Chapter 11: Cut Off One Head…
"This is my absolute favorite song, Joseph," Judy said from the passenger seat. She leaned over to the radio to turn up the volume as the familiar Oh oh oh oh oh sounded through the speakers.
"Carrots, do we really have to listen to this again?" Nick moaned from behind the wheel.
"Yes, Nick, we do," Judy responded. "It is an amazing song and I think Joseph should hear it." She twisted the dial to the right just as the voice of Zootopia's biggest pop star rang through the car.
I messed up tonight, I lost another fight
I still mess up but I'll just start again
I keep falling down, I keep on hitting the ground
I'll always get up now to see what's next
"This song got me through some tough times," Judy said. "It's basically my life's anthem."
"I'll say," Nick muttered. "You sing it every day while you're getting dressed."
"Nick, shush," Judy said, her ears reddening slightly as the song continued into the chorus.
I won't give up, no, I won't give in
'Till I reach the end, then I'll start again
I won't leave, I wanna try everything
I wanna try even though I could fail
Judy glanced in the rearview mirror to see how Joseph was reacting to the song. An easy smile played on his lips as his head nodded lightly to the beat. "This is pretty good," he said.
Judy glanced over at her boyfriend, turning her chin up at him in a gesture that said I told you so, just like she had when she met Flash at the DMV.
Look how far you've come, you've filled your heart with love
Baby, you've done enough, take a deep breath
Don't beat yourself up, don't need to run so fast
Sometimes we come last, but we did our best
As the second verse finished, Judy heard a sniffle from the back seat and once again glanced in the mirror. She saw that Joseph's smile had faded and had been replaced with a pensive expression as he stared out the car window. The thought she saw a tear glistening at the corner of his eye. That part always made her a little emotional, too. She could definitely understand how someone in Joseph's position would find such meaning in those few words.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Try everything
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Try everything
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Try everything
Try everything…
As the song ended, Judy could tell that, despite the tears threatening to fall from the young fox's eyes, he had enjoyed the song. She looked over again at her partner, and was surprised to see that his eyes were shining, too.
A huge, sly grin spread across her face. "You like Gazelle, don't you, Nick?"
"Hmm?" he said, glancing at the rabbit. "No, no. Just, um…" he none too discretely wiped at his eyes. "Allergies."
"You don't have allergies, Nick."
"Prove it," the fox said defensively, putting on his conman face.
Judy shook her head in mock exasperation. "You foxes," she said, her eyes flitting again to the rearview mirror. "So emotional."
Nick said nothing as he pulled into the parking lot of Lou's LaGrotto, a privately-owned pizza place in the middle of Sahara Square. The three had discussed where they would eat tonight as they had gotten into the car at the ice rink, and Nick had suggested this place, as neither Judy nor Joseph had ever been there, and they had incredible deep-dish pizza. Nick could already hear his stomach rumbling as the three exited the car and were bathed in the light from the street lamps overhead.
Unbeknownst to them, their conversation in the parking lot had not been as private as they thought. Perched in the trees high above, Ivan Karatov's exceptional rabbit hearing had caught the trio's conversation, and so he knew exactly where they'd be at 6:30 this evening.
Now the rabbit stood in the window of the run-down apartment building across the street from the restaurant, his sniper rifle resting on the windowsill, aimed at the hoodie-clad fox exiting silver sedan.
Oh, this is going to be fun, the rabbit thought as his steely eye peered through the weapon's scope, landing on the hoodie-clad fox exiting the back of the car.
As Joseph extricated himself from Judy's vehicle, his stomach growling at the smell of pizza coming from within the restaurant, he could have sworn that something felt…off. Just not right. The warm,dry night breeze ruffled his fur, but it brought with it a strange sense of malice.
Joseph looked around suspiciously. What is it? he thought. Two years on the run had given Joseph an extraordinary awareness of his environment, and right now he felt like he was being watched. As he gazed up and around himself, the fox thought he saw the tiniest flicker of movement in the highest window of a decrepit apartment building across the street.
"Joseph?" he heard Nick say. Turning around, he saw that his friends were already at the door of the restaurant. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Joseph said, shaking his head as though trying to clear it. "I just—"
Splat.
Joseph lurched forward involuntarily as something that felt oddly like a paintball struck him on the back of the neck. "Ow," he said, rubbing at the spot with his paw. He brought it back into his field of vision and saw that his paw pad was now covered in a sticky, dark-blue substance, which almost immediately sunk into his skin like invisible ink. "What the—"
"Oh, no."
Joseph looked up to see Nick pushing Judy behind him, her paws covering her mouth in shock. "Joseph," Nick said, holding his paws up defensively, "I need you to calmly back away, turn around, and lay down on the ground with your paws above your head."
"What?" Joseph said in shock. "Nick, what are you talking about? What's going—?" The fox's words were cut short as a sudden wave of wooziness rushed over him. His knees buckled beneath him and he fell to the asphalt, just barely managing to stop his descent with his forepaws.
"Nick," he choked out, his vision beginning to blur, "what's happen-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Joseph let loose a shriek of pure agony as what felt like a million blades of fire pierced his skull, crumbling him to the ground. He felt his brain begin to melt, his vision turning the color of blood.
