Alright, alright, alright. It's time we get to Chapter 4 of Darkness and Light. Last chapter, Nick and Judy are now aware of their new powers. Nick gaining the ability to teleport himself. As well as see people fears and nightmares and Judy gaining the ability to create daggers of light and see people hopes and dreams. I guess if anyone ever knew Cloak and Dagger, they would already know that. Anyway, if you read chapter, Judy may have killed someone. MAY have killed someone. Either way, see how Judy will deal with that. As for Nick, he starts having dark thoughts after seeing his mother's fears. I really like doing this story. It got to be one of the fastest stories I've ever updated. Not that I stopped with my other stories. I just like to switch things up sometimes. Alright then, let's start with the chapter.
Before you can see the light, you have to deal with the darkness.
Still in the back alley, Judy was still in total shock from what she just did. She summoned a dagger of light and stab Nolan with it. The buck was still down on the ground. Judy didn't even know if he was still alive. But she did have a panicked look on her face.
"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Judy wept to herself as she covered her mouth.
Judy didn't know what to do. But she knew she couldn't stay here. She ran. She ran as far as she could. After running for 5 minutes she stopped by a wall, being completely out of breathe. She saw no one around. Which gave her the right time and place... to cry.
"What did I just do? I just stab someone... with something I didn't know I could do." Judy thought as she wept. "How did it even happen? I had a knife or... dagger of light one minute and then the next it's... gone. I don't even know if that Nolan guy's still alive. If he is, he could tell the police and if not,... then..." More tears started to fall down from her eyes. "OH MY GOD! I MAY HAVE KILLED SOMEONE!"
Judy may have done some wrong things, but the last thing she would ever want to do is kill. So this was really not sitting well with her. She then got back up.
"I need to leave. I just need to leave the city for a while." Judy thought to herself. "I just... I just need to lay low for now."
Even with her being shoken up, Judy went back home to the trailer park. She did say that she would spend the night. The last thing she wants is to make her mom suspicious. It wasn't like she was in a mode to sleep in her church alone.
Two days later, back with Nick, the fox had a lot on his mind. If it wasn't about his new powers, it was about what he saw from his mother. Her fears. He just couldn't get that image out of his mind. It sort of haunted him for a while now. Nick could barely focus in class.
"That nightmare... mom's fear of losing me. Why can't I get that out of my head?" Nick thought as he tapped his pencil on his desk. "It didn't seem like mom knew what I saw. But she did get woozy afterward. Is that a side effect of my new powers?"
"Mr. Wilde?" The male ox teacher said.
"Huh?" Nick said putting his attention on his teacher.
"Perhaps you know the answer." The teacher said firmly.
"X would equal 42, sir." Nick answered. Nick paid enough attention to know what the teacher was teaching.
"That's... correct." The teacher said a bit surprised. "Very good, Nicholas."
Nick then went back to writing notes. Yet, it didn't stop him from thinking about things.
"I have to get to the bottom of this. How I really got these powers and what am I gonna do with them?" Nick thought to himself.
Nick still had a huge amount of stress and anger. Things he didn't really know how to coop with. So, he did the one thing that most kids would do. Go to the guidance counselor. A yak by the name of Yax. He was a bit of a hippie, but very wise.
"Alright, Nick, my man, how can I help you?" Yax asked.
"Honestly, I've been going through some stuff lately. I can't really describe it." Nick said.
"Oh. That. It's okay, Nick. All boys go through that at your age." Yax said with a smile.
"No! NOT THAT!" Nick stated frantically as he didn't want Yax to get the wrong idea. "It's... well, I feel like I have this huge weight of guilt holding me down. Later, the guilt slowly went away. But now, it feels like it's being replaced with anger. I'm filled with all this anger and all I do is bottle it."
"Anger... can be considered as a poison. Keeping it bottled up is just poisoning yourself more." Yax stated.
"Hmm... what if... I was able to get back at the person who put the poison in me in the first place? Would that get rid of the poison?" Nick asked curiously.
"Is there something you should bring up?" Yax asked why Nick would ask something like that. "Cause it sounds like you want to hurt someone."
