Arc 3- A Big Ol' Storm of Chaos: Part 2- Anticipation
The streets of Savannah Square were unusually quiet, even for a late evening patrol. The usual hum of nightlife—the chatter from outdoor cafés, the rhythmic footfalls of pedestrians, the distant music spilling from an open car window—was muted, overshadowed by an unspoken tension that gripped the city. The aftermath of the Tundratown attack still lingered in the air like a bad smell.
Inside their patrol cruiser, Nick drummed his claws against the steering wheel, the repetitive tap-tap-tap the only sound breaking the silence between him and Judy. She sat in the passenger seat, arms crossed, ears slightly drooped. Nick knew that look very well. Judy was thinking, running through worst-case scenarios in that little bunny brain of hers, and possibly overanalyzing everything in order to come to an answer. Unfortunately, given the impossible things going on, there were no answers. Nick knew this, but Judy wasn't one to accept that.
So, Nick decided to break the ice.
"Hey, Fluff? Has a certain carrot loving godmother heard from Little Judy's mother recently?" he asked, his voice deliberately casual.
Judy sighed, and nodded, "Yes, actually. Fru Fru, called me this morning."
"And?"
"She and her family are okay, but…" Judy hesitated, ears twitching before she continued, "Those polar bears weren't. They tore the mansion apart, Nick. The shrews had to hide in a panic room while their own bodyguards went savage right outside the door. She said it was—it was terrifying."
Nick let out a low whistle, "I bet Mr. Big wasn't too happy about that."
"That's putting it lightly," Judy muttered. "Fru Fru said he's put out a bounty: 500 grand for Bellwether dead. One million if they bring her to him alive so he can ice her himself."
"Well, that's certainly one way to get justice."
Judy shot him a glare. "Nick."
Nick leaned on the steering wheel and shrugged, "Hey, I'm just saying, if Mr. Big happens to get to her before us, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it."
Judy crossed her arms. "That's not how we do things."
Nick smirked. "Oh? Funny, I recall us visiting Mr. Big when we needed to get Weaselton to talk."
"Nick, we were short on time, and we needed to find out where those Nighthowlers went immediately. I still say Mr. Big is in the wrong. But desperate times called for desperate measures," Judy huffed.
Nick chuckled and shook his head, "And yet, when the big bad shrew wants to hand out some good old-fashioned retribution, that's where we draw the line?"
Judy frowned, looking out the window, "We have to be better than that. If we let guys like Mr. Big take justice into their own hands, we're not fixing anything. We need to take Bellwether in—ourselves."
Nick sighed, tapping the wheel again. "Well, I'll tell you one thing, Fluff. It's been way too quiet since Tundratown. I don't like it."
Judy turned back to him, her frown deepening. "What do you mean?"
Nick gestured out the window at the mostly empty streets. "Think about it. Bellwether's been hitting hard and fast. First, she escapes the interrogation room like a ghost. Then, she unleashes Nighthowler gas in Tundratown after we confiscated the canisters. And now? Not a peep. You really think she's just laying low?"
Judy's ears drooped slightly. "Maybe. . . she's lost her momentum."
Nick snorted. "Come on, Carrots. You and I both know she's aiming straight for the Harmony Concert."
Judy shook her head. "I don't know. That venue is going to be locked down tighter than anything after the Tundratown attack. There's no way she'd get in."
Nick arched a brow. "Oh? You mean like how there was no way she could escape a maximum-security prison? Or the ZPD interrogation room? Or how there was no way she could steal back her own Nighthowler stash?"
Judy tensed at that, her foot tapping against the floor of the cruiser as her frustration grew. She hated when Nick was right, especially when she didn't want him to be.
Nick rubbed his chin with his paw thoughtfully, "Face it, Carrots. Bellwether's playing by different rules. I'm starting to wonder if she's some kind of witch or something."
Judy shot him a look. "Nick, this is serious."
"I mean, think about it! She's vanished without a trace twice! She knows things she shouldn't. She's always ten steps ahead of us. Maybe she sold her soul to get some kind of dark magic for revenge."
Judy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Nick."
Nick shrugged. "I mean, it would explain a lot."
Judy groaned, rubbing her temples. "She's not a witch, Nick."
"That's exactly what a secret magician's tophat rabbit would say."
Judy gave him a flat stare. "I will throw you out of this car."
Nick chuckled but dropped the teasing, his smirk fading into something more serious. "Look, all I'm saying is, if I were a tiny, vengeance-obsessed sheep with a grudge against predators and a talent for escaping the inescapable, I'd make my final move at the biggest event in Zootopia. And the Harmony Concert just so happens to be a predator-prey unity event. If she wanted to send a message—one that would send Zootopia into an even bigger panic—what better time to strike?"
Judy clenched her fists, he face set in a hardened expression with ears folded back, "Well then, we can't just wait around. We need to be there. The entire precinct needs to be there."
Judy turned a d stared out at the window, her gut twisting with unease.
Nick was right.
It had been too quiet.
And that only meant one thing.
The storm was coming.