"Carrots," Nick said, not taking his eyes off of the fox writhing before him, "call the ZPD. We need backup. SWAT. Now."
Judy nodded wordlessly, quickly whipping out her phone and dialing 911.
Meanwhile, Joseph lay on the ground, writhing around like a fish out of water. This was far from the worst pain he had felt in his life, but it was different than anything else he had experienced before. It felt like a migraine multiplied a billion times, as though his brain were being pulled apart inside his head.
No, he thought, believing that he was about to change. Please, God, not again. Please don't let me hurt anyone else. Please don't let me hurt them.
That was when-impossible though it seemed-things took a turn for the worse.
Instead of the savage instinct taking over his mind, Joseph began to hear something inside of his head. The sound was vaguely familiar, but he could not for the life of him place it in his memories.
As he continued to writhe in agony, Joseph realized that the sound inside his head wasn't just a sound—it was a commanding voice, speaking words that were familiar and yet alien.
Take a deep breath. Calm your mind. You know what is best. What is best is you comply.
Joseph could no longer think as the words eventually drowned out any of his own thoughts, completely taking over his mind until the voice was the only thing he could perceive. Sparks flew from his paws as he drug his raptor claws along the asphalt, his spine arching upwards in agony and a scream tearing itself from his muzzle as he desperately tried to keep his hold on the world around him.
Back in reality, Nick stood, still as a statue, only able to watch in terror as his friend writhed on the ground. This isn't right, he thought. This isn't Night Howlers. Joseph had been writhing and moaning on the ground, clutching madly at his skull, for almost a full minute now. It had taken half that time for Manchas to go completely savage and begin to pursue Nick and Judy across the Rainforest District.
The voice of his partner interrupted his thoughts, but Nick did not take his eyes off of Joseph.
"SWAT's on the way," Judy said. "Nick, what's wrong with—?" The bunny's question was cut off as the bell attached to the door behind her jingled, a teenage lion with a nose ring poking his head out.
"Hey," the lion said, "what's going on out-?"
"GET BACK INSIDE!" Nick shouted over his shoulder. "We're with the ZPD. We've got a savage animal out here and we need everyone to stay inside until backup arrives. Do you understand?"
The lion said nothing, only quickly nodded his head and retreated back into the restaurant. Judy could hear him yelling at the other customers to stay back.
Nick turned his gaze back to the agonized fox at his feet.
What in the hell… he thought.
High up in the apartment building window, Ivan Karatov muttered a significantly more vulgar phrase in his mother tongue.
"Suka blyat," he swore. "This is not right." Karatov had never personally used the Night Howler serum on another mammal before, but he had watched enough ZNN last year to know exactly what the effects should be. Within thirty seconds, his employer had told him, the victim will have gone completely savage, unable to think or reason or even feel fear. The orders he had been given were to shoot the fox called Joseph Solomon with a Night Howler pellet, make sure he ripped Zootopia's greatest heroes to pieces, and then watch as the SWAT teams showed up and riddled the creature with bullets. Three birds with one stone.
However, nothing was currently going according to plan.
After another full minute of writhing and shouting, the fox finally rolled over onto his belly and lay still on the pavement of the parking lot. Damn it, Karatov thought. He waited a few moments, hoping that the fox would turn around and slaughter its friends, but it did no such thing. It simply lay prostrate on the edge of the street, staying in that position for almost a full minute.
"Fine," Karatov muttered, laying down his rifle and slipping on a pair of leather gloves made from one of his previous targets. "Ya sdelayu eto sam."
I'll do it myself.
He had neglected to bring along any rounds of live ammunition, as he had been certain that the pellets were all he needed. This was no matter, however, as Karatov had been specially trained in paw-to-paw combat, and he was more than confident in his ability to bring down even a creature such as Solomon with only his wit and a knife-and maybe a garrote, if he wanted to keep things interesting.
As the rabbit was about to turn around and head down the stairs to finish the job, the fox finally moved. It slowly rose to its feet with its back to the restaurant, squared its shoulders, and looked straight ahead, staring at nothing. It was only because of Karatov's superior rabbit hearing that he caught the words the fox spoke.
"Happy to comply."
Oh, sweet cheese and crackers with a slice of jalapeno, Judy thought. What in the world is going on here? Seeing Joseph about to go savage, she had been legitimately frightened for the first time since she saw Mr. Manchas do the same. When Joseph had begun to scream and writhe upon the ground, clutching at his head, she had become even more terrified by the unexpected turn of events. Now, as Joseph stood straight as a board with his back to them, she wondered if the ordeal was over.
Slowly, still afraid that her friend might lose it, she made her way out to him. As Nick caught her in his peripheral vision, he whispered frantically to her out of the corner of his mouth. They were both too focused on the scene before them to notice the ashen shape dart across the street, past them and up onto the roof of the pizza place.
"Carrots!" Nick said, trying to drag his partner back towards him. "What are you doing? Get back there!"
"It's okay, Nick," the doe said, not quite sure if she believed it. "I think he's fine."
