Era of the Tame Collar

Escape from TundraTown

Nick and Judy made their way toward the door to the outside. It was a side door, leading off outside onto a back road that bypassed the major roads. Nick thought this would be the perfect place to ditch the rabbit and make a break for it once again. However, he noticed she was keeping a close eye on him, never letting him get too far ahead of her. He could tell she wasn't going to let him go.

"When we get out of here, we're heading back to the station." The rabbit spoke as she ran alongside the fox. Nick let out a sigh and kept on running, trying not to make too much noise as they headed for the door.

"I'm not going back to that place, and there's no way you're going to make me,rabbit." he said.

Just then, a shout rang out over them. They turned back to see that three polar bears had noticed them running down the hallway. They began chase, and the two knew they needed to run faster. One polar bear was quickly gaining on them, leaving Nick and Judy little time to push open the heavy door, and burst outside into the icy air of Tundra Town. Nick gasped.

 The back door had led them way up onto the top of a hill, and the snow was at least 3 feet deep up here. There was no way a fox and a bunny could travel through the snow and not get caught by a giant bear chasing towards them. Just then, he caught sight of a snow mobile, sitting nearby to the parking lot. It looked like it would travel pretty quickly, and Nick started running for it.

"Ack!" Came a shout from behind him. Nick looked back to see that Judy had been hit with another tranquilizer dart, and she fell down face first into the snow. He looked back to see the bear holding the gun, pointing it at him now. Nick hesitated. He could leave and be free. But on the other hand, this rabbit had some sort of useful information. 

She said something about an address earlier in the ice room. Also..Nick felt..sorry. He knew if he just left her, that would only make himself as a predator just as bad as she was as a prey. He quickly picked her up and flung her over his shoulder, quickly running to the bike. He put her on the seat and hopped on, turning in the key. Luckily, it was there. 

The bike came to life, and sputtered snow behind it, right into the approaching polar bear's face.

Nick slid down the snowy hill on the bike, traveling as fast as he could. He needed to ditch it soon, just in case Koslov had added any sort of tracker onto it. He decided to head somewhere were he knew the polar bears would not follow him. 

Sahara Square.

An hour later, Nick had the bike pulled over in a warm alleyway in Sahara Square. Nick used his jacket as a way to cover himself, so no one would notice his features and realize he was the 'savage' fox. Of course, it was the desert and the jacket was making him sweat like a pig, but he didn't want to risk it.

 He "borrowed" a drink from a nearby shop and sat down in the alley, waiting for the rabbit to wake up from her slumber. She was out even longer this time. She must of gotten hit more than once with the darts. That was okay. Nick needed some time to think about what was going on. He had no idea what had become of Honey,Finnick, and Clawhauser. He never got the chance to tell them sorry or see if they were okay. His last memory of them was them watching him being dragged out of Wild Times by ropes, Clawhauser bleeding on his back because of him. No.. Because of that wolf. And now he was stuck with a prey animal that kept getting hit with tranquilizers,yet still somehow managed to follow him around. 

He looked down at the bunny, taking a good look at her features. She had a long scar across her face, which he figured must of came from fighting in the police force. She started moving around, and he got nervous. She was most likely going to start yelling again. But she didn't. She slowly rose up and propped herself against the side of the building, rubbing her head. She opened her eyes, trying to focus them. She saw the fox come into view.

"Wha... How'd I get here?" she asked.

"I brought you down here with me. I sat you on the back of the bike and we rode here"

Judy looked confused. Why would a predator help a prey animal?

"Why did you do that?" she asked.

"Because...rabbit...If I left you to be taken and killed by the bears, then that would make me just as bad as people believe me to be."

"Judy."

Nick turned. "What?"

"Call me Judy." she said.

Nick looked at her for a moment,not saying a word. Then he nodded.

"Okay, Judy. I knew if I left you to be killed, I would be exactly what the world sees me as. Evil."

Judy eyed him, slowly shaking her head.

"You..I can't see you..As being what they described you as. Savage..Dangerous...You seem different than that." she said.

"What? Did I disappoint you?" he asked.

"N-no... No. I... I'm just so used to hearing bad things about predators. About how you used to eat us, and then how you treated us in the past, and now I'm seeing something different. I'm seeing emotions inside a predator." she said.

Nick got a little angry.

"Well, with this collar I'm not allowed to have emotions like you. I can't love or laugh, or cry, or get angry. I'm not allowed to be or to feel anything."

"But you do feel," she said," You feel..pain." Nick's eyes widened, then he shook it off and grabbed the bottle of water he had gotten from the shop a bit earlier. He offered it to her, trying to change the conversation. Judy took the bottle thankfully and took down a big sip, then handed it back.

"A savage cheetah has attacked a group of zebras, and has been caught by the ZPD. The predator has been said to have been wearing a collar, but it was unaffective in controlling the savage predator."

The two looked over to a section of TV's lined up in a store window, the sun shining off the window.

"Wait...Another savage predator? This..can't be happening." said Nick quietly. Judy watched the TV, then looked around at her surroundings. Sahara Square.

"Also, the savage fox Nicholas Wilde is still loose, and is a possible threat to all citizens of Zootopia." The TV showed Nick's picture, with a sign underneath that said "wanted". Nick put his paws on his head and sighed, trying to remain calm. Judy saw his collar turn yellow from frustration, and took a step back. But at the same time, she felt a bit sorry for the poor fox. 

She decided that something was going on. And she was going to get to the bottom of it.

"Nick?" She put her paw on his arm, trying to get his attention. He gasped, looking down at her. A prey animal was touching him, and she wasn't feeling fear.

"What?" he asked.

She took a piece of paper out of her pocket and held it out to him.

"Here's that address I found. We're going to figure out what is going on around here."