Part 3

"Son….you have to promise me that no matter what happens…that no matter what you hear…you won't come out of this room…"

"Dad…I'm scared…what's happening outside…who are those people?"

"I know son…I know you're scared…but you have to promise me…"

"Dad…I…I…"

"You have to promise me son…"

"I promise…"

"I love you son…stay here…"

"Dad…Dad…DADDY!"

Nick woke up in a cold sweat. He was breathing hard and he felt like he was being held down. As he raised himself up he could see that in his sleep he had gotten tangled in his blankets. Pulling his paw out from his side, he brought it to his face and rubbed his eyes. "What the hell?" Nick asked himself, still shocked at his dream. Nick knew the answer though; this was not a dream but a memory and a bad one at that. Getting out of bed Nick brought himself to the bathroom. Throwing cold water at his face he looked in to the mirror. His fur was messed up and his eyes were bloodshot. Nick braced himself on the sink and took several deep breaths. Feeling calm now, he pulled off his clothing and stepped into the shower. He should never have looked at Happytown.

He could feel the water flowing from the top of his head and down his body. He could feel his paws rubbing into his fur. He could feel the water go down his throat as he tried to alleviate his dry mouth. He tried in vain to forget his dream but it clung to him like a heavy, wet wool coat, souring his mood. Nick cursed to himself. Why did he agree to see Finnick? Why did he think it was a good idea? Why did he have to look up? "...Dad..." Nick said aloud for the first time in ages.

Nick sat at his kitchen table; he had decided that it was best if he just forget about this morning entirely. Now in clean clothing but still slightly wet, he ran a towel over his head. A package of instant noodles was boiling on the hotplate and its constant bubbling was what Nick was focusing intently on. Nick's foot tapped on the floor, his other foot was shaking to the point of vibrating the table. With his eyes closed firmly shut he whispered to himself "Nothing happened…nothing happened…I am fine…I am OK…". Nick went over to the pot of noodles and with a spoon in hand he ate directly from the pot.

With keys in hand, Nick stepped out of the house and got into his car. He had this sort of feeling of emptiness in the pit of his stomach that his breakfast didn't fill. Putting his sunglasses on, he started the car and backed out of the driveway. Determined to get rid of this feeling, Nick decided to resort to other methods of comfort. There was a coffee shop down the street that had just opened up and offered a new type of coffee size for someone of his stature. Nick wasn't much of a caffeine drinker, that was more of Finnick's thing, but this time he decided to make an exception. As he drove down the street he noticed a large white van pass him by. It was only for a second but Nick swore that the driver of the car was scowling at him. He shook his head, "I must be seeing things," he thought as he brought up a paw to scratch at his neck.

Nick entered Snarlbucks and waited in line. The scent of coffee wafted through the store and the constant gurgling of the foam machine being used revealed the tell-tale signs of a long line. The whole of the store moved and shuffled in a way that reminded Nick of a video he had seen in school of how the body worked. Everything worked in unison. Every action had a reaction. Nick fell so deep into this daydream that he didn't even noticed that it was his turn. The cashier was a young panther woman with dyed fur and multiple piercings. As she took Nick's order, he could see that she had painted her shock collar with swirling designs that reminded him of drops of rain hitting water. Once again he had fallen into a daydream; the sound of the person behind him clearing their throat brought him back to reality. Standing aside, Nick shrugged his shoulders. He really needed this coffee.

Nick exited the store with his iced coffee in hand. Putting on his sunglasses, he took out his keys as he walked towards his car, which was parked on the street down the block. It was a warm day today in the Rainforest District and the humidity was at an all time high. Nick folded his receipt and used it as a little fan but it was to no avail. As he walked down the street he noticed a homeless ferret sitting in a side alley to his right. As he approached, the man held out a cup and asked "Can you spare some change for a man with a broken leg". Looking down, Nick saw that the man's leg was indeed crooked to a severe angle. He pulled out a dollar coin and tossed it into the cup. "Bless you sir!" said the ferret as Nick walked past him.

There are multiple beliefs when it comes to blessings. What they are, where they come from, and who gets them. In the whole of the city, amongst all the cars on the road, there was a fox that was blessed to be stuck in traffic...again. It was a familiar feeling, stagnation, but that was to be expected when you live inside a large city. Especially when your place of work is on the other side of the city. Nick took his paws from the steering wheel and rubbed his eyes. As his vision sharpened he looked into the rear view mirror. There, several cars down from him, was a large white van. That, in it of it's self isn't suspicious but what really got the fur on the back of Nick's neck to stand up was the scowling driver. This time Nick was able to get a good view of the driver. Sitting in the drivers seat was a wolf or at least it looked like a wolf. There was something odd with the way it's face moved that just seemed… odd.

