05:38, and subtracted a number every single second.
"I didn't want for it to come to this," Wood explained, "but I warned Chief Bogo that I have a bomb. I guess he decided not to listen."
Rolfe's eyes widened in a panic. He struggled against his ropes, even when Puer pointed his knife in his direction threateningly. "You wouldn't!" he yelled.
Judy stared at the bomb in terror. "He would," she whispered. "He absolutely would."
"And I will." Wood lifted the bomb and sneered at Judy. "Tonight, the news will announce that Zootopia's interim mayor and favorite bunny cop fell victim to a bomb at the top of City Hall." He lowered his head and stared at her menacingly. "The assailants, unfortunately, managed to get away unscathed."
Time was precious now. Judy finished her circle, coming to a stop directly in front of the desk. She could see her own shadow, stretched out by the sunset, extend into the room all the way to the other side. Now was the time to give Nick the signal.
"And how exactly do you plan to escape?" she inquired, a little louder than necessary. Right on cue, Nick quietly emerged from the secret door and started to tip-toe over to the mammals in the center of the room, so far avoiding their attention.
"The same way you sneaked in." Wood clutched his bomb tightly with one arm and waved to Rolfe with his other. "And you will tell me exactly how you did it, or Assistant Mayor Rolfe will be subjected to some rather unpleasant treatment." He turned around to address the skunk. "Isn't that right, Mr…"
Nick was just a step away now, and Wood saw him immediately. The beaver's eyes opened wide, and he pointed at the fox. "Puer!" he shouted. The skunk whirled, ready to attack Nick, but Nick was faster. He lunged at Puer, plowing him into Rolfe's chair. The action knocked Puer's knife out of his paw, sending it flying harmlessly to the side. At the same time, the chair got knocked off-balance; with a yelp, Rolfe crashed to the floor, hitting his head hard against the stone tile.
Wood reflexively stepped away from the action, clenching the bomb with both paws in an attempt to keep it safe. He failed to realize that he had just moved in Judy's direction. The bunny saw her chance and ran in Wood's direction, intent on snatching the bomb out of his grasp. He, however, saw her just in time, and managed to dodge her just as she pounced on him. She landed harmlessly behind him, and when she turned around to try again, he pressed his finger against a button on the bomb's timer display. "One more move and I'll set it off right now," he warned.
Judy eyed the beaver warily, and obediently raised her paws to indicate that she was not going to rush him again. She slowly stood back up, but otherwise did not move. "Dr. Wood," she pleaded, "you don't want to do this."
Wood snorted. "No, Officer Hopps. I really do want to do this. We all knew what we were signing up for when we agreed to this, and I'm ready to do my part." He nodded his head in the direction of Nick and Puer, who were still struggling on the ground in their tussle. "And so is he."
Puer slashed his claws at Nick, and attempted to bite his neck, but Nick's police training kicked in. He managed to stave off most of the skunk's most extreme attacks, deflecting or dodging Puer at a speed faster than thought. Puer managed to put a few holes in Nick's shirt, but otherwise the fox managed to keep him at bay. After a few seconds, Puer decided to change tactics; he launched himself away from Nick and landed beside his knife.
Nick jumped back to his feet and stared off against Puer. The skunk crouched down on one paw, wielding his knife with the other. He bared his teeth at Nick, silently daring the fox to challenge him again. Nick adopted a defensive stance he had learned in the academy, standing with his side facing Puer, and raising his arms in preparation for what might come next. "You wanna dance?" He lowered his gaze. "Let's dance, stinker."
Puer blinked, lowering his stance ever so slightly. "What did you just call me?"
Nick smiled mischievously. "Stinker. That's what you are, right? A stinker." He waved a paw in Puer's direction. "Get it? Because you're a skunk?"
Puer glared at the fox and doubled down on his threatening posture. "I should have killed you when I had the chance!" he hissed.
The threat did little to phase Nick. "You're really gross, you know that?" He raised his paw and started counting on his fingers. "You reek, you're foul, you're abhorrent, and you smell to high heaven—"
The skunk let out a blood-curdling scream and lunged at Nick. The fox, however was prepared; after all, this was all part of his plan. At the perfect moment, he spun his body around, concentrated all of his kinetic energy into his leg, and kicked Puer out of mid-air. Puer, not expecting the defensive maneuver, dropped his knife and flew back the way he came. Nick took advantage of the situation and dived after the skunk, ready for the brawl that was sure to come next.