"*sigh* It's just that... when my friend died, no one believed me that some officer killed him. The other cops didn't even question the way things were. But I saw everything with my own eyes. The guy that killed him needs to be brought to justice." Nick said firmly.
"Seems like that poison's already in you." Yax said looking worried. "Nick, if you let your rage control you, even if it's against the person who poisoned you, you're still poisoning yourself, man."
"Then what should I do?" Nick asked.
"Let your anger go." Yax said.
"I can't simply do." Nick said firmly.
"If you don't, it will destroy you." Yax said sounding serious. "I'm not asking you to let all of it go. Just a little bit of it. Don't lose yourself over something like this."
"*sigh* Sometimes I feel like I've already had." Nick said to him feeling depressed.
"Is there anything else you want to talk about?" Yax asked.
"No. I think I'm fine for now." Nick said getting out of his chair.
"If you need any more advice, I'm always here. Peace be with you, Nick." Yax said.
"Peace be with you too." Nick said to Yax smiling. As Nick left the office, his smile went away and changed into an angry look. "I'll be at peace when that asshole gets what's coming to him."
Whether it was his new dark powers or himself, Nick was starting to have some really dark thoughts. He really wanted to find David's killer. No matter what methods.
Meanwhile, things were going down on the ZPD. One of their current cases, the stabbing of a Nolan Lagolin. The same Nolan that got stabbed by Judy. His status, alive. Luckily, Judy didn't kill him. But he was hospitalized. He lost a bit of blood, but not too much of it to be serious. One of the people trying to solve this case was one of the new officers. A female tiger officer by the name of Fangmeyer. She was still new to being an officer with only less than a year of experience. She was in the office with Bogo as they discussed this case.
"This case is pretty open-and-close." Bogo said. "Nolan Lagolin, son of the Lagolin family. Multi-millionaires. Stabbed by his description of a grey bunny, female. Weapons, unknown. But assuming the stab wound, a knife. Rabbits come in a dime a dozen, but this still shouldn't be too hard to make an arrest."
"Sir, Lagolin's case... something seems off." Fangmeyer said as she pondered the whole thing. "You sure this Lagolin kid told us everything?"
"He was the wound to prove it. As for motive, he clearly has money. He even said that the attacker stole his wallet." Bogo stated.
"Still, I don't think the attacker knew the victim personally." Fangmeyer stated.
"I don't need your overthinking. I just need you to make an arrest." Bogo said firmly.
"Hmpt! Sir, with all do respect, we can't leave one no stone unturned." Fangmeyer said. "When I joined, the reputation the ZPD hasn't been great. People in the city are starting to lose our trust. Most of all, yours."
Over the years, the ZPD credibility has been at an all-time low. Real criminals aren't found, innocent people being accused, and even shady business behind the ZPD's back. All on Chief Bogo's watch. With the way things are, the ZPD CAN'T make any more mistakes.
"Grrrrr..." Bogo growled before saying this to Fangmeyer. "Do as you wish."
"I intend to, sir." Fangmeyer said.
So, Fangmeyer was on the case. First, she decided to use the computers to see if there was any video footage. In Zootopia, there are nearly cameras everywhere in the city. She just needed to see footage from the right area.
"Okay. Here are the streets. Now I just need to rewind a couple of hours..." Fangmeyer thought as she clicked rewind on the computer. She then stopped when see saw a grey bunny. "Stop! That must be her."
The grey bunny was, no doubt, Judy. Fangmeyer now knew who they were looking for. Except, she looked at the expression on Judy's face as she left the alley. A very frighten and scared expression. It felt odd to Fangmeyer.
"Hmm. That's weird. If she's really the attacker, what's with that look?" Fangmeyer asked herself. "Let's rewind back."
Fangmeyer rewind back to see if she could get the bigger picture of things she then stopped at the beginning of the event. She sees both Judy and Nolan talking and then sees Nolan being the aggressive one. She then sees him forcefully grabbing Judy's arm and bringing her to the alley.
"Well well. That's something that he left out of the report." Fangmeyer said looking a bit disgusted.
Saving the footage and importing the data to a tablet, she then went back to Bogo's office.