Nick was in the middle of the city at this point. He had been driving for the past half an hour constantly looking over his shoulder. There was something off about the van and its driver, something unsettling. As Nick drove throughout the city, the van had been following him. When he turned left, the van turned left. When Nick turned right, the van turned right. When Nick went in a large circle filled with many twists and turns, so did the van. The feeling in Nick's stomach was back now and worse than before. He looked at his phone's map application and thought for a moment. "Let's see if I can't shake this guy" Nick said to himself.

Nick sped up suddenly and got onto the highway. As can be expected the van behind him followed. Never releasing his foot from the gas pedal, Nick bobbed and weaved though several cars, earning some car horns in the process. He then took an exit suddenly, almost wrecking his car in the process. Nick almost smiled to himself but was stopped when he saw the van still behind him. With a sharp breath, Nick steeled himself. He stomped on the gas and sped down the street. He had one last trick up his sleeve. Nick took a right and then a left and then another right. On the last right he drove down a side alley and turned off his car. He bent forward and then did his best to hide himself. Nick waited for a while, hearing multiple cars pass him bye. With his heart racing he pulled out his phone and made a call.

"Hey Nick, ready for work tonight?"

"Clawhauser listen to me! Something's not right, I've been driving around the city and someone has been following me."

"Wait, slow down. What's going on?"

"I'm hiding in an alley right now and I think I lost him but…I just don't feel good about opening tonight ok. Look just tell everyone to take the day off and don't open up today."

"OK but what should I tell Kozlov?"

"DON'T…tell him anything OK? He was just talking to me about something yesterday and I don't need him to pop a lung when he shouts at me for being tailed."

"What did he say?"

"It doesn't matter right now, just don't open tonight. Look I'll call you later OK and if I don't then...tell Kozlov."

"Ok Nick, be safe."

"Bye buddy" Nick said as he hung up.

Nick waited for ten more minutes and then he left the alleyway. The white van was nowhere to be seen as he drove down the street. Nicks heart continued to race, worrying about his problems with the van as well as the potential problems with Kozlov. As Nick entered the Rainforest District, he once again slowed down and turned on his windshield wipers. The familiar thump sound gave Nick a feeling of security. He was going to be home soon where he could hide and think about the situation. Nick drove up the driveway and parked. He hurriedly got out of the car and pulled out the key to the door. Before he could push it into the keyhole, he heard a voice behind him.

"Got any spare some change for a man with a broken leg?"

Before Nick could turn around he felt something sharp pierce the skin of his shoulder. From the point of entry, there was a feeling of expansion from it. Like someone was filling his body with warm water. Feeling his limbs turning into lead, Nick turned around. The last thing he saw before he fell to the ground was the ferret from earlier grinning at him, with a tranquilizer gun in hand.

Darkness…

Darkness..

Darkness.

Nick awoke when he felt his head hit something. He was groggy and couldn't see properly. His heart rate was quick and he could feel every single vain in his body pulse. There was something hugging his face tightly and he couldn't open his mouth all of the way. His hand and feet were outstretched in front of him and as his vision started to sharpen he could see that he was handcuffed. "Wha- th- fu- " Nick managed to get out before he fell asleep once more.

Nick woke up again but this time to a feeling of weightlessness. He opened his eyes to see what had become of his life. There were too large wolves that were carrying him though a storage facility. Nick took time to take in his surroundings. It was night already and the sky had taken the familiar yellow clouds that were stained by the lights of the city. Those clouds, however, were far away from where he currently was. Nick could feel his heart raise to this throat. Looking up he tried his best to memorize his captor's faces. The one carrying his upper body was a large black wolf and the one carrying his lower body was a grey wolf. As Nick was looking at them, he found something rather odd about them…they wore no collars. Due to their size, they carried him like he was nothing. Suddenly they stopped walking and the one at his feet knocked on a door. There was a moment of silence before the door was opened. They stepped in and took Nick down a dimly lit hall.

They went into a room to the side and placed him on a table. When they left they closed the door. Nick tried to move but he was still very groggy. He tried for a second to lift his arm but there was a very long delay until his arm actually moved. Nick moved his head and looked around. The room was sparse, with only the table he was laying on and a chair in front of him. The wall opposite to him had a large mirror on it, which he could only suspect was actually a window. Nick looked at himself in horror to discover that he had been muzzled. The adrenaline that filled his body gave him the strength to move his arms. He clawed at his face, trying to remove the accursed muzzle. Nick would have screamed if he knew that he wouldn't be shocked as a result. His actions were to no avail. The muzzle was not strapped to his face but was in fact bolted on, like the muzzles that prisoners wear. Feeling the onset of a panic attack, Nick took several deep breaths through his nose. His neck was itching like crazy but he was to nervous to scratch at the moment.

The door opened and into the room stepped a boar. His face was scarred and his right eye had an eye patch over it. He was wearing a very crisp suit that seemed like it was pressed to a knifes edge. The boar had a very small shiny name tag on it that said "Worthington". Mr. Worthington sat on the chair on the other side of the room and was quiet for a bit. Then he spoke.