On the other side of the room, Judy continued to plead with Wood. She maintained her distance from him, and held her paws up to assure that she was not about to make any sudden movements. "I just don't understand why you're doing all of this."
Wood lowered his gaze and stared at the ground. "You can never understand," he grumbled.
Judy took a tentative step towards him. "Try me."
He jerked his head back up, forcing her to stop again. He glanced at Nick and Puer. "You and that fox…"
"What about us?" Judy asked cautiously.
The beaver returned his attention to her and shot daggers at the bunny. "You two are close. Too close. I've studied psychology for a long time and I've never seen anything like it." He gritted his teeth, letting his disgust be made clear. "It's abnormal. It's unnatural, you two being this close. Predators and prey should not exist like this."
His words cut into Judy like knives. She had known that not everyone in Zootopia approved of her or Nick being partners on the police force—in fact, there were plenty of mammals who did not like the idea of there being a bunny or a fox in the ZPD at all. She had seen plenty of judgmental eyes over the past year, but she had always ignored them. After all, she and Nick were both excellent cops, and their partnership had made them all the better. So why should she care what anyone else thought of them?
That had been what she thought all this time, but clearly, Wood and others like him had thought differently. They didn't want to just ignore her like she had ignored them. They had hated her—her, and Nick, and all the other mammals in the city like them. They wanted to end the very ideal upon which Zootopia was built: that predators and prey could live in harmony, and that anyone could be anything. And they were willing to go to drastic lengths—infecting predators with a new Night Howler synthetic, bribing and betraying the assistant mayor, conspiring with influential animals all over the city, and even willing to sacrifice their very lives—to bring Zootopia crumbling down.
And all because they couldn't stand the idea of her and Nick being together.
She took a good look at the beaver standing in front of her. She did not see an evil, mustache-twirling villain like in the Saturday morning cartoons she watched growing up. She saw a perfectly normal person, a professional in his field, who might have been holding a bomb and might have organized much of the chaos in the city over the last few weeks…
But right now, she did not hate him. She pitied him. Because he was so focused on his hatred of her and Nick—of the very thought of them being together, as friends or as anything else—that he had been willing to give up everything in his life just to keep them apart.
She looked at Nick, still engaged in his scuffle with Puer. "Nick is my best friend. I trust him with my life. He's the closest person in the whole world to me." She turned back to Wood. "You're right, I'll never understand. And you can never understand what Nick means to me."
Wood narrowed his eyes. "We'll see just how much he means to you when we are finished." He hovered his finger above the button again, silently warning Judy against making any sudden movements, and turned his head and yelled, "Puer! Hurry it up!"
Throughout their conversation, Nick and Puer had managed to keep each other in check. They had exchanged blows, sometimes slashed each other's fur with their claws, but both had yet to inflict serious injuries on the other. Nick felt that this was perhaps the first time in his career that his police academy training was finally paying off; he was sure he would not have been able to hold his own against the skunk without it.
Puer had clearly been expertly trained for fights like this. His movements were too coordinated, and he was able to counter Nick's size with speed and precision. Any time it looked like Nick was about to gain an advantage over him, the skunk would slip out of his grasp and double down on his attacks. More than once, Puer came dangerously close to swiping his claws into Nick's skin, but Nick would always manage to dodge the attacks just in time.
Nick managed to guide the fight away from the other three mammals in the room, slowly leading Puer into the waiting room outside. Here, there was no chance either of them might accidentally hurt the others. Here, Nick was free to fight Puer without holding back. And here, Nick was ready to do whatever it took to bring Puer down.
He had to protect Judy.
Nick had been fighting Puer defensively this whole time. Now it was time to switch. The fox lashed out against the skunk, channeling every feeling in his heart for the bunny in the other room.
Puer was caught off-guard by Nick's sudden volley of blows. He managed to deflect Nick's claws once or twice, but Nick managed to land a his fist against the skunk's face. Puer was instantly knocked off-balance, and Nick followed up by slamming his paw as hard into Puer's sternum as he could, forcing the air out of his lungs. Puer now stood still, completely paralyzed, and still Nick did not let up. The fox slashed at Puer's face over and over, his claws leaving fresh pink cuts against the skunk's black and white fur. He let out a primal growl, and let all of his hatred for Puer and the other mammals behind the conspiracy fuel his rage.