"What is it now, Fangmeyer?" Bogo said starting to lose his patience.
Fangmeyer walks up to Bogo and shows him the footage she had.
"You tell me which one seems more like the victim?" Fangmeyer asked.
Bogo sees Nolan grabbing on Judy's arm and then dragging her to that back alley. He has a bit of a shocked expression as Fangmeyer pauses the video at that point.
"This is why we leave no stone unturned." Fangmeyer said firmly to the chief.
"Fangmeyer, talk with that Lagolin boy immediately." Bogo told her.
With that, new evidence of the event was on the table. Meanwhile, the true victim, Judy, was still feeling beyond tense. She still felt that she had to ditch town. She was in her church home as she paced left and right.
"Okay. Okay. Deep breaths." Judy told herself. "Got my fake ID. I just need transportation."
Zootopia had many ways of transportation. Trains, buses, and taxis. But Judy wanted to ditch town altogether. To do that in her own terms, she needed a car. But she didn't really own a car. But she knew someone who did.
"Mom. It's not like she even really needs it anymore. She barely leaves the house anymore." Judy stated to herself. "It will be a pain but it's not like she hasn't always been."
Judy feels... conflicted with her mother. Ever since her father died, Judy thinks that her mother hasn't been much of a real mother to her. Deep down, Judy knows it not Bonnie's fault, but she still wished that she was still a bit more strong-willed.
"Once I leave, I'll be safe. That's what matters." Judy thought while holding herself.
Meanwhile, in a hospital room, was Officer Fangmeyer with 'victim' Nolan Lagolin. Nolan was laying in a hospital bed in a hospital gown. It seems that he was still recovering from his stab wound. Fangmeyer wanted to know thee truth from Nolan but kept a poker face on.
"Thank you for letting me visit you, Mr. Lagolin." Fangmeyer said.
"Thank you for coming." Nolan said innocently.
"Before we can continue our investigation to look for your attack, we need you to explain what happened again." Fangmeyer said.
"Well, I was minding my own business in the night, then this girl grey bunny wanted my wallet. She chased me to that alley and that's when she stabbed me." Nolan lied. "Strange thing is, I didn't even get a look at her weapon."
That part was actually true. Nolan was too shaken up by the stab to even notice Judy's dagger of light, which was a good thing.
"Hmm. I see." Fangmeyer said trying to not looked disgusted by his lie. "Still, do you mind clearing up some things. I think that there are some... consistencies."
"Consistencies? What do you mean?" Nolan asked.
"You pants were unbuckled." Fangmeyer said.
"What?" Nolan said sounding surprised.
"Why were your pants unbuckled?" Fangmeyer asked sounding more serious.
"It's... the style we guys these days." Nolan told Fangmeyer nervously.
"Believable. Still, about that wallet claim, isn't your family very wealthy? Whatever money was in your wallet was probably small and any credit cards in it, you could just cancel." Fangmeyer said adding a bit more pressure on Nolan.
"It sounds like you're grilling me, officer." Nolan said starting to lose his cool. "Wouldn't you prefer to keep your wallet? Besides, it wasn't like was expecting the girl to attack."
"But if she wanted your wallet, wouldn't you? If she had a weapon then I assumed you would have stayed away." Fangmeyer asked.
Nolan started to look angry.
"Look at me. I'M the victim here. SHE attacked ME. You should be finding a girl name Judy and not questioning me." Nolan shouted out.
That's where Nolan screwed up.
"How did you know her name?" Fangmeyer asked raising an eyebrow.
"Uhhhh..." Nolan went knowing he made a mistake.
"You never said her name in the report. Once more, if you knew her name, I'm assuming it wasn't the first time you met her." Fangmeyer said looking serious.
"She still stabbed me. The proof's right here." Nolan said while revealing the scar on the side of his body.
"That... I believe. But was it an attack... or self-defense?" Fangmeyer asked before taking out her tablet again.
She then showed Nolan the footage of him grabbing Judy and forcing her to go into the alley. Being caught on camera made Nolan felt ill.
"So... care to explain this?" Fangmeyer asked.
Nolan didn't say anything. He just looked down at his sheets.
