Chapter 7: Monster

The cruiser screeched to a stop at the mouth of the alley, sirens blaring. In the shadows of the alley, Nick could make out two animals, both seemingly prey dressed in gray, standing close to the left-hand building. They had their backs to the car and were looking at something on the ground in front of them. At the arrival of the cruiser, the mammal on the right, a large, muscular capybara, turned to the other, a marmot, and yelled something at him that sounded like "Finish it!". He immediately turned tail and ran out the opposite end of the alley.

While all this was happening, Nick had jumped out of the car, pointed the shotgun at the marmot's back, and yelled "FREEZE!" in the most powerful voice he could. As the capybara ran off, Nick saw what they had been gathered around: two young children, both motionless in fear. They were both predators, one a leopard boy, no older than eight, pressed up against the dirty brick wall, and the other an arctic fox girl, maybe a year two older, who was standing in front of the boy in what almost appeared to be a defensive position. The look of utter terror on both their faces was one of the most horrible things Nick had ever seen.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. The marmot was moving towards the children, and Nick saw that he was brandishing a large, razor-sharp hunting knife. "HEY!" Nick shouted. The mammal did not stop, but continued to pace slowly and menacingly towards the children. Nick could see the rise and fall of heavy breaths in the marmot's shoulders. "Drop the knife and get down on the ground NOW, or I WILL SHOOT YOU! DO IT NOW!" The marmot did not react at all to Nick's warnings. Making a split-second decision for the safety of the kids, Nick raised the shotgun to his shoulder, aimed at the marmot's back, and pulled the trigger.

Click.

Nothing happened. Nick pulled the trigger again. Same effect. Panicked, Nick looked at the gun, and saw that he had left the safety on. As he struggled to release it, Nick saw the marmot's arm rise into the air, preparing to bring the knife down on the throat of the young fox girl, who had her paw stretched out in front of her as though she could stop the mammal's attack, tears streaming down her face. Neither she nor the leopard boy seemed able to move.

Nick knew before he raised the stock to his shoulder that the blade would find its target before the shot did. He could only hope that Judy had a clear shot.

Never, not in a million years, would Nick have expected what happened next. From behind him, he heard the single most bone-chilling sound he'd ever experienced: the screeching of metal and glass being instantaneously torn apart, coupled with a blood-curdling, eardrum-piercing roar that Nick thought could only have come from the bowels of Hell itself.

A dark shape, more powerful than the night, flashed past Nick, leaving a trail of twisted steel and shattered glass. The thing propelled itself through the air, growling like some sort of monster, and tackled the marmot with the knife, throwing the both of them straight past the two children before the knife could land. The two crashed against the bottom of a fire escape with a clang, falling almost six feet behind the cub and the kit, the dark shape on top. It stood on its hind legs, arms at its side, and stared down at the marmot with malicious intent, its front towards Nick and Judy.

Nick finally got a good look at the newcomer. In one instant, he took it all in. It almost looked like a fox, but the orange fur was incredibly sparse and revealed scaly, sickly green flesh underneath. It had a huge, powerful tail, bristling here and there with orange hairs, and massive, razor-sharp claws protruding from its hands and feet. But the most shocking feature of the beast was what it was wearing.

The thing was wearing a dark blue hoodie, ripped to shreds, and a simple pair of blue jeans. The exact same thing Joseph had been wearing.

Oh, my God, Nick thought.

In the moment it took Nick to realize what the creature was, it attacked. The creature sunk its claws into the marmot's shoulders and brought its snarling head down like a sledgehammer, and Nick heard its powerful jaws crush the marmot's skull, not even giving the animal time to scream. Blood spurted onto the walls of the buildings surrounding the alley as the creature shook and gnawed at the marmot's face like a toy. After several seconds of intense ripping and tearing, the creature threw its head back-and the head of the marmot came with it. The mangled piece of gore flew over and behind the creature, landing just outside the mouth of the alley with a hard squelch. The creature shook its head and roared in defiance, throwing into the air bits of flesh and a spatter of the marmot's blood. Its razor-sharp teeth glowed in the sunlight, dripping red.

Nick stood there, rooted to the spot, agape in horror. No amount of police training could ever have prepared him for this. This-this thing couldn't possibly be Joseph. And yet, throwing a swift glance over his shoulder, Nick saw that the driver's side back door of the cruiser had been ripped apart from the inside, and Joseph was nowhere in sight.