He would not let any of them threaten the bunny—his bunny—ever again!
Nick raised his fist and, with one final blow, landed it as hard against Puer's skull as he could. The skunk fell to the ground hard, and did not move. Nick stared at him for several seconds, keeping his guard up in case Puer was just pretending. But aside from the skunk's shallow breathing, he stayed perfectly still, out cold.
Nick let out a sigh of relief, stood up straight, and brushed his paws against each other. "Well, that was easy," he mumbled sarcastically. He turned around and walked back into the mayor's office.
Judy and Wood had only seen Nick and Puer fight their way outside. After the two had disappeared from view, Wood had turned his attention back to Judy. "Now," he demanded, "tell me how you got up here."
The rabbit stood her ground, refusing to move even an inch from her current position. "It's over, Dr. Wood. There is no escape for you."
Wood didn't like that. He glared at Judy and bared his buck teeth. "Nothing is over until I say so!" He raised the bomb in his paws and pressed his finger against the button that would detonate it, though he did not yet apply pressure. "You tell me how to get out of here or I'll blow us all to smithereens!"
Judy did not particularly like the idea of sacrificing her life, but she was ready to do it. She crossed her arms, took a tense breath, and silently shook her head in answer.
The beaver had not expected this act of defiance, and his face turned red with rage. "You stupid rabbit…" He lifted his finger off the button and, to Judy's surprise, slapped her on the face, so hard she lost her balance and fell down to the ground. "Why can't you understand?!" Wood turned his attention to the door that Nick and Puer had disappeared behind. "Puer!" he screamed.
It was not Puer who appeared, however, but Nick. The fox walked back into view, shot a sly smile in Wood's direction, and gave a half-hearted two-finger salute. "Maybe later. He's sleeping right now." He glanced at Judy, still lying on the ground. "You okay, Carrots?" When Judy nodded, Nick turned his attention towards Rolfe, who was still lying on the ground strapped to his chair. "For the record, sir, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I was completely wrong about you. It'll be a long time before I can forgive myself for thinking you were…"
The wolf wasn't responding to Nick's words. Nick cautiously approached the chair, raising his head to try and catch a glimpse at Rolfe's face. "Sir?" he called. "Mr. Assistant Interim Mayor?" He took a few steps closer, and gasped when he realized what was wrong.
Rolfe was unconscious. His fall onto the stone floor had knocked him out. Worse yet, the coffee cup filled with the synthetic Night Howlers that Wood had set down had been knocked over by the chair, and the coffee was now spilt all over the ground. Some of it had pooled beside Rolfe's mouth, and it was impossible to know how much of it had gotten into the wolf's system already.
Nick quickly closed the gap between himself and Rolfe. He pushed the chair a few feet away from the spilt coffee, then set about untying the ropes that bound Rolfe to the chair. "Come on, buddy," he encouraged. "You've got a lot of politician stuff to look forward to!" He freed Rolfe's paws and moved to the ropes around the wolf's torso. "Pups to kiss, campaign promises to break, election losses to deny…" The last ropes fell away, and he caught the wolf's body as he slumped to the floor. He patted Rolfe's back, coaxing him back to consciousness. "You know, someday they might even name a bridge or something after you. That's something to look forward to! Just think about that bridge, Mr. Assistant—"
The wolf's eyes snapped back open and focused on Nick.
Nick's heart stopped. "Oh no."
Rolfe's pupils had completely dilated. He bared his teeth at the fox and let out a snarl so deep and so ferocious, Nick was sure there was no conscious thought left in his mind. Every one of Rolfe's hairs stood up on end, his jaw opened wide, and his claws lashed out at the fox.
Nick was barely able to dodge Rolfe's attack, staggering back a few steps and staring at Rolfe in terror. The wolf slowly rose from the floor, his movement unnatural and demonic. He stood on all fours, gaze fixed on Nick, and began to drool. He took a slow step forward, ready to pounce the fox if it came to it, but seemed content with simply stalking towards him menacingly for the time being.
Judy, still lying on the ground beside Wood, looked at the wolf in terror as he stalked Nick. She wanted to rush to Nick's side and help him, but the beaver was standing in the way, and he was still holding his bomb. Wood, in contrast, watched the scene unfold with a keen interest, as if he was simply studying an experiment.
