Chapter 12: …Two More Shall Take Its Place
"Unnnnnhhhhhh…" Judy let out a quiet groan as she slowly began to regain consciousness. My head…
The doe flinched in pain as she attempted to lift her head from the cool asphalt. The back of her skull felt like it had suffered a roundhouse kick from a kangaroo. What happened? she thought. The last thing she could remember was looking at Joseph's cold amber eyes, and then something had struck her on the back of the head and she had blacked out.
Judy squinted against the pain, finally managing to open her eyes. She saw that she was still lying in the parking lot of Lou's LaGrotto, everything around her as silent, save for a strange shuffling sound that seemed to be coming from across the street. As the blurriness cleared from her vision, she saw her partner lying a few feet to her left, rolled over onto his side.
He wasn't moving.
"NICK!" she shrieked, forgetting the pain, forgetting what had happened, forgetting everything. The only thing she knew was that the love of her life was lying unconscious on the ground, and that she had to help him. She jumped over to him, becoming momentarily airborne, and landed deftly beside him on all fours.
"Nick," she said softly, rolling her boyfriend onto his back. "Nick, please, talk to me," she said, shaking the fox's shoulders as tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. She spotted the small bloodied circle on his head, and her heart stopped.
"No," she muttered, thinking that the mark was a bullet wound. "Please, God, NO!" She put her paw on the wound, and as soon as she did, a slight moan issued from Nick's muzzle.
A sob tore itself from Judy's throat as she realized that Nick was alive. Whatever the wound was, it was only skin deep, and almost certainly non-fatal.
"Oh, Nick," the bunny said, pulling her fox's limp form into her arms in a ferocious hug, burying her nose in the crook of his furry neck. She was about to speak to him again when a gruff male voice from across the street caught her attention.
"What the hell are you?"
Judy's head spun around to the source of the sound, and her purple eyes landed on Joseph Solomon's back. She could see a long pair of dark gray rabbit ears peeking out from behind the fox's shoulder.
The pain of her head wound and the shock of everything that had happened in the last few minutes slowed Judy's reaction time drastically and, as such, there was nothing she could do to stop what happened next. She could only watch as Joseph leaned down to the rabbit's head in front of him, her sensitive hearing just barely catching the fox muttering the phrase "Hail Hydra".
Then, with a flex of his arms, he snapped the rabbit's neck.
"NO!" Judy shouted, but it was too late.
The fox immediately turned toward the shout, the limp body of his kill crumpling to the ground. His eyes, cold as ice, met hers. Without pause, he began a slow but purposeful stride toward her across the deserted street.
With no weapons, no backup, and no way to defend herself, Judy backed herself up against Nick's unconscious form, knowing full well that Joseph could rip her to pieces in a heartbeat. No, she thought. That's not Joseph… The person striding towards her with murder in his eyes might have been wearing Joseph's face, but it wasn't him. His amber eyes, usually so full of emotion, were dead, not even having the primal hunger and rage of a savage animal. No, this was not her friend. It was not the Monster.
It was something else.
When Joseph was only a few yards away from Judy, he raised his right paw, his claws extending to an unnatural length, the fur disappearing into the now scaly, pale green skin. The gesture reminded her forcefully of the time when Gideon Grey had attacked her as a child. Another tear slid down her face as she muttered, "Joseph, please d—" Before she could finish the sentence, the fox had reached her and wrapped his clawed paw around her throat in a vice grip. As she grasped at the fox's wrist and desperately tried to take in air through her constricted windpipe, Joseph lifted her by the throat until she was staring down into his cold, unfeeling eyes.
"Who are you?" the fox growled. "What the hell is this place?"
"W-what?" Judy choked out, barely able to breathe. "J-Joseph, it's m-me, J-Judy…"
"Why do you keep calling me that?" he said, giving the rabbit a violent shake before slamming her up against the brick wall of the pizza place. She was now at eye-level with him, and he leaned in until his snout was practically touching hers, his hot breath blowing across her face. "My name is Soldier, not Joseph. Now tell me what in the hell is going on before I rip you open and feed you your own entrails!"