"I believe we're done here, are we?" Fangmeyer asked.
"Yes,... officer." Nolan said admitting defeat.
With that, Fangmeyer knew enough to know that Judy was the victim while the attack was all in self-defense. The question was, could she find Judy?
Later in the night, Judy went back to her mom's trailer. It was nighttime and she expected her to be in one of her... naps. As she quietly opened the door, she had to look for the keys to her mom's truck. She... actually had experience taking the car before. But this was a totally different thing. She might not be giving the car back.
As she looked around the trainer, she went into the living room and saw her mom passed out on the couch. Most likely from her drinking. To Judy, it seemed like this was always the case since Stu died. She then spotted the keys on the table. She quietly took the keys and was ready to leave. But before that, she looked at her mom again. She couldn't help but remember those happy images again when she saw into Bonnie's hopes. She then grabbed some cover and put them over Bonnie so she would be warm. While it didn't seem that way, Judy still loved her mother very much and hope that she would get better. With the keys, Judy opened the door of a mildly beat-up red truck, turned on the engine, and drove the car out of the trailer park.
"Goodbye, mom." Judy said to herself looking at the reflection of the trailer.
So with that, Judy's plan to ditch town took sail.
Meanwhile, Nick was watching TV in the living room and it was getting late. His dad, John, came into the room.
"Son, time to turn off the TV. School night." John said.
"I know, pop." Nick said while grabbing the remote and turning it off TV. Nick still looked pretty moody.
"Is something bother you, my boy?" John asked.
"I'm... not sure." Nick told him. "Pop, you got a minute?"
"What do you want to talk about, Nick?" John asked.
"I feel like... I'm going through some stuff. Not like, personal stuff, but stuff. It feels like I'm changing and slowly losing myself." Nick told his dad.
"Oh. That kind of stuff." John said as he walked to him and sat next to Nick on the couch. "Nick, we all go through that change sometimes. Even me. But there are two things that we need to help us with change."
"What's that?" Nick asked.
"Strength and control." John answered. "Strength in body and mind. People with great strength also need control. If you can't control yourself, then you can't control a damn thing in this world. Control your actions and don't let your actions control you."
"Strength and control..." Nick said. "Control my actions and don't let them control me."
"Right." John said with a smile. "Have those and you will be fine."
Nick really agreed with what his father said. It didn't just benefit his person, but to his new powers as well. If he actually wanted to use his new powers to his advantage, he would need strength and control.
"Thanks, pop. I think I understand now." Nick said thanking his father.
"Glad I can help." John said before placing his arm on his shoulder.
As Nick reached out to touch John's paw,... it was happening again. Everything when black for a second. The next thing Nick knew, it looked like he was in the hallway of a dark courthouse. There was barely any good lighting. Nick started to have a worried look on his face.
"No... Not this again..." Nick thought already knowing that he was about to see something bad.
He then hears something going on in one of the rooms. He walks over to the wooden double door and opens it. It was a courtroom with a lot of faceless mammals in the seats. Even the jury's faces were blank. In the stand in front of the court was a scared young Nick, covered in chains. As if he were a hardcore criminal. This really shocked Nick. In the chair of the defendant side was John looking worried. Nick didn't see a judge but did hear a loud voice.
"With all the evidence found, we find Nicholas P. Wilde... guilty." The voice boomed.
"No..." John uttered.
"Take him away." The voice went.
Then, two rhinos lifted up the scared little fox and started to take him out the courtroom. John didn't sit well with the sight.
"Don't take my boy. DON'T TAKE MY BOY!" John shouted out.
He then ran to save his son, but a tiger held him down.
"LET GO, YOU BASTARD!" John shouted out in anger.
"Pop, help! DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME!" Young Nick cried as the rhino took him away. "DAD! DAD! DADDY!"
"NICK!" John shouted out.
So after, the rhinos took the young Nick out the door and he was gone. Leaving John to sob on the floor. He seemed so... broken. A side that Nick has never seen from his father. This sight shook Nick to his very being. To Nick, this fear was just as bad as Francine's. If not worse. Nick couldn't deal with any more of this. He looked away and then, just like that, he was back in his living room. Like Francine, John was started to feel woozy as a side effect of Nick's power.