Rolfe jumped at Nick, all teeth and claws. Nick, with nowhere else to hide, ducked behind the chair that he had just freed Rolfe from. The wolf slashed at the fox, tearing away huge chunks of the chair with every swipe of his claws. Within mere seconds, the chair was reduced to just its metal frame and a pile of stuffing. Nick tried to circle around the chair, looking for an opening to rush past Rolfe, but the wood's savagery was just too extreme.
Judy watched in horror as Rolfe's arm connected squarely with Nick's chest, and the fox went flying. A second later, he disappeared into the shadows on the far side of the room, followed by the sound of his body colliding with the wall.
"Nick!" she cried out helplessly.
That caught Rolfe's attention. The wolf spun around, locked eyes with her, and immediately ran in her direction. Judy barely comprehended what was happening in time to jump back to her feet and begin to run away. Wood was not so lucky; Judy could hear his gnarled screams behind her as she ran, a victim of his own creation.
"Run, Carrots!" Nick yelled from somewhere else in the room. "Run!"
She had every intention of making her way to the secret tunnel and locking herself inside, where she would be safe against the savage wolf's attacks, but Nick's voice slowed her down. If she left now, she would be leaving Nick alone against Rolfe. Wood's bomb was still a threat, and by now it was down to the final few minutes before it would blow.
She couldn't just leave now.
She stopped in her tracks and took a quick look around the room. Nick was nowhere to be seen. Rolfe was still tearing into Wood; Judy had to avert her eyes at the sight, it was just too much for her to handle. She did not dare run to Nick, for fear of exposing both of them to Rolfe's primitive brutality, but she also could not leave Rolfe to have his way with Wood, in case the bomb would accidentally be triggered.
She took a breath and did the last thing that her mind wanted her to do. She raised her arms and waved them wildly above her head. "Hey, wolf!" she yelled. Immediately, Rolfe stopped his assault on Wood and looked in her direction. "How do you like the taste of rabbit?"
Rolfe's eyes narrowed. He abandoned Wood, leaving the beaver's bloodied body to lie on the floor, and started to creep in Judy's direction. Judy, in turn, took a step backwards, intentionally angling herself in the direction of the hidden tunnel. Another step forwards from Rolfe, and another step backwards from Judy. Rolfe started walking a little faster, and Judy maintained her distance, backing up just as fast.
Finally, the savage wolf had enough, and lunged at Judy. The doe waited until the last possible moment before dodging his attack, which caused him to lose his balance and fall to the floor in confusion. She took advantage of the moment, turned around, and ran for her life toward the secret tunnel. In less than a second, Rolfe was back on all fours, following her at great speeds.
Somehow, Judy managed to keep her distance from him. It was not long before she reached the secret door, which Nick had left open just a crack when he had entered the room minutes prior. She jumped to the door, shoved her paw through the crack, and retrieved the item she had left there earlier.
It was Nick's shock collar.
Judy grabbed it and spun around. Rolfe was there, now mere inches away from her. Acting on instinct rather than thought, Judy opened the collar wide, wrapped it around Rolfe's neck, and closed it. Instantly, the light on the side flickered on, only momentarily flashing green before immediately shifting to yellow, and then red.
The whole process took just a couple of seconds. But it was enough.
The collar let out a high-pitched beep. Rolfe's eyes opened wide as the collar shocked him, over and over again. He bucked his legs and yelped in pain, and then tried desperately to claw the collar off his neck, but none of it helped. Every few seconds, it delivered a new shock to his body, accompanied by a piercing tone, and every time, he convulsed involuntarily and tried despairingly to free himself of the collar.
This was her chance—her only chance. Judy threw open the door as far as it would go, and grabbed the back of Rolfe's suit jacket, using every muscle in her body to coax him into entering the tunnel. The wolf did not appreciate that, and threw his weight against her.
Judy slammed hard into the door frame, and Rolfe threw his body against her right after. There was a loud crack. Judy felt the air escape from her lungs, and a pain she had never experienced before shot up her spine. She tried to let out a cry of agony, but no sound came out. Another shock to Rolfe pulled him away from her, and she slumped to her knees, unable to keep herself standing. A second later, fighting to stay conscious, Judy collapsed onto the ground, managing to land on her back but otherwise unable to move her body.