"HEY!" came a yell from off to Judy's right. Flitting her eyes towards the restaurant, she saw that Nick was shakily getting to his feet. "Joseph, what in the hell are you doing? PUT HER DOWN!"
Joseph barely took notice as Nick began to run towards them, Judy desperately trying to ward him away. He was at their side in two seconds. Then, without moving his cold eyes from Judy's, Joseph swung his left arm out and backhanded Nick across the face, sending her partner flying across the parking lot. The fox she loved more than life itself slammed into a street light with a loud clang, and fell to the ground in a moaning russet heap.
Tears began to fall freely onto Judy's cheeks as the thing that had once been her friend tightened his grip on her throat. "Please," she gasped, "it's Judy…we're friends—"
"Are you S.H.I.E.L.D.?!" Joseph screamed at her, his lips pulling back from his-razor sharp teeth in a vicious snarl. "Are you with Stark, the Avengers? Answer me, dammit!"
Judy could feel herself beginning to pass out, her throat feeling as though it was being crushed by a compactor. As her vision began to turn black, she tried one last time to get Joseph to remember her. "Joseph," she gasped, "I'm your friend…"
"Fine," the fox growled pitilessly. He pulled her towards him and slowly licked his lips. "I usually only get gruel for my meals. I guess I finally get to see what rabbit tastes like."
The last thing that the bunny saw before her vision went black was the cold emptiness of his eyes, his lips pulling back from his canines in a hungry growl.
Just as Judy went limp in Joseph's paw, there was a sound like a fly buzzing by her ear, and then a softly muffled thwack.
Joseph just barely flinched as the tranquilizer dart lodged in his right shoulder. Before he could react, three more had planted themselves in his back, their contents flooding through his veins. His grip on Judy's throat loosened, allowing her to fall from his grasp and suck in a lungful of sweet, cold air. Within two seconds, the fox was unconscious, his body falling straight back onto the asphalt.
As the haze of unconsciousness began to clear from her head, Judy could just barely make out the sound of a booming voice calling out her name. "Hopps!" it called. "Wilde! Sound off! Sound off!"
The bunny could only respond by coughing violently and raising her paw above her head. In half a moment, the lumbering form of Chief Bogo had appeared above her and lifted her into his arms. "Hopps?" he said to her. "Are you alright? What happened?"
"Nick," she barely managed to choke out. "Help Nick. He's hurt."
"You're both hurt, Hopps," the buffalo said in a surprisingly caring tone as he gently laid her back down on the pavement. "That fox almost killed you. Get that bastard in some restraints and a muzzle!" he suddenly shouted off to his left, pointing at the motionless form of Joseph. "And put the best shock collar you've got on him!"
"Carrots?" came a weak voice from off to Judy's right.
"Nick!" she said, shakily rising to her feet and stumbling towards the fox, who was shambling his way towards her almost as slowly. As soon as they reached each other, Nick swept Judy into his arms, slamming his lips into hers, heedless of everything around them.
After several moments of kissing, the couple finally broke apart, only to find the Chief of Police staring at them tiredly. A blush roared through Judy's cheeks. "Sir—"
"Save it, Hopps," the buffalo said, holding up his hoof. "We'll talk about all of this tomorrow. Right now, the two of you need medical attention."
"Really, sir, we're fine—" Nick began, but was immediately cut off by Bogo.
"No, you're not, Wilde. You took a nasty knock to the head and your partner was almost choked to death."
"What?!" Nick exclaimed, Joseph's strike having momentarily knocked the memory from his brain. "What do you mean, 'almost choked to death'? By who?"
"By him," Bogo said, pointing to the spot where officers McHorn and Rhinowitz were affixing a muzzle and shock collar to Joseph's unconscious form.
Nick felt a sickening mixture of concern and burning rage go through him as he remembered the sight of his friend holding his lover against the wall. "Night Howlers," he muttered. "He got hit with—"
"Tomorrow, Wilde," Bogo rumbled. "You and your partner are injured. Go get yourselves checked out at the ambulance over there and go home, if you can. Come to my office after the briefing tomorrow morning and we can discuss this."