"Ngggghhh..." John said as he held his head. "Suddenly, I feel tired."
"Mu... must be past your bedtime, old man." Nick said trying to keep his composure even after seeing what he saw.
"Watch it, boy. I ain't that old yet." John stated saying that he's still pretty young... ish.
"It's still late. We should still get some sleep." Nick suggested.
"Sleep. Yeah... that sounds good." John said as he started to get up from the couch. "Goodnight, son."
"Night, pop." Nick said to his father.
As John was about to head to bed, Nick wanted to say one more thing to him.
"Pop?" Nick said halting his father.
"Yeah?" John asked wanting to know what was up.
"Sometimes, I don't feel like I'm the best son. But I want you to know that I'll do whatever I can to be the son you want." Nick told him.
"You already are, Nick." John said to him. "I just hope I'm the father that you want to have."
With that said, John went up the stairs to his bedroom. Nick stayed on the couch for a few seconds as he was still thinking about the horrid images he saw earlier.
Nick later headed up to his room as he laid on his bed in deep thoughts. His mom's fears... and his dad's fears.
"So mom's scared of me dying and pop's scared of me being in a situation where I can get locked up. Damn it! I did not want to see that." Nick thought. "Those fears are something I NEVER wanted them to have. This is all that bastard's fault. I wish I could find him and make him pay."
As Nick tried to remember the image of David's killer, his eyes started to get heavy. He then laid on his bed and slowly drifted to sleep.
As Nick slept, he slowly woke up when he realized something was up. He was feeling a vibration and the ground he was sleeping. He woke up to realize that he was the trunk of a car. Seem like his teleportation powers were at work again.
"What the hell?" Nick thought. "Great... this again."
"Nick felt that he shouldn't even be surprised that this happened again. But more importantly, why did his teleportation power took him to the trunk of a car? Nick looked around the trunk and noticed something was up. The contains in the trunk looked like white bricks. Closer inspection, Nick could tell that they weren't just white bricks. They were bricks of cocaine. Cocaine was an addictive and illegal drug and the last thing Nick would ever think he would be near. So whoever owns the car Nick was in must be a drug dealer. Not wanting to get involved with anything else, Nick tried to teleport out.
"Come on. Come on. Come on." Nick whispered to himself hoping his powers would kick in again. But no luck.
A second later, the car stopped. It sounded like the car has made it to its destination. Nick heard some doors open and then some voices.
"So, did you bring the goods?"
"Of course. So long as you have the money."
"I got your money. But I need to see the goods first. Make sure everything's legit."
"Totally understandable."
Things were really looking bad for Nick. It sounded like whoever was outside planned to open up the trunk. Since it seems that Nick couldn't use his powers, he would just have to make a run for it the second the trunk opened up. Opening up the trunk was a black wolf with a blue dress shirt on and grey slacks and a white-furred ram with a leather jacket on.
"Have a look for your... self?" The wolf said as he is surprised to see someone IN his trunk.
Nick quickly jumped out of the trunk and away from the wolf and sheep.
"Hey! Who the hell are you?" The wolf asked the fox looking angry.
Nick didn't answer. He just ran for it. He ran as fast as he could.
"HEY! DON'T RUN, YOU BRAT!" The wolf said before chasing Nick.
Nick was scared. Almost the most scared he has ever been in his life. He just had to get away from the drug dealing wolf. His fear didn't help when the fox realized where he was. The docks. The same docks on that fateful night.
"Damn it! Why did it have to be here of all places?" Nick thought starting to feel grim.
He then heard a gunshot fired. Looks like the wolf happens to have a gun with him and was willing to shoot Nick with it. What did the fox get himself into?
"He has a gun?! Yeah, this is a GREAT time not to teleport away from him." Nick thought still hoping his teleporting power would kick in. Just when Nick thought he was safe, he was facing a tall steel fence with a barbed wire top. "Oh no."
"Finally caught up to you." The wolf said from behind Nick. "You're in trouble now, kid."