She wasn't sure what Rolfe had broken inside her, but she still had feeling in her toes, which meant she had not broken her back, at least. A few moments later, her lungs began working again, and she quickly took several large gulps of oxygen. She tried to sit back up, but her body was too weak, and she only managed to tilt her head in the direction of the tunnel.
Rolfe had made his way to the stairs. Whether he still had enough control over his mind, or whether it was because the Night Howlers were losing their potency, the light on the collar had turned back to yellow and had stopped shocking him. Rolfe approached the stairs cautiously, but ultimately began his descent to the basement far below.
Judy let out a sigh of relief and relaxed her body. She knew, once Rolfe had made it to the bottom, he would get proper treatment for his savage disposition. Their main priority in their mission had been successful: Rolfe had been rescued, albeit not quite the way any of them had hoped.
Their secondary mission, however—taking down Wood…
As if on cue, wet footsteps interrupted Judy's thoughts. She looked down at her feet, where she saw Wood approaching her. The beaver was covered in blood, with far too many holes and slices in his skin to count. But he seemed not to care about any of that. He was still holding the bomb—also coated in his blood—in his paws, and was staring down at Judy as he walked closer to her.
"I just can't understand it, Judy." His voice was weary from all the screaming, and his tone was equally tired as he talked. "Why? Why would you do all of this…" He waved his arm in the direction that Nick had disappeared. "For a fox?"
Judy could not find the strength to raise her head, but she locked eyes with the beaver and stared at him with a different kind of strength—the strength of her heart. And she managed to find the words that had eluded her for far too long, and when she spoke them, she made them as clear as possible, so there was no way Wood could misunderstand.
"Because I love him."
Her words stopped Wood in his tracks. He stared at the bunny in disbelief for several long, tense seconds. Then, with barely more than a sigh of amusement, he shifted the bomb to just one of his paws. "It's been a real slice of heaven, rabbit." He raised his finger dramatically, ready to bring it down on the button.
Judy tensed her body, mentally preparing herself as best she could for what came next. To her shock, however, a shadowy object flew up to Wood from behind and impacted the beaver at high speed. Not only was Wood's paw knocked away from the bomb, his whole body flew to the side, followed by the chair that had sent him soaring. The bomb harmlessly fell to the ground, landing in the exact spot that Wood had just been standing.
Judy looked in the direction the chair had come from. Nick was walking up to her, his clothes torn and his fur disheveled, but otherwise seeming to be all right. He swung an arm around in a circle. "Man, those chairs are heavy," he quipped.
Judy glanced at the bomb, and her eyes widened. The display on top now read 00:05. "Nick!" she yelled.
Nick looked at the bomb, realized how close it was to its terminal count, and sprang into action. He dropped to his knees and studied the display as quickly as he could, trying to find a way to stop the countdown. He gritted his teeth. "Too late!" He grabbed some of the exposed wires, squeezed his eyes shut, and yanked them free. When nothing catastrophic happened, he opened his eyes, grabbed the bomb with both paws, spun around, and hurled it away from the two of them as far as he could. It bounced off the wall on the other side of the room, then came to a stop on the floor.
Nick and Judy both covered their heads with their arms and instinctively shut their eyes, mentally preparing for the blast.
Several seconds passed, but nothing happened. They waited a few more seconds, just to be sure they had not miscounted, and still nothing happened. Both mammals opened one eye and glanced at the bomb, just to make absolutely certain it had not gone off.
The bomb sat harmlessly on the ground. The display had reached 00:00, and was now frozen in that position.
After what felt like an eternity, they both let out a sigh of relief. The bomb was disabled, Wood and Puer were neutralized, and Rolfe was safe—or at least, he would be once the ZPD could find him and administer an antidote. The case had been solved. The bad guys had been taken down.
And somehow, the two of them managed to stay alive through it all.
For the first time all day, they allowed themselves to relax. Nick rested on his knees and hung his head, letting the tension leave his body. Judy slumped back to the floor, lying down with her limbs sprawled out. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with oxygen, then exhaling slowly, reveling in the fact that they were still alive.
"Nick…" She raised her head and smiled at her partner. "You saved my life!"
Nick raised his head and flashed a sly grin at her in return. "Well, that's what we do at the ZP—"
The bomb exploded.