"You've been a very naughty fox, you know that right?"

"Who are you?" Nick said with a semi muffled voice.

"Doesn't matter who I am, what matters is who you are Nick."

Nicks heart rate quickened.

"How do you know my name?"

"We know lots of things about you, like the fact that you work with certain undesirables and help them partake in... Hedonism!"

"Listen…if you have beef with Kozlov…I don't know him too well…I just work with him…I have no loyalty to him" Nick said. Maybe this man had some sort of grudge with Kozlov and wanted to use him to send a message.

"So that is a confession of wrongdoing?"

"What?"

"I think I've heard enough!" Worthington said. He reached to his pocket and pressed the button on his walkie-talkie "Send some boys down to pick up this predator. He's a dangerous criminal...so bring some tranquilizers."

"Wait! No! Stop!" Nick said reaching an arm out at Worthington as the boar walked towards the door. "What is this? Who are you?"

Worthington looked back at Nick, "Someone who likes his city nice and safe from scum like you" he said with a smirk. As the boar walked out, the thin wolf from before entered the room with a tranquilizer gun in hand. Nick tried in vain to escape but the strong paw of the wolf kept him pinned to the table. There was a pain on his neck and once again Nick succumbed the abyss of forced sleep.

Nick woke to having his head slammed into something. He raised his paw to his head and saw stars for a second. When his vision cleared he was shocked to see where he was. Nick was inside a bus, a prison bus. Surrounding him were mammals of all shapes and sizes, each on wearing a bright red jumpsuit just as he was. All of them were muzzled, just as he was. The bus lurched to one side again, and Nick looked to his left. They were nowhere near Fauna City or anywhere he knew for that matter. They were driving in the middle of nowhere. Nick tried his best not to freak out but he couldn't calm down. The only thing that was stopping him at this point from a panic attack was the tranquilizer still in his system. Nick sat back in his seat, closing his eyes, wishing this was all a dream. As he threw his head back, he felt something really cold on his neck. Reaching a paw up to it, he discovered that his regular shock collar had been replaced by a new one made of metal links. Though it didn't cause the trademark itch of the standard shock collar, this one was heavy and weighed his neck down. "Can this get ANY worse?" Nick thought to himself.

An hour later the bus stopped. Nick looked outside and saw that they were at a gate of some sort. The bus driver talked to the guard for a second before the guard let them through. The gate in front of them opened and Nick saw to his horror where the bus was destined. There down a long strip of graveled road was a large prison. Made completely of slabs of grey rock, with imposing walls and razor wired fences, was the prison known as Bombay Penitentiary. However, most people in Fauna City called it "The Pound". The bus stopped suddenly and Nick's face was thrown into the seat in front of him. The large elephant in front of him turned to give him a scowl but was interrupted by the doors opening.

They were taken from the bus to across the courtyard. There, they entered a building and stopped inside of a room that had a sign labeled "detention room". They were instructed to wait in this room while one by one they were taken into another room. Nick stood in this line of mammals nervously. He was the smallest in a room of elephants, wolves, bears, and bulls. Nick looked down at the chain that was connecting them all together. It was ice cold and in it he could just barely make out his reflection. He looked up and saw that he was next in line. The officer at the door called out his name and with that another officer unhooked him from the line.

In the room that he as brought in his was instructed to stand next to a height chart and hold a sign. As his picture was being taken the officer behind the cameraman called out "Nicholas P. Wilde, charged with larceny and the mauling of an innocent." As the second officer behind the cameraman wrote the information down, Nick's heart was racing. "What the hell is going on?" he thought to himself. The officer that brought him in escorted him to the door across the room. There they waited while the officer pressed the button on the walkie-talkie "We need an escort for one prisoner" the officer said. There was a moment of silence before the response was given "Copy that, we are sending you an escort now". The officer opened the door and they both walked outside into a large and spacious hallway.

The officer took Nick by the arm and cuffed him to the railing of a bench. He instructed Nick to sit and then started to scroll through his phone. As Nick sat on the cold metal bench, his mind was racing. "Oh shit. Oh fuck. I've been kidnapped and thrown in prison on false charges. What do I do? What do I do? What can I do? ". Nick was so focused on trying to process the current dilemma that he didn't notice that his escort had arrived.

"About time you arrive! I've gotten bored waiting for you!" said the officer.

"Have you gotten so lazy that you can't even take a prisoner to his cell or is it that you find yourself wanting an excuse to order me around?" Said a female voice. She sounded young, too young to be working here.

"I don't need to take this from you Hopps, just take the damn prisoner" said the officer as he closed the door.

Nick looked at his escort and was shocked to see not some tall brutish animal but actually a small gray rabbit. Her fur was soft with a splash of white hair on the top of her head that fell down between her bright blue eyes. On her tie was a badge that read "J. Hopps".

"Get up prisoner" She said as she un-cuffed him from the bench.