Nick's police training kicked in. The original threat, the marmot, had been eliminated. However, a new threat-the monster that had once been Joseph-had taken its place. Nick had only one priority now: protect the children at all cost.

Nick raised the shotgun, which he was now sure was in firing mode, and aimed carefully at the monster. It slowly turned from its kill and faced the two children, a soft growl seeping from its throat. Its facial structure was still that of a fox, but it was now scaly and evil-looking. Nick stared for a moment into the yellow, slit-pupiled eyes, and prepared to fire.

But the monster did not attack. When it saw the children, the growling grimace that had pulled its face taut slackened, leaving a look that Nick almost thought seemed... concerned.

Suddenly, the creature's snout twitched, as if catching a scent. It bent over onto all fours, its face close to the ground just behind the leopard boy, and began to snuffle away from them, following some sort of trail.

What the hell is it doing? Nick thought.

The creature suddenly jerked itself upright, and, with a menacing growl, propelled itself forward into a run that could rival Judy on her best day.

Nick pulled the trigger, knowing that he couldn't let that thing loose in the city. It had just ripped a marmot to pieces in seconds-there was no telling what else it would do.

The bullet missed the creature and shattered into the wall to its left. Startled, the creature stopped and turned around, the claws on its feet actually sparking on the pavement, its razor-tipped paws held defensively before it. It still walked on two feet, unlike the animals that Nick had seen turned savage by the Night Howler serum. When it saw Nick, it stood still for a moment, watching him. Then, it jerked its head, in what Nick could swear was a nod.

Then, with one final roar, the thing that had once been Joseph Solomon turned and ran in pursuit of its prey.


The entire incident, from the moment the transponder had beeped at the diner to the moment when the creature ran off, had only taken about five minutes. Judy was unable to take it all in at once. She stood, still as a statue, still aiming her sidearm at enemies that were no longer there.

The savagery of the animals affected by the Night Howlers was nothing compared to what Judy had just witnessed. That thing was not an animal-it was a monster. When she'd heard the roar and the screech of tearing metal, she'd quickly turned to see what was going on, keeping her pistol aimed. However, the only thing she had seen was a dark blur that leapt past Nick and tackled the marmot. Then, she could only watch in horror as it tore the animal to shreds.

Coming back to reality, Judy realized that Nick had not moved either. The two of them were immobile, still aiming their weapons. Rapidly checking the alley and concluding that it was free of any new threats, Judy put her gun back in its holster and jogged up to the two children.

"Hey," she said softly, kneeling down so as to be on eye level with the kids. The fox girl had apparently fallen over after being startled by Joseph's horrific entrance. "My name's Judy. I'm an officer with the ZPD. Are either of you hurt?"

Both of the children shook their heads.

"Okay, good. You're safe now. No one's gonna hurt you." She held out her paw in a gesture of aid. The two children first looked at the paw, then at each other. Then, the arctic fox girl grasped Judy's paw and allowed her to help her to her feet. The leopard cub followed suit with her other paw.

"What are your names, guys?" Judy asked.

The leopard boy spoke first. "M-my name's D-Daryl. And this is S-Snow," he said, gesturing to the fox girl.

"Hey, Daryl. Hey, Snow." Judy stood, making herself eye-level with the children again. "Do your parents know you're here?"

"No," they said in unison. Daryl said, "They think we're at the park downtown. We were walking back home when..." The leopard started to sniffle, about to cry from the trauma he'd just endured.

"Okay. It's okay. My partner Nick and I are gonna take you two back to the station and call your parents." She laid her paws on their shoulders, trying to lead them away from the carnage behind them. The stench of blood and death was wafting over from the marmot's body, and Judy wanted to get the kids out of there ASAP. Not to mention the fact that she felt like she was going to be sick. She saw Nick cautiously walking over and said, "You're okay now. You're safe."

Snow suddenly spoke for the first time. Her voice was soft and light as a tinkling bell. "Wh-what was that thing?"

Judy glanced down at the little girl, seeing the fear in her eyes. She decided she might as well tell her the truth. "It was... a monster," she said.

"But... it saved us," the fox said. "It-it killed that guy with the knife and it didn't hurt us."

Judy thought back as she heard the sirens of the backup vehicles approaching. She realized Snow was right. The thing that was Joseph had looked right at the children and turned away. And it had only attacked... when the children were about to be killed.

"Yeah," Judy said. "I guess you're right."

The first cop to arrive was Chief Bogo himself. "Hopps!" he called out. "Wilde! Sound off!"

