The Call: Underworld

The two prey both backed up a step, ears drooped down and noses twitching hard, looking up at him in fear. He could smell their fear, even with three feet separating them. Everything around him seemed so much sharper, clearer, and simpler. There was a hunger deep in his belly, and prey in front of him, problem and solution all neatly together.

"You say you're hungry?" the male said nervously, patting the front of his overalls. "I think I got a candy carrot in my pocket somewhere for you."

"Stu, that won't help," the female said irritably. She took a step forward. "Nick, this isn't funny. You're scaring us."

"So?" he breathed.

I, Nicholas Wilde…

"That isn't you talking," the prey went on, "it's that nasty Night Howler drug that crazy vixen hit you with."

…promise to be brave, loyal…

"Stop talking," he said, either to the prey or the voice niggling in the back of his head, he couldn't be sure. "I'm hungry. Food doesn't talk."

...helpful, and trustworthy!

"That's right," the prey said. "You know the First Rule as well as we do; If It Talks, It is Not Food."

"So… stop… talking!" he roared, charging. The two prey leaped away, splitting up to either side of the room. He skidded across a dried oil stain on the floor, fetching up against the makeshift dais. "Come back here!" He turned and headed to the right, where the male had scampered off into the shadows of the piled boxes. No matter, to his eyes it was as bright as a cloudy dawn, while the prey would be nearly blind.

I, Officer Nicholas Wilde…

"Where arrrrrrre you?" he called out, dropping to all fours to creep around the corner of a crate pile. No sign of them… yet.

…upon my honor…

"Shut up," he growled.

…swear to uphold the laws of Zootopia…

A shadow of movement from above. He glanced up, to see the male hopping along the top of a pile of crates. He leaped, claws trying to find purchase in the rough pinewood, scrabbling up, growling in frustration as the prey leaped to another pile, deeper into the shadows.

…to act with bravery, and with integrity.

"Stop running."

…and to always uphold the public trust.

He leaped in pursuit of the male prey, claws scrambling for a hold on a wooden crate as he struck the side of the next pile, rolling into a ball as he fell to the concrete instead, arms clutched around his head.

"Nrgh, what's wrong with me?" Nick howled. "What did you do to me?"

Volkov's voice came over some hidden speaker in the ceiling. "I've opened your eyes, Nick. Night Hunter is an improvement upon Night Howler. Instead of dropping its victim into snarling madness, it merely helps strip away all the useless inhibitions we predators are forced to adopt to fit into civilized society. Isn't it wonderful?"

"You're not a crook," he panted, kneeling on all fours, head pounding. "You're a pred supremacist!"

"This is Zootopia, Nick. Why can't I be both?" Volkov purred. "Predators were at the top of the food chain, before Prey developed technology like spears, the bow and arrow, and the gun. So we made the Great Compromise with them, promised not to hunt and eat them. We were reduced to eating plants and fish to sustain ourselves, giving up our heritage for the sake of peace. Night Hunter erases millennia of developed self-control in mere minutes, allowing us to return to a life that we abandoned for mere Civilization."

"You're crazy!"

"Is it crazy to believe that the strong should rule over the weak? To believe we should be permitted to take what we deserve? Eat what we deserve? Tell me, officer, have you ever tasted meat, real meat, in your entire life?"

"Of course not!" He raised his head, sniffing the air. The prey was near, he knew it was. He could feel himself being torn in two, one part of him so hungry, wanting to taste fur in his mouth again, like when he'd been so close to consuming Carrots, his teeth at her throat, just a few more ounces of pressure…

"Red meat, Officer Wilde. I have tasted it, felt the hot blood of my enemies in my mouth, gorged upon it. You have so much to look forward to!"

"Stop talking."

There! There was the female, right out in the open, at the intersection of two corridors made with the piles of crates. Her nose twitched, looking around blindly, unable to see him in the dark room. He dropped down to his haunches again, tail waving in anticipation. Then he sprang towards her, mouth agape, ready to bite and tear open the meal that was rightfully his!

The female suddenly jumped straight up in the air as he landed almost atop her, missing hhis prey by mere inches. Then he was struck by a hard blow on the side of his head, as the male leaped feet first from the side corridor. Stars flashed in front of his eyes, then the female came right back down, landing between his ears, and everything went black.