"What's gonna happen to him?" Judy asked, her voice hoarse and crackly. Nick felt a sudden and unquenchable flash of anger at Joseph when he heard it.
"We'll put him in one of the max security cells at the station for now," the Chief responded. "Get him the Night Howler cure if he needs it. Hopefully tomorrow he'll be able to cooperate and explain just what in the ever-loving hell happened here tonight. Dismissed." With that, the cape buffalo stomped away across the street to where Officers Wolford and Fangmeyer were cordoning off the area around the body of the rabbit Joseph had killed, while the fox himself, now fully restrained, was unceremoniously loaded into the back of a SWAT truck, a small army of SWAT officers piling in behind him.
Upon being examined by the EMTs, Nick found that he only had a slight cut on his forehead where he had been struck and knocked out, and showed no signs of a concussion, along with a heavily bruised but unbroken cheek where Joseph had hit him. Judy, however, did not fare so well. The EMT, a snow-white ermine, told her that she had a bruised larynx and a minor concussion.
"Be sure to take plenty of acetaminophen for the headache," she told the rabbit, "and try to talk as little as possible until your throat is all healed up. I recommend eating lots of ice cream," she finished with a wink.
Once the EMT had finished her examination, Nick turned to Judy where they sat on the edge of the ambulance, and took her face in his paws, kissing her softly on the lips.
"I'm going to kill him," Nick said when he pulled away, his voice seething and trembling with a fury she'd never seen in him. "I don't care if he's a kid, I don't care if I lose my job or if I go to prison, I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch for hurting you, and I am gonna make him suffer."
Judy shook her head sadly, a little scared by her partner's words. "No, Nick," she said to him, her throat aching. "It wasn't him. Not really."
"We'll talk about it tomorrow," the fox said, planting a kiss on Judy's forehead. "Right now, we need to get you home and get some rest." He grasped her paw, gingerly leading her away from the ambulance and towards the pizza parlor, where their car was still parked.
Judy could only nod, her throat hurting too much to speak, the only comfort in the chilly night the warmth of Nick's paw in her own.
Take a deep breath. Calm your mind. You know what is best…
The words flitted through Joseph's mind as he slowly awoke from his stupor. What is best is you comply...
As the voice of the memory finished its oration, there was a pause inside Joseph's head.
Are you ready to comply? the memory-voice said.
Happy to comply, came the response from Joseph's memory-self.
The fox jerked wide awake from his dream/memory, suddenly terrified. The sudden onslaught of previously buried memories in the dream had filled him with a dread he had not felt since Area 51.
As the weariness slowly cleared from Joseph's eyes, he could see that he was in a dimly lit room with no furniture, only stark metal walls. He was sitting on the floor, his back resting against the corner where two walls met. Raising his dreary eyes, he could barely make out a tall, dark figure standing in the opposite corner.
Joseph tried to move, but found the action impossible. Looking down, he saw that his arms were bound together with some sort of cylindrical metal contraption. His legs were in the same situation.
What happened to me? The fox thought. Joseph noticed that his face felt slightly constricted. Trying to look down his nose, he saw that something like a cage was enclosing his face. It was a muzzle.
Oh, Joseph thought. Snippets of memory from the previous night were beginning to come back to him. Something hitting his neck…the fire in his brain…a lifeless form falling from his arms…Judy…
A wave of nausea hit him as the memories came flooding back. Judy, he thought to himself. Oh, dear God, what have I done? The last thing he remembered was the feeling of dreariness overcoming him as Judy's limp form fell from his paw. No, he thought, beginning to panic. No, no, no, no, no, no, please, please, PLEASE let her be alive…
As his heart rate and breathing continued to accelerate with the panic, Joseph suddenly felt a surge of electricity go through his entire body, freezing him in place and igniting his cells with agony. For a fraction of a second he was back in the base, being electrocuted by the scientists to bring out his raptor traits. The pain lasted only a moment, but, when it had passed, Joseph somehow felt even more weary than he had before.