"We're here chief," Nick called back.

"Both of us," Judy added. "The kids are safe."

"Thank God," he said, walking past the ruined cruiser. Suddenly he stopped, seeing the car in his periphery. Slowly, as if in shock, he turned around and looked at the shredded door.

"What. The. Hell?" he growled.

Nick gulped nervously. He knew he and Judy were about to be in big trouble. "Joseph," he stated. "He... he was telling the truth."

Bogo slowly turned to face Nick, his unblinking eyes full of buffalo fury. "What do you mean, 'he was telling the truth'?"

"He changed, sir," Nick said in a low voice, hoping Snow and Daryl wouldn't hear. "Just like he said. I don't know exactly what happened, but I think that, when Joseph saw the children in danger, he changed and…tore his way out of the cruiser." He looked at Judy, and she took his meaning. She quickly led the children away from the scene and to Bogo's cruiser.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Bogo growled, "Tell me exactly what happened."

Nick stood up straight, immediately shifting into professional report mode. "There were multiple assailants, sir. When we arrived, all but one of them fled, a marmot. He had a knife and was about to..." he rapidly blinked, trying to compose himself. "He was about to kill the children. I... I tried to shoot him but..." Nick hung his head in shame. "I forgot to turn the damn safety off. Before the marmot could strike, I heard something screech from behind me and saw a shadow leap over me. It tackled the marmot out of reach of the children."

"And what was it that leapt over you, Wilde?" Bogo said, deathly calm.

"I believe it was Joseph Solomon, sir. It was shaped like a fox, but it had only a few patches of fur and the rest of its body was... scaly. It killed the marmot and ran."

"YOU LOST IT?!" Bogo roared, his calm demeanor shattering like glass.

"Yes, sir," Nick said. "I take full responsibility. Judy had no part in it. I'm the one who failed to fire, and I'm the one who missed the shot on the creature as it ran away."

Bogo pinched the bridge of his snout. "We'll discuss fault later. Right now, we need to find this thing. Now, did it run because it was threatened?"

"I don't think so, sir. From what I saw, I think it might be in pursuit of the other assailants."

"Pursuit?" Bogo asked. "Why would it pursue the others? If this thing's as savage as Solomon said, wouldn't it have just gone for the children?"

"I'm not sure, sir," Nick responded, remembering how the creature had looked at the children and turned away. "I looked into its eyes, Chief, and..." Nick took a deep breath. "I remember looking into the eyes of the animals affected by the Night Howlers, and I saw nothing but instinct and hunger. I saw those in that thing's eyes, too, but that wasn't all. I saw intelligence. Consciousness." Nick looked the Chief right in his unblinking eyes. "Chief Bogo, I think that Joseph was purposefully protecting those children."

Bogo finally blinked. "We'll see," he said. "You take Hopps and the kids back to the station and file a report. I'll put out an APB for Solomon-both versions of him. Dismissed, Wilde."

Bogo nodded curtly, and Nick quickly returned the gesture. He jogged towards one of the cruisers that had just arrived, in which Judy and the kids were sitting, and told the driver that he had orders from Bogo to escort them back to the station.

Once he'd buckled himself in, Judy immediately grasped his paw. Her touch instantly encouraged him, gave him strength. He was so thankful to have her by his side.

"Hey," she said. "You okay?"

Nick sighed deeply. "Not really," he said. He looked into her gorgeous purple eyes. "Better now, though."

At the same time, both instinctually leaned their heads toward each other and kissed, heedless of everything around them. Just like every time they kissed, everything else vanished. There was no pain, no sadness, no fear. Just the love that flowed between the two of them.

"Ewwww!" The groan from the back seat brought the couple back to reality. Snow and Daryl both had their noses wrinkled at the romance, and Daryl was actually covering his eyes with his paws. They must have been feeling a little bit better.

Nick chuckled. "Sorry, kids," he said. "Uh...don't tell anyone you saw that, okay?" It was an unspoken rule that officers weren't supposed to enter into romantic relationships with their partners. Plus, their relationship wasn't exactly public-neither Nick nor Judy knew how people might react to a fox and a bunny being in love.

"We won't," the kids said.

"Thanks," Judy replied. The two officers turned to look out the windshield just as Bogo's voice came over the intercom, putting out the APB for Joseph. As they listened, Nick put the car in gear and began to back out of the alley.

"It's gonna be a long day," he muttered.