Before her partner could protest, she called out Joseph's name.
"Joseph?"
She saw his ears twitch at the sound, and he slowly turned around to face them, staring straight into Judy's eyes. His amber eyes, which she had so often seen filled with life and tears, were now drier than the desert and just as dead. "Joseph," Judy repeated, choking up slightly at the look on her friend's face, "are you okay?"
His response stopped her heart cold.
"Who the hell is Joseph?" the fox said, his voice flat, his face expressionless.
Judy barely had time to let out a pained "What?" before a shadow descended upon her and cracked her on the back of the head, knocking her out cold.
"JUDY!" Nick shouted, turning towards the new assailant. He could only briefly register that the dark shape had the ears of a rabbit before the steel ball it had thrown smacked him square between the eyes, dropping the fox to the ground, unconscious.
Ivan Karatov turned away from the fox he hated more than anything in the world, wanting nothing more than to gut him where he lay. However, he had his orders. Should the Night Howler serum for any reason fail, he was to eliminate Joseph Solomon at all costs, but leave the officers alive. His employer wanted to make their deaths especially theatrical, and he would need time to formulate another plan.
Karatov turned toward his prey, his breathing slow and steady beneath the black maximum restraint mask he wore to conceal his identity. He started to tread slowly toward the fox, pulling a curved raptor-claw knife from the pocket of his army jacket.
"I am going to deeply enjoy this, vulpine," the rabbit gloated.
The fox did not respond, only stood there with unblinking eyes staring dead at the rabbit that would be his doom. He narrowed his eyes slightly cocked his head in what almost looked like a curious gesture.
The assassin had heard vivid descriptions of what this thing had done to the would-be child killer in the alley. However, he felt no fear nor trepidation in his mission. He was one of the best-trained assassins in the world, with a kill count matched only by the legendary Jonathan Wique. Even if this fox could rip through the metal door of a police cruiser, he would have to be fast as lightning and have training almost equal to Karatov's own to even stand a chance against him.
The bunny assassin bolted towards his prey and leaped upwards into the air, primed to feel the mongrel's jugular tear beneath his blade.
Instead, as he began the descent of his airborne arc, he felt a paw whip out, grab his wrist, and use his own momentum to throw him to the other side of the street.
His back slammed against the apartment building, knocking all the breath out of his lungs. He rolled onto his side, seeing tiny rabbits prancing around his head. As his vision began to clear, he saw that the fox was now striding towards him without a scratch.
Impossible… Instead of dwelling on his failure, Karatov rose from the ground and once again charged at the fox, this time slashing his knife at the creature's abdomen. However, once again, the blow failed to land, as the fox almost lazily swiped Karatov's paw to the side, sending the curved blade skittering across the asphalt.
Now the rabbit was getting angry. How in the hell was this kit not dead yet? In his anger, Karatov rushed the fox again, trying to punch it in the throat, but his fist was blocked by the reynard's forearm. The bunny tried to aim a kick to the predator's feet, but was blocked once again. Blow after blow he rained down upon the fox, using techniques that he himself had designed, but still not one blow landed successfully upon the fox's russet form. Beginning to lose his breath, Karatov backed away and pulled a long, thick wire from his jacket. He hopped up and onto the fox's shoulders, attempting to garrote the creature. He was foiled again, however, when the fox wedged his paws between his throat and the wire, pulling forcefully downward. With one swift yank, he brought Karatov to the ground, knocking the mask loose from his face. Before the rabbit could rise, a russet foot connected with his chest, shattering his sternum and sending him flying once again into the wall of the apartment building.
Coughing up blood and vainly trying to get to his feet despite the agony in his chest, the rabbit was unable to resist as the fox took him into his arms, wrapping his right arm around the rabbit's throat, grabbing his own left bicep with his right paw, and placing his left on the back of Karatov's head, just between his ears. The assassin recognized the hold the fox had on him as a rear naked chokehold, one that was usually only used by mammals of exceptional strength. Just a few seconds of pressure on his throat would cause the bunny to lose consciousness, while enough pressure on both the throat and the back of his head could be enough to snap his neck. It was then that Ivan Karatov knew.
He was about to die.
He didn't fear death-he'd practically been courting it since he was old enough to aim a rifle. But the thought of an 18-year-old supposedly untrained fox kit being the one to end his life was even more repulsive to him than watching him and Hopps' sister sing earlier. He could not allow this humiliation to be brought upon him. The rabbit viciously began kicking at the fox's groin, so fast that his feet were a blur, but for all the fox's reaction, Karatov might as well have been smothering him with air kisses. His only response to the rabbit's futile attempt at escape was to tighten his grip around the assassin's throat. As the fox's powerful arm choked the breath out of Karatov, he gasped one final sentence.
"What the hell are you?" he asked.
Slowly, almost tenderly, the fox leaned down and ominously whispered the two words that would be the last the rabbit would ever hear.
"Hail Hydra."
Ivan closed his eyes as he felt the bicep under his throat tighten, and the paw press against the back of his skull. There was a loud crack, and Ivan Karatov knew no more.