"I would suggest you stay calm," said a voice like a desert wind from the shadows in the opposite corner of the room. The accent sounded vaguely African. "The more agitated you get, the stronger the collar shocks you."
His eyes having finally adjusted to the dim lighting inside what he assumed was his cell, Joseph focused on the dark figure opposite him who had spoken. He could see that the figure was a tall male black panther, his lean but muscular physique encased in a SWAT uniform, a high-powered automatic rifle clasped loosely in his paws. Joseph squinted and just barely made out the name inscribed on the badge pinned to the feline's chest. Tichalla, it said. Officer Tichalla.
Well, Joseph thought, I suppose I can't dig myself much deeper, can I?
With that encouraging thought, the fox spoke to the room's only other occupant.
"Judy," Joseph tried to say, but it came out as more of a squeak. His voice was still hoarse from all the screaming he'd done the night before. Joseph cleared his throat and tried again.
"Officer Hopps," he said, his voice now audible, albeit slightly muffled by the muzzle on his face. He tried to be as respectful as possible. "I was with her last night, her and her partner, Nick Wilde. Are they okay? Is she…"
"She'll live," the panther assured him, eliciting a sigh of relief from the fox. "No thanks to you. She'll have a sore throat for a while and will have some trouble speaking for a couple days. Wilde's fine, too."
"Oh, thank God," Joseph muttered, more relieved than he could say, though still feeling sick with guilt. "Thank God…" He raised his head to the feline, deciding to try a diplomatic approach. "We haven't met yet. I'm Joseph."
"I don't care," said the black panther.
"Fair enough," Joseph replied. "Um, where am I?"
"Maximum security cell A," said the officer. "ZPD Precinct One."
"Okay. Um, I need to talk to Nick and—I mean, I need to speak with Officers Wilde and Hopps. Immediately. I—I need to explain—"
"We don't do that here," Officer Tichalla said.
The response elicited a hazy look from Joseph. "Don't...do what here?"
"Take orders from murderers," responded the panther, a sneer on his lips. "Whatever you have to say, you will say it to Chief Bogo. What could you possibly have to say to them that is so important, anyway? You almost killed Hopps."
Joseph winced at the reminder, the images of Judy's violet eyes rolling back into her head flashing through his mind. Another wave of nausea hit him, making him worry that he was going to vomit into the muzzle.
"Please," Joseph begged. "I need to tell them…I need to explain what happened last night."
The panther leaned his head to the side, a slightly curious look entering his dark brown eyes. "Tell me and I will be sure to pass along the information," he said.
"No," Joseph responded immediately. "That is… privileged information that can only be shared with those two and Chief Bogo."
The panther stared into the fox's eyes, unblinking. Had they not been different species, Joseph would have been inclined to believe that Tichalla and Bogo were brothers.
"Fine," the panther said briskly after a minute of silent deliberation. "I'll see what I can do." Finally uncrossing his arms from his chest, he pulled the walkie-talkie from his belt and pressed the button. An aggravated "What?" issued forth from the device.
"This is Tichalla, sir," the feline said. "The fox is awake. He says he wants to speak with you, Hopps, and Wilde."
"Is he calm and lucid?" the buffalo's voice said.
"He appears to be," Tichalla said, his eyes still fixed on the prisoner.
"All right. Bring him up to I-6. Oh, and don't let him out of the restraints. Do you need help?"
"No," the panther said. "I can carry him." With that, the black panther slipped the walkie-talkie back onto his belt, crossed the room, and heaved Joseph over his shoulder, restraints and all.
"Oomph!" Joseph said. "Can you at least take the mask off?"
"No."
"Come on," Joseph pleaded. "I promise I won't bite."
"The promise of a fox carries less value to me than a lock of Justin Beaver's fur," the great cat said, an obvious tone of venom in his voice. "Especially one who attempted to choke the life out of a colleague."
Ouch, Joseph thought, another blade of guilt stabbing through his heart. So that's what prejudice feels like.