"Wait! Please! I don't know how I ended up in your trunk. I swear." Nick pleaded with his paws up.
The wolf didn't hear Nick's plead. He just walked closer to the scared fox, grabbed him by his neck, and held him to the fence.
"Listen, boy. I don't care how you ended up in my trunk. But I'll make sure you regret it." The wolf said in a serious tone to Nick.
Was this it for Nick? Was he about to die by the paws of this guy? This wolf... who now Nick had a better look at his face, looked familiar. Then Nick saw it. On the left side of the wolf's face... was a scar. At that moment, Nick knew who this wolf was. It was him.
"You..." Nick said as the wolf still choked him.
He put his paw on the wolf's paw holding his neck and then his power started to kick in again. Everything went black. Nick found himself still in the docks, but something was different. It didn't seem like this was fear. It was more of a dark memory. The memory of that day... and Nick had a front side view.
"DAVIIIIIIID!" Shouted out the young fox before jumping into the water.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO?!" The cheetah shouted out.
"I DON'T KNOW!" The wolf shouted out looked scared.
"YOU SHOT A KID!" The cheetah stated very seriously. "The little fox who dove in after him might be dead too."
"Oh god!" The wolf said with his paw in his face. "I need to call my uncle."
"The hell's he gonna do?" The cheetah asked.
"He's gonna fix this." The wolf told him starting to calm down. "He's gonna fix this just like he always does."
Once Nick heard that, he understood what happened. Whoever this wolf's uncle, he covered up David's murder and that's why the wolf got off scotch-free. As the memory ended, the side-effect was starting to affect the wolf. He lost his grip on Nick's neck.
"What... did you do to me?" The wolf said as he backs away. He then dropped his gun and fell to the ground.
Nick was on his knees as he rubs his neck after nearly being choked to death. His composure then changes.
"It was you." Nick said as he slowly got back up. His expression of fear then changed into anger. But not just simple anger. It was pure rage. "IT WAS YOU!"
Nick angrily gritted is teeth. Out of all the people, his powers seem to teleport him right to David's killer. He didn't care how and he didn't care why. He just knew he couldn't waste this opportunity. Seeing the gun on the floor, he picked it up and pointed it directly at the wolf.
"So he covered the truth up, huh?" Nick thought still feeling angry. "He's the reason my parents don't trust me. He's the reason why they have those fears. He's the reason why my friend's... no. He's the reason why my big brother's dead." Nick then had his fingers on the trigger. "I'LL KILL HIM! THIS BASTARD NEEDS TO DIE!"
As the wolf slowly regain himself, he sees Nick with his gun about to shoot.
"Wait, kid. Don't shoot." The wolf pleaded.
Nick didn't listen or choose to listen. Even with what his dad told him about control, he had completely lost control of himself.
"RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Nick shouted out about to fire. But the second he was about to,... he vanished. He completely disappeared.
The wolf thought he got shot by him, but then he sees that he has no bullet wounds on him. Just that the fox that he chased was gone. As if he were a ghost. It looks like Nick's powers teleported him away before he could make the shot. The question is... where?
Meanwhile, Judy was still driving the down the road of somewhere with a few trees. As she started to feel like Judy was home-free, she heard the sound of a gunshot that made her ears pop.
"Was that... a gunshot?" Judy asked herself.
Further head from the road was Nick. He was expecting to be in front of the wolf and see his dead body after shooting him. Not being in the middle of the road.
"What?!" Nick said stunned. "Where is he?"
As Nick turned around to see where he was, his attention then went to the headlights he sees in front of him. His ears droop as he sees the car coming right at him. The driver of that car... happened to be Judy. Once she saw some on the road, she immediately reacted.
"WOAH!" Judy shouted as she turned the wheel.
Nick covered himself in case he was about to get hit. Lucky for him, the car turned right at the nick of time. The problem for the car, it was heading right toward a tree. Judy reacted by screaming and her powers activated again. Two daggers formed in each of her paws as she shielded herself. But it wasn't like it was going to help her as the car crashes into a tree.
"Oh no..." Nick said sounding concerned about whoever crashed.
Little did he know, he already knew the driver.
End of Chapter 4.