Five minutes later, Officer Tichalla unceremoniously dumped Joseph into the chair of a starkly lit interrogation room, complete with a stainless-steel table and a one-way mirror on the wall to his left. A moment later, Chief Bogo stalked in, along with officers Rhinowitz and McHorn, both wearing actual steel-plate riot armor and carrying high-powered rifles. Bogo raised his right hoof, in which he held what appeared to be a small remote, and pressed a button on the device.
An irresistible force suddenly pulled Joseph's arms onto the table in front of him, and his legs were locked to the legs of the chair. He was left completely immobilized, his spine straight as a board, able only to move his head.
"High-powered magnetic restraints," Bogo intoned dryly. "Developed by Hammer Tech after the Night Howler Crisis, along with that shock collar you're wearing. I am going to have Officer McHorn remove your muzzle, but the rest of the restraints will remain in place. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Joseph answered.
"Good." The buffalo chief motioned to the rhinoceros on his right, who then proceeded to lean his rifle up against the wall and move to Joseph's side of the table, roughly removing the muzzle from his face.
"Thank you," the fox said. The pachyderm's only reply was a dagger-like stare that suggested the fox would not have any teeth left in his mouth if it was up to him.
The chief of police motioned for the other officers to leave the room. As the three mammals filed out, Bogo sat himself down opposite Joseph, gazing into his eyes. After the door had closed, he waited almost a minute before speaking.
"How much do you remember of what happened last night?" he asked gruffly.
"Everything," Joseph said, his voice breaking. "But it all feels… disconnected. Almost like I was possessed. I remember feeling myself doing things and…wanting to stop… but not being able to." He inhaled sharply as he remembered how easily the rabbit's neck had snapped in his arms, the feeling of Judy's pulse thundering beneath his fingers...the way she had begged him to stop...
"You said you wanted to explain to Wilde and Hopps what happened last night. Do you know what happened?"
"I think so," Joseph said, the memories flooding back again. He winced at the onslaught of thought. "I'm just not sure why it happened."
Bogo stared pensively at the fox for a moment, then spoke. "Mr. Solomon, do you know what Night Howlers are?"
"No," Joseph responded with a shake of his head. "I think I've heard Nick and Judy mention them, but I'm not sure what it means."
"'Night Howlers' are the colloquial name given to the plant midnicampum holicithias, a type of flower that contains an extremely powerful neurotoxin. When consumed, the flowers cause the mammal to go savage and attack everything in sight. Officer Hopps' first case on the force involved a group of prey-supremacists using a serum derived from these flowers to make predators go savage and spread fear and paranoia through the city, and so lead prey to take control. Last night, according to Officer Wilde, you were struck with one of these serum pellets."
Joseph's eyes widened. "Then why didn't I…change? Go savage?"
"I was hoping that you would be able to tell me," Bogo said, unable to hide the weariness in his voice.
At Bogo's comment, the fox's eyes became unfocused, flitting back and forth between objects only he could see. He was thinking.
"Yeah…" he said. "Yeah, I think I know what happened. That neurotoxin from the flowers affects normal mammals, right?"
"Correct," the chief said.
"Well, I'm not normal," Joseph said, earning a snort from Bogo that clearly meant "You think?". "The experiments that made me what I am didn't just change my DNA, they changed my brain chemistry. That's probably what made the serum have a different effect on me than on normal mammals."
"And what effect did it have on you, Mr. Solomon?"
Joseph heaved a deep sigh. "If I'm going to explain that, I want Nick and Judy here. They need to know."
"What do they need to know?" Bogo growled. He was not in the mood for cryptic responses.
"That what they saw last night…the things that I did…" Joseph took a deep breath, trying to stave off the nausea of guilt. "It wasn't me. Not really. It was…someone else. A different side of me that I didn't even realize was there until last night."
"What do you mean, 'a different side'?" Bogo questioned. "You mean like an alternate personality?"
"Yes," the fox answered, his eyes fixing themselves on something only he could see: the symbol of a red skull, surrounded by tentacles. "Back where I come from-up until a few years ago, at least-most people, even the ones in the intelligence community, didn't even believe that he existed. But the ones that did...called him the Winter Soldier."
